Sunday, 30 November 2014

I woke up fairly early this morning but with a headache and not feeling very good, so I didn't go out for a walk. After I had drunk some liquid and been up for a while, my sinuses drained some and I felt fine.

I went to my first physical therapy appointment this morning. First, the therapist asked lots of questions and recorded all the details about my shoulder injury and how I'm doing now. Then, she spent some time running an ultrasound wand over the area of the tear. She explained that this can help reduce the inflammation caused by the injury and may help to decrease pain and to increase the mobility of the joint. Nothing but surgery, however, can actually stitch the tear back together, but if the eventual mobility that I can gain through treatment is sufficient, I may be able to elect to skip the surgery. Finally, she did some fairly strong manual manipulation of the area which was slightly painful. She also told me that I need to put ice on the shoulder for 20 minutes each day, not because of pain but to help combat the inflammation. She was very nice and fluent in English (and she told me that she is also fluent in Dutch because she studied physical therapy in The Netherlands!).

We had lunch at Rachel today. David had the grilled cheese sandwich that he loves there, and I had a delicious mushroom quiche.

This afternoon and evening, we finally got someone to clean our house. His name is Baruch, and he is great and VERY thorough. He works fast and efficiently, but he still only managed to clean about 80%-90% of the living room because our place had gotten VERY dirty. He'll come again next Sunday to continue cleaning, and we plan to have him do maintenance cleaning regularly even after he has finished his thorough job on the entire apartment.

Shabbat, 29 November 2014

I woke up a bit late this morning and so only went for a short walk. Besides, it was a bit chilly out (I know, I know -- I'm spoiled!).

We had lunch today at Landwer Café, at Ice Park, with our friends Moshe and Barak.

The rest of the day, I mostly just goofed off and relaxed. I guess I just needed it.

Friday, 28 November 2014

Although I slept quite well, I got up too late this morning to take a regular walk. I did, of course, walk down to recycle the cardboard and buy challah just before breakfast.

I taught 5 units of Berlitz lessons today: 9:00-9:45, 10:00-11:30, and 11:30-1:00.

We had lunch at Il Pentolino today. David tried a mushroom sauce that he hadn't had before, and he liked it.

After lunch, we went for a drive around the short loop.

By the time we got back, it was time, so we lit candles, drank wine, and ate challah to welcome Shabbat.

שבת שלום
Shabbat Shalom

Thursday, 27 November 2014

I started to get up to go for a walk this morning, but I had some bad cramps in my foot and leg, so I lay back down for a while and didn't go out after all.

I made a quick trip down to the vet's this morning to get more of the special diet cat food since our supply was running a bit low. It turned out that the bag they had received for us had broken open. They had put the whole thing in a big black trash bag, and the food was actually still in the broken bag anyway. So, they gave it to me for free! It was no problem for me since I had saved an empty bag from before and was able to simply transfer the food into it.

I taught 12 units (9 hours!) of Berlitz lessons today: 10:00-11:30, 11:30-1:00, 2:30-4:00, 4:00-5:30, 5:30-7:00, and 7:00-8:30.

We ate leftover pizza from yesterday's lunch for lunch today. I heated it in the toaster oven, which is better than the microwave.

Wednesday, 26 November 2014

I slept well last night but woke up too late to go out for a walk this morning.

I was scheduled to teach 11 units (8 hours and 15 minutes) today, but one student (2 units) was a no-show: 9:00-10:30, 10:30-12:00 (the no-show), 12:00-1:30, 3:30-5:00, 5:00-6:30, and 7:00-7:45.

I ordered pizza for us to eat at home for lunch today.

Tuesday, 25 November 2014

I slept quite well and got in a 52-minute walk this morning. I wore shoes and socks (instead of sandals) for the first time in months, but it really wasn't cold out.

As usual, I enjoyed the weekly English-speakers' meeting at WIZO this morning.

For lunch, I ordered food from Buddha Burgers and then drove down there and picked it up and brought it home.

I taught 7 units of Berlitz lessons today: 2:30-4:00, 4:00-5:30, 5:45-7:15, and 7:15-8:00.

Monday, 24 November 2014

I had to get up 2 or 3 times to help David last night (to get to the bathroom or to test his blood sugar), but I generally got back to sleep pretty quickly. I did wake up too late to go for a walk this morning, though, but that may not be such a bad thing considering what happened on yesterday's walk!

I  was scheduled to teach 12 units of Berlitz lessons, but two 2-unit lessons turned out to be no-shows: 9:00-10:30, 10:30-12:00, 12:00-1:30, 2:30-4:00 (a no-show), 4:00-5:30, and 5:45-7:15 (the other no-show).

For lunch, we had vegetarian weenies, bread, and French fries at home.

Sunday, 23 November 2014

I slept well last night, got up early, and set out for a long walk. But as I was coming up the sidewalk in the green strip, I tripped on some small irregularity in the pavement and fell. This caused minor abrasions on my knee and arm, some pain in my left wrist, and quite intense pain in my shoulders, although I don't think it actually re-injured the right shoulder. I tried to continue walking, but aborted somewhat short of the distance I had intended because of the pain. When I got home, I took pain medicine (optalgin), of course, but the pain was strong whether I sat at my desk, sat in my comfortable living room chair, or lay in bed. Finally, the medicine began to work, and I felt better. But I've continued to have some pain all day and have felt quite tired.

In the morning, I ran several errands, including a trip to the optometrist to complain about my new glasses (he convinced me to keep trying them for one more week) and the weekly grocery shopping at Shufersal.

We really didn't eat a regular lunch today at all -- just random food at home.

In the late afternoon, we went to the dentist at Maccabi to see what they could do about David's teeth. But since the problems are all with the plates (not his actual real teeth), they referred us to a dental technician, whom we haven't yet called. After that, we drove over to Breishit (the health-food store) and bought some dried beans.

Shabbat, 22 November 2014

I woke up early this morning and got in a 55-minute walk. It was very nice out!

For most of the day, I was quite lazy and got almost nothing done -- hey, it was Shabbat!

We went to lunch with our friend, Moshe, today at the Gulf Restaurant. We went up to his apartment to pick him out so that we could also see his cute white kitten. I think she's already TWICE as big as when I last saw, which wasn't that long ago. And she's BEAUTIFUL!

In the evening, I watched one of the videos for my class on iPhone programming, but I didn't follow along writing the code with him. I plan to watch it again later and do that at some point.

Friday, 21 November 2014

I had trouble sleeping for part of the night last night, at least partly due to nasal/sinus problems, so I go up quite late and didn't go out walking. I did walk down to recycle cardboard and buy challah before breakfast, though.

I was scheduled to teach 5 units of Berlitz lessons today but ended up only actually teaching the very first 1-unit class (although I get paid for all 5 units): 9:00-9:45, 9:45-11:15 (a late cancellation), and 11:30-1:00 (a no-show).

We ate lunch very late today, and I just fixed some quick food at home, including heating up some leftovers from last week.

As the last rays of the sun were illuminating our beautiful valley, we lit candles, drank wine, and ate a bit of challah to welcome Shabbat.

לכה דודי לקראת כלה, פני שבת נקבלה
"Come, my beloved, to great the Bride; let us welcome Shabbat"

Thursday, 20 November 2014

I got up early this morning and walked for more than 50 minutes.

I taught 10 units of Berlitz lessons today: 10:00-11:30, 11:30-1:00, 2:30-4:00, 5:30-7:00, and 7:00-8:30.

For lunch, I went to Rachel and brought food home from there.

Wednesday, 19 November 2014

I woke up quite early but with a headache and not feeling quite right. Nevertheless, I went out for a 36-minute walk and actually felt somewhat better. I took some Optalgin, and the headache gradually went away.

I taught 10 units of Berlitz lessons today, although one lesson ended up having to be canceled because the student's microphone wasn't working and she didn't have another one.

We went to the falafel stand downtown for lunch today.

Tuesday, 18 November 2014

I woke up early and got in a 45-minute walk this morning, which was very nice.

I picked up my new glasses this morning. They seemed okay until I began working in the afternoon, when I discovered that I have trouble seeing the computer screen, something that NEVER happened with my old ones. Now I'm going to have to go back there and try to get them changed, but I won't be able to do it until Sunday. This is NOT good, because they cost over 3000 shekels (although Maccabi paid 1000 of that)!

I enjoyed the weekly English speakers' meeting at WIZO this morning.

For lunch, I went to Café Café at Ice Park and brought food home for us.

I taught 7 units of Berlitz lessons today: 2:30-4:00, 4:00-5:30, 5:45-7:15, and 7:45-8:30.

Monday, 17 November 2014

I woke up early enough this morning for a walk that lasted about 48 minutes, including a few places I hadn't quite walked before.

I taught 12 units (9 hours!) of Berlitz lessons today, with no cancellations or no-shows: 9:00-10:30, 12:00-1:30, 2:30-4:00, 4:00-5:30, 5:30-7:00, and 7:00-8:30.

I ordered food from Chooka delivered here for us to eat lunch at home.

Sunday, 16 November 2014

I slept well but long last night and was surprised to see that it was already light when I opened my eyes. In fact, I got up too late to go out for a walk.

In the morning, I did the weekly grocery shopping at Shufersal.

We ate leftovers at home for lunch.

I picked up a few things at the pharmacy in the afternoon.

At 5:00, David had a regular check-up with the ophthalmologist, who says that his eyes are fine. He also told us what number of reading glasses would work best for David, so I bought a pair at the pharmacy for him.

After that, we drove over to Ice Park Mall for frozen yogurt.

Shabbat, 15 November 2014 - my 62nd birthday!

I slept quite well last night and had a wonderful walk this morning in the area south-southeast of us where they are building many beautiful houses and apartments. I walked for nearly an hour total!

Most of the day, I just relaxed and goofed off. For lunch, I drove down to the old mall (by the sea) and picked up pad-thai for us to eat at home. I also had a big piece of my yummy vegan cheesecake (and another big piece in the evening, too!).

I really enjoyed the WIZO English-speakers' book exchange at Fay's house. I chatted with several people including one Swedish guy from Lapland who still lives there most of the year in the house where he grew up. But he and his wife (who is from South Africa) also spend some time each year here in Eilat!

Friday, 14 November 2014

I fell asleep quickly as night but didn't sleep very long before I was awakened by a bad cramp in my left calf. Later, there were a few more cramps, I had some problems with heartburn, and I felt too hot even though the air seemed cold and even though I put the blanket completely off me. Anyway, it kept me awake for quite some time, and so I really didn't get quite enough sleep. I didn't go out for a walk as usual, but I did leave a little earlier to recycle cardboard and get challah. I took the cardboard to a recycling bin that's further away and in a bit different direction.

I taught 5 units of Berlitz lesson today: 9:00-10:30, 10:30-11:15, and 11:30-1:00.

Then we went to David's appointment with his psychiatrist, and after that we had a delicious lunch at Buddha Burgers. I also picked up a whole vegan cheesecake that I had ordered a few days ago. It's David's gift to me to help me celebrate my birthday tomorrow!

In the evening, a few minutes later than we really were supposed to, we welcomed the Shabbat by lighting candles, drinking wine, and eating a bit of challah.

זכור את-יום השבת לקדשו

ששת ימים תעבוד ועשית כל-מלאכתך

ויום השביעי שבת ליי אלוהיך לא-תעשה כל-מלאכה אתה ובנך ובתך עבדך ואמתך ובהמתך וגרך אשר בשעריך

כי ששת-ימים עשה יי את-השמים ואת-הארץ את-הים ואת-כל-אשר-בם וינח ביום השביעי על-כם ברך יי את-יום השבת ויקשהו

Remember the day of Shabbat to make it holy.

Six days you will do all your work.

And the seventh day is a Shabbat to Adonai your G-d -- don't do all your work, you and your son and your daughter and your manservant and your maidservant and your farm animals and the converts that are within your gates.

Because in six days Adonai made the sky and the land, the sea and all that is in them and rested on the seventh day and therefore blessed the day of Shabbat and made it holy.

[my more or less literal translations of the commandment in Exodus 20 -- this original is above it, sans pointing, which is too much of a pain to type -- LOL]

Thursday, 13 November 2014

I slept well last night and again got up in time for a great morning walk. This time, I did something similar to yesterday, but I walked further down the hill and was even more amazed by the amount of construction that's going on.

I taught only 8 units of Berlitz lessons today: 10:00-11:30, 11:30-1:00, 2:30-4:00, and 5:00-6:30.

I prepared food for lunch at home today since David didn't feel like going out.

In the evening, I had the second appointment with the orthopedist regarding my shoulder, and he injected the medicine that he had prescribed at my last visit (2 weeks ago) and that I had bought at the pharmacy. It only hurt just a little bit. However, he seems to think now that there's a good chance that I may have to have surgery, which isn't particularly good news. First, though, we'll be trying physical therapy, for which I have an appointment on the 23rd of this month.

Wednesday, 12 November 2014

I slept well again last night and got up early enough for a nice walk. I decided, though, to go a different direction so that I would be going against the chilly breeze on my way BACK rather than at the beginning of the walk. This worked very well, and I also enjoyed seeing all the new buildings and construction that are happening south and southwest of us. Eilat is still really booming!

I taught 11 units of Berlitz lessons today: 9:00-10:30, 10:30-12:00, 12:00-1:30, 2:30-4:00, 5:00-6:30, and 7:00-7:45.

We ate pizza from yesterday for lunch today. I heated it in the toaster oven instead of the microwave, and it was noticeably better that way.

Tuesday, 11 November 2014

I slept well last night and got up in time for good morning exercises -- walk and short work-out.

I enjoyed visiting with several people at the weekly WIZO English speakers' meeting this morning.

I ordered pizza delivered for us to eat at home for lunch today. We only ate half of the large pizza, so we'll probably eat the other half for lunch tomorrow.

I was scheduled to teach 6 units of Berlitz lessons today, but the first 2-unit lesson was a no-show because all the students are from France, and it's Armistice Day there: 2:30-4:00, 5:30-7:00, and 7:00-8:30.

Monday, 10 November 2014

The pianist who played the recital last night was Tatiana Rubina, an associate professor and "People's Artist of Russia" at the Moscow Conservatory, so it's not surprising that she was an absolute MASTER of the piano. Every key was struck with exactly the right force at exactly the right time to produce a very musical experience. Melodies and counter-melodies soared and ebbed precisely as they should. It was a true pleasure to watch and hear. Unfortunately, David was too tired to go, so I put him to bed and went by myself.

My sleep was somewhat spotty last night. In the end, I think I got enough, but I wasn't able to get up in time to go out for a walk.

I was scheduled for only 8 units of Berlitz lessons, and half of them, in fact, turned out to be no-shows: 10:30-12:00, 12:00-1:30, 4:00-5:30 (no-show), and 5:45-7:15 (also no-show).

I ordered food for lunch from Buddha Burgers and then drove down and picked it up. We ate at home.

Sunday, 9 November 2014

I slept well last night but woke up too late to go out for a walk this morning.

I got several tasks accomplished today, including paying the gas bill and going to the optometrist to get checked for new glasses and to order them. Afterwards, I continue to Shufersal to do the weekly grocery shopping.

We ate lunch today at Rachel. David had his usual grilled cheese and olives sandwich, and I tried one of their quiches, which was delicious.

In the afternoon, we drove to Ice Park for frozen yogurt and a walk around the mall.

Later this evening, we are going to a free piano at the Eilat Music Center. It should be nice.

Shabbat, 8 November 2014

I slept quite well last night and got in a nice walk to the gym this morning and a short work-out on the leg swing.

For most of the day, though, I had very little energy and got nothing done. However, towards evening I watched 2 or 3 of the videos from my Swift/iOS (iPhone and iPad programming) class online. It was actually petty cool, because he was showing us how to save data from our apps to an online database backend called "Parse".

We had lunch at Barbis, splitting a large order of onion rings and a veggie burger. Afterwards, we drove up the Arava as far as Samar and back again.

Friday, 7 November 2014

I slept pretty well last night but got up a bit late, so the only walk was down to the bakery to get challah for Shabbat.

I taught 5 units of Berlitz lessons this morning: 9:00-10:30, 10:30-11:15, and 11:30-1:00.

We had lunch at Greg Café today. I ate a sabich salad, and David ordered ravioli with mushroom cream sauce. However, he didn't like the ravioli, saying it was too starchy, so they do it back and didn't charge us for it, and he ordered a piece of chocolate cake instead.

Afterwards, we drove up the Arava as far as Samar and then returned.

As the light was about to fade in our lovely valley, we lit candles, drank wine, and ate challah to celebrate the arrival of Shabbat.

ושמרו בני ישראל את השבת

לעשות את השבת לדורותם ברית עולם

בני ובן ישראל אות היא לעולם

כי ששת ימים עשה יי את השמיים ואת הארץ

וביום השביעי שבת ויינפש

"And the children of Israel will keep the Sabbath

To make the Sabbath an eternal covenant for all their generations

Between Me and the children of Israel it is a sign

For in six day HaShem made the heavens and the earth

And on the seventh day rest and was refreshed"

Thursday, 6 November 2014

I slept somewhat erratically last night, but I woke up early, walked to the gym, and had a nice short work-out there. I don't dare go on most machines, though, for fear of further damaging my torn shoulder muscle.

Last night I discovered that I had used up all my Coldex pills, so this morning I made a quick trip to the pharmacy to get more.

I taught 12 units of Berlitz lessons today (9 hours!): 10:00-11:30, 11:30-1:00, 2:30-4:00, 4:00-5:30, 5:30-7:00, and 7:00-8:30. In fact, I'm still finishing the last class in the 6-hour afternoon marathon!

We went to Buddha Burgers for lunch today and had a nice meal.

Wednesday, 5 November 2014

I took both Arcoxia AND Optalgin last night (which the pharmacist had told me was okay to do), and I slept well with almost no pain at all. This morning, I got up fairly early and got in a nice walk to the gym and back.

I taught 11 units of Berlitz lesson today: 9:00-10:30, 10:30-12:00, 12:00-1:30, 3:30-5:00, 5:00-6:30, and 7:00-7:45.

I ordered food delivered from Chooka today for lunch. In a reversal of our usuals, David had sushi, and I had chiang mai.

One hundred and twenty years ago today (5 November 1894), in the town of Fort Benton, Montana, on the banks of the Missouri River, my father, Benton Wareham was born. His parents didn't actually live in the town but on a farm somewhere nearby. I've visited Fort Benton twice -- the first time with my parents when I was a child in the early 60's, and the second time, with David, in 2002.

Tuesday, 4 November 2014

I slept somewhat poorly last night, although in the end I think I got enough sleep. But I had trouble with aching and pain in my shoulder and arm, so I got up late and didn't get out for a walk.

This morning I really enjoyed the weekly English speakers' meeting at WIZO. A member who grew up in a small city in northeastern England spoke about her experiences there. It was very interesting.

We had veggie burgers for lunch at home today.

I taught 6 units of Berlitz lessons this afternoon and evening: 2:30-4:00, 4:00-5:30, and 6:00-7:30.

Monday, 3 November 2014

I had another night of good sleep and another great walk and work-out in the morning.

I taught 12 units (9 hours!) of Berlitz lessons today: 9:00-10:30, 10:30-12:00, 12:00-1:30, 2:30-4:00, 4:00-5:30, and 5:45-7:15.

We had lunch at home today, eating several leftover dishes.

Sunday, 2 November 2014

I took 2 optalgin pills last night and had a great night's sleep with no trouble at all from my shoulder, much to my surprise. I got up early, walked to the gym, went for a short time on the cross-trainer, and walked back home.

I had a productive morning this morning, getting many errands run and appointments made.

For lunch, I walked down to the local bakery (Shibolim) and got a grilled cheese sandwich for David and 4 burekas for me, which I brought back home for us to eat here.

I made some progress on my Swift/iOS programming class today, too.

Shabbat, 1 November 2014

Between shoulder pain and a stubborn sinus (the one that often has trouble draining), I had quite a bit of trouble sleeping well last night. I got up late and have continued to have unexplained shoulder pain off and on throughout the day. I hope this is not a new trend, but I fear that it might be.

I watched 2 or 3 video lectures from my Swift/iOS programming class today, but I didn't get much else done.

David didn't feel like getting up and going out for lunch today, so I ordered a single veggie burger and a large order of onion rings from Barbis delivered to our door.