Skip to main content

Handy

I have taken to wearing a bracelet on my left wrist these days. I've never liked wearing a lot of jewelry, so it isn't that. It's to remind me not to use my left hand, which I now do unconsciously all the time for some weird old person reason. This also means I fumble, knock over and drop a lot of things, because my damaged left hand only has about 30% function due to damage from past surgeries. My grip also depends on how much my arthritis is flaring, which is a lot these days.

I'm not bitter; I'm grateful I still have a hand. I'm just being practical. My brain wants me to use the left because I'm a southpaw (and apparently I always will be) but I know that's not a good idea. Hence the bracelet.

Last night I got a relatively better night of sleep by strategically adding a pillow to slightly elevate my head, take some of the pressure off my neck, and create more side space for my damaged left shoulder. I'm a side-sleeper and there is only one position that is comfortable for me, so I use pillows to try and keep myself in that position. I have arthritis in my neck and shoulder that is steadily growing worse, too, so this doesn't always work. Sometimes I have to take naps during the day because I didn't sleep well.

I'm fine with that, as I've been living with arthritis since I was twenty-eight. If I can get four or five hours of good sleep a night, I'm grateful for that as well. Last night I got seven. That's like getting an early birthday present.

When I was younger obviously I could do more, and sometimes I wish I could go back to those days. I'm a person who likes to do a lot of things. When I become depressed over what I can't do anymore, I remind myself that I'm still here, I'm still mobile, and I am lucky that I can work out ways to manage my impairments and still do some things. Staying positive makes every day an early birthday present.

Image credit: Steampunk hand image created by Hotpot.ai's art generator.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Love Triangle

The Inheritors (also known as The Heirs ) is an older k-drama that is more like an American soap opera, and yet has one of the best high-school love triangles I've ever seen. As the illegitimate son of a wealthy conglomerate chairman, Kim Tan (Lee Min-ho) was exiled to study in California so that his older half-brother could be groomed to step into their father's shoes. Instead he mostly surfs and goofs off. He meets Cha Eun-sang (Park Shin-hye), who comes to LA in order to escape her dismal life in Korea while bringing wedding money to her older sister, only to find out her sister has lied about her marriage, and is living in squalor. After the sister takes the money and runs off, leaving Eun-sang with no place to stay, Tan ends up alternately taking care of her and making her situation worse. He also falls for her, but she finally connects with a friend and returns to Korea. The money her sister took ends up forcing Eun-sang and her speech-impaired mom to mov...

Pretties

While at the antique mall where my donated throws were being sold I saw this pretty portait of a frog made out of beads, brooches, necklaces and other bling, and had to take a photo of it. This artist is so clever with how they recycle vintage jewelry and findings into new art. That day this little guy came home with me. He was cheap, made from a very old crazy quilt, very shabby, and has a serene quality that primitives sometimes possess. He'll be hanging out with me in the sewing room. Was it necessary to buy this? Nope. Do I regret the purchase? Nope. I also bought this apothecary jar filled with buttons, threads and other wonders. If you want to sort through it with me, check out more pics here .

Glorious. Kinda

Writing up my thoughts on the Chinese drama You are my Glory is going to be one of those head-scratchers; I liked it, it got annoying, I liked it anyway, it got more annoying. In the end I was left feeling like most of the last third of the series was smacking me on the nose for being a romantic and wishing, not for the first time, I was a screenwriter who could get hired to fix this script. Anyway, okay. The premise for this series is actually pretty good: poor but brilliant aerospace engineer Yu Tu (played by the fabulously handsome Yang Yang) crosses paths with fabulously wealth but not-too-bright actress Qiao Jingjing (portrayed by the genuinely pretty Dilraba Dilmurat) who was his high school classmate. He's looking for a new job that pays better; she's in hot water due to an inappropriate product endorsement snafu, and they end up spending a lot of time together. It's a cross between Notting Hill and Apollo Thirteen, sorta kinda. Yu Tu is in a life crisis ...