I got the book review finished

I've packed a lunch (vegetarian chilli and applesauce--I know, it's getting a bit low, though; I think YKWIA will probably cook tomorrow, which is good, as we have quite a few fresh vegetables, but not a lot of ready-made stuff.  Although come to think of it, we do have veggie burgers and some other frozen food, which will be good for lunches this week.  I don't get paid until Thursday, and I'm afraid my finances are rather bleak at the moment for the first time in awhile.  That $5 an hour pay cut really hurt.  But I'm glad I have insurance.)

I took a shower just now so my hair will be dry in the cold of the morning.  I'm listening to a station on Amazon Music for Portugal. The Man, which has been very entertaining.

I've got the dogs at my feet.  I fed them earlier, then brought them in after only about 10 minutes due to the cold.  Unfortunately, I forgot to gate them so when they came in one ate the cat's remaining food.  So I had to give him a little more after gating them.  He's allergic to just about everything and is on a special hypo-allergenic food without grain or chicken.  I figured he was pretty hungry; he threw up this morning.  But as the vet said, a weekly hack up is better than daily, and in general, this food is working pretty well, although it's a $20 small bag.  So I'm sorry I accidentally let one of the dogs to get a treat.

YKWIA is reading again in his room.  He usually calls a friend on Monday nights, so I'm going to finish this up pretty quickly.  I'm just waiting for my hair to dry, really.  Once that happens, I can go on to bed.  The lack of caffeine is one thing, but all I've done is one and a half loads of laundry, so I'm not sure why I'm so tired.

The house is looking good.  My stuff is all in order. I temporarily 'lost' the book I was reviewing, which was amazing, as I have books in and on top of the bed's bookcase, but nowhere else, but I found it, thankfully.  It was pretty interesting; it was on makerspaces.  I made a discovery in the course of writing it: Google's definitions that they display whenever you put in 'define [word]) come from the Oxford Pocket Dictionary. So I was able to go to Oxford's website to get a good citation for the definition.  Merriam-Webster failed me, I'm afraid.  I guess the term is too new.

I finished the night at 1134 calories, which is 306 under what I should be for dieting.  I might have something else later, like some applesauce, but I'm really not hungry right now.  I only walked about 2,800 steps, but I never left the house beyond taking the recyclables to the containers outside.

I was on the Internet yesterday and found something about a prequel to His Dark Materials by Philip Pulman.  It's called La Belle Sauvage, the first of The Book of Dust trilogy.  I don't know how I missed it.  I've put it on hold at the Library, along with A is for Alibi by Sue Grafton.  I always said I'd read that series when she finished the alphabet.  Sadly, it looks like it will end at Y, but still.

Okay, I'm going to transfer some new music to my phone, and then I'll go ahead and head into my room and listen to some more music for a while, then go to sleep.  Hope you had a restful and happy new year.

Wearing a shirt to the DMV

that says 'You are about to exceed the limits of my medication' which our friend Tammy got me is probably not a great idea, but I went ahead and went down there, after filling up the gas tank, using the Kroger points to get it for $2.29. There was a line at the DMV, but it moved quickly. I was behind a blind lady and her caretaker, who were very sweet. I had everything ready when I got up there, got my new registration (it looks different now, and the sticker is a weird greyish white colour that looks kind of rubbery, instead of the normally brightly-coloured ones). After that I headed to the library, got three new books, including one on a 19th-century axe murder (no, not the Lizzie Borden case), and two on diet and wellness, and then got my parking ticked validated and went on out. I decided to go to the Chinoe Kroger (it's smaller, and easier to get in and out of, and got some drinks, some ice, some hand soap, and some menstrual pads. I went ahead and put the new sticker on the licence plate. I haven't eaten lunch yet (and did resist buying food, because for some reason after the burritos this morning, I'm just not hungry yet). I'll probably eat that here about 2 pm or so, unless I get hungry sooner. Newk's may be for dinner, though. I haven't looked to see if anything's playing at the Cinemark theatres that I have free tickets to, but frankly, I've put up the windows, it's nice outside, so I may just stick around here and watch a DVD or Netflix. Hmmm, I've been wanting to re-watch Galaxy Quest, which I have on VHS but not on DVD--but it is on streaming for Netflix. That's a possibility.

A happy thing

So, I'm looking at my calendar on my phone and am struck by the fact that for the first time in weeks--perhaps months--neither I nor a friend of mind whom I drive to commitments have any sort of appointments at all this week. Yay!

Today was good; A and I cleaned house in preparation for the game, then Brenda came over and we played Call of Cthulhu and visited. I normally stay for 'Witches of East End', but I didn't really sleep that well last night and I was pretty tired, so I came on home. YKWIA is recording it on his DVR, so hopefully I can watch it later. So now I'm comfy and listening to some music (Bastille's 'Icarus') and thinking about going on to bed even though it's not yet 10 pm.

Tomorrow I plan on:

1. Getting some things accomplished at work
2. Paying some bills
3. Calling several doctor's offices that owe me co-pays because I met my out-of-pocket max months ago
4. Working on the house
5. Watching the season 8 premiere of 'The Big Bang Theory'
6. Celebrating the autumnal equinox (10:29 PM local time (EDT))

I'm not sure yet if I'll go over to my friends' house or not tomorrow. I really need to work on the house some more. I'd like to get it in order before dark of the moon, which is in a couple of days. I didn't do my monthly libation last time, and I'd like to do so at dark of the moon (which is traditional) and purify the house, which should be clean first.

If I do go over there, I have the ingredients for more squash and couscous, and I'm going to alter the original recipe by adding garlic (it was a little bland as it was written--YKWIA, an excellent cook, suggested the garlic). Also, I managed to find some fresh basil, so I can use that instead of dried, which should help the flavour. But if not, I think everything will still be okay Tuesday, which may be better because A has a meeting on Monday nights, so we'd be eating fairly late if I do it then.

I really pigged out at the game today, eating quite a bit of cheese and some fruit, and a few crackers, plus a sandwich. But as of this morning I was 18 lbs down from my maximum weight, so that's good. Hopefully today won't reverse that trend. I tend to graze on Sundays rather than eating meals.

Okay, I really think I'm going to go on to bed. Good night.

I didn't sleep well last night

I was very restless all night, and I'm not sure why. I didn't have too much caffeine or anything like that. I did walk a lot, of course, much more than today, where I didn't even make my normal 5,000 steps. In fact, I'm at about a third of yesterday's accomplishment. I've been productive today, and not really pooped despite the lack of sleep, but I didn't feel like doing a lot of walking again today.

I did succeed at something else, though. I got my partials in very well (I hadn't been able to get them in after my temporary crown was put on, and just let it go for a few days, then decided this morning that I was going to get them in come hell or high water). I could speak more clearly than I have been, and I managed to eat both a portabello mushroom sandwich on ciabatta bread and corn on the cob without them becoming loose or coming out. It was nice to take them out once I got home, but it gave me hope that I might be able to get used to them and wear them on a daily basis.

Okay, I hate to say it, but I'm going to go in the bedroom and listen to a little music, and most likely fall asleep. I'd like to watch 'The Big Bang Theory' at 8, though, so the idea is to not make this a long nap. As a backup, though, I have set it to record. I don't feel sleepy, really, just a bit tired. I still feel a little restless, and I should put that energy to some use, but I'm just not feeling like doing anything much, even reading. So maybe the music will relax me a bit without my falling asleep, rejuvenate me a bit, and then I can get up and do some things before actually heading to bed. :)

PS (5/2/14): Ha! That wound up being a 12 hour sleep! I apparently was exhausted. All that walking, and then hardly any sleep the night before made me a very tired person. I slept from about 7:30 pm to 7:45 am. I'm beginning to think I should add 'napping/sleeping' to my list of talents.