My brother-in-law's funeral was good, and very well-attended, which was some consolation for his wife, I think. I remember feeling hurt that so few people came to Dad's funeral, but I've since wondered if we knew how to get the word out effectively... I encouraged Jeanne to wait till Monday to have the funeral, rather than do it last Friday because I wanted people to have enough time to make travel or work arrangements. Anyway, Bruce had a great send-off, with eulogies from his boss, his best friend, and his cousin.
I spent the service alternately sitting and standing in the back, rather than sitting with family. My back muscle is still so sore, and I couldn't have sat still throughout the service, especially after sitting for an hour in the car. By the time we got home, I was in pretty bad shape. I need to be able to change position about every 10-15 minutes. I'm still taking drugs and doing stretching exercises, but I think healing that muscle is just going to take time. One of the exercises acts as a massage, as well as a stretch, so that's a good one. I'm not worried that it's spine-related; it just so clearly feels like a pulled muscle - very localized and very tender to the touch. I think about Ella's lifetime of back problems and really don't want to go there!
Thinking about what I'd want for my own funeral is an interesting exercise. I told Fred he could do whatever he wanted, once I was cremated. Not being a very religious person, a full church funeral service seems hypocritical, but I guess what would help Fred would have to be the first priority. After all, I couldn't care less at that point! Well, chances are good I'll survive him anyway. He said I could bury him next to Chicanery in the back pasture. Not sure I could get away with that... but spreading his ashes in the pasture would be okay. Not for many years, please!!
I'm glad I have a laptop. I have it set up on the kitchen counter so I don't have to sit to email!
It's funny what I can do without experiencing pain, but they all have the common thread of no bending and very light lifting. I'm able to "finish" the stalls, which means spread the straw back out, refill the water buckets (with the hose), and rake up the aisle. I absolutely cannot "clean" the stalls, which means filling muck buckets with manure and dirty straw, and dumping them into the manure spreader, up at chest height. It's the lifting something heavy that poses the problem. I can wash dishes at the sink, but have to be very careful bending to load or unload the dishwasher. I'm going to try to vacuum today, but will be very careful with the twisting motion! When the dog hairballs start floating across the carpet, I gotta do something!
Speaking of which, I think I need to go stretch a bit.
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