Relationship/s

[lighter]

Sorry about your friend, Hops. 

Politics depressing, I agree.  Last night I dreamed I had to run for President, and really resented having to prepare for debates.  Trump walked in, put his hand on the top of my head and squeezed hard.

I dropped down, aimed with intention, and punched him in the boys with an upper cut, using my knees.  It bugged me all day...that Trump touched me.

I'm glad you're getting along with M. 

Lighter

It

[Hopalong]

Oh but I'm so glad about your dream because of the way you touched HIM!!!

For all of us, that punch -- I thank you!

There is hope as long as everyone gets off their couches and votes!!!

Thanks for that image, I'll cherish it.

Hugs
Hops

[lighter]

Yup yup yup... we have to get out and vote, Hops.

Have to.

I always go early, and there's hardly any line.

Lighter

[Twoapenny]

Thanks, hon!
I'm better, though heartily sick of the chest monitor, which itches like fury and means I can only walk back and forth in the pool (just beneath-boob high). Maddening. And the heat's getting to me.

But...all is well with M. He seems to have calmed down a lot, I think maybe because he's feeling more secure with me. We're having dinner tonight.

The heat has been a brutal reminder of humans not governing themselves and I'm pretty depressed about politics.

Other than well, doing fine.

Went to visit my dying friend yesterday in a nearby city. M drove me and went to the museum while she and I had our visit. Sad and poignant but I'm glad I got to see her. On our own, M and I had fun...lunching at a great Greek place, walking in our favorite district, buying flowers for her from a lovely young man.

Will report more later...and check in about B. on your farm life thread.

Hugs
Hops

I'm glad you got to see your friend, Hops, and that you and M are having a good time.  I hope the monitor comes off soon!  Sounds like a real pain, although necessary.  But will be nice for you not to have to think about it and keep it out of the water. xx

[lighter]

How are you feeling, Hops?

Are you able to get feedback from the monitor, or do you have to wait till it comes off?

Lighter

[Hopalong]

Thanks, Lighter.
I'm feeling okay, though less energetic than I'd like.

It hit me this evening that I'm on a big dose of statins after several years off the very low dose I used to take. And that depletes Co Q-10, which I'd forgotten about. I will get back on that tomorrow and stay with it, should help I hope.

Only other issue is the damn itching...eventually the adhesive gets through even the SkinCote, which is essentially liquid vinyl. Ick. I have to swab on two layers of the stuff to tolerate the monitor patch for a day or two, and my skin is miserable beneath it. Welts, and one spot nearly raw. But there's no choice.

Last day to wear it is the 11th...then I mail it all in. No idea how long it takes for the analysis to come in.

I do feel a bit worried about the result. I'm just praying I don't have afib, which would require strong blood thinners for life. Would really like to avoid that, but I'll deal.

Thanks for checking!

Hugs
Hops

[Meh]

Ouch, I don't know what helps adhesive reactions. I think some people have real allergies to the glue. Or maybe it's an irritant.
Benadryl? Probably wouldn't help. Hydrocortisone cream around the edges?

[Twoapenny]

Thanks, Lighter.
I'm feeling okay, though less energetic than I'd like.

It hit me this evening that I'm on a big dose of statins after several years off the very low dose I used to take. And that depletes Co Q-10, which I'd forgotten about. I will get back on that tomorrow and stay with it, should help I hope.

Only other issue is the damn itching...eventually the adhesive gets through even the SkinCote, which is essentially liquid vinyl. Ick. I have to swab on two layers of the stuff to tolerate the monitor patch for a day or two, and my skin is miserable beneath it. Welts, and one spot nearly raw. But there's no choice.

Last day to wear it is the 11th...then I mail it all in. No idea how long it takes for the analysis to come in.

I do feel a bit worried about the result. I'm just praying I don't have afib, which would require strong blood thinners for life. Would really like to avoid that, but I'll deal.

Thanks for checking!

Hugs
Hops

Hops, it does sound very irritating!  It's a long time to have to put up with it - minor discomfort is alright for a few days but longer than that and I find it becomes all I can think about - very annoying!  Do they have to leave it on for so long to see if there are patterns or something like that?  Whatever the reason I will keep my fingers crossed that it's all processed soon and you get the results through.  I find not know the outcome harder to deal with than knowing, even if it's not news I want to hear!  So I hope it's all sorted out soon - and that you get your Co-Q thingy sorted as well! xx xx

[sKePTiKal]

Hang in there Hops! Not that many days left now. And it's a lot of data for the doc.

How are things with M? You guys doing some fun stuff?

[Meh]

Yeah at least the docs are being thorough.

[lighter]

Just keep that monitor dry, and don't stop swimming, Hops.

Whatever happens, it's going to be OK.

Lighter

[Hopalong]

Thanks, ((((Lighter)))) -- the damn thing's off me as of yesterday!

Oy, men. M really stepped in it this morning when his morning email included a picture of a bullfight and a totally cerebral explanation of the "crucial role" horses have played in history as "mediators" between the human and animal worlds. He got back a diatribe about how cock fighting, bear baiting and dog fights might have their interpreters as well, how they are "mediators" rather than torture victims, and that bullfighting revolts me at the most profound level and thus I do not care what it symbolises. Ooof. Not nice words for a scholar who deals in the abstract all day but jeez!

I had told him, humorously, at dinner last night how beautiful I find a horse's nostril -- one of the most beautiful things in the world -- soft as velvet, warm, full of sweet oaty breath they'll blow on your cheek. I am a person who ceased riding horses (having loved it for years) when one day I thought about how there was no good reason to subject a horse to me on its back. Light went on, boots went off. But I still adore being near them. Had an amazing experience on college graduation day when I was crushed it was over (four happiest years), went down to the stables, stood by the pasture fence and started sobbing. A horse I didn't even know, way across the field, raised its head, trotted all the way over to me, bent its head and placed its forehead against mine, and stood there stock-still until I was done sobbing. Then went away.

I ain't the right person to send some abstract defense of bullfighting before my caffeine has kicked in! (I'd also told him how when I was 14 in Madrid I was very upset that my father and brother went to the bullfight. I'd refused and stayed in the hotel because I knew what happened to the bull.) I was surprised M went there.

Just rambled through it with my T and got more clarity on how differently we see the world. Fortunately, once you scrape away the scholar there's a sweet heart inside. Whew.

xxoo
Hops

[lighter]

Oh, sweet animals, Hops.  Your horse story made me cry!

Lighter

[sKePTiKal]

Oh Hops - lovely horse story! I love them too.
And it is SOOOO true about how men & women see the world differently.

We have the patience and curiosity to pick through our emotional chamber pots trying to divine the secrets of the universe through them...

While men, simply see a tree = shade, renewable fuel, nuts or something that's edible, or something that is a comfort to them when they return to the abode covered in grease, mud and supposed glory (in the world of men). They don't believe there's much value in picking through feelings for secrets.

(Greatly oversimplifying/stereotyping here.)

Hahahahahahahaaa. God's last laugh on how he designed humans I guess. But it's also a clue, to us who are trying to puzzle out how to live with each other, as peacefully as possible.

[Hopalong]

I think you're right, Amber. (And Light!)

Did I mention that he raved about the suckling pig he ate in Madrid? He cringed a little in my direction after he said it...but his appetite for taste knows no bounds.

I'm struggling (again) with my hesitation around intimacy (physical), for which he has waited a long time now. Working on it with my T. Got brave enough to tell him how certain behaviors freeze me shut (grabbing for it, whining for it, obsessively talking about it--which he recently stopped cold, I think after visiting his own T).

My problem is how long it takes me to thaw. He had unintentionally clueless and off-putting approaches for so long I feared it'd destroy my attraction for him completely. Came close, but in fact it hasn't. The nice thing is I'm motivated more by love (wanna make him happy) than I was before. So the time is coming and though I'm sure it'll turn out all right, I'm apprehensive. I felt SO much discomfort for so long, and then he relaxed and stopped pestering, but I sense the vacation from pressure is ending...and I'm nervous. Part of me wants to get it over with, so we can move forward with our plans.

So as delicately as I can put it, that's it. I don't need how-to, just encouragement for the emotional side, that I can stay balanced within myself.

Hugs
Hops