Tiring day "off"

I'm tired. I had a one-hour telehealth appointment (my doctor was really happy about my joining the Y and only suggested trying to eat meals rather than small amounts throughout the day) this morning and then I went to the second doctor's appointment this afternoon, and while the good news is we don't think it's congestive heart failure causing the swelling, so no echocardiogram or anything like that, the simplest and most likely culprit is my diclofenac--an NSAID that is time-released once-a-day, and which has been really good for my arthritis. So I have to stop taking that out and try to flush it out of my system. I accidentally forgot to take my meds yesterday (I didn't realise till I went to take this morning's and it was actually the Sunday pill reminder that was still full. Sigh. Anyway, there's no good alternative for what else I can take. Arthritis Tylenol (acetaminophen) has too much for my liver and we have to watch the NSAIDs for my kidneys. I finally got some regular-strength acetaminophen to take judiciously, as recommended by my liver provider. Diclofenac has been so good at dealing with my arthritis pain, although I've noticed less efficacy lately. Oh, well, it was good while it lasted.

I also got my insulin and Jardiance from the pharmacy, and I've taken those. My blood sugar went up to 350 last night as I'd run out of it and had forgotten to call it in. Lastly, I picked up a book from the library, a Pulitzer winner by Wesley Lowery calledÁmerican Whitelash: A Changing Nation and the Cost of Progress.

Now I'm pooped. I've got a load in the wash, but otherwise, I'm going to rest while my roommate's on Zoom and then work on the Sunday chores I never got finished (or even started) yesterday. I also need to take some things out of my room to the car in order to go to storage and a fan that has given up the ghost to be disposed of.

Drat!

I did a major no-no for someone with diabetes--I walked out onto our porch to water the windowboxes and apparently stepped on something incredibly small, like a sliver of glass or something else sharp. It's on my big toe, and I can't find anything in order to pull it out, so every time I step, it hurts. Not good. At least it's a fairly minor annoyance, and hopefully won't get infected or anything. I need to remember to at the very least wear my sandals (although those aren't ideal either, but I love letting my toes 'breathe'). I'm technically supposed to wear something inside, too. My feet have always gotten hot very easily (I hated footed pyjamas as a child, and wandered to find cooler areas as a result).

Today I'm thinking of a young girl half a world a way, the daughter of a Facebook friend, who has a terrible degenerative genetic illness and is having a lot of trouble the last few days. Here's hoping things get better for her and her family.

I've been on Facebook for at least an hour, catching up on my newsfeed. I was sorry to hear Doris Roberts died. I loved her even back when 'Angie' was on. And I found a Passover parody of Michael Jackson's 'Thriller' that I'm a little afraid to watch. :)

It's a little late to start tonight, but I'm thinking that the game notes shouldn't take long at all this week. I'll try to do them before Saturday for a change.

What I think I will do is a little reading, especially a couple of books I have on intuitive eating. I'd put that on hold, and while, granted, I went a couple of days without my Lasix, which may mean I may have some extra water weight on me, I weighed myself this morning and topped out at my highest weight ever, 307.2 lbs. That scares me. I don't feel healthy at this weight, and I want to be healthier, but it'll probably mean some major lifestyle changes--exercising, ditching processed food for the most part, being mindful in my eating, and drinking water as my drink of choice, rather than diet drinks. Dieting itself doesn't work for me. I'm fine during the structured part of my day, then binge later in the day when I'm home, because I feel deprived of the food, which I eat emotionally. I need to make peace with food, finally.

Apparently

it takes me longer to recuperate from a workout than I thought it would. An hour later, actually. My feet still hurt quite a bit, even though I was in my diabetic New Balances. Maybe I should follow my podiatrist's advice after all. I told him about our little exercise room and he suggested the bike would be easier on my feet. It also did better for me on cardio (I only walked at about 2.3 miles/hour while on the treadmill, and 14 or 15 mph on the bike, but I got my breathing and heart rate up more with the bike). I never even broke a sweat on the walk, but didn't feel comfortable raising the speed above 2.5 mph. I do need to take my inhaler with me--I was wheezing with each breath there at the end and coughing a little bit, almost going into an asthma attack (mine is exercise induced). So I must remember to take that with me.

Anyway, I'm going to eat and then finish putting things back into closets, then clean off the dining room table and couch, and put some things away in the kitchen, and then go from there.

Tired

Apex Janice Mary Jane shoe

I went into work by 7 this morning, even though my normal Thursday time is 8:30 am. I was trying to make up some time, as I had an appointment about mid-morning at the podiatrist to pick up my diabetic shoes. They're very nice--Mary Janes that are actually wide enough for my feet (7 extra wide; my foot is about as wide as it is long). The doctor was a little concerned about the straps, which are a kind of Y-shape with Velcro fastening, in a sort of hook and loop. But the nice thing is that I can wear them with pants or skirts, socks or hose, and they're pretty comfortable, although I'm breaking them in. I also got some inserts that can be moulded to the foot by using a hair dryer to warm them, sticking them into the shoe, and then inserting the foot and standing on them a couple of minutes. I'm allowed one pair of shoes a year--my insurance pays for them--and over the last three years I've gotten some New Balance walking shoes, a pair of A2 boots for winter wear, and now these for dress wear, so I'm pretty set on shoes at the moment. The other great thing about the Mary Janes is that they are closed toe but don't have a heel (I can't walk in heels), and if I were to get a job at the Lexington Public Library, one of their rules is closed-toe shoes only, so the Vionic sandals I wear in the summer would be right out, and these make a great alternative, as they're not heavy like my others. The podiatrist did want to see me back in 9 weeks to do another x-ray; last time he discovered a piece of bone had broken off and might be causing some of the mild pain I've had in my ankle. He suggested getting a sleeve for my ankle (which I did) and also checking with the representative who delivered my bone stimulator three years ago to see if it can be reset and used. My understanding is that it's a single use, single person device that shuts itself off after about 270 days. If that's the case, I have a $5,000 paperweight in my closet, which did help a lot in terms of building up my ankle after I broke it, but may not be used now, and might as well be recycled. But I'll see. I doubt my insurance would pay for another one due to a fragment of bone that's come loose. But he thought the sleeve would at least provide a little support, and if I could get the bone stimulator reset, it might help the situation.

Today I also got my flu shot and TB skin test. After work, I went and got some medicine for my friends and I. I accidentally got home with someone's dementia medicine (Aricept/donepezil), so I need to take that back. After that I took care of one of my friends who wasn't feeling all that great. We watched 'Heroes Reborn'. I recognised Harris as the same actor who played the first Ash in 'Lost Girl' (he has an extremely deep and hypnotic voice, and comes off a bit creepy because of it), so I felt a little proud of myself. But despite having great blood sugar all day (it was 126 this morning before breakfast) and taking my medicine, I was a little off when dealing with YKWIA--I just didn't seem to get the banana at times. That might just be me being tired for having been up since 5:30 or 6 am, and waking up practically every hour on the hour throughout the night.

Speaking of which, I think I'm going to go on to bed. I think I'll totally unmake the bed this time, because I want to rub some lemon lotion on my feet and give them a good rub, and I think the lotion would discolour the comforter, but not the blanket. Good night.

Listening to

Kansas, Point of Know Return

Just got home from playing the game and discovered that my air conditioning is, in fact, leaking again, so I put a bucket in the spot that it's dripping on, and I'll have to call them tomorrow, which annoys me. That's less than a week after it was supposedly fixed, and the fifth time in ten years this has happened. Don't get me wrong, I like my apartment, my complex, etc. But I'll have to find another place for the big tub of Yule tree because it simply can't go in there; everything else I had in there won't ruin, but that would. Mind you, I hadn't even gotten the stuff back in there yet.

The game was good. We went right into it this time (last week we visited for a couple of hours first, and didn't actually do much). Today two of our characters were attacked by warlocks who tried to kill us and our children, but it all worked out. But both of us are tainted due to wounds by their daggers, and one of my other characters shares this because she is magically linked to the one injured, meaning she also received the injury and taint, miles away at her home. Ah, Call of Cthulhu, you have to love it. Our game master has drawn on the games Werewolf and Witchcraft for some of the stuff we saw today. There are several game systems adapted and integrated into our game, because our game master is just that good, and it's one reason we've been playing for so very long (24 years!), with such a rich story, various player and non-player characters, children, etc.

I drank too much soda today and sat too much; my feet have swollen, so I'm going to prop them up and let them rest on a couple of pillows until they go back to normal size. I also left some cream cheese over at my friends' house, which is unfortunate, as I would have liked to have had a bagel this evening. But I've eaten plenty in (fairly healthy) game snacks--cashews, string cheese, and berries.

I must remember not to go into work tomorrow; I'm off due to some cognitive testing I have to undergo. It lasts for 1 1/2 hours in the morning, then there's lunch, and then another 1 1/2 hours after lunch. We'll see how that comes out. I'm not sure what to expect. I need to double-check the time it starts; I think it's 10:30 am and ends at 2:30 pm. If the weather's nice, I might be able to go for a swim. It's supposed to be partly cloudy at the beginning of the day and then go into afternoon or evening thundershowers, so I'm not sure. But I can sleep in a bit tomorrow morning, at least. And I'll be across town near Beaumont, so I may see about going to Masala's Indian buffet for lunch, since I get a break. I also need to work on a book review before the end of the month, so tomorrow or Tuesday, and there's also some stuff to do over at my friends' house.

Okay, I've checked the news, I've done a few things here. I think I'll just get some rest and recharge the laptop and me as well. Good night.

Now I remember why

I'm not a big fan of compression stockings. They are hard to get on, harder to get off, get progressively less comfortable throughout the day as swelling gets worse, are hot (and I, like many people, only really swell up with heat), and it feels like the cuffs cut off my circulation at the end of the day. But I did manage to keep them on all day, which is great. The left foot looks mostly normal; the swelling occurred up in the calf where the compression isn't as much as at the ankle. The right foot and ankle is very swollen, but only about 2/3 of what it looked like last night. While my feet and legs are somewhat uncomfortable, I am not in the pain I was last night, and my knee is better. This may mean the New Balances and compression hose are just going to have to be a part of my future, even though it is very hot. But I did get around that somewhat because one of my co-workers has a medium-sized fan that they got her when she was pregnant with her daughter, and she's let me borrow it for now (until she's further along in her current pregnancy). It's under the desk, so when I turn it on, it blows on my feet and legs, where I get hot the most, and by keeping it cooler, I think that helped with the swelling as well.

So now I'm lying on my side on the bed, staring at the computer screen with my head cocked (not great if you have bifocals), with my right foot up on a Euro sham pillow, above my heart.

Since the weekend of training, I have been over at my friends' house or in class until very late, getting home around midnight each night. As a result, I still feel very tired over the training, and so tonight I'm going to try to relax a little bit. I should get into the pool, but frankly it's over 90 degrees out there, and I'd rather be inside with the air conditioning, the fan, etc. I do now have proper sunscreen for the pool, including the sprayable clear type that's good for backs or the part of the hair.

To that end, I'm going to take a short nap, hopefully, without it turning into a longer sleep. But first:

Let me just say that I was very sad to learn of the death of Sir Christopher Lee, who was in over 250 films, and ahd a long and illustrious career. His sonorous voice and thin build usually made him be cast as the bad guy, whether as Count Dooku in Star Wars, Saruman in Lord of the Rings, or any number of monsters in the Hammer horror films, to name a few. But my absolute favourite character of his was Lord Summerisle of The Wicker Man. I love that movie, and his performance was excellent. To be so prolific, for so long, is amazing. He was acting into his nineties, which is remarkable. RIP Christopher Lee.

Sir Christopher Lee: Screen legend dies aged 93

I tried to post last night

But it got hung up somehow.  I was so tired I fell asleep while taking a quiz on Facebook about what Hogwarts teacher you were (I was Dumbledore). My feet were swollen and hurting (see photo),  as was my knee. So I put them up on a big pillow.  Today I plan on putting my legs into some support hose (if I can get them on),  and wearing pants and my New Balances rather than sandals,  and see if that helps. They'll be hot,  but still.  And yes, I'm also on a diuretic.  Okay time to get ready for work.

It's amazing

How wonderful rolling a 20 oz. bottle where water has been frozen into ice can feel when your feet hurt. We're talking instant,  albeit temporary relief,  without drugs.  It's the best recommendation a podiatrist ever gave me.  I keep one here,  one at work,  and there's one at my friends' house,  too. I know come morning it will be stiff and painful again,  but this does help a lot.

I'm beginning to regret

Not taking the trash and recyclables on out.  They are weighing at my mind like an albatross,  keeping me awake at 3 am.  I did get up and get all my stuff together for work and class tomorrow,  checked that those cheques posted,  and finished straightening up the living room, and I put away several things that needed to go neatly into closets, but it's probably not a good idea to go wandering out to the dumpster at this time of night laden down with bags,  even though I have a pretty safe neighbourhood. So they remain.

I suppose part of the problem is I have had so much rest lately,  all of the weekend practically and most of Monday night. Now my brain wants to get up and do!  I'm going to try to go back to sleep,  at least for a couple of hours.  Let's hope this works.  I've also put on some relaxing lotion (my feet were hurting),  so maybe that will help.  Now I smell like lemon muffins.

Must put feet up

So this morning,  my ankles were the skinniest I have seen them in years, mainly because I stayed off my feet over most of the four-day weekend.  I lost seven pounds in water weight over that time.

Unfortunately,  they're pretty swollen now,  and my knees are having issues,  of course. I tried to stay off my feet,  but to no avail.  I think I have walked about 8,000 steps today.

But,  I got everything I needed to finished today,  took a friend to an appointment after work,  enjoyed dinner with him--or at least as much as I could with a raging headache and loud girly anime voices in the background--came home,  and as much as I hate to admit it,  I am ready to elevate my feet and head on to bed.  In fact,  I am blogging on my phone rather than the computer.

I got the travel walker,  matching wheels,  and sink sprayer I had ordered today.  I am as ready for the surgery as I can be.

Okay,  I am going to sleep.  The last vestiges of that headache will hopefully fade.  Good night.

Chrome is still acting up, and I'm losing my connexion

I was going to try to update the firmware in my router, but I can't easily determine which version of the model it is--according to a description, it should be version 1, but it's running a higher version of firmware than that. There are two 'version 2s', with different downloads depending on which it is. :(

Saturday was all about cleaning out closets with friends, doing notes, doing the grocery run, etc. Sunday was game prep, game (we finished an adventure, and one of my characters got engaged to her necromancer boyfriend, the father of her unborn child), and then 'Witches of East End'. I was up late, getting home a little after 11 pm and going straight to bed. I got a little off on my insulin yesterday and it affected my mood. Towards the end of the evening I was worn to a frazzle and about ready to blow. So I went on to bed.

Today has been good, but I've been terribly sleepy all day, despite getting a little over seven hours' sleep. I have a lot to do at home tonight, but I have to lie down for just a bit, even if it means setting the same five alarms I do in the morning to get up within an hour or so. I'll try to write later.

I did get some good news today. My orthotics for my feet will be covered due to my diabetes, so I'm hoping that will help with some foot pain I've been having since I went back to wearing my normal non-sandal shoes. My doctor said the orthotics I had were well-built, but not really ideal for the diabetic foot. He suggested a softer one that is designed with that in mind. Considering the normal expense (my current pair, the ones that are now wearing out, were $380 out of pocket), this is very good news.

Oh, man

I must have been bone tired. My feet hurt and so I put them up and tried to get a little rest for about an hour, The only negative thing I can say about the new CPAP is that if I put it on, I'm going to sleep at least four hours. There is no napping to be had. Also, I often now go the whole night without waking up at all, meaning no 2 or so bathroom trips a night. That's probably good for my sleep, and I haven't been as tired or sleepy during the day at all, but it means the morning can be a little awkward and a little painful when I wake up and my bladder is so full. Needless to say, I didn't get anything I planned to accomplished. I didn't even get the non-perishable groceries put away. I will try to get up a little early tomorrow (say at 6 something rather than 7 something) and at least get the dishes done and water the plants.

Having a decent day despite steady rain

I woke up right on schedule at about 7:50, went back to sleep, made it till 9, took my Lantus and went to bed till about 10:30. Then I got up, got ready, went over to Subway for lunch, got a six inch tuna sub and a drink, and then, figuring the festival was probably a bust, and not wanting to stand under an umbrella from booth to booth, I went over to Gabriel Brothers for awhile. I got two six-piece towel sets, two tops, a pair of khaki capris, and a purse for just over $50. Now I'm home and looking at a large pile of hand-wash laundry that should really be taken care of today. The rain has picked up, hitting the windows (which is good for my window boxes full of herbs). I just got off the phone with our security chief, who has kept in communication with the folks at Idle Hour Country Club and golf course, and the fireworks planned for tonight will go on regardless of rain intensity so long as there is no lightning activity in the area, starting at about 9:30 pm. So, I'm planning on going if the weather holds.

Things I need to do around the house:

1. Wash that laundry
2. Wash dishes
3. Clean out the refrigerator
4. Put away things on the dining table
5. Give the bathroom a once-over
6. Take out the trash
7. Take out recyclables
8. Charge the laptop

I also am trying out a pair of Reeboks I had around the house to see if they would work for going to the Y. So far, so good, but it's not late enough in the day to be definite. I'm not putting my inserts in, so they're a little roomier than my New Balances, and they're an overall athletic shoe, while the others are designed for walking, and they come up on the top of the foot a little differently, which is good, because that swells, too. I probably will not go to the Y after all today, but hope to tomorrow evening during open swim, where I can also work out on the equipment if these shoes do okay. If they don't, then I guess I'll be taking my swollen feet to John's Run-Walk Shop and looking for shoes that fit. I just want to make sure I don't do anything to my feet, between my history of foot issues and the diabetes concerns.

I think I'll take a little time to relax, start the laptop charging, and then start working on the house. I hope you are having a good day. I wish I could send some of our rain to the Southwest where the fires are such an issue right now.

Happy Mardi Gras!

Today I made sure I wore my Mardi Gras beads and enjoyed some red beans and rice that the cafeteria had specially made for me without meat. Yay for them! I don't expect to have people cater to my dietary restrictions, but it is nice when they happen to. I did eat a couple of small beignets as well. A couple of my co-workers didn't know what they were and were quite intrigued with them.

It was a good day. My feet feel better. The new shoes are helping. I took the shoelaces out of an old pair today and re-laced them onto the new pair so I'd have longer ones than the ones that came with the shoes.

The only bad thing about today is I forgot to bring a second insulin pen and pretty much used up mine with breakfast. I came home, took one of both types out of the refrigerator, so I'll have the one tonight and the other for tomorrow.

I did my hair up in a couple of braids, then pulled back with lots of bobby pins. Later in the day I let it down and it was very poufy for me, as you can see. :)

I went through the news and while there were some things of interest, there wasn't anything I particularly wanted to post here, but I'll check later and see if there's anything.

So I was thinking today

that it is time to get some new shoes that actually feel good to walk in and match my outfits that I wear at work. I'm hard on shoes because of my supination (tendency to walk on the outside of the foot), and they lose shape after awhile, making it worse. I have a pair of shoes that are decent but are a little long for my foot and I've had them for awhile now. They're Reeboks, and were free (someone was giving away things from her grandmother's closet), but they're white and don't go with anything but my jeans. Basically, they look like running shoes, whereas the black shoes don't look so obvious, and I almost always wear black pants at work. I used to wear the Reeboks and then change into my black Birkenstocks at work, but where the Birks have soft cork soles, they're now worn down at an angle, putting stress on my ankle tendons. So that's really not an option anymore. Besides, the podiatrist told me it was important to wear lace-up shoes that would give me the support I need.

When I got home, there was a coupon in the mail for New Balance shoes for 20% off plus free shipping, and I decided it was a sign. So I ordered a pair of shoes and paid much less than normal. These are black, very similar to a pair I had before but a half size up, 7 2E, as my feet have gotten longer as I've aged and the last pair were a bit too short. They are approved as a diabetic shoe, as well, and are built to keep the feet even, rather than supinating. That, along with my orthotic inserts, should help. I told myself that one of the things I would do with my tax refund was take care of my feet, so this worked out well.

I feel so much better

My feet are doing much better, I didn't get drowsy at all, just the tiniest of mid-afternoon slumps [better than usual] and a second Diet Coke took care of that. I was walking faster, and I felt steadier. The weather was so nice today I almost took a walk, but decided 1) I was too busy, and 2) I shouldn't overdo it, since I've been used to hobbling around like an old lady. I had more energy all day, too, because I wasn't being dragged down by pain.

Also, I have lost five pounds in the last week, doing nothing but trying to make healthier choices.

Tonight after work I went to the library to do some techie stuff. I totally lost track of time. I was there for an hour and a half. It was nice to see how busy they were. The computers were full, there were lots of people browsing, people meeting in each of the rooms set aside for that--even the copiers were being used. One family had their children doing homework at the table while the parents used the computers. It's a shame there are people out there who have no idea what the library can do for them, especially when they're in charge of funding or budget cuts. Anyone who is in charge of the chopping block should have to go visit the library and see what's going on.

I did everything I planned to do today and more, except taking the books to the clinic. I put several books into LibraryThing, using a scanner, then putting in the shelf # and tags. Tomorrow I'm going in a little early because I have a meeting at my normal arrival time and I want to get settled in first. I hope to get more books into the system.

Okay, I'm going to go do some relaxing, and get away from the computer for a bit. I picked up some CDs from the library while I was at it, so I think I'll go listen to some of that.

Remarkable

I went to bed last night around midnight after being up for nearly twenty hours on about 2 1/2 hours of sleep, taking my insulin but also the new medicine I got yesterday. This morning I woke up fifteen minutes before my alarm, rested, not groggy (which on Monday, even without medication, I tend to be), having slept through the night without any pain keeping or waking me up. And my feet ache just slightly, even though it's been over 8 hours since I took it.

Now the test is to see how well I can work with it. It throws one of my co-workers for a loop, making her incredibly drowsy, and she has to take it fairly early in the evening to not be groggy in the morning. But I didn't have any grogginess (I was already very tired, so I don't know about the drowsy part, yet.) I'm supposed to take it three times a day. It's not a narcotic or anything like that; it's actually an anti-seizure medicine that helps with nerve pain. Most meds that say they can cause drowsiness with me don't (although there was the Dayquil incident, as I mentioned, but I think that was back when it was basically Nyquil with caffeine.)

On other fronts, I'm still waiting for my tax refund to come in. The IRS says it should be in my account by tomorrow, but of course various factors might affect that. Since they already owe me money, I'm a little concerned that it will somehow get hung up.

Today should be a fairly busy day in the library, and just a little slow in terms of the data entry position. On Friday I unpacked ten or so boxes of children's books (mostly board books) and put them on my book truck and shelves, breaking down the boxes and donating them to a co-worker who's moving. Today I need to put some of those books on the book cart in the clinic so they can be given out to children who come in who are from 6 months old to five years old. I filled several interlibrary loans on Friday, so unless I have some new ones, I'm okay there. I want to do some cataloguing as well. And I have a meeting today and tomorrow regarding the data entry. I also need to modify some guides for how to do the data entry for my backup if I'm sick or on vacation, as some things have changed. Since there are a couple of slow days this week, I'm going to work on that. And I have a monthly audit to do. So I should definitely be on my toes (figuratively) today.

What else? Well, I had a good weekend. It was nice to have a Saturday to myself. And although I did a lot of work yesterday that seemed nearly endless (I even washed a dog in the bathtub and took a bed apart to get behind and under it, with help), plus we had the big grocery run, the Cthulhu game was fun and we learned some information and gained something that should help keep our characters alive and deal with a seriously recurring problem (a supernatural creature that can walk through walls, put her hand through your chest, and kill you by squeezing your heart till you die, all the while feeding on your life force--oh, and did I mention she's pissed at us?) So far we had been doing better at saving the world from tentacled horrors than dealing with this one non-Cthulhoid creature.

This morning, of course, I woke up feeling well. I washed some dishes from some things my co-workers had sent home with me, and I really think if I feel decent when I get home, I'll finish my dishes and do some more on the house. Here's hoping.

Okay, it's sunny, it's supposed to be 56 later today, and it's a new workweek. It's been such a mild winter I'm really waiting for the other shoe to drop and then we'll get an ice storm or heavy snow. Hopefully not, though. But anyway, it's about time I got going and headed on to work. Have a good day.

Wish me luck

I have a new medicine I got today that is supposed to help with the foot pain. I'm supposed to take it three times a day, but others who have taken it say it can really knock you out, and they're in a capsule, so I can't split it or anything. I waited till after the game to take my first dose, so I wouldn't plop face down onto the table or anything (did that once with Dayquil--really). So we'll see how it works for me; I'm sure everyone responds a little differently. I already get too much sleep, often falling asleep by 8 pm and not getting up for 12 hours. But if I'm in less pain, the way I see it, I can be more active, so maybe that will cancel things out.

Eating the best darn homemade American-style vegetable stew I've ever had--and no it's not mine

I can't cook, remember? No, we had a potluck on Thursday and one of my co-workers made the stew (she calls it soup, but it's thick and hearty, so I'll say stew) and she kept some apart before putting meat in it, so I could have some. Turns out there was enough to take home some. [Another co-worker made chili, and did the same thing, so I have that for tomorrow.] So I've just eaten some tuna salad and vegetable stew and I'm considering my next move. The rain has stopped, so it would be a good time to clean up those papers that are still all over the living and dining area. But I don't want to do it just now. I downloaded Turn Coat today from the library, so I could read. But I think I'll listen to some music for awhile and just sort of relax.

I did decide the doctor was right about the neuropathy as a source of my foot pain, as I took my shoes (and socks) off at work because they were really bothering me, and with the exception of where my feet touched the floor, the pain stopped. That might explain why I have more foot pain when it's no longer sandal weather, I suppose. Everywhere my shoes touch hurt, and they're not pinching or anything. I'm barefoot in the house now (which is rather a no-no, in terms of diabetes, but I'm not up and walking), and they hurt in a dull way, but nothing like earlier. Walking makes it much worse. Fortunately I'll get my medication this weekend and it will hopefully help.

Okay, I'm going to go relax, maybe take a short nap--really--and then get up and take care of this stuff I pulled out of all those boxes. Hope you had a happy Friday.

It's pretty, but I'm sick and tired of it

This is a picture I took this morning at the front entrance of work. Beautiful sky, snow sparkling in the sun (okay, you can't really see the individual ice crystals sparkle, but they were), and all that--and 12 degrees Fahrenheit. It's 16 right now. I will be so happy to see spring.

I didn't wear the boot on the way to and from work because I was worried about the inch of frozen slush underneath the snow (it came down fast and wet, and then powdery on top). I know it was only 3 1/2 inches and we've had worse, and you folks in the northeast are laughing your socks off because the wussy Southerner can't stand the cold or snow, but what can I say--it's been very snowy this year and we've only had a couple of brief breaks since Thanksgiving. It's normally not like this. Often the real snow doesn't hit until February--we were getting it in November and December.

Speaking of socks--okay, somewhat obliquely, the one drawback to the shiny purple boots is that they're not particularly warm. They're serviceable enough on a normal winter's day, but today my toes were frozen even with two pairs of socks on. The ankles and side of the foot are lined with a sort of fake grey sheepskin, but the soles are pretty thin. This makes it easier to pick your way on ice, for which I'm grateful, but cold on the soles of the feet.

So my poor feet have been cold and abused today as I went in all sorts of angles even on the broken one as I picked my way over snow-covered ice. I've been home for forty-five minutes now and they're still feel cold inside. Argh. How many days is it till spring again?