I've gotten a goodly amount of things done today

1. Woke up and got caffeinated.
2. Took my friend to the pharmacy and also picked up a couple of things for me.
3. Worked on shelf dusting in my room.
4. Cleaned my room/put away laundry/made my bed.
5. Played mousie with the kitten several times.
6. Did the game notes in the afternoon rather than waiting till nightfall.
7. Fed the animals.
8. Finally got my friend his Chanukah present two months late, which was socks, in a big package of 14 pairs, which is good, as he desperately needed them and each pair he had was full of holes.  The man is hard on socks. But he does usually make them last for 3-5 years.  I also found the razors he's been looking for buy one, get one free, so 8 blades for $9.99, which is unheard of (thank you, Meijer).
9. Got a little rest.

Now I'm listening to music and winding down for the night, specifically Of Monsters and Men's album My Head is an Animal.

Tommorow's list is even longer:

There's the normal Sunday list:

1. Cat boxes
2. Sweep
3. Mop
4. Trash
5. Recyclables
6. Laundry
7. Dishes
8. Bathroom

Plus, I need to go to the library, turn in a book, and get one that's on hold for my roommate, take some things to the storage unit, clean my car out (it's usually pretty decent, but I had to put everything in the back seat that had been in the trunk when my driver's side front tyre went down a few weeks ago), and I also have to water the plants.

The tyre saga continued when I popped the doughnut spare on the 15th coming back from running errands. I hit a bad pothole.  There was nothing to do but have the car towed home, as I could do nothing about it until my tax refund came in or I got paid again.  I was with my roommate at the time, so I sent him in the tow truck (there was not enough room for both of us) and took the bus home, as I had a couple of dollars' emergency fund and it was Sabbath, so technically, he wasn't allowed to use money for the bus.  We broke down at 1:20 pm and by the time the tow truck got there and I got home, it was 4:15 pm.  So that was a tiring day, and the car was now down.  But on the bright side, he had one of those 20-rides-for-$15 tap cards that I'd given him the last time I had been riding the bus, and it had just enough punches (8) for the workweek (the 17th we were off for Presidents' Day.  We don't get off for MLK Jr. Day, but we do get off for Presidents' Day).

Anyway, all things went okay until Friday the 21st, the day before my appointment to get tyres.  It was right before 7 am and it was still half-dark, and I had just crossed the street on my way to the bus stop when, while walking, I looked back to see if the bus was coming (I was cutting it awfully close) and promptly lost my balance and the next thing I knew the sidewalk was like two inches away, and I fell on my face, mostly, but had broken my fall somewhat with my hands and knees.

A lady in front of me came back to try to help me, as she'd heard me fall.  She was African, all of about 90 pounds, and we couldn't get me up without me pulling her down.  Meanwhile I was bleeding like a stuck pig from my face--it was my nose, but I wasn't sure at the time, as I'd hit my head, too. right on the forehead.  Miraculously, I hadn't broken my glasses, although several days later I realised I'd scratched the frames pretty well and there are little divets out of my right lens.

Because of the blood she wanted to call an ambulance. I said I lived right across the street and wanted to get the bleeding stopped.  Bless her heart, for all I know I got blood on her hand, as I had it on mine, when she tried to get me up.  I got it all down my shirt, on my coat, and on my computer bag (which thankfully all came out in the wash, and the computer did not break).

I had to crawl backwards to the kerb and then put my feet down in the gutter and push up to get up.  I  The bus went by, I crossed the street, and got home.  I was in the bathroom with a hand towel on my nose (which was bleeding from inside, not outwardly, thankfully, and there were just a couple of small places on my nose and face at all), and I started crying, waking up YKWIA.  He came to check on me.  He'd thought I'd fallen in the house or off the porch, and I explained what happened.  My wrist hurt, my knees hurt and were scraped, and my head and face hurt.  I told him I'd take the next bus to the hospital, and since I was coherent and doing okay, he went back to bed.

I texted my boss and backup what happened and that I wouldn't probably be in.  I did take the next bus to St. Joseph East (he thought I'd gone to UK, but I prefer that hospital).  I was the only one in the ER and then a bunch of people started streaming in.  They examined me, did a CT scan of my head, neck, and facial bones, an x-ray of my left wrist, and diagnosed me with a concussion, sprained wrist, and contusions.  At the time I thought that I'd just banged me knees a little bit.  After I got home (also on the bus, about six hours from the incident), YKWIA wouldn't let me go to sleep due to the concussion till after dinner, and when I had been walking and also in bed, when my left knee went side to side at all, it would pop and catch. I tore my right meniscus years ago, and it was the same set of symptoms.

On Saturday I had the appointment for a tow and to get my car tyres.  The tow truck was the tallest one in Lexington, the driver said, and I had a really hard time getting into it between the wrist being in a brace and my knees. I'd have had trouble normally, and I was worried I'd fall.  It took both of us to get me in--he was very professional and assured me he wasn't being fresh, and I assured him I didn't think he was, but he had to physically move my foot to the taller of two steps and then give me a boost from behind.  We got to the tyre place, I paid him (he told me that I might be able to get a reimbursement from State Farm, so I've asked if that's possible and sent them the invoice--I assumed having gotten roadside assistance the day we broke down meant I couldn't get a second tow, but they've sent it to headquarters to see if it'll be approved.)  I was home with new tyres by 9:30 am (we started the tow at 7:30 and got to the store by 8, even with the difficulty of getting me up into the truck), and I promptly went to bed and didn't wake up till 3:30 pm.  But at least we were mobile again.

All week I've been behind and trying to get caught up on various surgeries and offsites from being off that day.  I've felt a little overwhelmed.  Monday I got nearly nothing of consequence taken care of. I put out lots of little fires and was very reactive, but very foggy, couldn't focus, and it just got worse as the day went along. I checked my blood sugar and it was 117, so within the norm for me, and then finally I Googled 'How long does it take to recover from a concussion' and it was 7-10 days.  I got less foggy with each day and by Wednesday and Thursday felt more on my game.   I got most everything pressing caught up Friday afternoon despite going to see about my knee that morning and just really need to hit the offsite scheduling hard on Monday, especially as I will be off on Wednesday for a series of appointments.  I have an MRI at 8:15 am, am taking YKWIA for a procedure at noon, and I think I can leave him sleeping for a 4:30 pm therapy appointment.  Technically I have six appointments next week, three on that Wednesday.  I need to move my endocrinology appointment on Monday because I just can't take off, then I have on Thursday afternoon with my GP along with YKWIA and one on Friday morning to get the results of the MRI.  They're thinking I'm right about the meniscus tear.  I also asked about my thumb, as apparently upon reviewing the x-ray there were changes they were concerned about according to my GP, and I've been told I have arthritis in my thumbs before and assumed that was it, but wanted to check.  The PA said that sounded like what they meant, that there were degenerative changes in my thumbs.  He also showed me my knee x-ray.  Nothing appeared to be broken.  The spaces between the knee bones, particularly on the medial side, are pretty small, and there are spurs in several places indicating moderate to severe arthritis, which I knew I had.  But he said that there was pretty much no cartilage behind my patella, and that was a concern.  I told him Dr Balthrop, the last time I had to have a meniscectomy, had told me I was eventually probably going to need a knee replacement.  

So that's where we stand at the moment.  A lot's been going on. I've been working very hard, was riding the bus for a while, and I've just been tired and exhausted and not up to writing when I got home.

Tired and hungry

Off work for Presidents' Day and spent my morning going to and from an appointment on the bus. Left at 8:15 am and it's almost noon now. I should get home about 12:30 or so. While at the transit centre, I snapped this picture of the Lincoln mural. I never noticed his leg has pink triangles on the side near The Bar (a gay bar that's been around for a long time). I don't know if it was on purpose, but I approve. (I had a better picture lined up, but the bus pulled up, and I'm on it now, waiting to pull out.)

Interesting video on gut bacteria/human biome on a person's health

depending on how well off they are socioeconomically [ignore the title's problem in English for now, as well as the thumbnail below, as it has little to nothing to do with anything in t the video].

It was inevitable, of course

What a day. I woke up late and just made it to my appointment, the day got better as we ran errands until I hit a pothole I didn't see on Landsdowne, of course on the side the doughnut tyre was, with an emphasis on 'was'.

Sigh.  That was at 1:20.  The car was towed at 3 pm.  There was only room for one of us in the tow truck and I offered to take the bus. I got home at 4:15 or so.

I'm going to eat and then take a nap. Maybe it will be better when I get up.  But at least we're home--no one was hurt, the car is fine, and I'll probably be able to get new tyres next weekend.   I'm off Monday from work, but I have to go into UK for an appointment.  So it's the bus for the next week.  Thank goodness, I had a couple of dollars tucked in my purse as an emergency fund in case I needed to get home. :)

Brenda told us about this Oscar-nominated short tonight...and it'll tear at your heartstrings

Well, I screwed up

Apparently, I really thought I'd transcribed the notes from the last Cthulhu game, and that we didn't actually play last Sunday when we did. I guess it's understandable as we've been sick and Brenda had to go out of state one weekend, but really! And we were at a point we could have maybe finished the Elizabethan adventure we're in right now. Oh, well. Instead, we're watching 'The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina' and 'Perfect Harmony'. I'll get the notes back on track, but needless to say, I'm embarrassed, although with my memory I'm surprised I didn't do this earlier. I was telling the gamemaster that I didn't have to do the notes, and he didn't say anything, mainly because I tend to get annoyed at him for reminding me of my bad memory. Sigh. Okay, he's on a phone call but it sounds like he'll be back in a moment, and we'll continue watching, so I should go. Just wanted to check in and vent about my lapse.

Lovely

So we had Sabbath dinner and the two challah loaves I made in the bread machine over the last couple of days exceeded my expectations immensely. It is rich and buttery, needing no spread but I'm sure it would go well with jam. My roommate said it was much better than what we've been getting at the bakery for $5 a loaf, special ordered. If I can keep this up he won't have to remember to order it on Thursdays, or go out on the bus on Fridays (it takes about 2-3 hours), and it'll save $40 a month. The bread flour is less than $4-5 a bag, and will make four or more loaves. So, I guess I know what I'll be doing weekly.

The recipe came from a book called Electric Bread. Here is the recipe, should you want to try it, for a large loaf [they call it that; they're smaller than a regular white bread loaf, and I thought they'd be denser, but they were incredibly fluffy]:

3/4 of a cup of water
3 cups bread flour
2 tablespoons sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 half stick of butter [1/4 of a cup]
2 eggs
1 egg yolk
1 1/2 teaspoons rapid-rise powdered yeast [my machine has a separate bin for the yeast that puts it in at the right time].

I lament

Worked through a chapter in two cognitive behavioural therapy workbooks and read a chapter in a library book on orchids (the latter while I was at Tire Discounters). So that's three chapters of reading in one day, more than I've done in a while. Tomorrow I pick up a book from the library on soil amendments. I've got several psychology and gardening books out right now, and some CDs. My roommate insists I'm holding books hostage, but I do pretty well with the non-fiction. Unfortunately, fiction has been a struggle of late. I think my attention span has shrunk, and maybe my introvertism is not so strong as it once is. It's hard for me to choose to do things alone, like read, or watch something. I listen to music pretty readily, but that doesn't require much investment of effort. It's been like this for several years. They talk about writer's block, but I've heard of others who say they have reader's block. That's what it feels like. Even when it's a good story, I struggle. It's so bad for a librarian to struggle with reading. I feel strange because of it. I'm going to try to set a little time each night for reading, even if it's for half an hour, and maybe do some studying as well. My languages, for example, are so rusty, and I brought my Latin, Biblical Hebrew, and Ancient Greek books with me when I moved here. The Spanish and German may have to be something I work on with Duolingo or some such; those books are in storage.

I think the best description I've ever seen of what I'm going to can be found in the Stages of a Reader cartoon you may have seen on the Internet.

So it's Saturday

and so far I've taken a shower, gotten ready, gotten gas for my car, stopped and got a couple of breakfast sandwiches, gone through a therapy session, and I'm at Tire Discounters right now getting an oil change. They've also checked my tyres, which I'm hoping to replace at the end of the month, and let's just say a few prayers that they hold up in the meantime would be appreciated.