Sorry, I didn't mean to fall off the face of the planet...

Last week was a little busy, and hard.  So on Tuesday night, I had my talk with the behavioural therapist through the AbleTo programme my insurance is partnered with.  I spoke to her about things about my childhood and my family I haven't told more than a handful of people, and it was very intense.  It's actually a programme with modules for helping depression, but she asked a couple of questions and I guess I opened up. A lot. She called my case complex, but apparently, it was in line with the module to explore some past issues that were causing problems today.

The next day I could not get out of bed. I felt bad. My stomach hurt really bad, and I think that was a result of going up on my Ozempic because the side effects always hit about two days after I take the injection I got it on Monday and took it that night. But I just couldn't drag myself out, and I felt real blah and off.  My friend, who used to work in psychiatric care, said that often you can get a 'therapy hangover', and it's the best description I can find for it. I wound up calling in to work. I've never taken a 'mental health day', but I just couldn't function. I spoke with my boss later and she understood.

On Thursday, I had the five appointments plus errands to do.  The telehealth with my psychiatrist went well because, despite Wednesday's issues, my depression is much better. We have another appointment in three months. I also had my gel injections in my knees, and those went well.  At midday, I had the PT evaluation.  The therapist thinks that part of the issue is benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV) is a problem in the inner ear. It is the most common cause of vertigo, which is a false sensation of spinning or movement. It comes from calcium crystals that build up in the inner ear and get into the wrong area of that. It can be treated with a certain manoeuvre that resets where they are so it can be absorbed. This works in most cases. I had a slightly postive test, so he did the exercise for me and set up and appointment to follow up tomorrow at 7:30 am. A greater part may be vestibular-ocular reflex (VOR). It is a reflex that helps stabilise the visual field during head movements. It occurs in response to head movement and leads to the eyes moving in the opposite direction to maintain a steady gaze. That was more positive. He doesn't think they explain the whole problem, though, and I told him I have a neurology appointment on Tuesday for a workup as well. He'll also see me Friday after the neurologist gets a chance to do his thing.

I dragged a friend to that appointment and he read in the car, because then he had a dental appointment I was taking him to and we weren't sure there'd be time for me to come and get him otherwise.  I got out earlier than they expected, so we went on and I read while he had that appointment.  Then we got some Cajun food for an early dinner. At 7 pm I had a call with the behavioural coach from the AbleTo people and that went well.

Friday I went back to work and it was Sabbath.  Saturday was restful. I did a couple of errands and the game notes, and that was about it. I got the notes done by 12:30 pm, which is a record.  Also yesterday evening we went out with friends to Joe Bologna's, an Italian restaurant here. They're celebrating 50 years in business.  They're in a beautiful building with stained glass...it used to be a synagogue years ago.

We were celebrating one friend's birthday and my upcoming one as well. The birthday kids got free desserts. It was really fun, and it was the most social interaction I've done outside of work in a long time.

In the middle of the night, my roommate and I spent two hours talking about various things, a really great conversation.

As a result, I got up a little late, started my chores late.  Our friend we game with called right before she'd normally left. Her son, who lives with her, was exposed to Covid, so they were staying home just to be sure everything was okay. She didn't want to take the chance, and we appreciate it. So I have some more time to finish my chores (I'm taking a longish break right now).

So as you can see, it was pretty busy last week.  Today was also a day I started a weight loss programme that's aimed at improving healthy habits, presented in partnership with my pharmacy benefit with another application-based system.  They sent me a scale and I'm weighing daily. My goal is to lose 20 lbs in 16 weeks.

Okay, I need to get back to my chores. I'll try to write more regularly.  Sorry about that.

There are perks to being a pagan living in a Jewish household

Sure, you have to know the kosher laws and my libations must technically be off the property, but last night's Sabbath dinner was wonderful: tilapia in wine, onions, and herbs, salad, challah, kugel, and asparagus with mint sauce, all very healthy and not very expensive at all, much less than you would pay in a restaurant, and much tastier. I think the cook outdid himself this week. It means he has to go out on the bus to the bakery to get the challah, which is downtown and has odd hours, as I can't because I'm at work and they're closed by the time I get off work, but it is well worth it. But he cooked most of the afternoon, I think and was very tired afterwards, and I cleaned up, and I was in bed by 10 pm.

I went to the Bluegrass Farmer's Market earlier

and for $14 I got a small watermelon, an ear of corn, an onion, three regular tomatoes, a pint of cherry tomatoes, a yellow zucchini, two regular ones, and a cucumber. I took some of the bounty over to my friends' house, and made them a dish of tomatoes, zucchini, and onions with cheese, and then under YKWIA's direction made some kale with onions and smoked paprika and some snap peas in butter and herbs. We had a lovely meal of various vegetables, and then A cleaned up afterwards and we had a nice visit.

Now I'm home and I need to do game notes before tomorrow but I'm not quite at the point where I feel like doing them this moment, even though it's nearly ten at night. I should have worked on them earlier today before going over to their house, I know. Oh, well. The good news is I have gotten snacks for the game already and so tomorrow I should be able to go over there and get right to work on the house, although with my knee A's going to have to help a great deal. But for now, I'm putting my leg up for about a half hour. The plan is NOT to go to sleep, and then work on the notes. But my knee and my feet are throbbing, so elevating them should help.

Went by the grocery

so some friends could have some coffee in the morning (we're doing the big run tomorrow, and unlike mine, coffee is a necessity in their home). While I was out I got some salad makings, Sabra spinach-artichoke hummous, wheat flatbread, and some Tuscan bean salad, marinated mozzarella, and artichoke hearts off the Mediterranean bar. So I'm having a nice Mediterranean dinner. I had originally been in a mood for Chinese, especially the fried tofu and broccoli in sesame sauce at the Great Wall, but the beans, mozzarella, and artichokes looked so yummy, and so I'm eating that instead. I'm going to have frozen Greek yoghurt for dessert, keeping with the theme. :)

I still need to do a few things with the house, but I'm reaching a point where I'm thinking tomorrow may be another day, although tomorrow I work, go to PT, and then do the store run and possibly laundry. Hmmm.... I did take a big bag full of grocery sacks to be recycled. I thought that was all of them, but saw some more in a reusable bag sitting next to the loveseat. I'll take those with me tomorrow. I also forgot one item, more trash bags. I'll have to get those while we're out, too. Now it's eight and I'm seriously thinking of doing something fun, like reading or watching something on Netflix. Let me go put up the dinner things and see what I'd like to do next.

Just got home

I've worked, gone to the pharmacy, gone to physical therapy (and had a better session today than Tuesday, when all my muscles were tight and painful), taken a friend to the grocery for a few things and a bus pass, and eaten dinner with my friends. Now I'm home, in the process of becoming comfy, and it's so nice that there's just one more day till the weekend.

I made an appointment for tomorrow to have a couple of small things in the car fixed. One is that the cigarette lighter doesn't work (not a biggie; I don't smoke--but I can't charge a phone either). That's probably a fuse or something like that. The other is that the fan on the heater only works on high. That's probably a resistor. Neither are big fixes, so I'm going to leave work a little early, get it over there by 4:30, and have them look it over.

On Saturday I'm going over to T-Mobile's store to see if I can upgrade my phone. Mine has been a pain to text with (it runs a very old version of Android, Froyo, and the Swype keyboard stores all typos directly to the dictionary, then autocorrects to them later. Also, I have hardly any space on the phone for applications, as the ones that came with the phone bloat it to the point, if updated, that nothing else can go on. Applications like Facebook are getting huge these days. So wish me luck in finding a deal on one that will last me a couple of years that I can load with useful and not-so-useful applications and really use.

I don't normally post on Sundays

what with the house cleaning, game, and the biweekly shopping we do on that day, but last night I was quite simply incapable of it. In fact, the game, I'm sorry to say, was called for diabetes.

I had not felt well through most of the day; I had not slept well and my allergies were especially bothering me, and my neck, too. But I felt better in the morning and then once my chores were complete, started to feel, well, fading. I hadn't eaten, so I took my blood sugar which was about 250, took my insulin, and ate a peanut butter sandwich. I perked up for awhile

Normally I bring string cheese and crackers to the game, but I really couldn't afford them this time, and I'd told Brenda she might want to get the crackers, as she's fond of them. I didn't mention the cheese because she hasn't been having some issues and hasn't really been eating it, and I didn't see any reason for her to get something she wasn't eating, and the game master sometimes eats them, sometimes doesn't, so I've been the person mainly consuming them.

Brenda brought food, her normal, some very good grapes and blueberries. Grapes, in particular, are fairly high in sugar (the blueberries are kind of low on the glycaemic index), and I ate quite a bit, and didn't have the cheese to anchor it (ideally, when a person, but especially a diabetic, eats, they should have some protein with the carbohydrates, and also some fat. That's why peanut butter and crackers are a good snack). Or so I was told in my diabetes class. It has something with the rate of how each is broken down int the body. Apparently I'd been balancing my intake of fruit with the cheese, so although my blood sugar tended to run a little higher than normal on Monday mornings, it wasn't affecting me to the point of inability to function. Unfortunately, I just had fruit and crackers, without that balance, and my blood sugar shot up to 356. I was having trouble thinking, was falling asleep, couldn't process well and could only approach problems emotionally. I felt physically beaten down and slightly ill. When the others realised what was going on, and the game master asked if I needed to stop, I was actually slurring my words some. I took some insulin, but only had 12 units on me. Brenda took me home, and I took some of the Lantus (I had forgotten the dose the night before, which surely didn't help) while I was waiting for the Novolog to reach room temperature, then in about an hour took some of that. By the time I went to bed, it was back down to 250 or so. YKWIA checked on me a couple of times, and then I went on to bed fairly early.

This morning I felt hung over. My blood sugar was about the same. I took my Lantus this morning and then when I had breakfast (a piece of bread with peanut butter and a bit of spreadable fruit), I took my Novolog. By lunchtime it was 172, definitely better. I expect it will head more towards normal because I started my period today, and it always does then. I asked our dietitian about that. She says it has something to do with the oestrogen levels affecting insulin resistance. I wish we could do that all the time. It's the only time I'm quite normal, although I'm usually better than I was this weekend, that's for sure.

The day was rainy, especially in the morning, and I was rather blah when I dressed, which was rather Goth, all in black with a black onyx pendant. I started out the day stressed because of the sheer amount of work I needed. I took a later bus than normal, making me 15 minutes late, and stayed a half-hour over my normal time as a consequence, getting as much as could be done today finished, and catching up on quite a bit of my work. Despite feeling blah I got a lot done, and tracked down several referrals, got a few more started, and phoned a lot of places, and did a lot of charge sheets.

When I went to go home, one of my co-workers gave me a ride home and asked me if I would like to go to Texas Roadhouse, her treat. Since I wasn't exactly sure what I'd be eating and had just had one more peanut butter sandwich and some pita chips that day, I took her up on it. It was a great meal. I love their grilled salmon, baked potato, and salad combination. We had a nice time, and her daughter, grandson, her daughter's friend showed up a little after we did as well. Then she took me home, and it was the most relaxed I'd felt all day. I really needed that. I came home in a very happy mood, and rested for a bit. Now I'm up and considering washing some dishes. I fixed some oatmeal to eat tomorrow morning that I can just put in the microwave to reheat. I have some packages of tuna I can take tomorrow and some salad makings I can fix tonight. Thank goodness we get paid Wednesday night. I have $3.00 in my bank account, exactly, counting the one cent in savings. :)

I think next week I'll definitely take the cheese and maybe a small thing of vegetables that I can snack on so that I don't eat too much fruit. Kroger has small veggie plates with tomatoes, celery, broccoli, and carrots that would work fine, and the others like that too. Or I may just get some veggies and make my own. We'll see. Maybe I'll start with one of theirs so I have the thing to put the others in later.

PS Yesterday was my day for minor injuries. I got a pretty decent scratch on my hand and wrist from the puppy (whose claws were trimmed later that day) and at some point during the game, I dropped my pencil. It looped in the air, scratched the inside of my middle finger enough to draw blood and require a Band-Aid, and then fell to the floor. I am a danger to myself (not so much to others) through my klutziness.

Well, that was a fairly long post. Maybe I'll read a bit, too. I'm working my way through a collection of Cthulhu Mythos short stories. Good night.