The Three R's

 

The three R's? Reading, Writing, and Arithmetic? Only one of them begins with R which makes me question the education and intelligence of the person who coined this phrase...

My three R's: Rest. Relaxation. Recouperation.

August has been a busy month for me. Don't get me wrong! I love being busy and productive with a variety of projects on my list. I save so much for summer because it's when the weather is warm. It's impossible to paint in freezing temperatures or dig in the garden during a monsoon. This is my time of the year to get things done.


Summer is also when my fatigue kicks in so nearly every day between 2pm and 5pm I collapse. As usual, I have no idea why this happens. Why only in the afternoon and why only in the spring and summer? It's not Hashimoto's or any number of health issues I've had tested. I've totally re-structured my diet hoping for some answsers and nothing has helped. It's a mystery.


For instance, riding a bike is difficult due to the stamina required, but hauling a truck-load of beauty bark is do-able. Hiking is also challenging because one needs to maintain a level of energy for a period of time, but digging all the grass out of my front yard is fine. Reading can exhaust me, but mixing and pouring nine bags of 60 lb. concrete doesn't faze me. I wish I understood the reasoning behind this and what is causing the fatigue, but I'm at a loss. Activities that require stamina are out, short-term strenuous projects are in. Even with the fatigue I keep busy.


In addition to the loading beauty bark, removing lawn and making a concrete step, I spent August scraping paint off my roof eaves, supervising numerous construction workers (both competent and incompetent types - the idiots are much more work and stress, of course), moving heavy items and packing boxes for a garage sale, cleaning and painting the inside of my garage, building a succulent picture frame, re-designing some garden beds, ongoing gardening which includes weeding, cutting, trimming, and digging, and picking and freezing berries.


Nine bags of 60 lb. concrete for this tiny step!

Last, but not least, I washed my kitchen/laundry/bathroom/mud room tile floor which is about 60 square feet of white porcelain.  This is a project I do twice a year in the spring and in the fall. In between these major washing events, I spot clean and wipe spills, but this twice a year sterilization involves taking everything out of these rooms, scrubbing the floor on my hands and knees with Planet Ultra Dishwashing Liquid the all-purpose miracle soap and a dash of peppermint oil, rinsing with a mop, rinsing with a wet towel, drying with a white towel, and this year, re-sealing the grout which involves spraying the sealer and polishing it off.

THEN I put it all back together, hauling the furniture back in place which includes two sets of tables and chairs, two chairs, a step ladder, two cases of Planet Dishwashing Detergent, an ironing board, a drying rack, ten pairs of shoes, a shelf with books, three laundry hampers and five rugs. While I'm scrubbing the floor the rugs are in the washing machine and then hung to dry.

As I'm scrubbing, I imagine myself a novice in a nunnery suffering greatly for all the sins I have committed...too bad the miracle soap doesn't miraculously make the bruises on my knees disappear.

Sparkly clean!

It takes about five hours so as you can imagine with my fatigue issues I must time it right and try to find a day when I'm feeling uncommonly energetic and not swamped with other commitments. This year I missed the spring wash, but it was finally crossed off my to-do list a week ago. And it was haunting me the whole time. Not much worse than looking at a dirty, grimy floor...of WHITE tiles. Once they are clean they shine so beautifully it makes me not want to walk on the floor!


On top of all that, I work at a computer all day mousing, flipping screens and typing.

Needless to say, I am in PAIN. From the tips of my fingers to my shoulders my arms feel like they are being ripped off. Like I have pulled every muscle. Typing is excruciating. Lifting a glass of water makes me wince. Moving anything makes me whimper. Peter is lucky he's getting fed due to the weight of his feed dishes. I've overworked my appendages. About a week ago my whole body including my legs felt the same way from going up and down ladders for three days in a row, but thankfully the leg pain went away. Computer work and typing aggravates the arms making it worse.

Never used to be like this. When I first moved into this house I assumed all the work I'd be doing on it would build muscle, stamina and make me strong. Nope, pain and exhaustion. The last time I had this same pain was when I re-roofed my garage five years ago and all that hammering was crippling. At that time I vowed I wouldn't be doing anymore huge projects as it's too risky since it effects my employment. Who would have known all these little projects would create such paralyzing pain?  A few days ago I was typing with my right hand's index finger which is just a little less painful than my left. Needless to say, work is slow and now I'm avoiding my computer much to the dismay of my disappearing income.

So I'm trying very hard to Relax, Rest, and Recouperate. It drives me nuts to try to do nothing when I can see all the projects I still need to finish before the bad weather arrives. Watering the garden is even painful. The remedy: an ocean adventure! At the ocean I don't have to look at the projects not getting done, I can admire the scenery and breathe in the fresh air.