I had a rheumatology appointment at Stratford Hospital this morning, the anticipation of which made me a little tense, because these meetings haven’t always been entirely enjoyable. Today though, my rheumatologist pronounced my bloods to be “perfect”, made no change to the minimal level of medication I’m currently taking, and spent the rest of our time running through potential measures to support the function of my hands and wrists, to allow me to keep wielding hefty camera gear for as long as possible. Fifteen minutes later I emerged with a gold star, a lollipop and a smiley-face badge, and skipped off to meet R for coffee feeling unaccustomedly pleased with myself.
After our coffee we rattled around town, picking up a few last bits of shopping – a book for the Baby Brother, some meat for a casserole for tomorrow, etc. – before heading home to empty the fridge in advance of the large supermarket order that was due to arrive at dinner time. Towards the end of the afternoon I had a sudden rush of blood to the head and whizzed off to B&Q in Evesham, returning through mercifully light traffic with a couple of bedroom lampshades (replacements for a pair I’ve disliked for quite some time) and a set of eco light bulbs for the dining room that are twice as bright as their predecessors, and might just make it possible for the family to see what they’re eating over the next few evenings.
After taking in the supermarket order and shaking the house around for a while until the contents of the twelve carrier bags disappeared, we finished wrapping all the presents and stacking them under the tree, and then collapsed happily in front of some trash TV with a small bucket of red wine apiece, congratulating ourselves on a very productive day.
R: L2, C3, D4.
