So, how's your September?

My shoulder scan

This post contains astrology. And bathrooms. And frozen shoulders. Not necessarily in that order. I have discovered I don't take my own advice, which makes me perfectly normal. I always tell people to get their pains and troublesome body parts checked out sooner, rather than later, but I delayed seeing a doctor about my shoulder for well over a year. It wasn't until I actually got a bump on my shoulder that I made an appointment. That was June, and I finally saw the doc in August. What followed then was 50% sick leave, and an MR scan (my first!). The specialist told me I was well beyond the cortisone shot stage but ideal for surgery to remove the scar tissue I now had. This is one of the pictures of my left shoulder. I have no idea what I'm looking at besides a human bone.

I do not want surgery and the specialist did say I could use the other treatment for frozen shoulder: Time. So I am doing that. I take a tablespoon of turmeric in a glass of milk each day to help with the inflammation, and by otherwise being considerate of my arm and shoulder can feel my shoulder get a bit better each day. I used a blend of turmeric and oil topically to help me sleep at night and it worked very well! The only downside is that everything was stained yellow.

Saturn transiting my birth chart is really drawing attention to itself, as it did 29 years ago. Frozen and time = Saturn. Long-term stuff = Saturn. Where is Saturn currently? At 10 degrees Sagittarius, conjunct my natal sun at 11 Sag and also opposing my natal Moon at 16 Gemini. That last sits in my area of physical health, and Gemini rules shoulders. At least I'm not depressed or worried this time around. 29 years ago, with this same transit, my department at work had been made redundant. With a new mortgage, I was in a panic about losing my job. I got a reminder then about using the tool I already had to help myself not worry: affirmations.

So this time around, buoyed by my reading about "A Course in Miracles", a healing meditation involving the Holy Spirit, and ho'oponopono, I seem to be doing just fine mentally. Which is a good thing, because right now, there is a whole lot of other stuff on my plate, and I'm procrastinating a bit.

I need to start reading my course material. I start evening classes this month, taking a college level course for the first time in about 35 years. My idea of preparing for that is to download meditation tapes that are supposed to help me study and concentrate.

More immediately, I'm procrastinating finishing cleaning out my bathroom. Officially, I'm letting my hair dry. I just took my last shower in my bathroom in its current incarnation, and I have to admit, I'm feeling a little sad. It's the end of an era, of 30 years in a bathroom I think must have been the original one and so it is about 45 years old. Tomorrow morning at 7:30 (no, not looking forward to that!), the team of tradesmen will arrive and immediately start to gut my old, tiny bathroom. For two weeks, I and my neighbors will have to tolerate drilling in concrete and other loud noises, and intermittent loss of water.

Old bathroom sink

I feel oddly calm about the bathroom. I have no idea what I'm getting myself into. I only know that a dear friend helped me get over my inertia in getting the project started, I have a new loan for the first time in several years, and I have designed a floor in blue, white, yellow and black tiles. I'm looking forward to seeing that finished! The rest is up to the gods and the tradesmen. I shall just have to trust in the process.

I leave you with this start to my day today:

Sunday morning view out my kitchen window