The swelling has gone down a bit, I think, as last night I felt my foot was bursting out of the back slab cast. A day of lazying. Nothing intellectual, just being grateful for my body's healing power and the wonderful teams at the hospital.
01/12 Sunday
I can allow myself to start thinking about Xmas. Feel more legit now.
03/12 Tuesday
Many people think I would get bored by resting at home. I really wonder why?
Finally I have the time and space to read the books I always want in one go, not just a few pages before sleeping. And I still intend to keep up with my French. I need more disciplines for this. I shall use this forum to remind myself. And, of course, there are some drama series I've bookmarked for so long that I finally have time to watch it.
I start the day by reading my chosen book (only a few chapters left now). Pause for a mini lunch. Do some emails/admins/news reading. Start my French in the afternoon. If I get tired afterwards, I rest for one hour. Then the night falls. Dinner (prepared by hubby these days) and some unwinding for both of us. Then it's the drama time. Sometimes I may read more just before going to the bed, if I am in the middle of highly irresistible part of the book.
I am quite pleased with the routine so far and it works reasonably well.
08/12/2019 Sunday
2:30am
Recently I have had problems sleeping during the night because of the cast leg position. It seems every night I need to find a different position to alleviate the build-up pressure from the leg. The leg or rather the foot firstly starts to feel very warm. I feel lots of blood has been trapped at the foot so I raise my leg up in the air for a while and lower down. I have to do this many times over while readjusting the support pillows many times over too.
It's exhausting as it can take hours before I find a decent position to sleep again.
09/12/2019 Monday
4:30am
Last night was a better night of sleep than the previous. It seemed that positioning my cast leg near the edge of the bed prevents the pressure build-up at the heel. With just a pillow underneath the calf, the edge of the bed seems to support the ankle/heel sufficiently without making me feeling uncomfortable. Let's hope that my leg likes this position for the next few days.
8:30am
Morning, feeling relatively refreshed, certainly more than previous days.
I finished ''Becoming'' yesterday. Such an inspiration book, feeling truly honest, straight from the heart and full of hope. This is the kind of book which I want to read it again and again.
Today I shall start ''Matisse, the life''. I always like Matisse but it's only after seeing a documentary about his later life which elevates him to another level for me. He spent lots of time in bed due to illness when at an older age. But that didn't curtail any desire to create and creativity. No longer being able to use brushes and paints, Matisse used scissors and color papers instead. He generated a series of wonderfully joyful and remarkable cut-outs. I can feel he's pouring over his passion and every last zest of life onto those cut-outs. I also realize that when you want something badly, you find a way to do it, irrespective of the circumstances. That, for me, is the meaning of living a meaningful life.
11/12/2019 Wednesday
I slept through the night!! Possibly the first since I became NWB. The first half hour was a bit hard as I was trying to find a perfect cast leg position again, although now just with fine nuances. After that, I woke up around 6:30am. I think not having extra liquid in the afternoon (no warm tea then) also helped as it prevents the need to go to the loo.
Ecstatic!
12/12/2019 Thursday
Election day.
In a deeply divisive and polarised society, there is little choice for moderate voters. I still hope to perform my civic duty despite having one leg functional.
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Yes, I voted.
13/12/2019 Friday
Friday, the 13th.
I don't know what to say about the election results. Despite people say this election is not about B*t, the results clearly suggested otherwise. Looks like we are stuck with BJ for a while.
Despite all that, this week we continue our warming exercises with Christmas roasts. Last week we tried roast duck, served the chinese way with pancakes, cucumber sticks, green onion slices and hoisin sauce. A simple and elegant dinner and everyone had fun.
Today, it's the turkey. I am usually not a fan of turkey but this "basted" turkey crown from ASDA changed my view. When I opened the packet, I couldn't see where the basting mix was. The turkey skin was clean and nicely dry already, no extra pouches to remove/open, no sign of smeared mix anywhere on the turkey. I did notice the tiny holes regularly dotted on the turkey breast. I figured that might be it? I followed the roasting instruction and served with roasted sweet potatoes and homemade cranberry sauce. When we bit into it, wow, the meat was juicy and actually had some taste. And the skin was well grilled and crispy. Everyone agreed at the table, no discussion. This is a tasty turkey, the nicest I've ever done.
