Basking in Immediatelessness

Aside from the fact that we had plans to be in Southern California this week, we have no place in particular to be and nothing in particular to do. I'm sure we'll find causes and tasks and challenges, but so far retirement has been just doing what we feel like doing. Oh, and putting the stuff in the RV away.

Here's a picture from the process:

   

It gets a bit better every day, and we've already made a trip to Goodwill to get rid of stuff. Downsizing is actually pretty fun when you get going....Of course it would help if the big slide could open and if we were both taller. Some of the cupboards are up there. Well, and I accidentally dropped the little step stool back behind a recliner in the slide and can't reach it. 

Speaking of short people, over the past year (since we got rid of both cars and bought the truck) I've been pretty much stuck at home most of the time. I've only gone out in the truck three or four times a week. That's pretty much fine with me, but it created a problem last week.

In one day, I climbed in and out of our huge Ram 250 EIGHTEEN times. That's EIGHTEEN times up and EIGHTEEN times down. For some of you, that is nothing. But remember this: short people. To get in, I have to stand on the running board, which is almost waist high (well, maybe knee high, but still too high) grab hold of what I'm pretty sure is the sissy bar, and hoist my not inconsiderable girth up until I can get both feet on the running board.  (Did I mention that rainy night, and the big rock that I couldn't see? The running board on my side is a little smashed which makes all of this more difficult.)

Once I'm on the running board, I still have to turn around so that I can fold into the seat the right way. Trust me. Not easy. Oh, sure, if you're tall, or young, or limber. But upper middle-aged, fat, and fibro-y does not make this an easy task.  Now multiply by EIGHTEEN.

Then, to get out, I have to believe that the ground is really there. Since I've never been too sure about gravity (and made an appointment with the school priest when I was in third grade to discuss the matter), and I wonder if things exist if I'm not there to observe them, every time I get out of the truck I have to slide cautiously down the seat until I run into the ground. Sometimes I actually run into the ground and that doesn't work well with torn ligaments in my ankle. Old news. Go read some posts from last year. Or do you think I had a cast on my leg for eight months just to get attention? Another reason I don't drive much.

So, doing this EIGHTEEN times in one day left me with some very sore muscles. So sore I could barely move. In fact, I was beginning to worry that my walking days were over. Breathe easy. I'm okay. But I sure wasn't.

What I learned: I still have fibromyalgia even though I've pretty much retired from everything else. I'm still short. Lifting my body in and out of a truck should only be done three or four times a day. Fibro still sucks, still causes extreme pain, and still prevents me from being as active as I'd like to be.