Saturday, September 15, 2007

Weather change coming???

9/15/07 Saturday
Yesterday was one of those exceptional ones where I was not only sharp but I was running at a nine on the bob scale. When at this level I am approaching where I was at before the accident. Cherie tells me that she has a hard time keeping up when I’m like this. In my daydreams a day will come when this level of cognizance will be restored and I won’t have to endure the seesaw of mental agility I now suffer. A time when my joke “I am either the smartest dumb person or the dumbest smart person you will ever meet. It just depends on the moment you meet me” will no longer apply.

But yesterday was a great day. I ran to Midland to get the parts needed for the tiller. After that I went to Janie’s to check on Cherie. She had left her phone in the car so I was concerned when I got no answer to my calls. She was fine. She said she was going to go home and cook some chicken for dinner but I talked her into going out to eat. That wasn’t hard to do. We went to Logan’s Roadhouse, a place we have frequented some.

I ordered steak and Cherie had Mesquite grilled chicken with a peppercorn sauce that was really good. (Yeah, I always sneak a bite) Because we have enough cash to treat ourselves a bit we ordered dessert. They had something called “Nutter Butter” or something like that, that looked real good so we both ordered it. When it came it was an a little miniature pail that held maybe two tablespoons of stuff. I looked at it and my first thought was it was an appetizer before the real dessert. “What’s that?” I asked. The waiter said it was the Nutter Butter so I told him “That won’t work. Why don’t you get me the cheesecake” holding my hands out to indicate a larger size. The cheesecake was good.

This morning I woke after a restless night of dreams. My pain level is high and is in the bones so I wonder if there is a change of weather coming. It doesn’t look like it outside. Just a clear blue sky.

I encouraged Cherie to come take a walk with me. That is a routine I am working to establish. I strongly desire for Cherie to get healthy, to exercise so her heart and body are stronger in addition to the benefit of it clearing the mind and increasing the energy level. That will come in time as we develop good habits. Developing the habits is the hard part.

It’s always a fun time for the puppies when we do this. They run and run, back and forth under our feet and out again. Just watching them is a pleasure. I am touched by the loyalty, or whatever you call it, love, attachment? of Rascal. He lays on the floor next to me at night, lays down and snuggles close when I sit on the steps outside, and just lays down on my feet when I am standing still, all the while looking up at me. There is something in this that stirs a chord deep inside. This acceptance is something I have always longed for in life. I have it from Cherie, who puts up with a lot of my crap and loves me anyway. We are both beginning to feel accepted with the friends we have found in Steve and Janie as well as at First Baptist of Midland. Too bad is wasn’t evident closer to home.

So I will head into Midland to buy some necessary items needed around here. I am not as sharp as I was yesterday, running a seven on the bob scale. There is a headache and the pain level that makes walking not too much fun but I push through that till it gets real bad. Thank God for the pain medication. It helps me keep going. So go I will do. See ya next time I get to this laptop.
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I suppose that’s the way it goes. I had an exceptional day yesterday but today is pretty tough. The brain is working fine but I just plain hurt. I can’t think of anything physical I did yesterday to cause this. There are a lots of clouds that have rolled in and the wind is blowing pretty good so perhaps a change in the barometric pressure is behind this. I’ll have to catch the weather and check it out.

We went to Walmart where Cherie got make up and I picked up a gas can and some paint for the tiller. After that we went to Lowe’s. I picked up a chainsaw file that wasn’t made in China. It was made in Brazil so who knows what the quality will be. The first file I bought for the chain saw a few months back dulled before I made it halfway around the blade. Took that back right away and got another brand. It lasted a little longer but broke on me. I priced ten gauge Romex I need to run juice to the garage. That’s some expensive stuff. I only need thrity feet. Then we picked up the concrete sealer for the puppy room. I looked at concrete and mortar to get an idea what it cost. Thinking about building a grill with the stones that are all around here. Don’t have a clue what can handle the heat of a fire so carefully read the labels. All the bags of Quickcrete came premixed with sand and sometimes gravel in it. I came to the bags of Portland Cement and saw the suggested mix of sand and gravel. Hell, I’ve got seventy acres of sand out here and can get plenty of gravel so it just makes sense to get the Portland and mix it up myself. I read that Portland cement is what you put in the clay sand mix to make adobe bricks waterproof. So I think I can use this with the sandy soil out here and make a concrete that is similar in color to the ground. Will have to play with that, experiment till I find the right formula.

The bag of cement weighs ninty four pounds so I had to get some help loading it on the shopping cart and then on the truck. I had a hard time loading a case of Gatorade at Sam’s Club so the cement would have killed me. Just walking has been a chore. The bag is still on the truck and will stay there till I feel up to sliding it out onto the wheelbarrow. I’ll have to keep it in the garage so it doesn’t get wet.

We went to Sam’s next where Cherie picked up on the deals on big packages of meat and vegetables. I was about done for. Cherie suggested we grab a bite to eat so I asked her to make a decision on where. Cherie has a hard time making decisions and I wasn’t feeling good so I got pissed when she waffled around. It wasn’t a good scene. I apologized later. We ended up at Chick-Fil-A. The dweebs pack so much ice in a cup you only get a few swallows of pop. Next time I’ll order mine with no ice.

I was glad to get home. Unfortunately the puppies had pushed open the door to their room and had the run of the house while we were gone. Not good. Poop and piss all over the place. I took another pain pill and both Cherie and I are laying down.

5 comments:

i beati said...

Sounds like you are a barometer too. Nothing hidden in today's picture or am I slow today ?I love the Indian pictures though. They are so pensive. Bob, tickled that you treasure the little things like the pups running. Mine is 20 and can't anymore and I so treasure that time. Have a great week.

Amy E said...

Hi Bob! sorry you didn't have a good day. Just wanted to share with you a tip that I started using with our puppy. She's only a chihuaha, but she would somehow manage to get the door to the laundry room open, and leave little "presents" for us. I got a hook and eye latch, and put on the door, that way I can latch her inside, and she can't get out. Works great! It was .79 cents at the local True Value store.
Hope you have a better Sunday!

Love, Amy

Tricia said...

I studied the painting quite a while as well, and ended up deciding the 'gimmick,' if you will, is the fact that the Indian is looking up, watching the flock of birds take flight, and all we can see of that is in the reflection of the river.

Am I right? Am I right? Do I win a prize?

Bob Westbrook said...

You almost got it Tricia. Almost. Look again both of you and you will see that the reflection of the ground the Indian is sitting on is there but where his reflection should be you see the birds. This symbolizes how his spirit is soaring. The birds are him. Cool stuff huh?

Tricia said...

Oh yeah...very cool! I just thought he was a vampire. Ha!