Random 5 for May 5, 2024 – Cinco de Maya, rain, balance, energy loss, friends

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Happy Cinco de Maya! – I’m not sure when this became a “holiday” (I use that term loosely) in our area but it’s an excuse to eat and drink Mexican (or our version of Mexican) to excess. We are not celebrating this year but hats off to all of you who do.

I love a rainy day – We had a gorgeous week. I bought plants and two new shrubs and spent the rest of the week planting and cleaning up. With more birthdays under my belt the planting part gets more tedious and exhausting. The beauty of a rainy spring day is that it’s a day off from exhausting outdoor work. I celebrated by getting two (yes two gigantic) mochas. My version of Cinco de Maya. Ole!

And the balance stays unbalanced – Our lot has a steep slope on the side. When walking, even for the steady folks, you must be focused (or perhaps use mountain climbing gear). I mulched the steepest part this week. I told the beloved husband that I was going to practice my tumbling expecting to take at least on fall. Fortunately, I stayed upright. I have a good idea what is triggering my balance issues (sort of) and it’s on the list to ask the doc on my next visit. I hate to mention it because the concept of old people (especially women) falling makes docs crazy. Not interested in adding more medical stuff to my overbooked schedule. They start to talk about rehab and exercises, and I glaze over. My Fitbit says I’m doing enough exercise.

Speaking of self-diagnosis – For at least five maybe ten years I have been complaining to my doc (all of them) that I don’t have enough energy. They all nod and assure me it’s normal aging. It is not. My contemporaries have a lot more energy than I do. I have been reading everything I can on possible causes (and my doc has tested me for a lot of stuff). My latest thought is that maybe B12 is involved. Older bodies don’t metabolize it as well. It’s on my list for my doc visit too.

Friends – With a lot of yard cleanup and house projects going on, I don’t have much time for anything else. (Read above paragraph about lack of energy!) I owe several friends a call to touch base. Somehow by the time I finish whatever is on my daily agenda, I’m out of steam. Maybe I need more rainy days. (NOOOOOOO!)

So how was your week?

57 thoughts on “Random 5 for May 5, 2024 – Cinco de Maya, rain, balance, energy loss, friends”

  1. I totally forgot about Cinco de Mayo until we accidentally wound up in a Mexican restaurant for lunch that day and they were pulling out the stops! They were offering margarita flights, which was very tempting. I passed on it though – we had things to do. Friends don’t let friends plant shop on Margaritas! 😉

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  2. I live about 15 miles from Southwest Detroit, so named as it is a/k/a “Mexicantown” and you can go there anytime for the best Mexican food around. They have not only Mexican restaurants but shops selling Mexican pastries, even tamales. A woman has a shop there and people line up for tamales – they didn’t do anything for me, but the Mexican food did. They had such a huge Cinco de Mayo parade on Sunday, that they shut SW Detroit down and now one of the council persons said “a week before you hosted the largest number of attendees at a NFL draft and no one got shut out and you shut them out?” It will be big stuff. I nod off if it is quiet in the evening, even while typing – I put it down to all the walking. You are fit – you said you try to monitor getting your 10,000 steps in daily using your Fitbit. A friend of my mom got a vitamin B12 shot routinely for energy and that has to be at least 20-25 years ago, so it was a “thing” back then. She has since passed away, dementia and heartache after her husband died – almost instantly and my mom predicted it years before. They were inseparable.

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  3. Nothing wrong with a protein shake imitating a margarita. At least not in my books.

    I have heard that extra vitamin B is good for us oldsters. Hopefully your PC will chime in the affirmative on that topic. Every time I ask a question, I get some sort of surgical remedy which makes me want to scream. Surely there are other remedies beyond we can cut our the pain but you’ll have umpteen months of rehab and PT. Puleez.

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    • My doc usually says “you can try it, it won’t hurt.” I tried hemp oil for IBS and that didn’t help. Sometimes the best answers come from other people with the same issue who find something that works. I’ve read a lot about vitamin B (the whole group) and I’m going to try it. It can’t hurt, right?

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  4. That cartoon! hahahaha! So here in Arizona, Cinco de Mayo means FIREWORKS, scared dogs and other animals, traumatized PTSD survivors and veterans. The fireworks went off Saturday night NONSTOP for a long time. I mean there were NO PAUSES. Sorry for shouting, but it was ridiculous, and my cats could care less, but I feel so bad for the others.

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      • Exactly. Last year we had a juvenile javelina get lost in our yard because of the fireworks (4th of July). We had to leave our gate open, so he could find his way out. Imagine how scared he was, separated from the twin and family he was always with.

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  6. Love that last meme. So true. I go through periods where I’m tired all the time. I’m going through one now. I was told to check to see if it’s sleep apnea. If that’s the case, I’ll be tired for the rest of my life, because I refuse to wear one of those huge contraptions when I sleep. It would keep me awake even worse. Good luck with getting that figured out. You reminded me I’m due for the yearly blood panel. Thanks. 😉

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  7. I love my Mocha’s too. They know me by first name at the Dutch Brothers by work (I drive a School Bus). Yes, I am crazy and now hard of hearing. I will regain the hearing over Summer Break!

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  8. The last image is a hoot.

    They start to talk about rehab and exercises, and I glaze over. Me too. Why make it complicated? I move and for that I’d like a huge amount of applause, not a bunch of jibber jabber about what I’m not doing. 

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  9. Well I’m also in the “Maybe it’s B12” club. I told my doc I’m finding that I forget little minor things from time to time and I was wondering if it could be early Alzheimers – he said it could be low B12 as the symptoms are often similar……so I think B12 is pretty danged important stuff. Sloping yards are scary – They didn’t used to be but after my hip replacement I’m extra careful on even the smallest slope. Getting old is not for the faint of heart is it. EEK.

    Hugs, Pam

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    • Your last line says it all. My doc has repeatedly tested thyroid function, vitamin D along with CBC but not specifically for B12. Usually, but not always, there are signs of it in the CBC. This is another thing I’ll pursue. I’ve read that the body doesn’t metabolize the supplements well either. We’ll see what he says. I don’t go back until August.

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  10. Doctors are arrogants jerks. I saw a neurologist once, my symptoms were exactly like MS. He rudely waved me off twice and said I had fibromyalgia and was a nervous female. I knew that couldn’t be it. Turns out I had a severe B-12 deficiency and when severe, it mimics MS. They symptoms were horrible. It was caused by a gluten issue, but I started taking B-12 tablets you dissolve in your mouth and eating food rich in it. Immediate turn around! All my symptoms disappeared. I can’t stand doctors.

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    • OMG! I’m not a big meat eater but I like my dairy. I’ll have to look up those tablets. From what I’ve read, the body doesn’t always metabolize vitamin B-12 from supplements. My multi-vitamin, which I stopped taking because of GI issues, supposedly had a dose that was over 200% of the daily recommended dosage. Yet…. I’ve had a few docs like that. When I had breast cancer, the radiologist was going to do a non-sedated procedure. I asked if it would hurt (not that I’m a weenie but I like to be prepared). He laughed and said it never hurt him. It wasn’t funny. I had a non-humorous proctologist too. Switched him out fast. Only I can made jokes about my butt. My PC is a nice guy but he refers almost everything out so it’s a parade of docs.

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  11. Oh, Kate! Like you, I keep thinking I should be able to get more done each day, but all my little rests take up so much time.

    Happy Cinco de Mayo. I don’t celebrate either. But I like the idea of it. I like Mexican food, a pina colada, and rum and coke with lots of lime, and I’ve had some wonderful trips to Mexico. It’s especially fun to think about it on a cloudy day like today.

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  12. We had nachos and tacos to celebrate Cinco de Mayo! At least B12 is an easy fix if you are low in it. 🙂

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  13. Kate, I don’t bring up anything to my PCP. I am in the keep my mouth shut club. She has me coming to her every 6 months and wanted to go to three months because of my blood pressure. She wants to take over my cardiologist’s job and my gyn that I see once a year. The things I need help from her about she ignores! I have been searching for a new PCP but dang, I don’t have the energy or the emotional strength. If I had been out in the yard for two hours digging and planting Ida been out for the day. I’m blaming it on the heat and humidity! I love rainy days too.

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    • It’s truly hard to find docs that you can sync with. My eye doc has me coming every 4 months but I’m ok with that for now. My dry eye is under control but just barely. I like my gyn. She is someone I can ask anything and she doesn’t get all nuts. She makes suggestions and it’s up to me. After my experience with IBS and all the docs and tests and nothing, I tend to be less excited. If I had something serious or life threatening, it would be different.

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  14. I love good Mexican food, and when we lived in the Midwest it was readily available. Not so much up here in New England. 🙂 Energy and aging is definitely a topic for discussion. I have energy, but I sure don’t have the stamina I use to have say ten years ago. These days, I usually work in half a day of hard work outside and then need the afternoon off. I am glad our yard is flat, well except for the ruts from contractor trucks. 🙂 Two mochas? Now, that was a tough day. 🙂

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    • For a long time I took a multivitamin every day which had the B group. I had to stop because it started to give my an upset stomach. I tried different brands but couldn’t figure out what culprit was. I’ll try just the B group until I go in for my annual. Hopefully my doc can give me some guidance.

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  18. I have been complaining about lack of energy for more than 5 years, and my GP glosses over it, I suppose thinking that I have other medical issues seemingly more important. I may check out B12 and just start taking it on my own. What’s one more supplement, after all?

    I don’t fear nor favor Mexican food. Give me a double frozen margarita and I’ll just watch everyone else enjoy it!

    Congrats on staying upright while on a steep slope! Having experienced a fall (a balance issue) that broke my jaw in two places, I don’t even attempt something that steep! Heck, I hold onto something just to step off the curb anymore!

    I am a fan of snowy days more than rainy ones. At least we shouldn’t be hearing the word “drought” this summer after all of the rain we’ve already had this year!

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    • I always think my doc glosses over it too but it’s real. I can’t do all the things my friends do. He says my bloodwork comes back normal but there is something going on. Broke your jaw? Wow! That was a fall. No snow now please. I’m so done with winter.

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  20. I’ve always admired how you somehow inter-mingle in all of your randoms. Today’s was especially well done. I’m learning not to mention too many things that bother me to my regular physician. All it does it get her to refer me to someone else, and then all of the sudden I’m committed to a new specialist with regular appointments. I’m keeping my mouth shut at appointments if at all possible. Interesting theory about B12 and older people. I think I read to take it from AARP! – Marty

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    • OMG! Docs! I get the inquisition about falling every time I go! I don’t mention anything that I don’t want to pursue. I don’t want to go to exercise classes for balance. There is always a new physical therapy thing that supposedly will help me with something. I learned my lesson with IBS. I went to at least 7 different docs, all different specialties and I still have it. I’ve had multiple tests. No one gave me tips on managing it. I learned them from on-line chat groups which is what I recommend people do before they approach any topic with their doc.

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  21. Happy Cinco de Mayo! We don’t celebrate either but it is the annual anniversary of my husband and my first date. On the other hand, any excuse for good Mexican food is okay with me.

    Definately check your B12. Mine was very low but a couple of injections and daily supplements helps a lot

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