Probably an unexpected title for this post but I am indeed enjoying this crap weather. Not so much the weather but life in general! This week I’ve had two kidney scans, four runs, been to a charity team meeting, an art group and some socialising.
I have also been thinking quite a lot. I have some possible blog posts brewing and these include something about the pros and cons of middle class churches, the need to get a firm, quick grasp on some friendships before it’s too late (my recently deceased friend Brian is someone who I regret not knowing better).
However, back to this last week. I have been to the hospital twice this week for kidney related scans. They have been focussing on the tubes connecting my kidneys to my bladder, just in case there is a blockage. I have had a blocked tube previously but they held back from fitting a stent. Owing to the concern over my dodgy kidneys and my relatively young age, they are “not leaving a stone unturned” as one consultant put it.
When I had the simple ultrasound scan, the technician couldn’t see anything amiss other than saying my kidneys “have had a battering”. Then when I had the nuclear medicine scan, I watched my body light up with little sparkly bits on a black screen, followed by one kidney, then the other kidney and my eventually bladder was filling up nicely. As I had been injected with a diuretic, the urine flow was quite quick and so after 30 minutes I was invited to visit the toilet and was instructed to use sterile gloves as my pee would be radio active! I get the results in a couple of weeks.
We now visit my mother-in-law daily. She has been frail for quite a long time but nowadays is more ready to admit she needs some more help and attention. While this is definitely the right thing to do, it does take up rather a lot of our time.
With running, last Monday I ran 8.7 miles on the canal towpath. It’s obviously flat and I like it! Then I had a Busway run followed by Saturday’s 5k Parkrun.
The Parkrun weather conditions were pretty grim but I loved it! While I had been saying to some friends this was a “just get round the course” event owing to the slippery conditions, I managed to bag a Personal Best (a PB in running lingo) and beat my friend Jeremy by 3 seconds. I have never come anywhere near to beating him before! I really was astonished.
So although the weather right now is crap, I am seriously enjoying life. Somehow I don’t seem to mind the dark, damp, drab weather we typically have in a jolly old English winter. I do, however, feel a tad guilty because I have stepped back a little from doing some things such as the dreaded DIY and another voluntary project. Yet I need to balance that against the time my mother-in-law takes up and recognise the limits to what I am able to do. Having said that, my eyes are open to some other project or “cause” to get my teeth stuck into.
So another good week. A week which contained a couple of good runs for which I am so thankful.
I can come up with some ‘projects’ you could get stuck into!