I live in Albuquerque. We have blue skies. We have beautiful night skies.  It gets very hot in July, and it gets very cold in January. The rest of the time our weather is comfortable although you do need a good furnace and a dependable AC.

We just elected a Democrat to Congress. My son and I were going to skip voting this time. My son is registered Republican, and I am registered Democrat. One day a Republican volunteer stopped by to chat. She spoke the recent Republican non-sense like masks don’t work. Remember I am a nurse. I went inside and talked to my son. We both immediately ordered our NM absentee ballots.  Of course, voted Democrat.

I have been on Orencia over two months. The massive swelling, I had in my feet is gone. The swelling in my hands and wrists is reduced although I have lost function in my left hand. The degeneration in my back is extremely painful.

Dressing is an exhausting procedure. A night gown works better than pjs as it slips over the head and then it is done. Getting the legs into the pants of pjs can be difficult. I have been tempted to live in my nightgown. However, I haven’t reached that point yet. I have a down comforter with a duvet on my bed for a cover and I have a fitted sheet over a heated mattress pad. Light and comfortable. Easy to live with. I wear fluffy no-skid socks to bed to keep my feet warm and to help me sleep.

I have a dish of bird seed on a table out my bedroom window. Birds stop by and nibble. We have a young Rock squirrel who packs it away. He is taking the seed home to his burrow. He is young and small so can’t carry as much as a grown squirrel. Cute fellow. He will like my cherry tomatoes.

My Rheumatoid Arthritis is progressing at the same time my entire spine from the cervical spine. the thoracic, lumbar and sacrum is progressing. The pain in my thoracic spine wraps around my rib cage. So, any movement that compresses my chest or abdomen is excruciating. Sometimes breathing is difficult.

Humans are good at adapting. It is wise to accept the times when we need to adapt. No anger. No regret. Instead, we need to focus on what we need to do to make lives better for ourselves.