I felt pretty good after Sunday’s marathon row. There were no blisters on my hands, I didn’t have to crawl out of the boat, and I had no aches or pains sitting in the car during the trip home. Although my hips felt a bit stiff the next morning when I bent down to unload the dishwasher, that went away after I’d been walking around for a little while. Overall, it was much better than I had expected.

So, when my husband mentioned that it was about time to get our flu and Covid vaccines, I thought it would be just fine taking a midday break from work and going to the pharmacy on Wednesday. That turned out to be overly optimistic. Fatigue hit me like the proverbial ton of bricks by the end of the workday. I felt way more exhausted than when I’d gotten vaccines in the past. Although I went to bed at a reasonable hour, my Garmin tracker informed me that my sleep was very poor and not restorative.

I’m feeling better now, getting ready to go to bed, and reminding myself that everything changes all the time and there’s no reason to worry about it.

Word-art that says, "I knew who I was this morning, but I've changed a few times since then."

Nurturing Thursday was started by Becca Givens and seeks to encourage self-nurturing and to “give the planet a much needed shot of fun, support and positive energy.”

I’ll be rowing a full marathon on Sunday in the double with my husband, on the Chicago River. We have rowed the half-marathon there before, but this will be our first time doing the full course. The thought of it doesn’t seem as daunting as it would have a few years ago. I’ve found that as we do more, we quietly adjust our expectations to match.

Word-art that says, "She quietly expected great things to happen to her, and no doubt that's one of the reasons why they did." -Zelda Fitzgerald

Nurturing Thursday was started by Becca Givens and seeks to encourage self-nurturing and to “give the planet a much needed shot of fun, support and positive energy.”

My living room has been much improved this week with a new couch. I had been wanting to replace the old one for many years, as I mentioned in this 2016 post, but I never could get my husband interested in going to a furniture store to look at potential replacements. When our daughter put a pretty green armchair in a corner of our family room earlier this year, after she moved and couldn’t find space for the chair, it got me thinking about other possibilities.

Photo of chair with end table.

The idea that I couldn’t get a new couch without first dragging my husband to a store was long since out of date, I realized, in this age of online shopping. So, I visited the website where our daughter had bought the chair, picked out a couch that was available in the same color, asked my husband what he thought, and he was fine with ordering it. Easy peasy!

Photo of the new couch under my living room windows.

The old couch wasn’t in good enough condition to donate to a thrift store because of a broken spring, so it had to go to the county dump, alas. To give it a suitable farewell on this blog, with gratitude for its many years of faithful service, I took a photo of it among some rubble, awaiting its final resting place in the landfill.

Photo of my old couch at the dump.

My husband’s boat trailer got some use as a utility trailer to transport it. Kind of sad, as with letting anything go that has been around for many years; but we’ll definitely enjoy the new and improved living room.