Shopping, getting reacquainted, knee pain, and FlyLady

I was supposed to pick Sean up at the fort whenever he got in last night. Figuring that he would get back at around the usual time for leaving work (why I assumed this, I have no idea), I drove out that way to the oriental market on Lumpkin (two exits past the one for Fort Gordon on I-520). I got a little turned around on Deans Bridge Road, but ultimately found my destination, and ended up going to the little store first.

Though small, the place seems to have some of everything, including European chocolates. I was mostly interested in the Japanese items, like the rice cookers and water heaters (for tea) and the dishes and the porcelain dolls in glass boxes. I didn’t buy any of these, of course, but I did browse!

Finally I selected three packets of miso soup mix, a box of curry mix, and a bag of rice. I was about to leave when two Japanese ladies started speaking in Japanese to each other, standing around the big bags of rice. I halfway understood what they were saying, but not really, which was annoying (though they might have wanted it that way). What’s important is that I noticed the fridge behind them, and checking through it, I found a little box of red bean cakes.

YUM!

So I bought those too, up at the counter manned by the cute little old man. I don’t know what his name is, but I guess his family owns the store. The last time I was there, I was with Sue (Paul’s mom) and Trisha (Paul’s mom’s brother’s wife), and I had a brief conversation with him and his Japanese wife about the fact that I had been to Kyoto. I’m pretty sure he didn’t remember me from then, but I remembered him. (As my friends know, I have a thing for old men. They are just so cute!)

I had assumed that Sean would call for a pickup while I was out, and so it was with a bit of consternation that I left the store. Driving back on I-520, I kept slowing down more and more as I neared the Fort Gordon exit. I think I was actually going (gasp) 55 when I finally passed it, and still no call. So I resolutely went forward, stopping at the bank to make a deposit before finally going home.

I was wearing my new pair of brown leather high heeled boots (I love boots!), and as I climbed out of Sean’s car I whined to myself about having to climb the stairs…but it really wasn’t that bad, and soon I was eating a red bean cake and puttering around online. I left the boots on, expecting to have to leave at any moment…and besides, they were making my knees feel better.

I woke up yesterday (and today, for that matter) with horrible pain in my left knee. It doesn’t seem to like to bend or straighten in certain positions, but in other positions it’s tolerable. Going to bed with knee pain was, well, a pain :> It was hard to find the best way to lie there that provoked the minimum amount of ouch factor. This was obviously a problem last night; the night before, I didn’t have the pain until I woke up in the morning.

It was brought on by me actually getting up and doing stuff on Monday, I suppose…my shins are also sore, probably both from walking and from wearing high heeled boots yesterday. It’s the good kind of sore that means exercise…the knee pain is not a good kind of anything. I was hoping it would be gone by now, but alas.

This knee thing has happened to me before, though I’m not sure if it has been the left leg every time. I think it has happened to the right one too. The first time it happened, I believe, I was down here visiting Sean, and I had to drive home with it. It was really, really obnoxious. Since then I’ve had it crop up a couple times. I’m not exactly sure why it happens, but I would really like it to go away.

So I was messing around on the computer, waiting for Sean to call. It got later and later and later. The sun went down. Finally, after much consternation, I ate a pimiento cheese sandwich; I was hungry, and I thought maybe Sean would be really late, and that he would eat with his coworkers.

It wasn’t too long after that that I suddenly heard a loud thunk coming from the living room. It took a few seconds for it to actually register; then, worried that something had fallen over or someone was doing something suspicious, I limped as fast as possible out there…to find that my front door had come open and then stuck on the latch. Had I left the door unlocked? It was a good thing I’d bolted it, then…

I approached warily to close the door, and suddenly there was knocking. At once I knew it was Sean, yet felt worried that it might not be.

“Who is it?”

“It’s me,” came the familiar voice.

I relaxed in relief as I went to work the bolt open. “What are you doing here?” I asked dumbly, since of course I was supposed to pick him up.

“I live here. At least I think I do,” he joked. I finally got the door open and he exchanged pleasantries with someone I couldn’t see, someone who had obviously brought him home. He then strode in with his bag; I picked up the laptop case and followed him, closing and relocking the door.

We kissed for a long time after that, then moved to the bedroom.

It was really nice. I don’t want to get into specifics about my lovemaking on a public blog, but I do want to mention that it was especially loving and tender this time. We did a lot of snuggling, and, strangely enough, talking. We’d never had a conversation during sex before; it was kind of neat. It was like we were reconnecting not just physically, but emotionally. I told him everything I’d been doing, and we flirted and teased each other.

When we were finally finished reacquainting ourselves, I moved to the kitchen to make some curry for my poor husband who hadn’t eaten any dinner yet, while he got comfortable at the PC. It took awhile to get done, but it turned out fantastic. I especially loved eating rice again…I really missed it.

The kitchen was fortunately clean for my dinner preparations due to a tidy-up bent that hit me before I went to the oriental market. Faye recently told me about FlyLady, a resource site for housewives who need help sticking to a routine and managing their clutter. I signed up for the list, and since then I’ve been receiving numerous peppy emails telling me to clean things. I ended up cleaning the kitchen and the toilets, though those actually weren’t on FlyLady’s schedule. They were just things that had to be done. I may adapt the FlyLady schedule, but for now it’s just enough that I feel motivated to do anything at all.

After getting back from the oriental market, I cleaned up some more, moving the laundry off the dining room table finally (I’m so bad about that recently) and finally into the closet, putting my new shoes away, and organizing my 2go-Box paperwork into two of the shoeboxes. And after Sean came home and we ate dinner, I received another email from FlyLady, ordering me to go do the dishes and “shine the sink”. So I did.

I have no idea how to shine a sink, and I didn’t feel like checking her website for directions, so I just used Formula 409, and I think that was the wrong thing to do. It doesn’t look particularly shiny, though it is clean. I’ll do a little research later and see what I should do next time.

One of FlyLady’s mantras is “get dressed down to the shoes”, but right now I’m still in my Dog Tired nightie. The only reason I’m up at all is because of my knee pain; Sean and I didn’t make it to bed until 3something this morning, and typically under those circumstances I would snooze for a few more hours. But at 7:20 I was in pain and had to go to the bathroom, and the idea of lying back down and trying to get my leg comfortable was intensely unappealing, so I just stayed up.

I’m moving my leg around, trying to work out whatever it is that is making my knee hurt, but I don’t know if it’s actually helping. It seems that keeping my leg in one position only makes it hurt more when I finally have to move it, so I’m hoping that more constant movement will diminish it…but who knows. I wish it would just go away!

The kitchen is still clean. According to FlyLady, this week’s target area is bathrooms, and my task for today is the countertops and sink. I suppose I can deal with that. I’m really happy that I finally cleaned the toilets; they tend to get a ring around them very easily, and I’m not sure why. I meant to pick up 2000 Flushes at Wal-Mart on Monday, but I completely forgot.

I did, however, finally clean the bar top/counter thingie that separates the kitchen from the living room and dining room. I’ve dusted it before, but this time I removed everything, washed the counter, then cleaned everything and put it back. It looks nicer, at least to me. That and the cleaning of my washer and dryer and the organization of my pantry are the crowning achievements of my day yesterday, since I’ve never done those things before. I feel a nice sense of accomplishment.

Due to my knee pain plus the fact that I got up a little late, I did not play tennis with Paul yesterday. I hope the knee pain goes away soon enough for me to play tomorrow. I would like to get tennis back into my routine, and not just because I really like Prince of Tennis. Tennis is the one sport that I ever actually enjoyed playing. I never played for school or on a team or anything, but I did take lessons once, a long, long time ago. I’d like to get back into it, since it’s something I enjoy.

Speaking of tennis, the other day on IRC I was joking (yet again) about how Carver and Foreman are joined at the hip, and Foreman remarked that they were “the Golden Pair”. This led to a discussion of who was Oishi and who was Kikumaru…and it turned out that Foreman matched Kikumaru quite well. I commented offhandedly that Foreman must do “acrobatic tennis” and he responded eagerly, “I DO!!!” He then explained that back in high school, he was on the tennis team, and when playing doubles, he would always dive to get the ball. So that he wouldn’t fall and hurt himself, he would tumble into a somersault after making the return, then be up and ready after the roll to hit the next ball. He really IS Kikumaru!!!! (I should make sure he starts saying gibberish phrases like “Hoi hoi” and calling Hyper “ochibi”…)

I think that’s all I have to say. I love rambling, so I’m sure I could think of something else, but it’s time for my short attention span to be directed elsewhere. Until next time, adieu, adieu, to yuu and yuu and yuu.