Blogging, pain specialist, etc., etc., etc. . .

I'm not sure why it's so much easier for me to blog than to write in my journal like I used to do. From the mid 1990s until my melanoma dx in early 2005, I wrote in spiral notebooks almost every day. Since my melanoma dx, I've found it doesn't work for me to prop up with a spiral notebook and pen, writing out my thoughts in long hand. Even my idea of writing a draft blog yesterday and adding to it until I was ready to post didn't work, or perhaps it did. I deleted everything I wrote yesterday. It's Tuesday now and I leave shortly for my pain doc appointment. Perhaps I'll return here afterwards and wrap up this post. I have returned here after my appointment and I thought I'd jump in the middle of my rambling entry to say that I am optimistic after seeing the pain specialist. He gave me an injection in my shoulder which he thinks may help that particular issue a lot and if it does I can get another one in 6 months. Even if I still have some of the other "issues", if my shoulder isn't such a problem, I could add swimming to my routine which would be great. He said "moderate degenerative changes" which were noted on my x-ray means that I have arthritis in my shoulder and that's what the shot will help with. Especially with warmer weather, it will be nice to be able to swim laps. Even when I swim indoors at my YMCA, it's hard to get motivated in the winter. My pain doc was also very nice about how I'm doing in general and said I've done well not to need any more increases in the level of pain meds over the past 6 months. It's bothered me that I continue to need them at all but he seemed to be mostly concerned that I not need frequent increases. The top photo was taken last week and it's amazing to me how my neighbor's Japanese Maple looks like fall this time of year. It will tone down in the summer with more green in the leaves and then in the fall is a different wine shade than it is now. Still, it has a fall look to me in the spring. The cold snap has completely killed the leaves on my pecan tree and mulberry tree. The early bloomers have lost a lot of their blossoms and some buds have turned brown without opening but we had such a gorgeous March that I can't complain if April isn't all that it might have been. I've almost been afraid to see what's happened with the self seeders that were popping up all over the place. I suspect some of them will be fine and others won't. Kind of nature's way of weeding. If nature would weed some of the thistle and milk weed as it pops up that would be okay with me. I could also do without the sprouting acorns that are all over the place. Then again, perhaps now that I have received a shot in my shoulder I'll feel like doing a lot of weeding this spring. Sounds fun at the moment. I'm going to plant some lettuce as soon as it rains. The weather this week is perfect for that. I think after tonight we're safe from any more hard freezes. Famous last words but April 14 is our last freeze date and even if it's occasionally later than that, I think the fact that the rest of the week will be much milder is a good sign. These 50 degree changes in temperature within 48 hours are a bit much even for me and I like change. I decided to go snap a few photos before I wrapped up this rambling post and in spite of the fact that there is a lot of freeze damage, there were suprises too. My storage building roses have started to bloom which I didn't realize. I may never live in a rose covered cottage but I'm well on my way to having a rose covered storage building.