I’ve had a busy week. Monday was quiet, but Tuesday and Wednesday I spent at my aunt and

THIS IS EMMA, the newest member of our little cat family. She's about four months old and joins 2-year-old Kitty-Kitty and 14-year-old PIB here at Mom's place.

uncle’s place, making breakfasts and dinners and preparing several freezable meals ahead. Yesterday I headed out early in the morning with Mr Wren to the VA medical center, where he got an epidural injection for pain from a bulging disk in his back. While he was being seen, I went to the lab for my every-six-weeks blood draw. By the time I see my rheumatologist next month, he’ll have the results. With luck my liver function will still be normal, but I expect he’ll see an increased sedimentation rate, indicating more body-wide inflammation. It will, I hope, back me up when I tell him I’ve had quite a lot more pain since I saw him last. A good deal of that pain is from the bursitis, of course…

When they finished with Mr Wren, we went out to breakfast. It was nice, spending that time with him. Then we tackled Costco. By the time we transferred all the groceries from my car to his pickup, we said good-bye and he headed back to our house up the mountain, I was about ready to drop. I flopped into the recliner here in Mom’s living room, both hips aching from the !*@#! bursitis and the joints in my hands, elbows and knees aching and twinging from the even more !*@#! rheuma. I caved and swallowed pain meds. Then I rested for a while.

I got up this morning still aching with the bursitis, but the RA has quieted down. Thank the gods for small favors. I took my usual RA meds and the painkillers again, ate some yogurt so my stomach would behave, got a cup of coffee and settled once again into the recliner with my laptop. Ahhhhhhh…

“Let’s get out of the house today,” Mom said as she came downstairs. “Let’s go do something.”

I covered my dismay with a smile and said OK. It’s terrific that she’s feeling well enough to want to go out. And I have to remember that while I’ve been busy and away from home during the days this week, she’s been home alone with no one but the cats for company. She wasn’t stuck in the house, though. She took herself to the bank and the grocery store, where she bought herself ice cream bars and some cookies. Yesterday she had her hair trimmed and styled. And after she’d napped and I’d rested for a while yesterday afternoon, we went out for an early dinner at the local Chinese restaurant.

Still, she gets bored. Her overall health is up and down these days, so if she’s feeling good and isn’t in much pain from the sciatica, it’s good to give her a change in scenery.

In a little while, we’ll take off for a couple of hours. Maybe we’ll get some lunch somewhere (so much for my diet…) and do a little shopping. Mom loves to shop at Ross and Marshall’s. Then we’ll stop at Target on the way home so I can pick up a few groceries that will help me at least maintain my weight: lowfat yogurt for smoothies, whole grain bread, lots of fresh vegetables.

Later this afternoon we’ll be home and I can rest again. It’s good to be up and about, really. I shouldn’t complain. It’s just that the continuous bursitis ache in my hips wears me down, as does the sneaky pain (and the inexplicable fatigue) from the rheuma. But I like being able to do anyway. Neener-neener-neener–take that, ugly pain. Begone!

Here’s wishing you all a terrific weekend. If it’s hot where you live, I wish you cool relief. Thanks for dropping by.