The other day

I commented to my friend that his dog comes around on my right and sits for her food when I feed her, so I put it down on her left. He said of course, per etiquette you always serve from the left, so he taught the dog to do it.

It was a very nice workweek

A little shorter, of course, with the funeral on Monday, which was very nice.  All three sons got up and shared memories.  It was a good turnout.  We didn't go to the internment due to the bitter cold and wind; the family had a big potluck later and our friend was set for food, so we gave the family some space to mourn.

She had such a lovely personality, and I miss her very much.

After Monday, of course, it was back to work, but it was a normal week without being overwhelmed, and Friday was actually the way Fridays should be, a good day to play catch up.  I'm keeping track of what I'm doing each day for my boss (as are my department co-workers), and I actually do quite a lot and am very busy, and this is borne out in my log, and it's giving me a greater perspective on how much time it's taking to do what, so it's been useful.  My partner downstairs has been helping with the off sites as she was caught up with her things, and that's been very helpful.  We actually have all but four scheduled, and of the four, one is a coordination of different departments that is being worked on at the university, one is a problem one that was scheduled but I'm trying to get rescheduled to an earlier time, one is in the hands of the sedation scheduler there and I'm just waiting to hear back, and one I'm waiting for word from a care manager, as theirs is scheduled a month away and both family and the doctor want it earlier but the university has nothing, so I've asked if it can go to another facility.  I'm using two different facilities beyond the university as its schedule is such that I can't get anything within a month for any type of ultrasound or MRI, and when I cancelled an ultrasound I'd taken for January but was able to get next week at another facility I let them know why.  Really, I'd like to schedule there but there's roadblock after roadblock.

Yesterday I did my friend's laundry, my shelves to dust, and some things around the house, but mostly it was relaxing.  We went over to my friend's house whose mother had died, and we had fish from Captain D's and visited for a while.  There was a big storm that blew up just as I got back with the fish, and it really rained and thundered.  Today, however, it is up in the 60s and sunny but also windy, and I have my laundry to do and just a few things around the house.  Not bad for the second day of December.  We're going to see Fantastic Beasts: the Crimes of Grindelwald today, his treat.  I'm out of my free passes from work, but I've taken care of most of the movies we've gone to in the last couple of years with them, and last time (for The House with a Clock in its Walls) I was able to do both the free passes and a gift card for the concessions, all because they were employee appreciation gifts over the years.

I did some drawings earlier.  I never had anything beyond third-grade art, and I would like to draw better.  I used to do it almost obsessively, doodling a lot.  I haven't drawn in years.  Anyway, I have this book on drawing basics called Drawing for Everyone by Bruce Waldman and drew some things based on the first two chapters.  YKWIA, who is an artist, looked them over and said the main problem was that I was very timid about shading and needed to do so with more confidence.  Otherwise, they look pretty ghostly.

I think I'll do some reading before we go.  It's been a while and my book awaits.  I'm still reading that Kate Morton book, and I'm only about a fifth of the way through (it's 530 pages).

Tonight I have:

1. Paid my rent.
2. Put some money away for my tax preparation fees.
3. Took a friend to the library.
4. Returned books and a couple of DVDs myself.
5. Picked up a guide to March events at the library.
6. Ate dinner.
7. Fed the animals and let the dogs out and in.
8. Started some herb bread making for the potluck tomorrow at work.
9. Helped YKWIA with some Latin, mainly by lending an ear.
10. Watered the plants.
11. Finally got into my e-mail and made my selections for two specialties from a collection development project four days past the deadline.
12. Resisted the urge to cuddle with the cat, no matter how demanding he was.
13. Kept YKWIA company while he made clafoutis for me to take to the potluck tomorrow.

We're having a St. Patrick's potluck, a meeting, and a training tomorrow.  Clinic is light.  I'm making ther herb bread that was a hit last time.  It's baking right now.

The week in review:

Sunday--got to play the game, which was fun.
Monday--major snowstorm with up to 10 inches of snow hitting Lexington. I took the bus in to work and back, and was exhausted at the end of the day.  One of my department co-workers fell, broke his leg, and had surgery today for ligament damage.
Tuesday and Wednesday--very busy at work but got everything taken care of at work.
Today--fairly pleasant at work, and then busy afterwards.  It's almost 10 pm and YKWIA is working on the dessert, and I'm just now free to blog.  Sorry I haven't done much lately.  I just ate an apple (Kroger had organic honeycrisps on sale for 99 cents per pound), and the cat is trying to play with the sticker, which is cute, but he's been making himself a nuisance because he really wants me to lie down and let him clamber up on me and cuddle.  I think I've spoilt him.

Just had a wonderful meal

of lentil loaf, Gruyère velouté soup, homemade bread, and a Belgian endive/mushroom/asparagus salad. Really, the groceries cost very little, but the meal would be ridiculously expensive were we to dine in a restaurant. I love YKWIA's cooking. All I did was chop up two onions this time (he's very sensitive to onions as far as eyes watering, and I usually fare better, particularly if I have my contacts in) and the cleanup. I have two pots soaking at the moment. Otherwise, it's all in the dishwasher, which is running, or I've hand washed it.

Today there wasn't a game, but I worked four hours. We'd signed up for some voluntary overtime, and the folks who worked on Saturday got all the grid shuffling done (we have new scheduling grids, so it's a means to put the displaced appointments back in where they go--it takes much less time than rescheduling every appointment).  No one was certain how long it would take, so they had us working on it through the weekend and Monday [the medical centre is closed tomorrow for Presidents' Day].  It looked like I wouldn't be working after all, but my boss said I could come in today and get some things done.  There's enough in a couple of queues for me to work all day so I will be coming in tomorrow.  Today I reviewed some of the reschedules and mostly stuffed envelopes of letters going out for appointments that shifted more than 10 minutes in the process.  I hand-addressed and licked every envelope.  Apparently, our postal meter machine will seal the envelopes, but I wasn't sure about that, and by the time I found out otherwise, I was almost finished. :)  It wasn't too bad, though.

The other night I sat down and did some financial stuff and really fell into a funk that spilt over into grief over my mother (the anniversary of her death is coming up) and general issues of sadness.  I stayed in bed all evening and really felt emotionally hung over the next day.  I cried a lot and there were bags under my eyes that covered half of my face the next day.  I don't know, the financial stuff triggered it, but I don't know where all this anxiety and gloominess came from.  I listened to a lot of Simon and Garfunkel, which made me feel better (their music always does, despite the tendency to sing about death, suicide, depression, and the like).

Yesterday, like I said, I felt hungover and achy, mostly a combination of emotional overwroughtness and then arthritis acting up, as it was an extremely rainy day.  Today I felt much better, thankfully.

Anyway, that's why I hadn't been writing. I'd gotten onto Facebook in my funk for a bit but mostly stayed off the computer completely.  But I am doing better.  I did chores today, and I need to do my laundry tomorrow after work (I did the dog blankets and bath mat today,  as I meant to do those last week, and there has been a prodigious amount of mud brought into the house over the last few days, with all the rain).  Today was a little warmer and the sun actually came out, and it did a lot for my mood.  Tomorrow it's supposed to be in the 70s.  We've got rain coming back in the forecast, though.

Okay, I'm going to check off my Habitica checkboxes, scrub those pans, and probably go on to bed a little early.  Good night.

It was nice to be back to work today

We celebrated Mardi Gras with doughnuts and King Cake, and I've probably screwed up my weight loss by a couple of pounds today alone.  Tomorrow we're having a potluck to celebrate Valentine's Day and also our volunteer's birthday.  It being the day before payday, and with me having about sixteen cents in my account, and a slightly smaller cheque due to the lack of time off to cover everything (although it wasn't too bad--I was less than four hours short total, and it amounted to about $13 in pay after taxes, etc.), I suddenly realised last night that my best bet was to make bread.  So tonight I'm making two loaves--a wheat bread that is really good and completely vegan (one of my co-workers is a vegan), using applesauce or olive oil (I used applesauce) for the creaminess, and honey for the sweetener.  Later I'll try to make an herb bread as well.  We'll see how it goes.  I haven't made the whole wheat in a while.  I put together the dough conditioner just the other day.  I love the recipe and both the bread instructions and dough conditioner ingredients can be found at https://beanland.wordpress.com/2009/05/03/whole-wheat-bread-machine-recipe/.  The only difference is I use olive oil instead of canola, sometimes. I don't like canola oil, to be honest, and olive oil works fine.  But I used unsweetened applesauce this time.


So, with the bread making, I swept the floor in the kitchen and mopped it.  Of course, it's going to start raining soon, and it's supposed to rain for most of the week.  On Thursday I think the high is supposed to be 62.  In Lexington, we tend to have localised flooding, but up in the hilly areas to the east of us, schools have been closed and the flooding has been pretty bad.  So I wish we had a drier forecast, for their sakes, and for the sake of the kitchen floor.  But that's okay.

I am working this weekend for about four hours to help make up for the lost time, as well as Monday, which, as it is Presidents' Day, we are technically closed, but a few of us have permission to work on rescheduling the grids.  That way I won't have to use my very low personal time off.  My boss said she was able to use some of the extended illness bank for yesterday and part of Friday, so only part of Thursday wasn't covered.  But working will help offset the loss of personal time off, anyway.

After work today, I took a co-worker somewhere and she gave me a little money for gas, which was great, because I was on my gas light, and this should get me through to payday.

Now I'm listening to some music.  I may lie down on the heating pad for a little while.  It was great being back at work, but I am a little tired and my back is still hurting.  I think after that, I'll watch Netflix, maybe the next episode of 'Sherlock', because YKWIA is studying and reading tonight.  I think he was very happy to have me at work today. :)

PS

The kitchen can wait until tomorrow to be mopped.  I waited until after dinner since invariably some vegetable winds up on the floor (and the dogs aren't particularly into vegetables), but I'm too tired after helping prepare the salad and some other chopping, along with the cleanup afterwards.  My back is hurting quite a bit today, and so the bending to unload and load the dishwasher and then to stand and do the rest of the dishes was painful.  YKWIA did most of the cooking, and it was an excellent meal (a frittata, cream of asparagus soup, and an arugula, radicchio, shallot, and fennel salad with balsamic vinegarette with garlic dressing).  We didn't even need to get into the bread.  I've taken my nightly medicine, and I added some tizanidine, which I use occasionally on orders of my doctor, when my muscles are in spasm, as it relaxes them.  It's a tiny dose, just 12 mg (three 4 mg tablets at bedtime).  I'm also thinking of using the heating pad for a little while.  I did finish all my other tasks for the day, including my laundry. Yesterday I did his, today mine, and tomorrow I'll do the dog blankets and bath mat.

Okay, I'm going to get on that heating pad and listen to some music. I already feel a little fuzzy.  These are not things I can take and drive, for example.  Usually, I go straight to bed, and they don't make me groggy in the morning, really.  I usually wake up before my alarm.  But I stayed up once and it was a weird feeling, where I wasn't coordinated and slightly drunk.  So I use them very sparingly.

When did this happen?

One thing about being home so much is that I'm starting to get on YKWIA's nerves because while the first few days I was exhausted and asleep, as I began to feel better I tended to do lots of small talk and chatter, even though I tried to rein it in.  Apparently, I miss the interaction with other people, and he's been working on projects on the computer and studying, so there have been large blocks of time I've been on my own.  Yes, I've read, watched videos, listened to music, done chores, and I've taken occasional naps, but still, I'm kind of lonely and bored, and what I don't get is this is the hallmark of an extrovert, and I've always been very introverted.  I score INFP on the Meyers-Briggs, always very strong on the introverted side, although it's moved closer to extrovert over the years, as is normal (you tend to move closer to the other side of the spectrum as you age and experience life, if I understand things well).  Anyway, maybe this is part of my problem with reading.  Maybe somewhere along the way it didn't satisfy my need to interact with people rather than characters.  I also find watching the TV to be rather passive, although I do get immersed in the story, just as I do with reading.  Music I enjoy on a different level, both in terms of the actual sounds and the lyrics.  But still, somewhere along the way, I got to where it's harder to amuse myself--me, the kid who was always alone and felt unloved.  That's a little unnerving.

I cuddled with the cat for a while earlier, although I really didn't sleep.  He got right up on my pillow with his head up next to mine.  Then I fed him and the dogs, and he seems to be keeping this food down, so he's happier.

I'm not really sleepy.  I just ate something extra because my blood sugar went low despite taking my insulin back 20 units each time for the long-acting insulin [so 60 units twice a day, which I think is going to have to go down to 50 or 55] and keeping the short-acting one at 34 units for all meals, not 34-42-42.  I kept track of what I've eaten today.  Even with four little meals, basically, I've stayed under the recommended amount for losing weight.  I've been pretty full.  Today I've had two bowls of cereal with milk, a banana, some homemade cream of mushroom soup, a piece of bread, two little applesauce cups, two peanut butter and honey sandwiches, and I think that's all.  So I've had 1 serving of vegetables, 3 of dairy, 4 of fruit (there were raisins in the cereal), 2 protein, 6 servings of grain, and a bit of sweetener, for 1333 calories (an I've burned 2004 for the day) between my activity/steps and my metabolism.  It's not exactly balanced, but it's not bad. If I eat anything else today, I'll make sure it's a vegetable choice.  We've got a turnip-apple dish in the refrigerator, along with 'green rice', which is basically rice with spinach and onions.  So those are possibilities.  In the meantime, I'm making some more bread right now; we should have an extra-large loaf ready by 10:30 pm.

So the question is what to do now. I'm listening to the OneRepublic station on Pandora.  I could read.  I could watch another episode of 'Sherlock'.  I just don't feel like doing either of those things.  It's kind of annoying, actually, that I don't.  I don't want to go to sleep or I won't sleep well tonight.  Sigh.  Maybe I'll try reading. I'm not up to Julius Caesar himself, but maybe the book on his legacy on the landscape (called Caesar's Footprints: a Cultural Excursion to Ancient France by Bijan Omrani).  It might be good to read before tackling Caesar, as I'll have a better idea of the lay of the land for the Gallic War, anyway.  Actually, I should go to the library's website and check to see when each book is due, then come up with a reading plan.  I know the one YKWIA is reading is due on Valentine's Day, the next one that's due, but I think I should be able to renew that one.  I just renewed The Forgetting and The Oversight.  I just checked out Anatomy of a Genocide.  So that leaves Caesar's Footprints, The Landmark Julius Caeser, and La Belle Sauvage to figure out.  Okay, I guess I'll do that.

Just had a meal

of home-made bread (my contribution, courtesy of my Panasonic bread machine) and lovely tilapia in white wine, onions, and herbs (YKWIA made that, except I chopped the onion).  It was incredibly good, a good meal for Shabbas, and very satisfying all in all.  We each had a third of the pound of fish and split the last third, and each had a couple of helpings of thinly-sliced bread (he did the slicing--I'm only now getting the hang of using a bread knife on a loaf).  Now my stomach is happy and I'm getting sleepy.  I think the kitty wants to cuddle; he's on my bed.

Did I mention that I weighed myself before and after I was ill, and I've lost about 10 lbs this week?  I'm sure some of that will come back, but at the moment I'm thirty-two pounds down from my highest weight. It's all of this home-cooked, wonderful food.  Yay!

Can you have a day that is kind of quiet and relaxing but busy as well?

So most of the early part of my day was relaxing. I played on the computer, looked at some librarian jobs that looked promising that I will apply for, and never even made my bed because the cat was on it, very comfy, for most of the morning and into the afternoon. About 1 pm I got ready and went to the library because a hold had arrived, 'A is for Alibi' by Sue Grafton. I'd told myself a long time ago I'd give the mysteries a try once the series was complete. (I don't know why; it was just a thing. Maybe it's sense of perfection.) Of course, she never finished the alphabet, dying after the 'Y' book was published. So I guess that's all there will be. So I put it on hold right after her death and just got it. I also picked up a picture book of words in various languages that don't really translate to English (I am such a language geek) and a book on gardening. I also went to the grocery and got some laundry soap and a couple of soda 2-litres for the weekend. Brenda is doing better and we're planning to play the game, and we're at a crucial part of the story, so being caffeinated is a must. The notes were finished weeks ago, at least.

When I got home, I caffeinated and then began laundry with the dog blankets, and then my bedding, and then YKWIA's lights.  I still have his darks to do, and his bedding (but since he's taking a nap, that may not happen tonight), as well as a load for myself.  I have also watered the plants, cleaned the bathroom completely, swept the house (except the kitchen, more on that later), cleaned the cat box, and taken out the kitchen trash and the recyclables.  It is raining pretty decently today, and there's not supposed to be rain tomorrow, so the plan is to sweep and mop the tile tomorrow.  I can do his bedclothes too.  Otherwise, the house is set for tomorrow.

I've also eaten kugel for two meals and some salad YKWIA had me help with yesterday.  I would have the soup, but he does some magic with bread and an egg-broth mixture before he puts the soup into the bowl, and of course, he's asleep at the moment.  But the rest was really good, too.  The soup is a Brussels sprout/leek mixture, and it's wonderful.  And of course, kugel is always great.

One of the dogs sleeps on a blanket on the floor, and there's something in each room of the house for her to lie on.  She was most distressed that I took them up for the laundry.  I gathered them together and had them on the kitchen floor and she came and draped herself on them.  I had to take them, one by one until she moved. Poor thing.

Okay, I should go work on the laundry. Both buzzers have sounded.

The cold continues...

It's supposed to be six degrees tonight (Fahrenheit) with a wind chill down to minus 15.  I went to the store on my way home tonight and it was so cold going out, as the wind had picked up.  We're not really getting the snow you see further South, just a few flakes here and there, and I'm thankful, as it's too cold for salt to do much good.  A lady on the UK shuttle was talking about a friend in Myrtle Beach freaking because they'd had a lot of bad weather.  When I lived there in 1972, we had an ice storm followed by seven inches of snow.  We wound up piling into a neighbour's recreational vehicle and driving to Garden City so that we could plug up at a K-Mart parking lot--all nine of us.  It was miserable.  So yes, it does happen, but rarely.

Today started a bit shaky.  I didn't get paid till about 9 am (it's usually there at midnight) due to the New Year's holiday, so I didn't get breakfast at the University of Kentucky Dining but rather ate some homemade bread that I'd brought for lunch.  But it all worked out.  It was a slower day, especially about mid-day, and we got a lot done on queues.  I showed one of our co-workers who helps out in her department how to do check out.  All in all, it was a pretty decent day.  I didn't get a shower this morning, mainly because I couldn't contemplate it as cold as it was, I wanted to save time, and also because my friend went to the bathroom and I didn't realise he was finished for ten minutes.  He said he told me, but I didn't hear.  Anyway, by that time I was past the window for the shower, but really, the idea of getting wet and then going out in this didn't appeal to me.  So my hair wasn't as nice, but really, I have thin, baby fine hair, so it pretty much never really does much of anything.  This afternoon they sent an e-mail out saying that we were going to rebuild the employee directory on the intranet, where employee photos are listed by department and name, so you get to know your co-workers.  We had it at the old place, and apparently, they took it down when they moved.  I was trying to show one of the new co-workers in our department who the care managers were, for example, and the doctors, and it wasn't up anymore.  Anyway, they sent out the e-mail stating that they were bringing it back and instead of having pictures from our badges (which are usually bad), they invited people to send in a favourite self-portrait, take one in our work area (for which they are giving a prize for best 'selfie'), or the public relations department will take one if we'd like.  So I looked through some pictures and didn't really like any of them, and decided to take a picture in my work area, even though I didn't feel like my best.  It came out pretty well, actually.  Here it is:

YKWIA says I always do this thing in portraits where I put my head out like a turtle.  He's right.  But this isn't too bad.  I could use some makeup, and the hair isn't as bouncy as usual, but they always say hair is easier to style when dirty.  Of course, I just combed it.  But anyway, that's what I sent in for my 'selfie'.

I did better with my blood sugar.  They've been running normal, but I haven't eaten much lately and yesterday it was hard to gauge how much insulin to take. I wound up testing my blood sugar AFTER lunch, and it was 56 or 58.  I downed quite a few glucose tablets, as that was all I had with me, and brought it back up.  But I was pretty shaky.  Today I dialled the insulin down, taking 55 units of Lantus this morning, I think, rather than the normal 70-80.  That definitely helped.  If I can come down on the two insulins, I think that would be a wonderful thing.

We ate some wonderful soup with egg and homemade bread along with a lentil salad for dinner, then shared an apple that Brenda left on Sunday for us to try--it's the Opal variety.  It was very good.  I found some 'lunchbox'-sized McIntoshes at Kroger and got some.  That is my favourite variety, and I hadn't seen any at Kroger in probably a good three or four years.

The cat and the dogs have been fed; I didn't leave the dogs out but a few minutes.  The night is not fit for man nor beast.  The cat's in his post-prandial cuddling phase.  He likes to curl up with us afterwards.  YKWIA is reading, and of course, he wants in his lap.  I think I'll go listen to some music in bed, and so he'll probably come in and climb up on me.

Tomorrow I have two doctors' appointments, with my psychiatrist at 8 am, which is pretty early, about the time I usually get to the University, but it's further away.  I have to take a shower before I go, either tonight or tomorrow morning. I think I'll try to do the latter and wake up earlier. My ophthalmologist and field of vision test are at 2 pm.  On the bright side, because I'm coming and going for appointments, my boss put in for me to have one of the five spaces in the back parking lot.  Yay.  They're doing a lottery for any spaces that aren't used on a daily basis, which is fun, too.  But tomorrow, I get one for its intended purpose.

So, I think I'm going to sign off here.  Have a good night.

I'm kind of in a holiday mood now that Thanksgiving is over

Of course, the holidays will be fairly quiet at home. YKWIA is Jewish, and I think Chanukah starts December 8th, but one, it is actually quite a minor holiday in Judaism, and two, I've already ordered and given him his gift, a nice set of linen napkins, since we were very pressed for any, as most of his had worn out.

As far as me, I'm not Christian. I have put up a tree a couple years running, after years of using Norfolk Virginia pines as my Yule trees (evergreens being a pagan borrowing for Christmas, after all). But my tree and ornaments are in the storage unit, and there's really no room for a tree in the house; when A was living here, it was in the living room. Now I live in the living room, you see, so my bed takes up much of the room, and the nightstands take up the corners that the tree used to go in.

Now the other day, I did buy a lovely rosemary bush topiary that had been shaped like a little cone-like shape, on a whim, even though I've never been able to keep a rosemary bush alive, ever. I decided, though, that there was no really great place for it; the best window for light is above his window seat in his bedroom, and while several plants are there and thriving, I wouldn't really see it much. The cedar chest is right out; the water could damage it. So I decided my little bay at the medical centre was pretty bright with the lights and the sunlight coming in through the windows across the lobby, so I put it on my desk, the one thing I've actually done to personalise the place rather than my little fan and the beaded wrist and hand wrests. It looks rather festive in its little red pot. They also decorated today, putting small, narrow trees all along the lobby windows with bows on them and little tree skirts, with white lights, but the actual ornaments are coloured and hung by the patients. That went much smoother than the folks and my endocrinologist's office, who seemed quite challenged by their tree and were providing a great deal of merriment to those waiting in their attempts to fluff and string working lights. When I came out, it still looked the same. They'd apparently given up for a bit. Trees can be quite challenging to decorate, of course. I'm glad I'm not stringing one with lights and doing the whole tinsel and ornament thing this year.

I came home from my appointment thinking that it had been a good day (much less stressful than yesterday, when I was exhausted), but YKWIA rightly realised I was aching, cranky, and obviously not at my best, so he sent me to take some ibuprofen and then nap while he took a shower and cooked some broccoli with garlic sauce. We had that, chickpea soup, carrot salad, and some French bread. I feel a little better. I came back to my room after cleaning up and starting the dishwasher, only to find the cat happily grooming himself on my soft blanket that was on my bed. He's curled up next to me as I type. :) He's been a challenge to feed lately--he seems to be allergic to most foods, so we've got him on a seafood grain-free food, as anything with chicken or grain makes his stomach upset and/or his eyes water. But the new food does seem to be working, I just don't think he likes it that much. It's probably pretty bland. The little dog left her food in her bowl tonight (she does that on occasion), and the cat was trying to crunch down on her food till we put it up so he wouldn't react to it.

Okay, I guess that's all for now. I considered posting about the weird run of sexual harassment stories lately (don't get me wrong, I believe most of the women, but it seems the climate is such that a witch hunt could ensue, and lives and careers can be permanently damaged by claims that may not be substantiated before the consequences happen, as some have seemed very abrupt.) On the other hand, I think it's very good that the men who have been pigs and abusive over the years are finally having their comeuppance. It's a tricky thing. I've known someone who claimed to have been raped, but never prosecuted and apparently just left town at the time. On the one hand, I'd like to believe her because I don't want to dismiss someone's experience or trivialise her claim. On the other hand, given her other behaviours, we seriously doubted such a thing had ever happened, because she was very attention-seeking (she also attempted to present evidence that she made up herself that a death cult from Taos was out to get her). What can I say, I've known a lot of weird and sometimes quite troubled people, most of them women, unfortunately. But she could have been telling the truth; mental health issues do not mean you haven't been victimised--in fact that probably increases your chances. But it is so hard to tell what happened between two people that were not witnessed by anyone. Others coming forward might increase the chances that it's a pervasive thing and that the guy (or woman, depending on the harasser's gender, as it could be either) is really guilty. But as we know from cases where people come out of the woodwork to accuse others, such as the Salem witch trials and other hysterias, it can be an iffy thing. I hope those who are guilty are brought to justice. I hope those who aren't are eventually exonerated. But the court of public opinion can be a vicious thing, and there is no such thing as innocent until proven guilty outside of the courtroom.

Well, I guess I wrote about that after all. Good night.

Happy Thanksgiving!

We scaled Thanksgiving back this year since it was just the two of us, but it was absolutely tasty and wonderful. I did prep work, he cooked, I cleaned up. Now he's napping and I am soon to follow. We had Quorn roasts (vegetarian turkey made from mycoprotein); pumpkin soup; Gruyere gougères; green beans with lemon, roasted hazelnuts, and shallots; mashed potatoes; roasted butternut squash with Asiago and Gruyere cheese; apple clafoutis; and pumpkin pie. Yum! Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving and special thanks to Brenda for helping him get the groceries since my car is down (again) so that we could have one. Tomorrow's goal is to get the car fixed. Wish me luck!

I haven't fallen off the face of the planet

but I never seem to make time for writing lately, something I'm going to try to do more towards correcting. Weekends are better than weekdays, of course, as I'm working and often having hectic 8-hour days of staring at a computer screen and hitting drop-down menus and dragging things into coloured boxes. Today was no exception, but even though it was busy, at times five to eight charts deep (and continuously for over two hours that way), lately I've been better at taking things like that which would usually feel me with lots of anxiety and just breaking it down, taking it one step at a time, and going forward. It's all you can really do, really, and keep your sanity. And if you just keep up your spirit and interact with each person in a friendly, yet business-like manner, it seems that most people are pretty understanding when you're piled deep in charts, trying to check people out as quickly as you can humanly do.

After I finally caught up and everyone had gone home, I called one last person about an appointment first thing in the morning to reschedule, as requested by my boss before she left, then closed up shop. I earned my own key to the bay doors today. This is my second week as a regular employee. I also got my last cheque as a contract worker today, and I put it into savings before coming home. My roommate was out meeting someone for dinner, and so I ate (fish cakes, an avocado-cucumber salad, and escarole soup, all cooked by him, and very tasty), fed the animals, and laid down and listened to some music on the speaker rather than my headphones, but I didn't really relax until he came home, tired and needing some alone time. He's in his room reading and drinking tea. I'm in the library with Pandora playing on the computer in my headphones, catching up on some things. I have barely seen any news or for that matter, done much with social media over the last few days. I have been working around the house after work and on the weekends, doing errands, etc. This weekend, on Saturday, I made a special trip to my storage unit to retrieve most of my winter clothes. I then spent Sunday (Brenda was ill, so we didn't play, much to the game master's dismay, as he has a really evil adventure to run next time) taking the old clothes out of the closet, bed drawers, and cedar chest and switching out for warmer ones, while keeping shorts, capris, and tank tops out to sleep in. But the light blouses, skirts, and the like all went back into the two totes I'd pulled out, along with some other things that made it here but should be in storage. Not only was it cold yesterday, YKWIA actually saw some snow and sleet, although of course, it didn't stick. But it's definitely time to break out the winter clothes.

I also opened up my Halloween costume and tried it on (well, I didn't pull the tights on, as I was afraid they'd run, but I checked the sizing, anyway, because I was afraid they'd pair a 4X costume with regular-size tights. It's a dress that has a full puffy black skirt, but it is otherwise covered with bones, with bones across the chest as a sternum/rib cage, and bones down the sleeves. There are gloves with the hand (but not on the thumb, which is a bit disturbing), and then the tights have all the leg and foot bones. I'm going to wear my Mary Janes so that the top of the foot bones show through. I am going to use makeup that I've bought for a skull face and neck, too. I considered spraying my hair white or silver, but the bottle specifically says not to do it on very fine hair, so instead, I found a witch's hat at Kroger that has the same sort of crinoline as the skirt but is tattered on the cone like it's been in the grave. So I'm going to be a skeletal, undead witch. There were only two issues. One, if you look at the picture on the package, the skirt on the model (who is in high heels) goes to mid-calf, whereas for me, it goes to my ankles, but that's a common thing I have with skirts, as I am only 5'4". Also, while the costume itself has lots of silver thread throughout it, rather than glitter, whoever packaged the thing threw approximately a handful of very fine glitter inside for fun, so when I took it out, there was glitter on the inner lining of the skirt. My roommate, who recognises that glitter never truly is removed from the house once it finds its way in, specifically said, there'd better not be glitter. Of course, there was, and without thinking, I twirled in the skirt, and well, glitter went everywhere. I swept up most of it (thank goodness there are no carpets in this house), and I took up the dog blanket that was at the foot of my bed because it was covered before the dogs could roll on it. I then shook the costume outdoors, but there's still LOTS of glitter. Which means I'm going to leave a trail in the car, on the UK shuttles, and all over work, much to the consternation of housekeeping. But hey, it's all in Halloween fun, right?

So the plan is to wake up early, shower, create the skull face and neck with the makeup, put on the tights and dress, then the gloves and shoes, and go to work dressed that way. I'm really excited about Halloween, and I'm glad we're still dressing up and having the kids at work trick-or-treat. To that end, though, I should go to bed pretty soon. I normally get up about 6:15 am to get to work by 8:30. I think I'll have to try for 5 or 5:30 am just to be sure. Hope your Halloween is wonderful and safe.

I spent the evening with a friend

Looking at things on the computer and eating a lovely fennel casserole with zucchini, yellow squash, onions, tomatoes, basil, and (of course) fennel, with cheese over top. It was so good we both had seconds.

As a result, I didn't quite get everything on my list finished, although I did go to Lowe's and got everything I wanted. I'm going to repot several houseplants, and fix the window boxes up with sweet potato vine, light purple petunias, and dark purple calibrachoa. I think that'll look nice.

So the plan is to get up early tomorrow and:

1. Re-pot and pot the plants.
2. Set the window boxes out on their ledges.
3. Pull out the things from the walk-in closet.
4. Call in the air conditioning and toilet issues.
5. Go to pulmonary rehabilitation. [Cancelled due to soreness/pain]
6. Go to counseling.
7. Unload the dishwasher.
8. Load the dishwasher and run it.
9. Do the mountain of non-dishwasher-safe dishes.
10. Apply for a job.
11. Get the goldfish.
12. Take a friend to and from a meeting.

In addition to everything else I said I'd do today, I went to the library, paid my fines, and picked up a couple of interlibrary loans for a friend. Now I'm tired and I think I'll head on to bed. Good night!

Hot

It's 74.5 degrees Fahrenheit in the apartment. I don't want to turn on the air conditioner yet, so I'm sitting in front of my bedroom fan. I sleep with one going all year round, under a single fuzzy blanket, as I'm hot-natured, and the perimenopause makes it worse.

I need to take a friend's food back to him tomorrow, as we transferred stuff to my refrigerator this weekend when his refrigerator (but apparently not the freezer, although we emptied that, too, as a precaution) went out. He's been storing half and half and mayonnaise (two absolute staples) in a cooler with ice in it, placed in the refrigerator. One thing that stayed in the freezer that he shared with me, though, were frozen bananas, wrapped in wax paper. They are sweet, cold, and a great substitute for ice cream. I may have to get some wax paper and start doing that. Try it, sometime.

Waiting quietly

For a friend's soufflé to bake. I am very hungry, despite him giving me some fusilli salad earlier. It's also much later than I planned to be out, but oh, well.

Remember the children's librarian position for which I recently applied? There was one advertised, same location, but a slightly different schedule. I called the library today to see if it was a reposting or separate listing, and it was the latter, so the plan is to apply tonight or tomorrow for that. I have all the materials tweaked, I just need to go through their website and apply. I know they always say proofread, proofread, proofread. It seems every time I do there's something I missed. Apparently I had my undergraduate degree listed as a Bachelors of Science. I have no idea why. It's a Bachelors of Arts. I have no idea how I made that mistake. *shakes head*

Okay, I'm going to go for now. Wish me luck - with two positions I'm hoping for the best!

Rosemary and olive oil bread with Havarti

and cherry-chocolate yoghurt really make an interesting combination.  Not bad, just odd.  Mix in a little orange soda and that was a very odd dinner. :) I somehow don't think my palate is ready for a five-star restaurant.  Of course, my piece of bread was probably bigger than any entrée you might get at one of those. Okay, I'm going to take my slightly depressed self and sign off for the evening. Time for bed. Good night.

A few random things...

1. I did send that thank you letter to Dr. Daniel last week. I hope it finds him well.
2. Tomorrow I get paid and I'm opening up an account with the credit union, paying off the bank, and closing that account, if I can. Or at least get it positive and start changing over the automatic debits I have monthly to the new account.
3. I'm kind of tired, but I've had an okay sort of day. Emotionally I feel better, and my throat feels better, probably due to the oral medicine, because I totally forgot to bring the 'swish and swallow' stuff with me today. I'm going to start it tonight and put the stuff in my backpack. It's 5 ml/1 teaspoon at a time, which isn't that bad, surely (she said, hopefully).
4. A is sick and I took YKWIA to get food and medicine for him. He sounds awful. Everyone I know has been sick this season, I think, except maybe not YKWIA, which is unusual.
5. I just made some scrambled eggs with cheese (although I almost managed an omelet) and feel better. I'd gotten pretty hungry while we were running around. It was that or 1) soak and cook basmati rice and pair it with a kidney-bean curry that's premade, or 2) cook some pasta with sauce. Neither of those seemed appealing. My appetite's actually been pretty good, but not at night, especially as the throat hurts worse then. Eggs are soft. They'll do.

I guess that's really all. I'm going to try to read a little before bed, although I'm not sure which book yet. It's a goal to read 30 minutes a day (or listen to an audiobook) on my Habitica to-do list. I'm not sure I'm up to reading--I have an audiobook or two I can try, perhaps. Okay, have a good night.

Hmm

A day or so before payday,  and I'm looking in my fridge and freezer,  and find insulin,  hummus,  sour cream,  eggs, naan,  and a giant box of soft pretzels (the latter was a 25-pretzel manager's special for $3.99). Can you tell I live by myself? I guess it's better than a bunch of takeout containers,  but barely. The food in the pantry is a little better,  at least, so I'm not in dire straits or anything.  But when you have more medicine than food in your refrigerator,  I think it says something.

I had a rare sleep-in today

It's turned very cold, just in the 40s, and I did get up early this morning and turn the heat on, although I must say, my little apartment stays pretty warm, as it hasn't kicked on yet. It's hard to believe that yesterday was sandals and open windows.

YKWIA is supposed to e-mail me if he needs me for anything (he can't call, it's Sabbath), and so I slept-in, then listened to some music in the bedroom, and now I'm up making lunch (farfalle and Italian tomato sauce), and baking my last loaf of bread, this time oatmeal bread. That'll take a couple of hours at the most. I'm thinking about going to the library and doing some research from their system to make sure I understand all their databases, etc., in case I get called about one of the positions I applied for. I also need to go return a book, and maybe take a few others back.

Other things I'd like to do today:

1. Work on the game notes and get them out of the way.
2. Work on the closet.
3. Read.

That's it. That and the library. I'll also need to pick A up tonight at 1 am, and maybe after Sabbath (after sunset) I'll hear from YKWIA, so my plan is to do those during the day. At least the sun is breaking form the clouds, so maybe there will be more light in here to work by and I won't have to turn lights on all over the place.