I Want to Play Outside

I feel compassion for the kitty in the photo above, it’s wanting to go outside and play! That’s what I’m going to do tomorrow if it’s nice out. I’m feeling so much better! I had PT today and the therapist says I’m making excellent progress. The wobbles (MdDS) are improving, yay! I’m enjoying doing the exercises too. I have some new ones to try and one has me throwing a ball from hand to hand while tracking it with my eyes while walking, it feels like playing to me.

I ran one errand after PT and looked for a Nintendo Switch while there on the off chance they might have one, maybe I’d have some random luck. Nope. I’d never been to that location before and it was fun looking at the different inventory. They had more international/ethnic goods, nice. It was bustling and noisy there, but not overly crowded. It was a nice change of pace. I loved hearing the children’s voices and laughter as I wound through the aisles taking it all in. I had fun looking at all of the toys and selecting a purple Hedstrom play ball to do my exercises with.

When I went to self-checkout an older man stopped me as if he knew me. He was speaking through a leather mask and I could not understand him. He pulled it down and said something in Spanish, I shook my head that I didn’t understand. Then he said something about Maria and I just nodded and smiled, lol. He laughed and waved as we parted ways to scan our items in self-checkout. I wonder who he thought I was? Maybe it’s because the masks obscure our faces so it’s more difficult to recognize people and easier to be mistaken. Was he confused, possibly demented? He was cute though, brought me back to my geriatric nursing days. Who am I to label someone as geriatric when I’m old enough to be on a geri unit myself, lol.

After I got home I made us some comfort food, vegan mac, and cheese with fake tuna and peas. I added jalapenos to mine. In my college days, that was my favorite thing to eat after a night of drinking, well besides pizza, I used to love eating pizza. I rarely eat pizza now, I try to limit my intake of bread. The vegan pizzas available at the grocery aren’t very yummy either, so in a way that’s good, so I’m not as tempted by them.

I said I was going to eat a snack prior to grocery shopping last night, but I didn’t so I ended up getting a few things extra like grain-free granola bars and bags of granola which I normally don’t eat. But I wanted something different, a change in flavors and textures. I got a baking chocolate bar which is incidentally vegan. I got key lime hummus, scooby-doo graham snacks, and biscoff cookies. Oh and some vegan french onion dip to eat with celery. Sometimes I want some dessert so I give in and have some. I wonder if the key lime hummus is good? I’ll try some tomorrow and will report back.

One of my PT exercises is to stand on something squishy, like foam, so I stand on top of our futon which has two foam mattress toppers. I pretend I’m a giant, it makes me taller than Drue. Being tall must be advantageous, you can see over things like if you’re in a crowd at a concert or Mardi Gras, you can also reach high up things, you can be more intimidating if threatened, it would be interesting to be tall for a day. I imagine you feel more powerful being tall.

Last night was my turn to pick a movie so we watched Ip Man, it was so cool! How do they move, punch, kick and flip so fast, so powerfully and precisely? It was based on a true story too. Ip Man was a Wing Chun master who also taught Bruce Lee. I want to see the sequels, there are 4 movies total in the series plus a spin-off. Drue picks the movie tonight, I wonder what we’ll watch?

I’ve been feeling like that kitty in the photo, I expect most of us have been feeling cooped up. I have things to do inside, at home and for that, I’m so thankful. I’m also not an extrovert, so I don’t really feel like I’m missing out as far as socialization or going to events or places with crowds. I do love being outdoors in nature though and thankfully we can still do that. Tomorrow I will see how I tolerate going for a longer walk. I won’t know until several days to a week later if my body is okay with it now. I’m feeling so much better so I’m gonna try, for real. I want to see my friends the grasshoppers if they’re still there. I want to laugh as they whirr away flashing their vivid wings as I walk along the trails in the wildflowers and grass. I want to be so awestruck by the beauty that I stop and take photos, preserving the memories to be relived in future viewings. Now it’s time to watch a movie, yay!