Sunday, January 9, 2011

A monarch butterfly in the clouds


I had Art class on Thursday last. I chose to paint on canvas (Nancy chose a keepsake box). It's about 4-inches square. I covered the canvas in light blue paint (it had to be covered because Laura picked up the canvases with decorations on them for 10 cents versus $4.00 blank).

I practiced the butterfly in white and purple paints.  When it came time to paint on the canvas, I didn't like the way it came out and painted over it TWICE.  I said I was too tired and would work on it at home.  
( I didn't sleep well the past couple of nights because my doctor upped my dose of Baclofen.  Apparently it can make you sleepy OR it can interfere with your sleep, have you sleeping lighter, as it did with me.)  


This monarch butterfly idea came about from a NPR article I read on November 22nd.  I could only remember that it was an artist's website at the bottom of the article, but not what the story was about or when.  I slept on it, turned on the computer, went to the NPR website, and did what I do for aphasia: talk it out.  It was on NPR.  There was a link at the bottom of the page.  It was animated.  There was a old guy (a young scientist, it turns out). And it just came to me that it was about people who
cannot walk in a straight line.  I even got a book recommendation out of it, but I didn't remember that. The website I remembered, the extraordinary animations and drawings of Benjamin Arthur and "the billion bug highway" are at http://vocaleyes.com/benarthur/animation3.html.

My memory was not affected (right brain) and apparently I keep have 
to keep reminding myself of that.   

Saturday, January 1, 2011

2011: The Year of Recovery

Larry is dubbing this the year of recovery. I can get behind that.

A cliché, I know, but I'm actually going to join a gym, the Challenge Center. After my stroke, I have to exercise regularly. My doctor just increased my dosage of Baclofen, so I'm optimistic that it will allow me to exercise with little pain and more mobility. Too much exercise and it's just like muscle soreness. I used to get sore in stretch class, so it's like that and I can't overdue it.

I'm actually excited to be going because they'll do an assessment with a physical therapist and I will have goals to achieve. I can't get any more specific because I don't know what is possible in what time frame. I just know it's a long process that takes patiences.