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Thursday, December 17, 2020

Trash day, another week is gone!

Almost every day, first thing, I tell myself what day it is. I tell myself on Wednesday night, "Tomorrow is trash day!"

And so this morning I was ready for it.

Of late the cat has taken no notice of me in the morning, even saying nothing when I pass him, lounging on his high shelf. But this morning, such howling outside my door. I expected to find his bowl empty, but nothing. However, look at this:


It did take me a minute to puzzle out. Some free range pup came through, under my deck, paused to make obligatory turns, though perhaps only two, squatted for a leak, and left pretty much the same way. The authority figure out in the street called!

The cat's continuing anguish explained.

But Toby remained tangled in my feet all morning. I have no idea how to tell him I feel his pain, and certainly will when he trips me!

I continued on Trash Thursday duties, leaving waste baskets assembled in the kitchen, in addition to feeding the cat and then myself.


There you have it, my week's high light. Wastebaskets to downsize to trash and recycle containers. 


Do those wastebaskets look empty? They are! I carted the trash to the front door:


Amazon, too. Another cat cranker, exposed! 

Oh, how I hate winter. I know the east coast, from Georgia to Maine, is under feet of snow, not an inch. But my inch is still my problem. Before the trash hits the can the snow must leave. Fortunately, the broom handled it.

Back in the house I had to shake the ice melt off the rug and sweep it all up from the floor. Mr. Cat feels compelled to eat at least one of everything he finds, and I don't know the effect on a cat.

And finally, the highlight! I opened my package.


Hooray, new toothbrushes. I buy these ones of bamboo because they are biodegradable. Every time I open a new tube of toothpaste, I get a new toothbrush from the box. Earlier this week I took the last brush from the last box. I ordered new.

All this methodical behavior is what I'm down to, and not a result of Covid. That virus only makes life actions more stark, in my opinion, because we do so little, the spotlight is brighter.

No, this methodology is directly attributable to first the stroke, ten years ago, compounded by the TBI, and I don't remember when that happened. I can subtract back; it was a February and Laura was in ninth grade, and she graduated this past June, so 2016. I'm going to look, now.

March, 2017. That's right. When the new president started, and we did not go look at the White House. The stroke was left brain; you wake up fighting mad, every inch straining to recover. The TBI was right brain; you wake up feeling cozy, and go back to sleep again.

With the stroke, as soon as I put something back in its place in my brain, I had it. With the TBI, I need routines, and still I remember little. As I tell the cat, "Get over yourself! You can't change it so learn to live with it."

38 comments:

  1. It's the having to remind yourself that is a pain. I repeat and repeat and then wonder if I remember anyway.

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  2. The present situation is probably compounding how you feel..I change sheets and do a bit wash with the towels etcetera on Tuesdays..and you turn around and it is Tuesday again...and you feel What have I missed?
    Routine keeps us going even without this

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  3. Speaking of cats -- we kept hearing this very faint cry and finally, today I went downstairs to check for Ruby. Voila! There she was--she'd been trapped downstairs for 2 days! She didn't make a single mess... bless her heart -- she got a whole can of tuna!

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  4. snow and black ice, slush and frozen anything is not our friend! I am glad to know that you can do so much with all that has been compromised, you are a wizard woman. Assisted living is understandable BUT...independence is a thing- I am not sure about those places or if it is a good fit for such as thee. Might keep you out of snowy danger though. By the way, Your towels are divine ! I am so glad that you can keep up with weaving, so good!

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  5. You do such a good job of "living with it"! Routines are very helpful. Notes and lists help too. My memory is getting worse so I always have several lists, on paper and on the computer. I keep a yearly planner and try to remember to write what I do each day in it so I can go back and check. Somehow it helps. We all find our ways to fight back aging!

    Your trash day description sounds like mine except mine is on each Wednesday. I agree, it is a horror taking it out in the snow!

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  6. I register what day it is by the garbage/recycling/green waste collections too.
    And am a creature of habit when I can.
    Like all your readers I do admire your tenacity and determination - and must investigate bio-degradable toothbrushes.

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  7. George does the trash, but I do the laundry. Monday is laundry day, and I remember Mondays. What is, if you don't mind telling me, a TBI? Thank you.

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    1. A traumatic brain injury. I had a terrible blow to my head that cracked my skull. The doctors kept me in a coma for three weeks and another listening to me tell them I had to go home. Then I was in rehab until I could walk up four steps. What I remember was not fun.

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  8. I don't miss living in snow Midwest one little bit.

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  9. You do have a way of making the most mundane chores in life sound interesting! I always know when it's Monday because Miriam reminds me to put the recycling out!

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    1. And I hope you never are personally responsible. You fill bird feeders with panache.

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  10. We have to take our own trash so we don't have that to remind us of what day it is. I suppose I pin my week with Friday- martini and clean sheets day. That sounds way more exciting than it generally actually is.
    You really are to be admired, Joanne. It appears to me that you function very, very well and if you need routine to help with that, so be it. I need routine to function too and I have not, as far as I know, had any cerebral incidents.
    Be careful in that snow! One inch or one foot, it's still dangerous out there. As you know. Why am I telling you this?

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  11. I am glad someone else hates winter. We have snow too and it just makes me mad.

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  12. There is nothing wrong with my brain, but I still need reminders to do things.

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  13. Amazing how your whole life can change in a second. Glad you have found a way to manage despite your medical troubles. You are a strong woman, Joanne!

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  14. If I didn’t know the difference, I’d think Toby was a dog.

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    1. He's very insecure and must be in the same room I'm in, always. That's why he's underfoot, plus looking up to be sure I'm still following.

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  15. Now that's a healthy attitude to have. There's no sense beating yourself up over something you have no control over.

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  16. Accept things exactly as they are because they are already here. And get on with it. That's how I roll. 18 inches of drifting, fluffy snow in Massachusetts. It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas. I'll sleep well tonight after all my shoveling.

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  17. I like your routines, although I don't like the reason you have to do them. I'm a very schedule oriented person, so I feel much more secure when I have things to do, even if they're mundane. Toby is quite a character! I'm glad you explained to Mage what a TBI was. I was going to have to google it. Your description is terrifying. You've come a long way, Baby. Do you remember the Benson and Hedges commercials?

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  18. Even after a TBI and stroke you still have the ability to put the warp on the loom. That always impresses me, I don't have the spatial relations to do that. I hate snow, I'm a terrible snow driver, I hate being cold, I just hate it all. We've decided we would rather be hot than cold. Monday is garbage day, Wednesday is recycling.

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  19. Before I even open my eyes, though my brain is awake, I try to hammer down what day it is. Tomorrow is recycle day but we forgot to haul it out. Our box isn't full so we will survive.

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  20. I tossed out a lot of my routines when I retired and realised I could fall asleep whenever I wanted, so things are a bit of a shambles around here, except trash day which is also Thursday for my area, so all rubbish is collected late Wednesday afternoon, taken out to the big bins and the bins then taken to the footpath ready for the trucks on Thursday. No one wants to sleep in on Thursday and miss the collection truck.

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  21. I, too, marvel at your ability to set up that loom of yours and make the most wonderful things! I taught a little girl whose father had a brain injury. It defined her. She even wrote a speech about it. -Jenn

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  22. Sue and I joke that Garbage Day is now our one constant and what anchors our week. And it comes around and around so quickly.

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  23. My thing is Fridays, they always take me by surprise. Like the week is over so quickly. Garage is an incessant problem for me. A huge trek. No recycling which is irritating and I have to drive it to one of the dumpsters at the sides of the building.

    XO
    WWW

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  24. Thus far we seem to be missing a lot of the snow.

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  25. Dear Joanne, I can so remember when you fell. What I'm learning, slowly, is that I can never truly say to anyone, "I know how you feel." Because the truth is that everyone's experience is unique to her or him. We can, however, have a hint of what others are feeling when we reflect on our own experiences. And you have so many happenings on which you've reflected that you have become, I believe, a truly compassionate and empathetic human being. Peace.

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  26. Learning to live with it, whatever 'it' may be, is all one can do. Sometimes I succeed and sometimes I don't.

    I hadn't realized one could purchase biodegradable toothbrushes! An Xmas gift to my teeth might be in order!

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  27. I agree with you about winter as it is easily my least favorite season. If we can somehow swing it, I am going to be a snowbird and go someplace warm in the winter. I am trying to find the joy in routines right now as the lost of smell and taste has me circling the drain of depression. By the way, the geographic tongue routined this week so based on that info, I think my taste buds should be coming along soon. Take care and stay safe.

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  28. "I feel his pain, and certainly will when he trips me!" - funny but not if it happens. All the best.

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  29. You have a watch cat who's as good at sounding a warning as Franklin and Penelope are. I'm very forgetful and I have no excuse.

    Love,
    Janie

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  30. My husband had a terrible habit of leaving the back door ajar. Imagine my cat's outrage when one of the ferals padded right into our kitchen. The fecal material hit the rotary oscillator as they say. My cat didn't stop voicing her outrage for quite a long time after the other cat had fled.

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  31. My memory is pretty poor already. If I had a TBI, I'd probably just about remember my own name. Heaven forbid!

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  32. oh yes, my Emma cat has taken to following me around like the dog and she's hard to see in the middle of the night when I get up to pee or I'm carrying something. so sometimes I shuffle along, hard to trip when you don't pick up your feet. it's the dog here that goes nuts when that gray cat is padding about. how the hell does Minnie know?

    it has rained most the day today but has cleared up now as the sun is going down so I hope to see the near conjunction tonight.

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  33. What a great idea those bamboo toothbrushes are. I do feel rather guilty whenever I change my toothbrushes. I shall look into those bamboo toothbrushes. Thank you, Joanne.

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