Random things this morning

1. When you forget to take the trash bins to the kerb the night before, and the city is starting early due to the heat, it behoves you to get up at 5:00 AM to take the trash out and roll all three (trash, recycling, and yard waste, when in Lexington, have names, in order: Herbie, Rosiek and Lenny (for Lend a Hand). This is a somewhat perilous process in the dark, without anyone's knowledge, as you are also a klutz and liable to fall. But all went well. Still, at that point, you might as well stay up.
2. I have very short hair, but I have kept all my hair ties because they are extremely useful. I mainly use them to wrangle charging cords.  However, just now, I dealt with a sagging lumbar pillow that I have to adjust every single time I sit in the chair because the strap is stretched out by pulling it back and securing it with a hair tie. We'll see how it goes, but for now, it's at the perfect height for my back.
3. So far, I have used my extra time filing papers, mainly all the information the government sends me regarding my benefits. I know they're mostly duplicates of the notices they put on the portal, but still, some part of me thinks I should keep them. I also just had to change an asthma preventative inhaler that I've taken nightly for at least a decade (Breo Ellipta) because it's not covered by Medicaid. They cover Advair Diskus. Hopefully it will work as well. The pharmacist who works with my doctor helpfully advised me that the dosing is twice a day, though, so that was nice.  I spent 29 years with the same commercial medical insurance (UnitedHealthcare) when I was at Shriners. I knew my benefits intimately, and it was extremely good insurance: $150 deductible/$1500 out-of-pocket. Even though it was an HMO, it didn't require referrals as long as someone was in-network, and I never had issues with anyone being out-of-network in all that time. Since I've left, I've been covered by two Medicaid managed care organisations (Aetna Better Health of Kentucky and UnitedHealthcare Community Plan of Kentucky), both of which use MedImpact for medications (all of them do, at least for our state) and then for two months I was on a assisted qualified health plan from Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield where the state paid about $900 and I paid $500 for a $400-$500 deductible plan (medicine did not count like it did for my commercial plan, so I never hit it like I thought I would, or I would have gone for something cheaper, although medications were probably cheaper, and the first month of the doctors' visits were cheaper; the second month everything went up, including the premium, due to me pulling some retirement income out--to pay for the premiums and medical bills. It's been very hard to navigate all the changes. I'm highly literate, great with technology, and having been to university, an expert at red tape and bureaucracy (I always said I majored in red tape and minored in line waiting at the University of Kentucky); I  can't imagine how difficult it would be for someone without those advantages.
4. Today's agenda is fairly simple:
1. Work on as many chapters as I can, proofreading a talking book for the Kentucky Talking Book Library. I am woefully behind. I got chapter 3 done yesterday, which I was sent in April.  I got the whole book yesterday...fifteen chapters to go.  Life just has gotten in the way, and I should just buckle down now and get as much as I can get done while I'm off.
2. We need to put a large shop fan together to get some air moving in the house. It's a little oppressive out there, where the central heating went out last year. I am the only one with air conditioning in my room, and there have been other barriers to putting it in the rest of the house, so we've been relying on different types of fans and using my room as a cooling area for everyone occasionally.
3. I need to pick up some medicine at the UK pharmacy today.
4. My roommate's going over to friends' tonight, so it'll give me some chance to work on the book more. It's a true-crime murder mystery from the 1890s in northern Kentucky, so it's been pretty interesting, both from an historical and story point of view. 

Those are about all I can think of for now. That's a little rambling, I know. I'm just waking up, with no caffeine (I only drink soda on weekends, and I'm not a fan of coffee or tea; what can I say? It's terrible, I'm such an Anglophile and I hate tea.)

I've been busy cleaning house today

and decided I really needed to get on the ROMTech bike, and surprise, they added an extra minute to the resistance section, which doesn't seem like much, but I wasn't sure I was going to finish. So it's four minutes passive, four minutes active, six minutes resistance, and one minute active. I had it on pedal radius 3 out of 6. Maybe I need to drop down to 2, because it was a lot. I went from a one pain level to a three in 15 minutes, which doesn't seem like much, but it seemed a lot at the time. I'd like to take a nap, but I'm babysitting the animals while my roommate is over at a friend's house. He left at 9 am on the bus, and so I've been out here with the dogs (and cat) all day, letting them out, etc.  I made him coffee on the stove before he left and woke him up, of course.  After he left, I: 

1. Fed the animals.
2. Let the dogs out throughout the day.
3. Called ROMTech and gave them a heads-up about the upcoming surgery.
4. Laundered my clothes.
5. Laundered the dog blankets.
6. Swept the house.
7. Mopped the tile in the bathroom and kitchen.
8. Put the toaster I used for my breakfast bagel this morning away.
9. Cleaned the bathroom.
10. Laundered the towels, cleaning cloths, and mop head.
11. Washed dishes from today.
12. Filled up the hand soap and dish soap.

Among all the other little things I did today. I am tired. I'm still going to fold my laundry and put it away, as well as some I did midweek that's in a hamper already folded. Tomorrow I'll gather the trash from the bathroom and bedrooms together for him to take out, maybe.  That's his chore; I'm not allowed to do since I fell off the porch, but on the other hand, he can't carry anything outside on the sabbath. So today is not the day. He already did the rest of the trash and the cat little yesterday, I think it was. I've put the dog blankets back down. I might wash his bedding if he'd like.  And I should maybe do some dusting.  But I think that's all the normal chores short of the normal dishes. So I'm back to doing things around the house, at least for now, as long as I don't really lift or stand for long periods of time. If only my car were running so I could drive! But of course, in 11 days I'm having another big surgery. In 6 I'll have to start prepping with the special antibiotic showers. This is really coming up fast. One of the things I have to do while my friend is here is practice going up the stairs on my left leg. It's always been weaker. You know how you go 'up' on the stronger, 'down' on the weaker? Well, when I have my surgery, mine are going to flip, but the 'stronger' leg will have just had surgery, so in PT we're trying to strengthen both legs as quickly as possible, the left so it can carry the weight for the right, and the right to recover quicker. We'll see. And the resistance on the ROMTech is probably helping, too.

Okay, back to folding clothes. I want to finish this to-do list. I want to keep the house in shape up to the time of my surgery so I'm in good shape going into the time I can't do much.

Today I have

1. Made coffee for my roommate so he could get up early and walk me out to the car for my early appointment.  
2. Woken up said surly roommate right before my ride came.
3. Gone to my pre-admit appt and had labs drawn/gotten my chlorhexidine wipes, and information for surgery.
4. Gone through my actual physical therapist to get my post-op visit because UK was so tight on their schedule and out till October.
5. Moved two telehealths that were while I was going to be in the hospital and cancelled one that was redundant because one was with my weight loss MD, who is now going to be my new PCP, whom I see in person on Monday.
6. Paid a bill and checked to make sure it went through the bank, discovering a charge that shouldn't be on my account, leading to...
7. Called about a debit that was made both from my paycheque and my bank account, so there will be a refund.
8. Relaxed after all that by filling up my aromatherapy infuser with distilled water and lavender oil, running it for an hour, playing Loreena McKennitt's station on Pandora, and playing a jigsaw puzzle online.
9. Finally got around to taking my meds.

I still have to:

1. Get money out of the bank for the grocery fund.
2. Go with my roommate and a friend when they get groceries.
3. Go to PT.
4. Do the ROMTech bike at least twice today.
5. Call ROMTech and see how the new surgery will change the treatment plan/authorisation/return time, etc. 
6. At some point, I'm going to lie down and take a nap.
7. I've been up since 4:45 AM, and I hit the ground running and have been going ever since.

I didn't even make a to-do list, and I got all this done. Wow and oy vey.

How I spend my time these days

I really thought I'd be bored while I was off, but that hasn't been the case. Okay, all of this may seem boring. Each day I write out a to-do list of what I need to get done, need to remember to do, or actually do that day that I want 'credit' for. This is a look at my activities over the last few days, from Wednesday through Sunday. I had them on to-do lists on my Kindle Scribe. Each day, I write out the agenda to keep my day in some semblance of order and then tick off the tasks as I do them. Remarkably, Amazon's algorithm can (mostly) read my handwriting and transcribe it into text; I just had to clean it up a little. So I'm keeping busy with a lot of little stuff, plus some posting to Facebook and blogging here. That bike is taking a lot of it, and appointments, plus resting afterwards. I haven't spent all that much time doomscrolling. You'd be surprised at some of the things I'm doing at two weeks out from surgery, probably. I think I did dishes at week one. It is one of my main chores for ages (my roommate cooks, I clean up, for example) and my roommate was so overwhelmed by taking care of me, the animals, and everything else that once he and a friend got the dishwasher working again and he got the backlog taken care of, I was able to do the regular dishes again. If there are more than I can do in just a quick washup and I want to use the dishwasher, I just sit in a chair and do unload/load it. He'd be happy to do it, but it's taken a load off of him, as he's suddenly been having to do everything else of late. I cleaned the bathroom the other day and surprised him. As long as I don't have to stand too long (and I didn't scrub the tub or shower or anything, just hit the important things), I'm fine. Anyway, here we go, plus a page of my handwriting. I think Amazon did a pretty decent job of transcription. I'm mostly staying in my room in the air conditioning (I'm the only one in the house with it, and have been all summer--long story, although there are some pretty high-velocity fans).

Wednesday

• wake up at 7 am
• get dressed, get ready
• telehealth with Kelley
• water plants
• make bed
• update Google Calendar
• update wall calendar
• go to PT
• ROMTech #1
• ROMTech #2
• put on duvet cover
• pack return
• drop return @ post office
• text with K
• post PT update on Facebook
• puzzle |
• watch 'Desperate housewives'@ dinner
• take morning meds
• take eve meds
• take thyroid medicine
• rest as needed |||
• ice as needed |||
• take Tylenol as needed |||
• keep eye on blood sugar
• take insulin if needed
• do finances/balance ledger
• drink water |||| ||||
• wake D
• read email
• do PT exercises

Thursday

• wake up 7:30 am
• get water ||||/ ||||/ |
• take thyroid medicine
• take Tylenol |||
• email Dr Newland
• make bed
• clean bathroom
• wash dishes
• get dressed
• eat breakfast( banana)
• take morning meds
• keep eye on blood sugar
• take insulin if needed (not needed)
• take evening meds
• watch 'Desperate Housewives' @ dinner
• work on blog backlog
• ROMTech # 1
• ROMTech # 2
• ROMTech # 3
• rest as needed |
• ice as needed |
• update tomorrow PT time on calendars
• clean up 'landing area' in room
• take Maunjaro (ER had asked me to delay it till now)
• puzzle ||||
• turn on/off plant light
• listen to music (Shinedown, Ella Fitzgerald, Rag'n'Bone Man station)
• word game |||
• fix aromatherapy diffuser/run it
• do PT exercises
• read email

Friday

• wake up 7 am 
• get water ||||
• put up bags (plastic)
• put up salt + pepper
• put up cup
• put up bags (reusable)
• put up dish items
• put up toilet paper
• put up paper towels
• cut up damaged apples (bad cat!)
• make coffee
• wake roommate
• get dressed
• turn plant light on/off
• run aromatherapy diffuser
• make bed
• listen to music
• take thyroid medicine
• take Tylenol |||
• take morning meds
• keep an eye on blood glucose
• more items from walker to purse
• blog
• put Tylenol from store run away
• go to PT which = ROMTech #1
• turn off battery pack for white rose garland on bed
• read email
• ROMTech #2
• text with J
• care about driving YES!!!
• Call Br
• care Bo
• start car-oil light on
• order pizza
• can Br again
• call Bo again
• have Shabbos dinner
• unload dishwasher
• put away dishes
• load dishwasher
• run dishwasher
• do other dishes (very few)
• take evening meds
• put on new phone case
• put new charger together/try out

Saturday

• wake up 7 am
• take thyroid med
• take Tylenol |||
• put trash bag in container
• launder clothes
• make coffee
• wake roommate
• get dressed
• caffeinate
• listen to Shinedown
• ROMTech# 1
• check email
• check Facebook
• breakfast (apple slices)
• keep an eye on blood sugar
• take morning insulin (both types 20 units)
• turn plant light on/off
• let dogs out/in (carefully)
• rest/elevate leg after exercise
• clean houseeshoes
• run aromatherapy infuser
• take morning meds
• have lunch (baked potato)
• take nap
• read 'Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes'
• ROMTech# 2
• clean out left bedside table drawers
• check Havdalah time.
• ROMTech# 3
• blog Rabbi Kleinbaum's drash
• puzzle
• fold laundry
• put laundry way
• call Chandler pharmacy and cancel insulin autofill
• switch over to Ella Fitzgerald for music
• elevate leg ||
• put on cover screen protector
• do PT exercises
• watch 'Desperate Housewives' @ dinner (sandwich)

Sunday

• wake up 630 am
• take thyroid medicine
• scan news/email/Facebook
• caffeinate
• make coffee
• wake roommate
• listen to Shinedown
• finances
• rest 930-10 an
• turn on/off plant light
• ROMTech #1
• rest/stretch 1030-1230
• take Tylenol
• clean air conditioner filters
• keep an eye on blood sugar
• eat breakfast (banana)
• make bed
• get dressed
• do PT exercises
• ROMTech #2
• take morning meds
• puzzle ||
• ROMtech #3
• listen to audiobook ('Will My Cat Eat My Eyeballs?')
• ROMTech #4
• eat lunch (sandwich/apple)
• dinner (fish, rice, salad, watermelon)
• watch 'Desperate Housewives' @ dinner
• ROMTech #5
• unload dishwasher
• load dishwasher
• run dishwasher
• wash dishes in sink
• leave pot to soak
• clean stove
• listen to Ella Fitzgerald on speaker via computer
• charge phone, watch, earbuds, speaker
• take eve meds
• take pain med 'cause pain = couldn't sleep

There you go. That's my life in minutiae right now. Is it boring? Oddly, no. Should it be? I'm not sure. I'm starting to have blocks of time I can fill with other things. Audiobooks are looking like a plan. I'm open to other suggestions, as well. :) Today, for example, I have no appointments, and I am only going to do the bike three times, and wait to start until a little later in the day, maybe noon.

Up

at 5:30 am just as my roommate went to bed. Neither of us has the best sleeping ability on a good day, both of us deal with insomnia. My problem, I think, is while I went to bed fairly early, i had quite a bit of pain and had trouble sleeping, so I finally broke down and took some medicine, which messes with my sleep cycle, melatonin or not. Besides, I'm used to getting up between 5:30-6:30 for work still.

So here I am, my light alarm clock just coming on. I should probably get on the bike. But no, that is not happening this early.

Before I went to bed, I made my first actual to-do list since my surgery. It goes something like this:

• do morning PT exercises
• brush teeth/clean up
• get dressed
• take morning meds
• do internet jigsaw puzzle #1 in morning [https://www.jigsawexplorer.com/]
• listen to music
• return a text from a friend in Cicero, Illinois
• ride ROMTech bike #1 (8:00 am)
• read from book about public libraries
• get my friend to take my hamper of dirty clothes out to the washer
• do my laundry
• blog, including back entries where I never mentioned doing this surgery [I am so behind; I haven''t posted since June. I have kept this blog since October of 2001.]
• ice!
• stay ahead of the pain
• remember to use the knee brace on the non-operant (right) knee since I keep forgetting
• ride ROMTech bike #2 (10:30 am)
• set up bill pay to pay rent/grocery fund
• ride ROMTech #3 (1:00 pm)
• do puzzle #2 for the afternoon
• eat lunch
• do midday PT exercises
• return a missed phone call from yesterday
• have friend bring me the clean clothes in a hamper
• fold the clean clothes [these include the linens for Sabbath dinner tomorrow]
• ride ROMTech # 4 (3:30pm)
• do puzzle #3 for the evening
• ride ROMTech # 5 (6:00 pm)
• eat dinner
• watch episodes 1 and 2 of season 2 of 'Desperate Housewives'
• take evening meds
• do nightly PT exercises

It's not what I would call thrilling, but it'll keep me occupied. 🙂 I'm going to try something new tomorrow and cut the time in between the ROMTech sessions from three hours to 1.5 in an effort to get them knocked out in a reasonable time. We'll see. That may be too much at once. But I don't have any appointments tomorrow. If you're wondering why I am doing laundry rather than my roommate, there is a perfectly non-logical story involving oaths to long-dead relatives about that going back over two decades that I won't get into but suffice to say that I am perfectly capable of putting clothes in and out of a washer and dryer, especially if I open the other utility room door (I don't normally bother, I just open the dryer and pull things out by kind of leaning over, but there is a bolt that goes into the floor where the door in front does actually swing fully open so you have full access). I just can't carry at the moment. Actually, my clothes are in a rolling cart, but still....I'll ask him to do it, just to be safe.

Okay, it's 6:30 am. I'm not sure if I'm sleepy or no.t. Maybe I should start my day with a little music. Have a lovely morning.

I have been a very busy girl today

 

Originally I had planned to take some things to my storage unit, as it was a pretty day, but I ran out of steam. Unfortunately it's going to rain the next three days, so my next opportunity is Thursday, but I get off at 4:30 PM, so I think that's doable. They're winter clothes and photographs, mainly. My stepmother sent me five boxes of photos, some in frames, from my father's side of the family. I just don't have the room here; I live in my friend's library, essentially. But I got everything else, small and large, accomplished. Go, me. [I didn't make a list yesterday, but it was fairly decent in terms of being productive but balanced with rest, too.]

Time for bed. Good night.

By 1 PM

1. Studied Duolingo
2. Went through bed cubbies
3. Went through library books
4. Charged earbuds
5. Charged continuous glucose monitor receiver
6. Charged razor
7. Set up SAD light for seasonal depression
8. Got rid of honey, oil, and moss*
9. Cleaned out the bags from the utility room
10. Consolidated bills/opened all the envelopes
11. Took midday insulin
12. Ate lunch

By 3 PM:

1. Took the books to the library
2. Got more soda
3. Took reusable bags to the car
4. Took my religious items to the car to go to storage
5. Threw away items on the refrigerator, got rid of the soda bottles, threw away moss*

Still need to:

1. Fold laundry and put it away
2. Help my friend write out his bills
3. Take a shower tonight
4. Eat dinner
5. Take evening meds
6. Change my CPAP mask, etc. 

*It's orchid potting moss. I have two packages. One was still unopened. The other, when I re-potted fifteen orchids years ago because the kitten was digging out and playing with the fir bark, had engendered fungous gnats and I just wanted to make sure it was gone so I wouldn't confuse the two. There may be eggs, and I took awhile to get rid of it, but it's gone now.

That is a lot in eight hours, and I've only paused to eat and take my meds. I haven't doomscrolled. Just the blog posts. So...I'm going to nap now.  In fact, I'll put that on my list.

1. Take nap.

By 11 AM I had:

1. Run the dishwasher
2. Washed one big load of laundry and put it in the dryer
3. Listened to music
4. Eaten breakfast
5. Organised my crafting supplies (mainly beads and watercolour materials)
6. Organised my home gym items (handheld weights, ankle weights, balls, bands--small stuff I use for PT and exercise sometimes)
7. Charged my earbuds
8. Charged my glucose monitor receiver
9. Tweaked the pumpkin diorama
10. Blogged
11. Go through a shelf next to the power station I charged the other day
12. Cleaned out the drawers of both nightstands
13. Let the dogs out and fed the animals
14. Organised the herb cabinet I keep dishes and my own non-refrigerated foods in
15. Taken all of my morning medications

Still on my list:

1. Organise the bed cubbies (there are two in the footboard)(
2. Study Duolingo
3. Go through the library books
4. Start re-reading Jim Butcher's Storm Front
5. Help my friend write out his bills
6. Take a shower (tonight)

Whew! I am really thinking of lying down for a bit. :)

Today

I have: 

1. Washed the percolator and hand-washed dishes.
2. Emptied,  loaded,  and run the dishwasher. 
3. Made coffee for my roommate. 
4. Woken him up.
5. Stripped the bed and laundered the bedclothes in the washer. (They're in the dryer right now).
6. Sorted and folded laundry from yesterday. 
7. Woken my roommate. 
8. Let out the dogs several times. 
9. Listened to music.
10. Tightened a loose leg on the living room farm table. The dogs keep knocking into it as they play.
11. Mended two blouses. Why does my sewing kit,  which has 22 spools of thread,  not include navy? I even have chartreuse.  I have never worn chartreuse in my life. But at least those three years of home oeconomics/Future Homemakers of America membership paid off.
12. Taken my oral meds and insulin.
13. Taken items to the car.
14. Took books back to and picked up a hold from the library.
15. Gotten a new library card (my key one wouldn't scan anymore).
16. Taken items to my storage unit.
17. Retrieved the old game notebooks so I can look for something.
18. Went to the store for tea and soda.
19. Finally caffeinated/browsed the web.

Not bad so far.  Things also on my list today:

1. Water plants.
2. Clean bathroom.
3. Print something from the desktop.
4. Read.
5. Straighten up room.
6. Break down cardboard boxes and take them out to the recycling bin (also known as a Rosie here in Lexington).
7. Find the missing game-related information.
8. Zoom with my roommate to test something.
9. Dust some bookshelves.
10. Watch 'Midsomer Murders' during dinner.
11. Feed the dogs and cat in the evening.

Thursday [I was off] I:

1. Made coffee for my roommate.
2. Woke him up.
3. Let the dogs out several times. Fed the dogs and cat in the morning (I usually do evening).
4. Caffeinated and browsed the web.
5. Listened to music.
6. Took a friend out to the Indian restaurant (Masala) for his birthday.
7. Went to the store.
8. Watched 'Midsomer Murders' during dinner.
9. Cleaned the percolator and washed any plastics.
10. Took my meds (morning and night).

Friday [I was off] I:

1. Made coffee for my roommate.
2. Fed the dogs and cat [morning and evening] and let the dogs out several times.
3. Ran dishwasher.
4. Woke him up for class.
5. Caffeinated and browsed the web.
6. Listened to music.
7. Took a friend to get his hair cut.
8. Did a lot of laundry.
9. Picked up some meds.
10. Took expired meds to the pharmacy for disposal.
11. Cleaned the percolator and washed any plastics.
12. Took my meds (morning and night).

Saturday I:

1. Slept in.
2. Made coffee for my roommate.
3. Fed the dogs and cat [both morning and evening] and let the dogs out several times.
4. Ran the dishwasher.
5. Caffeinated and browsed the web.
6. Did a lot of laundry.
7. Make a bank deposit.
8. Trimmed my nails because I couldn't type anymore comfortably.
9. Took a shower.
10. Made banana nut bread.
11. Watched 'Midsomer Murders' during dinner.
12. Took my meds (morning and night).

Things for tomorrow (Labour Day]:

1. Make coffee for my roommate.
2. Run the dishwasher.
3. Caffeinate and browse the web.
4. Listen to music.
5. Pull out things in the utility room.
6. Get the vacuum out of the shed.
7. Move the dryer (with help).
8. Clean out the lint hose and exhaust. It never has been in all the time he's had the house, since about 2005, and the other day we were talking about appliance fires and thought perhaps it would be good. It's also why we're running the dishwasher in the morning rather than while we sleep.
9. Read.
10. Take a shower.
11. Watch 'Midsomer Murders' during dinner.
12. Feed the dogs and cat in the evening.
13. Let the dogs out often.
14. Launder the rest of my bedding.
15. Watch 'Meet the Robinsons' (maybe).

Not bad for my little vacation. Mind you, our air conditioning is out (for the second time this summer--the first time a dog chewed the wires; I suspect there's something wrong with the thermostat this time] and it's been 85°-95°F inside. We've all been very hot during the heatwave, which has had heat indices in the hundred-and-something range outside. Fortunately, we do have fans. Hopefully, we'll be able to afford to have it looked at and fixed soon.

I got a lot done this weekend

 

This weekend

Saturday

1. Make coffee
2. Post office
3. Pick up contacts/get glasses adjusted
4. Eat at the Indian restaurant
5. Go to store (olive oil/salt/Shabbos candles)
6. Water plants
7. Fold last week's laundry/put away
8. Read chapter 8 of the therapy book
9. Pay Internet bill
10. Take items to storage
11. Clean room
12. Watch The Magic Flute movie
13. Talk to J re: résumé
14. Do a jigsaw puzzle

Sunday

1. Litter
2. Bathroom
3. Dishes
4. Recyclables
5. Trash
6. Sweep
7. Mop
8. Dust shelves
9. Do this week's laundry
10. Collars for dogs
11. Get hair cut
12. Game notes

Agenda

Today's list. I didn't include making coffee for my roommate in the percolator and waking him so he can attend services; I do that every Saturday as he cannot cook on the Sabbath. I've gotten a late start, but none of it is actually time-sensitive except painting the rust spot (daytime) and Kroger (before 10 pm). Even the pharmacy and storage unit are 24/7, although I should do them in daytime. It is going to be a fairly busy day, but there's time to relax, too. At least I already did the game notes. 

REVISION: I found out I needed more items for the rust repair, so I took that off the list. My friend Jon can't talk tonight, so I have more time to read the books that might help him. Oh, and I bought a mint plant the other day to put a few leaves in the soup, so I'm going to pot the plant. So I updated the list.

UPDATE: Well, I got a lot accomplished, but not all of it. I got the blanket and one of two loads of my laundry finished, took some items out to the car that are supposed to be there, but not the ones that go to storage, nor took those to storage. I dusted shelves and did my Duolingo (despite a cat lolling on me)..I will pick up the book tomorrow or Monday, put the storage items in the car tomorrow and take them to the centre on Monday. I need to pot the mint tomorrow. I did spend a lot of time on the books for my friend's job search and started working on a potential résumé for him.  I did take a friend to his event. I'll get the medicine tomorrow, hopefully, as they may put it back if I don't. I hate paying for parking, so I try to get it on the weekends. I did everything else.

So yesterday was actually pretty productive

and I'm on track for today as well. Yesterday I:

1. Went to two pharmacies and got medication for my roommate and myself.
2. Got some groceries while I was at the second to try to combine runs.
3. 'Read' for two chapters (but it was an audiobook, so I listened for about an hour, really), The Great Influenza by John M. Barry, about the 1918 flu pandemic.
4. Listened to music and perused Facebook, which probably shouldn't count as productivity, but I was up and that's what matters.
5. Organized about 60 Kindle books into categories so it isn't a terrible mess.
6. Composed a complete yet eloquent rant on Facebook concerning those who were outside of our Capitol building while the governor was announcing deaths in a huddled mass shouting for him to reopen the state and end the COVID-19 restrictions.
7. Re-watched and sang to 'Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog', which made me feel quite a bit better after that. :)

Today I woke up at 7 am because I'd set my alarm to early as I had not done my normal task of washing the percolator and its basket so my roommate could make coffee this morning. I wanted to make sure I was up before him, as when he gets up to make coffee he is usually so out of it and if the pot and basket are clean, he is too out of it to do himself. It's one of those little things I do for him each night, I just forgot to yesterday.  For those who don't understand, you try using a percolator rather than a Keurig and see how you do when you're half-awake.

So after I got that taken care of (three hours before he woke up!) I:

1. Called T-mobile to finally get my hotspot fixed, as  I knew I'd need it where I am now, away from the Wi-Fi, and it hasn't worked in months.  Apparently, there was no problem with my plan, the data, the laptop, or actual connexion.  It was connecting, just not giving me Internet.  So we went through various settings and two operators, each of whom had to call me back periodically, and I had to factory reset my phone, but it is now working.  If it hadn't, I still have my phone under insurance and they were willing to replace it. I feel good about my service; they were very helpful.  Now I just need to restore some of the stuff that was backed up and re-download some applications and I'll be good to go.  My music and everything was all on an SD card, so I didn't actually 'lose' anything.
2. I've taken my car to the shop to get the front brakes fixed.  They've needed it for a while.  My mechanic, Kenny @ Mitch's Auto, runs a small shop and I know their business has really been impacted by all this.  So I thought I'd get them fixed while I was off rather than taking it to a chain.  They've always been really great about fixing my car and not overcharging or anything like that.  I'd highly recommend them.  They're on Industry Road near the Circle in Lexington.

Other plans today: 

• I have to go back to our small independent pharmacy as my roommate was asleep when I picked up what was ready yesterday, but he had a few other things he needed.  But that's just a drive-through sort of thing.
• I'm going to take some things to my storage unit.  I have my winter clothes packed up (in one, not two totes this year), and I have a few other things that are sitting in my room right now otherwise.
• Reading some more. I'll listen to more of the Barry book, maybe while I'm waiting for the car to be finished.
• Re-install things on my phone.
• Do some more reading as far as my Kindle goes now that it's ready to go.
• Straighten up my room a little.
• Launder my masks and the clothes I have on right now and from yesterday that I went out in.
• Take some pots and put them in the shed until I'm ready to use them so they don't wind up being blown around like the other day when a couple were in the yard

I wish I was in a good place for gardening.  The soil in the yard at roommate's house really needs to be worked and amended.  I thought about getting a hanging plant yesterday when I got groceries from Kroger, but it's cool right now and we've been under frost warnings.  I'll look next time I make a trip out to the store.  But container gardening is about our only hope right now, as neither of us has much to spare in terms of getting what's needed to improve the soil.  I do have a big tub at the storage unit that might work for a tomato plant later once the frost is not an option.  I just need to drill a few holes in it, although a co-worker has my drill at the moment.

Okay, I think I'll go ahead and post this and switch over to working on the phone.  Have a great day.

So

Starting the second round of staying at home for a week. Things I'd like to do differently:

1. Work on my mental health. Work sent out something from our EAP about a service/app called Whil with all sorts of educational resources for mindfulness, anxiety calming, meditation, and stress release. I went ahead and signed up at work (as it required the work e-mail) and now I'm set. My goal is to spend an hour a day on these. They include video and audio programmes, and it's free with our EAP up to June.
2. Try to actually read. Again, an hour a day is my goal, whether it's an audiobook, e-book, or physical book.
3. Finish 'Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance' with my friend on Netflix.
4. Survive my bread cravings from Pesach/Passover since I can't get something and bring it home until Thursday after sunset.
5. Do almost no travelling out of the house, with some planning. Today I do have to go out to two pharmacies, one of which is Kroger, so I'll try to do a grocery run in and out at the same time.
6. Do some writing, whether it's on my blog or other things. Something to keep me from being on Facebook all day and feeling that I accomplished something.
7. Get my brakes fixed, as my mechanic is only open on weekdays and I'm off. Also, I'd be supporting a local small business.

That's a start, anyway. I'm off through Tuesday before I return to work this time.

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.

It has been a very busy weekend

Here's what I accomplished:

1. Went to the pharmacy. Got to see my plants.
2. Got nitrogen put in my tyres and discussed my treads and whether it was worth getting an alignment or rotation now or just waiting till I get new tyres, which will have to be soon, although I'm not sure how I'm going to swing that.
3. Repotted the aloes.
4. Repotted the orchids.
5. Did my laundry on Saturday and my roommate's on Sunday. Managed to do that and the kitchen linens with the very last of the detergent.
6. Moved a couple shelves in front of the library windows so I could put the orchids on them and they could get some actual light (eastern exposure). I'd temporarily placed them on top of my bookcase headboard, but they were between the windows and couldn't get any light. A grow light might have worked, but there's a painting that could be damaged by the full spectrum light. So I decided to try this. They are behind the nightstands, so it's a little crowded, but it passed muster with my friend.
7. Went to the library and took some books back and picked up my roommate's hold.
8. Took the other two shelves and summer clothes to the storage unit.
9. Cleaned out the car.
10. Did a boatload of plastic dishes.
11. Went through the clothes I was given and pulled out the ones that needed mending.
12. Incorporated the new clothes into my existing clothes, and put away laundry at the same time.
13. Organised my closet and prepared some things to take back to storage and to donate.
14. Organised the cedar chest and the clothes in the footboard of the bed. The kitten has been pulling my bras and other things through the little divet that's used to open the drawers.
15. Put the coverlet back on the bed, which will hopefully deter him, as it will be out of sight, out of mind.
16. Watched several episodes of a cartoon series.
17. Generally straightened up my room.
18. Took a nice long shower today.
19. Swept and mopped the floors.
20. Did the regular dishes.
21. Took out the trash and recyclables.
22. Cleaned the bathroom.
23. Entertained the kitten, who was inconsolable that he'd been closed out of the bedroom while my roommate slept because he was gnawing on him.
24. Packed my lunch for tomorrow.
25. Laid out my clothes for tomorrow (I don't do that very often. I should.)
26. Actually blogged! Twice!

Things that got put off till tomorrow:

1. Go by the bank.
2. Go over the grocery list and see what we already have.
3. Shop at the grocery store for Thanksgiving (we already have the Quorn roasts).
4. Get some cat toys for the kitten and food for the older cat.
5. Complete replacement of the cat litter (once we get some from the store).
6. Clean out and organise my nightstands.
7. Take things out to the car that are to be donated or go to storage.
8. Double check the smoke alarm/CO monitor. I think the batteries are in wrong, and it'll take both of us to change the batteries, as I'm not tall enough, even with a stepstool. I got some new batteries.
9. Call in the morning and reschedule an appointment to finalise the draft of my revamped will--with my boss' announcement I didn't feel I could ask to leave early the next business day with so little warning and get a good reply.
10. Get the duvet cover on the duvet and get it on my roommate's bed (it takes two to do well) and take back my heavier blanket.

Today's agenda

1. Shower.
2. Take medicine.
3. Caffeinate.
4. Do two loads of laundry.
5. Go to the optician.
6. Go to the Rusty Scabbard [a local gaming store that's been around for ages].
7. Go pick up a couple of books on hold at the library.
8. Go to the YMCA and work out and then hit the warm water pool during open swim.
9. Do the game notes.
10. Dust some bookshelves.
11. Relax.

My list got waylaid

by a tiny kitten. I'll work on the other things later. In the meantime, I'm enjoying tiny meows and purring, punctuated by the occasional hissing of the other feline denizens of the house. But so far, everyone's behaved themselves. :) But all that's left is the photos (which I've set the goal of finishing by end of summer, and I'm halfway there already), watering the plants (I can do that tomorrow--it'll give the water I filled up a little more time to outgas), and reading (and I'm educating myself for the purposes of a potential job, and that doesn't close till late July). The bills can wait till tomorrow, as nothing can be mailed out until Monday anyway. So I got the pressing things done, and the plants can wait till tomorrow. So all is good. Plus, kitten!!!

Agenda for the day

1. Go to the pharmacy for my roommate's medicine.
2. Go through the second tub of family photos [I did the first tub last week all at once, surprisingly, and this is the second of two.]
3. Do game notes.
4. Four shelves.
5. Go to two different pet stores for their brand of cat food.
6. Visit the vet for kitty meds.
7. Wash the dog blankets and the people bedding.
8. Incorporate the CD player back into my room along with the CDs I brought from work. I wasn't listening to music that way because I was afraid of disturbing my neighbours--I usually listen to music with Bluetooth headphones on.
9. Put away my laundry from last weekend.
10. Water the plants.
11. Read.
12. Go over bills.

I keep thinking there's something else. Hmm...oh, relax. Get rest. It's been a rough week.

Timeline of my ambition

SUNDAY, MAY 13^TH AGENDA

0800      Wake up. Shower. Caffeinate. Take medicine.

0915      Do cat boxes.

0930      Take out trash and recyclables.

1000      Clean the bathroom.
1030      Start laundry.

1045      Go to Supercuts.

1100      Get haircut.

1145      Go to a friend’s. Take his mom’s flowers he had me get for her.

1200      Visit for a bit.

1230      Go to the storage unit.

1245      Drop off winter clothes.

1300      Root for exercise equipment.

1330      Return home. Rest.
1430      Sweep whole house.

1530      Rest.
1545      Mop kitchen and bath tile.
1615      Wash mophead.
1630      Go to Kroger for bread yeast. -- Put off until tomorrow.
1700      Start bread maker.  -- Put off until tomorrow.

1730      Cover Letter-YKWIA

1800      Cover letter 1. -- Put off until tomorrow.

1830      Cover letter 2. -- Put off until tomorrow.

1900      Feed animals.

1915      Apply for the job for YKWIA.

2045      Read.  -- Not up to it tonight.

2115      Listen to music.

2200      Go to bed.

UPDATE: I also unpacked the exercise equipment, blew up the balance ball, and put things away.   The cat is enjoying the box, so I haven't recycled it yet. I brought in my microwave from storage as well since the one we're using is perhaps on its last legs, but then it's way over 30 years old.  Mine is only 26. :)

My job applications aren't due for a couple of weeks to a month, so I'm going to work on those tomorrow.  I'm still working on the laundry, actually.  I've done all his clothes, my clothes (and I put all of mine away from last week and today), and I'm about halfway through his bedding.  So it'll probably be a later night than 10 pm.  Also, the bread I made yesterday came out better than I thought--it had a huge air bubble in the bottom, but not in the top half so I can wait for the yeast and the new loaf.

Of concern is the heat.  Tomorrow in addition to the yeast, I am going to stop by the storage unit and get my fans, something I should have done today, but he is almost never really hot.  But he was today, and the dogs certainly were--we can put the fans in the living room and that should help, as it's the only room other than the bathroom without a ceiling fan.

Okay,  either the washer or dryer just buzzed, so I should go check on the bedding.  Have a good night if I don't write more.