My New Life: My Bucket List

I have made a mental bucket list for myself. No, I'm not dying (that I know of), but it is more like a list of things I want to do in the near future. A list of things that I should have already done, but keep putting off or just don't take the time to do.

I have some vacation time to use at work, so I want to take a day here and there to accomplish my list. I was able to do just that this week. I told my husband that I wanted to take a day off and spend it with my daughter. I had thought of a couple of things we could do that I thought she would enjoy. However, he came up with a better idea. He suggested we do a day trip to the beach! Did somebody say "beach?" I love the beach and so does she. That is an excellent idea!

I talked to my daughter about it and she sounded excited too! I wasn't sure she would want to spend the whole day hanging out with me, but she did! I was looking forward to it, but I also had a fear that my Interstitial Cystitis (IC) would take over the day and ruin it for me. I hoped for the best and we decided on a day when she was already off from work.

We planned to leave the house early. She was going to be at my house at 8:00 a.m....Hey, 8:00 a.m. is early for me! I woke up at 6:30, but I was moving slowly. I didn't have as much sleep as I needed, so I was a little tired. Now that I have IC and fibromyalgia, etc., etc. I need at least 9 hours of good sleep to feel rested.

We packed the car and headed for the beach. On the way, I told her that I meant to get an oil change before our trip. We both decided to stop at the closet town and go ahead and have the oil changed. It is better to be safe that sorry. My daughter, Miranda, seemed so logical about it too. She is only 23, but sometimes she amazes me.

We stopped and had the oil changed. It was at a Tire and Oil Center. It was not a "Jiffy Lube." As a matter of fact, there was nothing "jiffy" about it. It took about 45 minutes. It seemed like forever to two people with nothing but sand and waves on their mind. It was time well spent, just to be safe though.

We hopped back in the car and headed to the ocean. As Miranda was on the exit ramp approaching the interstate, she said this would be her second time driving on an interstate. What??!! That made me anxious! But she did just fine. We found our way and didn't even get lost. Pretty good I thought, for the two of us. I am terrible with directions. Of course, I had recently been there and had the Garmin (Judy) too, but none the less, I was proud that we drove straight to it.

We sat out on the beach and mostly just talked. It was like two friends, sitting on the beach, enjoying each others' company. I was having such a good day, my IC was not bothering me much at all. At one point, I closed my eyes and began to pray. It was a long continuous praise prayer that brought tears to my eyes..I felt so close to God at that moment. "My cup overflows!"

We walked along the seashore. I have to say that is one of my most favorite things in the world to do. Walking, talking, exercising and enjoying the sun! After a couple of hours, we decided to pack our things and go back home. I told her that I think I could stay out on the beach all day long. I'm always a little sad when it is time to go. I guess that is because when I was a little girl my grandparents lived at the beach. We would go and visit them each year. Ah, good memories!

We headed toward the bridge. At first there were no problems and then out of no where traffic comes to a dead stop. We came close to hitting the car in front of us, because Miranda had to slam on brakes. Thankfully we survived, but there must have been a wreck ahead of us. We decided to turn around and go back to the island. First of all to use the Ladies' room and I changed out of my swimsuit. I didn't want to relive what happened to me a few weeks ago. See blog post "How A Kangaroo Saved Me" http://bb65ichope.blogspot.com/2013/06/how-kangaroo-saved-me.html.

After that, we went up the bridge again. The traffic was moving slowly. It took about 30 extra minutes to drive across the bridge. We passed the wreck. It looked like about 4 cars had piled into each other, but no major injuries.

We had to go across another much larger bridge, across the Cooper River. There was a large amount of traffic and it was stop and go. Miranda was a little nervous. She said "We are so high up." I said "That just means we are closer to God." I continued to say calming words to her. Normally I would have been the anxious one, but I had already taken something to calm me down.

We stopped down the road in a small town and filled up the gas tank. That is where I decided to lay in the back sit. My bladder and stomach were hurting, so I took a pain reliever. I stayed back there to rest on the way home. My daughter did all of the driving. She did a great job!

I am so thankful that we were able to make this trip together. It has been years, since she and I have spent so much alone time together. I will treasure that day forever!

I think it is a good idea for all IC patients and anyone else to set small, realistic goals for yourself continually. It gives you something to work toward and anticipate.

I recently read an article about a lady that saved for a new, expensive pocketbook. She started doing her own nails and saved the money that was already budgeted for manicures. Instead of her usual hair cut and styling, she settled for a no-frills trim. She put her saved money in an online savings account, so that taking any out would not be easy. She taped a picture of the bag on her computer. After six months, she ordered her new pocketbook. I thought this was an excellent way to save for something that you want. She could have charged it on a credit card, but I think waiting made it even more enjoyable for her.

Of course you may not want a new pocketbook, so insert your own realistic goal. The point is to have your mind looking forward to something instead of focusing on the pain or misery of what you may be going through now.