Just a quick Hi

Posted on September 14, 2014September 14, 2014 by Dusty Roads

Hi everyone! Are you still waiting for me? Oh my, you are wonderful! I’m finally starting to mend, at least my legs and back. The shingles continue to hang on. I had to stop PT because it was only making me worse. I was ready for a wheel chair and the back pain had changed. It wasn’t an ache anymore, it was take your breathe away pain. So I stopped and called my doctor who was on vacation, She won’t be back until next week and then I won’t be available. In the meantime I have seen a big improvement. I can walk again, the back pain persists but much less intense. Yesterday I walked all around the mall without stopping! Before I was walking from bench to bench, to rest before going on and I am limping much less.

Labor Day weekend I had company and we went on a cruise of the Cape Cod Canal. I have pictures and stories and promise I’ll share soon. The next day we went to the Roger Williams Zoo. More Pics but I wasn’t walking too well then so my poor friend was held to a mere crawl around the zoo as he waited for me to keep up.

This is the busy fall season for real estate and I’m am working long hours but it will be worth it. One of the agents I support asked me if I had adjusted to my new schedule. (It’s suppose to be 9-6 M-F) I said yes but I got to thinking how time is so precious.

On my old schedule I had too much time. Oh I had time to write my blog daily but I was also bored a lot of the time. Now I scramble for every spare minute. There are days I pull laundry out with every good intention and never get a chance to look at it again until 8-9 pm. But I’m not bored!

I expect free time will be cyclical based on busy seasons and off seasons. So I expect I’ll be able to start posting more in another month – 6 weeks as we head into the holiday seasons.

So my blogging friends, you are never far from my thoughts. I always appreciate you and your support! Back soon 🙂

I Was Just Thinking

Posted on August 19, 2014August 19, 2014 by Dusty Roads

I still haven’t felt up to going out and about much which is a big reason I haven’t posted much this summer. I think in addition to “feeling poorly” that I’ve also been a little “down in the dumps”. I’ve been lazy. But I admit I perked up when my last two posts of Buddy got some attention. I thought sure I’d neglected things for so long that no one would be paying any attention.

That got me thinking about things that have been in the news lately. First of all was the Robin Williams Suicide. So so sad. Of course it brought out all of the well meaning people who want to use Robin’s death as a call to arms to prevent other suicides. I guess if it helps save someone else then that’s ok. But I feel more for the man and all the demons he has battled. I think his recent diagnosis of Parkinson’s may have been the last straw. He just didn’t have it in him to keep fighting. RIP Robin Williams. You have earned a rest.

And what’s up with Ferguson, Missouri? I missed the beginning of this disaster. I just turned on the news one night and thought I was watching riots in a 3rd world country, not right here in the good old US of A. Are we back to the Civil Rights days? I gather that a white police officer shot and killed a black teenager. The police officer is on paid suspension while his world is exploding. No matter what I read I can’t get a handle on what happened here. A call for a sick person and a call for a robbery. Someone says Brown (the teenager) attacked the officer but another account says the officer was in his cruiser when he fired the first shot. The teenager was unarmed. He was shot 6 times. It sounds terrible. It is tragic. But haven’t we gotten past the riots and looting? Black or white, that doesn’t help anyone.

Is the Market Basket saga news to anyone besides people in Massachusetts and New Hampshire? A family owned business fired it CEO and almost all of the employees of it’s chain of grocery stores (Market Basket) walk off the job. The chain is losing tens of thousands of dollars while this dispute rages but the rift in the family is so bitter that they can’t come to any agreement. I think they are in the 5th week of this battle. The ousted CEO has offered to buy the chain of stores but no one can come to an agreement and the strike goes on. I don’t know the inner dynamics but from the outside looking in it seems we have a case of biting the nose off to spite the face. No matter what, the family is not going to let the ousted cousin win. They’d rather bankrupt the business.

What a sad, sad state of affairs. 🙁

Love the New Furniture

Posted on August 18, 2014August 18, 2014 by Dusty Roads

Rocky hasn’t really warmed up to the new furniture but Buddy loves the recliner.

He will settle for the love seat if I refuse to move.

Less than 3000 miles

Posted on August 9, 2014August 9, 2014 by Dusty Roads

Well That explains a lot.

I haven’t had an oil change since March so I stopped by my car care center today and had them check the records. I just hit 3000 miles! Proof that I haven’t been anywhere or done anything worth writing about this summer. That’s depressing!

I’m still having pain in my abdomen/side even though the rash is gone on my side anyway. It’s stubbornly hanging on in the middle of my back where it started.

I work for Redfin Real Estate and we are opening up in Rhode Island. Thursday night Redfin held a Launch party in Providence. The Rhode Island Team is Agent: Jeremy, Buy side coordinator : Tara and Listing coordinator: Me! Tara and I felt it was important to attend to offer support to our leader, Jeremy. Both Tara and I also have Massachusetts agents we support but that’s not a new market.

It was a nice party but I noticed that I really couldn’t stand for that long before my back started misbehaving. It’s improving but there’s still a long way to go.

Sometimes I wonder if I’ll ever get back to 100%.

Physical Therapy and Cats

Posted on August 1, 2014August 1, 2014 by Dusty Roads

Well I seem to be in a holding pattern with the shingles. I’d say about 3/4 of the rash is gone and the redness is fading but there’s still a stubborn spot right in the middle of my back. I’m also still getting those weird cramps in my right side. But it’s not getting any worse either.

The physical therapist for my left hip called and I started there this week. The first appointment was an intake appointment and was pretty easy. They determined that my hip/leg pain was not sciatica(Yay!) and is really just overly tight muscles. They sent me home with a card full of future appointments and a couple of basic stretching exercises.

Back for my second PT session they tried to lull me by using heat therapy first followed by massage. It was a deep tissue massage and as always it hurt like crazy but it loosened up a ton of muscles. I should have made my escape then because the rest of the session was 45 minutes of stretching . By the time they cut me loose my legs were like jello but I was moving better and the tingling had disappeared so maybe this is working.

Back home my fuzzy roommates were happy to see me. They are used to me being around home most of the time so when I go out for awhile they gather at the door to wait for my return.

My cats are weird, no doubt about that. You know how Rocky has to have a heat lamp but Buddy does something even stranger than sleep in a sun spot. Buddy climbs to the top of the cat tree and drapes himself over the edge. Pretty soon you hear coughing, gagging and wheezing. Silly cat is choking himself. He does that to get my attention and he’ll only sit up if I bring him the tube of hairball gel. He loves that and when he sees me coming with that tube in my hand, well, lets just say, he has a miraculous recovery.