Energy recovery – the new carbon dating

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This is my next door neighbor!

We had a few busy weeks in a row. Lots of people around and disruption to routines. Two separate events collided into one long “people infestation” (yes I call it that even when I like the people!).

All went well with both the visiting guests and the renovation project. However, twenty minutes after the guest left, the contractor showed up to finish. It was only two hours’ worth of work left but by the time he was out of the driveway, the two old people who live here were flat out asleep in a marvelous naptime event.

Even with that, it took a week of slow pace to recover. I lost my energy momentum and I had to build it up again. Twenty years ago, I wouldn’t have thought this could happen but it does. Extra sleep helps but it isn’t that easy.

I didn’t want to make decisions. Unfortunately, I wasn’t given that luxury. Sweet cat Gracie, needed some care. We are finishing the area that was enclosed for an office and that will need decisions. What kind of new furniture will we need and what to do with furniture that doesn’t fit? Oy vay!

This post requires a repost of my favorite clipart.

I can look out my office window and see my neighbor, who is an energizer bunny, cleaning up her yard day after day wondering how she does it. We are close in age. If anything, I’m a tad healthier as she has some back issues that limit her. I do not other than my back has a mind of its own and doesn’t always do what I want it to, but my other body parts are like that too. My feet rarely listen to me, walking when I’m tired and kicking up when I should be walking. I could go on but you get the picture.

I can tell what decade I’m in by my ability to bounce back. There must be a research study on this. If not, perhaps I should apply for government grant money to do one! If you are interested in participating, let me know after I take my nap.

 

51 thoughts on “Energy recovery – the new carbon dating”

  1. Before I started working from home, I always wore hard contact lenses and was so vain, that rarely did I “appear in public” with glasses (and when that happened I had big sunglasses over top of thee eyeglasses). So napping was out of the question as my hard contacts would stick to my eyeballs. I will tell you that when my boss and I left the Firm and moved out on our own, our suite had constant white noise piped in. It drove me crazy and my boss was not in the office very much. He would say “a good labor lawyer is out walking the picket line with his client, or at their office trying to ‘fix something’.” He went to their office 99% of the time. So I was often in the office alone, no one to talk to and often typing something boring. I would nod off routinely, afraid I’d fall into a dead sleep and damage my eyes. Now I wear glasses and do take a cat nap for 10 minutes or so during the day. But I need to get more sleep and only recently found out that scrimping on sleep was bad for your health. I thought it was only bad for nodding off – I did not know that it causes blood pressure and heart issues. My blood pressure has gone up a lot the last three or four years and I blamed it on work. So now I try to be in bed by 10:00 to 10:30 … that has impacted keeping up in Reader. After the time change, I can get up a little later as it will be so dark.

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    • A long time ago I stopped by my “then” attorney for a will update. He worked alone with one staff person. (I only ever saw one but maybe there were more.) I felt so sorry for her. Typing all day with no one to break up the monotony. I couldn’t do that but my background was working in a very large company at a site with 2K employees (and I knew most of them!). Although I’m an introvert, I need some people interaction or I’ll turn into a mole.

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      • When Robb and I left the law firm, there were about 75 employees there (attorneys/paralegals and staff). It was an easygoing atmosphere where no one looked at their watch if you stopped and chitchatted with someone overly long, so when we moved, I really felt that loss of camaraderie right away. I looked forward to going down to the basement to get the mail as I might run into someone. The building was not even 50% occupied, so even going into the bathrooms did not guarantee another person would be in there. It was only a six-story office building. And we were one mile from Downtown Detroit and our old office, so not convenient to meet for lunch. I might as well have been working from home like now. I’ve not seen my boss in person since October 2012!

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          • Yes, it was nice without all the rules, regs and red tape as we went thru a merger with a Richmond, Virgia law firm with 250 attorneys in that office alone and we had many changes to our office after the merger. That was a big firm and they had satellite offices throughout Virginia plus our Detroit office. We had/still have a tenant, but he rarely comes in now and when I was there, when he went for lunch, he never returned afterward. He came in in the morning and went into his office and closed the door – he did all his own typing, bills, so no secretary and had a paperless office, so he rarely even used the xerox or fax machine. He was not very friendly either.

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  3. Maybe you’re just better in tune with your limitations than your neighbor. I think having had two big “people events” probably took more out of you than you anticipated, but you’ll bounce back. I think I’m a little more aware of my “decade” lately as well!

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  4. I think it sort of sneaks up on you – suddenly you realize you can do about half of what you used to do in the yard ( and at this point are just as happy to let go and slack off …some….). Recovery time is so much longer, but best to keep moving as mochas you can.
    We used to tell dad and uncles to slow down slow down all the mowing, garden club work, and visiting when they were in their 90’s – they always said “there will be plenty of time for rocking chairs when we get old”. Rocking chairs – even their chairs were in motion! Now I wonder at their stamina and wish I was half as energetic and capable.
    Glad to hear the visitors and remodeling went well. (Deciding about furniture to keep or go is always a quandary ). Paw waves and salutes and hope your Realm returns to soothing calm

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  9. No bouncing back here. I just sputter for a bit, feel bad that I’m not who I once was and start with another new kind of normal. It’s a ride on the struggle bus and then some small wonderful thing happens and makes me feel a tiny joy and that’s good enough for me these days. And by tiny joy, it could be that I grabbed the last jar of Kraft mayo 🙂

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    • That’s kind of how it works here. Struggling, tired, struggling, tired, then something positive happens and I’m good. Not sure if mayo would do it for me but a mocha latte would for sure. I got two on Sunday and it was wonderful.

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  10. Don’t you hate it when others shame you? A couple of weeks ago I agreed to help put something together at our synagogue. It wasn’t difficult, but it did involve moving plywood and netting around, and the use of everyone’s knees — lots of bending and reaching. I was the probably the oldest one in a group of ten, and twice I found myself having to go sit for a few minutes to rest. I think next year I’ll skip it. – Marty

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  11. I can completely relate to the losing energy thing (as I age). I often wonder how people my age and even older can be, as you put it, energizer bunnies. I’m envious of that energy. Sometimes when I read your blog, I wish I had your energy. I tell myself my chronic pain limits me, but then I saw an old couple who can barely shuffle their feet, walking on a trail in the mountains of Tennessee. I think I need that study.

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  18. I would like the knees from my third decade back, please. I don’t feel like that’s a lot to ask? It wasn’t that long ago. I don’t know how your neighbor does it, either. I feel like I’ve been beaten the morning after even a half-day of gardening. Even if I stretch or do yoga!

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  19. Sign me up for your grant team – I know all about the inability to bounce back. One week on vacation in Maine and back to reality was a BIG FAT REMNDER that bouncing back is a concept I am quickly becoming unfamiliar with! Hope Gracie is OK.

    Hugs, Pam

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