Where is my watch?

I never realized how important our thumbs are until I temporarily lost the use of one of them.  Thumbs are vital!  Think about it; if we didn't have thumbs, how could we text each?  How could we hold our eating utensils?   Horrifying!  About seven years ago, I noticed that the joint at the bottom of my right thumb had grown a huge bump; it was a bone spur.  It wasn't particularly painful, just ugly and deformed.  I went to a hand surgeon.  At his office, an x-ray confirmed that I had osteoarthritis.  Weird, especially since I am left-handed, and, at that point, I was still sort of young.  I asked the doctor about treatment.  "There's surgery, but we can try a cortisone shot and see if that helps," he said.  I asked if the shot would hurt.  "It won't hurt me," he replied.  Ha ha, what a smart ass. The damned shot hurt like hell, and the thumb lump laughed at its impotence.  So, surgery; I trusted this ...

In my previous post, I discussed my plans for Dry January.  I was successful in avoiding alcohol until Friday, January 24, the first day of our Mother/Daughter Weekend.  The four of us were staying in a lovely resort that had a good selection of restaurants on site.  On Friday afternoon, we enjoyed lunch at a low key place that had an enticing selection of cocktails.  So, yes, after more than three alcohol free weeks, I had a drink.  It wasn't a really strong drink; it was one of those froufrou cocktails with more mixers than booze...but, it was good!   After lunch, we went back to our room to catch up on everything.  We hadn't been together for a few years, so there was a lot to discuss.  Eventually, it was time to explore, so off we went to another bar/restaurant.   Unlike our lunch place, this was definitely more bar than restaurant.  Fine by me!  As I've written in a previous blog, I LOVE bars.  They remind me o...

Sometimes I worry that I consume more alcohol than I should.  As I have mentioned before in my blog, there is a lot of alcoholism in my family.  So, I worry.  Worrying is one thing; doing something about one's concerns is another. I decided to try this Dry January thing.  It was much easier than I expected.  Part of that is because I am nowhere near as stressed or busy as I was before I retired.  When I was working, there were days when I would call my husband on the way home from work and warn him that I needed a martini stat when I got home.   When I told my daughter about Dry January, she said, "But Mom, MOTHER/DAUGHTER WEEKEND!!!!!   Just like that:   MOTHER/DAUGHTER WEEKEND!!!!!   Yes, we had been planning a Mother/Daughter weekend with our dear friends from Maryland and we had decided that January 24 through 27 would work for all of us.  My daughter seemed genuinely horrified that I was planning to stay sober....

I admit that I don't understand every nuance of football.  I don't know how my husband spots all those penalties before the referee announces them; I don't get why these guys are paid millions of dollars even though they don't last through the first game of the season (sorry, Nick Foles); and, aren't those skin tight pants uncomfortable? Don't even get me started on the mysteries of jock straps (I  really  don't  want to know...blech!). My parents were both football fans.  My father grew up in Pittsburgh, so he was loyal to the Steelers.  My mother supported the Eagles because we lived in the Philadelphia area.  She loved the kickoff, and got really upset if she missed it.  I remember my parents watching football on television as they drank their martinis (gin and extra dry vermouth with olives or cocktail onions) and/or Manhattans (bourbon and sweet red vermouth with maraschino cherries).  Apparently, watching football games requires ...

I am guilty of envy.  I envy people around me.  I envy their homes, their relationships, their intelligence, their youth, their good looks, their accomplishments, their...well, you get it.  It's a problem. Both of my children tell me at least some of the truth about my faults, maybe not all of my faults, but the obvious and troubling ones.  They have noticed my tendency to envy others.  While this stuff can be tough to hear, I am glad that they feel they can be honest with me.  God knows I would never say anything like that to my mother!!!  Dire consequences would ensue, people would suffer.  Nope.  I went through a phase where I really wanted a gazebo in my back yard.  Why?  Because somebody else had one.  Do I need a gazebo?  No.  My back yard is lovely and calming.  It is full of birds, bird baths, bird feeders, the occasional raccoon, stray cat, and lots of armadillos.  It brings me great joy....

One of the delusions I had about my retired self is that  suddenly  I would  want to exercise, like really crave it.  This is similar to the delusion I had about suddenly having the burning desire to clean my house.  Neither of these things has happened; shocking. Today I tried pickleball at the YMCA.  I do attend Pilates classes there twice a week (if I wake up in time...), and my more motivated husband plays tennis three times a week.  He's been retired much longer than I have, which explains the difference in our levels of motivation.    Anyway, he encouraged me to give pickleball a shot at the 9:30 a.m. session.  His tennis ends at 9, so he figured he and I could learn together.  There are so many reasons why this was NOT a good idea.  First, and honestly, most important, my husband takes medication for his heart.  I really do worry about him doing too much.  Second, the instructor told me after our session that...

I've been retired for almost six months.  Here are some random thoughts on my status thus far. I miss my colleagues!  I knew I would miss them, I just didn't realize how much a part of my life they had become.  I especially miss the laughter we shared.  Thank God for my WW meetings; my friends and I have lots of laughs there.  Also, I think I'm finally winning over some of the folks at my Pilates class, although a few of those ladies are really cranky.  I blame planking. (planky cranky!!!) I miss being called "Doctor McGlone."  Well, you know I worked long and hard on that damned PhD!!!  Outside of academia, the folks in my new world probably don't care too much about my doctoral status.  It meant a lot to me; I guess it still does. I took my awesome employee benefits for granted.  Health insurance is necessary and very costly.  If you have benefits, be grateful!!! Meetings: most were painful, some were bearable, and a few coul...