Post by MammaMel on Apr 19, 2024 11:31:16 GMT -6
The last 2 weeks have been a bit of a whirl.
First Tuesday my doc decided I needed more bp meds. They were worried and asked me at least 5 times if I had a headache. By the 3rd time I bit my tongue not to reply, I have one now. She also asked if I had any issues with swelling. No, unless I am on my feet way too long and my shoes are too tight.
She chose amlodipine.
I tried telling her my normal readings are not as high as what happens in her office. She wouldn’t listen.
My normal is in the 110s- 130s /80s low 90s.
In her office it was 190/100.
Fine so that was Tuesday and I began taking it that Friday. The next morning I woke up feeling like I had gone 10 rounds with Ali and gotten a concussion. I was dizzy to the point of nausea. My stomach hurt, not stomach ache. More like it had been used as a punching bag.
We had an agenda that day. We were looking for a new truck. My Durango is great, it is also 24 years old and mildly showing its age.
To be fair MJ was pushing for new. I was not. I had a budget and I planned to stick with it. This was to be a cash purchase and I was NOT burning every cent I had on 1 thing.
We test drove a Ford Explorer on Tuesday and were not impressed. Especially since the guy wanted more than blue book for it. It was 2014 not valued at close to $12k.
We looked at a Ford Escape. The salesdude had to charge it because it would not start. I had been praying and this car gave me no peace. MJ really pushed me to buy this one and I flatly refused. It was a tin can and I felt squished in the passenger seat. I told him I am not taking a trip in this thing. (More on that later)
We went out Saturday with me feeling very off. I felt awful and everything was hurting by this point in the day.
We drove a 2018 Flex, it would be fine for MJ but way to big for me. (He said this was my anniversary gift and he was taking over the Durango. Mind you I have not driven other than to church, in 4 years). So it has to be something I can handle.
We sat in a bunch of cars. Some were just too small for him or us both. Me alone might have been fine. We were choosy because a lot of them were salvage title cars, with obvious damage. We sat in a Dodge Journey he wrote off due to a crack at the bottom of the windshield.
We head back to Bessie (I name all my vehicles Bessie in honor of my mom’s 65 Impala) After we get in MJ notices his phone is gone. He left it in a vehicle. So he sends me off to look in all the vehicles we sat in. I couldn’t find it so he goes. He was talking to the sales guy/mechanic.
The guy asked me did we sit in the pretty red Dodge. My Durango is a (used to be pretty) red Dodge. I didn’t remember if we had. So MJ comes back, bummed, he couldn’t find his phone either. He agrees to go look at the red dodge because he is hoping they find his phone and I WANTED to go try the pretty red Dodge.
We get in and yes we had sat in it, it was the cracked one. The crack is from hail damage and is along the very bottom and not in line of sight.
He starts it, it comes to life, but quietly. The Journey is demur, not a here I come rumble like the Durango. He decides, after seeing all the bells and whistles, like navigation, back up camera, Bluetooth oh and key less ignition to test drive it. I even drove it, around an empty parking lot, but I even backed it up.
So we decide yes this is the truck for us.
Back to the dealer we went. I had my price, I even upped it a bit. My goal was $9K. After TT&L it would be $10,500. Which is exactly what we paid! Now i have Bessie 1 and Bessie 2. Both Dodges!
I had been praying for God to give me peace on a vehicle. He hid MJ’s phone so we had to stick around until we woke up to the Journey. I felt instantly at ease in it.
Sunday I was still dizzy and feeling like a boxers punching bag, plus I could not look down with out starting to fall over. (I held on to pews at church to keep my balance.) This went on for a week. BTW my bp never went down to my normal readings. It went up. Friday when I took my bp and it was 151/107 I said enough, I feel like garbage and I am not taking this drug anymore. I looked it up and everything but the raised bp, was a known side effect. That afternoon when I got home my feet were so swollen, my shoes left (sandals) imprints for hours. Saturday my bp was 112/82 and Sunday, 107.81. Normal readings for me.
Today, Friday, marks my first day of vacation. I have had a day off here and there but this is 4 straight days of no phone, no office. I even set my email to an away message, for the first time ever! I have not been out of town since I began this job, 3 years ago. The last trips we took were for MJ to have his fistula put in. 4-5 years ago.
Here is the rest of my plan. A year ago my boss removed from a house a new A/C unit. An all in one heat pump system. The man wanted to upgrade to a 5-Ton. My boss saved this new 3.5-Ton unit… for me! He has always hated my set up. Heat on the roof, A/C on the patio. He has wanted me to upgrade. My unit is over 20 years old and takes the old R-22 which we can not use anymore. The new one will use the legal 410-A I think he calls it. Might be R10-A
So with part of my savings I wrote him a check to replace my mismatched stuff with 1 package unit that will do it all, on my roof. They are building a new frame for it because they do not like what is up there. They will remove the old one frm the patio, pad and all and we will have more space when we put the pool up.
Finally… Since MJ and I are celebrating 40 years of marriage this year, I also planned a getaway, to Fredericksburg! It's not a huge trip but still not home. Indoor pool, new eateries, shops and 2 museums. 1 for me (Pioneer) 1 for him, The Museum of the Pacific War aka the Nimitz. Plus Dogologie, a dog specific pet store where I hope to find something special for Katie and her friend, my neighbor's dog, Bailey.
Today began with a mini shopping spree at Walmart. He found some shorts and tees there he liked and bought a couple. I bought him more today so he has 5 days of new clothes. (we will only be gone 2). I got 2 new nighties. I have bought a few new dresses this year. I got my hair and nails done. My hair is, for the first time in decades, short. Everyone loves it and says I look younger and it is cute… even my boss and that is not a guy thing. His wife is a hair dresser though so he does notice. I even got a body wave. It seems to bring out the grey though so I might, next month for my birthday, get it colored a bit.
Now I need to alter my new bras. I do NOT like the straps, and their plastic fittings dig into my shoulders. So I am cutting the fittings out and sewing the strap the length I want and going on about life with no gouging.
If you read this novel, I hope it made you smile or at least smirk!
Have a blessed day ladies!