You know you're really tired

When you fall asleep before nightfall fully dressed, including bra, because you are too tired to change.

I thought I was doing better about staying up after a long workday, but I guess the summer cold sapped my stamina. I also went the whole day without caffeine, and had a raging headache. I couldn't even bear to listen to music.

That was three hours ago. I woke up, got dressed in some shorts and a tank top, and had a fruit pop to ease my throat. It's mostly left my head and has settled in my chest, but that means less nose-blowing, at least.

But I think I'm just going to rest tonight and start doing some things here tomorrow. Specifically, I need to:

1. Take out the trash.
2. Pay some bills, online and paper.
3. Work on a book review.
4. Go through and weed books. I have between 2,500 and 3,000 books, and need to reduce them by 2/3, and at 20 or so books a box, and about 50 days, that's two boxes a day to remove from the collection, if I did the math right in my head.
5. Go to YKWIA's and do something fun.
6. Watch the Idle Hour fireworks, weather permitting, as per usual, including being able to park at the old hospital to watch. :)

Have a safe and lovely holiday. Good night.

A few random things from today

1. I discovered my betta had died today. I'm not sure if I'll replace him; it's only a three-gallon tank, and while it has a filter and bubbles and all, it's not ideal for a fish, and one can't go in the same tank (a 29 gallon long) with the goldfish because he'd probably fight with them, as bettas are terribly territorial.
2. I went to move my flamingo plant today in order to open the window and there were hundreds of ants (with pupae) underneath. Gross. I put the saucer on the windowsill next to the ant bait so they can either go outside or take the bait that's nearby. It was swarming too much to take it out through the apartment and the hall to the outside, so I just used the window screen.
3. I have a terrible sinus headache that has lasted for hours. It looks like it'll storm, and it's definitely supposed to rain tomorrow, I think. I'm going to lie down in a little while and see if that helps, after taking some ibuprofen.
4. I've visited a friend and helped him with a few things. He wasn't feeling great either and decided to lie down, so I came on home. I'll go back about 7 pm to help feed the animals and see if he's doing better.
5. I saw a great interview by a young woman with autism with Channing Tatum earlier. She uses a pad to communicate. It was her first interview, and she did a great job. She's got quite a sense of humour. Her name is Carly Fleischmann. YKWIA showed it to me, and we both liked it.
6. I usually pick a grey horse for the Kentucky Derby, if there is one running. This year, there are actually four on the roster, at least three with the same sire. I'm going to go with Creator, I think. Yesterday the odds were 10-1. I'm going to make sure I get up in time to watch the Derby. What can I say, it's a big thing here in Kentucky. Even if you're not partying or at the tracks, you're probably going to tune in for the actual race if you can.
7. I learned that I am incapable of using a 2-bladed razor, apparently, without doing bodily harm to myself, so I went to the store and got a five-bladed razor and some more shave cream to prevent 'cuts and nicks' in the future. I had a time stopping the bleeding, and finally slapped a giant Band-Aid on it. Maybe I should have looked for a styptic pencil as well.
8. When I went to open the window, I also discovered my aloe had lost its root structure, and while it is still alive, has nothing to anchor or nurture it, so it is essentially the unwalking dead. I rather like aloe, so that's sad. On the other hand, I took some bits that had fallen off my Christmas cactus and put them in dirt, oh, a couple of weeks ago, maybe, and one is budding. Yes, budding. So not only has it rooted, it's getting ready to bloom.
9. Having a headache is detrimental to my grasp of grammar--I had to make three corrections to this post, and two weren't typos. :( Hey, it happens sometimes when I'm tired or in pain, what can I say. At least I proofread both before and after I post.

I guess that's it for now. I'm going to go rest and see if I can take care of my headache. I'll probably write later.

I'm not going to make it to 10 pm

I've moved the fan back to the bedroom,  closed the windows and blinds,  and I'm about to take my Lantus.  I put enzymes down the drain for the second night - - it's working really well on the sink,  but the tub is being resistant,  although it is better.  You usually treat for three days,  on nights,  really,  as you have to go 6 hours without using them afterwards.

I have a headache,  for which I will take some ibuprofen before I lie down. But I hope I can sleep tonight.

Good night.

It feels so good to lie down

With my feet up  (although they haven't been swelling as much as they were earlier in the season).  I must admit,  I am tired and I have a headache,  so I'll be changing from merely resting to full-blown sleeping soon.

After work I had an appointment with my allergist and got my shots.  I've gone up a colour on the phial,  and I should soon be at a level where most people see improvement. Just changing medications helped me.  I am on levocetirizine,  which has been helping a great deal.

I came home for awhile,  then went to my friends' house.  I went to Jin-Jin and picked up some lovely vegetarian fare,  including Vegetable Egg Foo Yong and Kung  Pao Tofu, plus spring rolls. I also got fish food for my goldfish from Kroger,  also in the Chinoe shopping centre.  Then I headed back,  watched a couple of episodes of 'Wizards vs. Aliens'  and then came home.  Now I'm in a darkened room,  my headache is easing,  and I'm ready for bed.  The fish were very happy to get their food. Tomorrow is one of my early days, so I must get up earlier. So,  good night.

One thing I agree with the Germans about

Pills should be taken 'against' headaches (gegen Kopfschmerzen) rather than for them. I've been nursing a headache all evening, and it has finally reached splitting/not-ignorable status, so I took some ibuprofen, something I try not to do in an effort to minimise issues to the kidneys. But alas, sometimes you just have to break down.

I will be somewhat brief tonight, as I missed my allergy shot this afternoon, so I'm going to try to go in early tomorrow so I can do it tomorrow afternoon before my friend's appointment. Today was technically one of my early days, but I had a slew of things to do this afternoon when all was said and done, so I'm glad I voted in the primary election very early this morning rather than putting it off.

I did find out why my check engine light is on in the car (it popped up right before the odometer hit 50,000 miles). The code most likely points to a faulty exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) valve, or its corresponding sensor. I was told that while it should be fixed, a month or two should be okay if I'm not having issues, which is good, as I don't have the money to do it just now. I wanted to double-check, as I will be making the trip to Louisville in a couple of weeks.

I told my counselor of my anxiety about driving and how I planned to do some practice runs before going to Louisville by interstate. She copied some pages from The Anxiety and Phobia Workbook, and I think they include a useful exercise. Actually, when I did some poking around, the whole book sounded quite useful. I looked it up at the library, but their copies were missing or lost. Amazon had both paperback and Kindle versions. Since it's a workbook, with worksheets, I thought the paperback copy would be more useful, so I used some of my credit card bonus rewards and bought it. I should be getting it Thursday, which isn't too bad, considering I no longer have Amazon Prime, as I couldn't afford to renew it when the price went up.

I did a lot of running around after work today, driving for about 2 1/2 hours around the city in rush hour traffic. I:

1. Went to the pharmacy for a friend
2. Had my car checked due to the check engine light
3. Put a cheque in the bank
4. Grabbed some Taco Bell for dinner
5. Picked some Marmite up at the store for a friend

and then I went over there to their house and watched:

1. 'House of Anubis'
2. 'iZombie'
3. 'Lab Rats'

That was fun. In particular, 'iZombie' is growing on me even more.

Okay, I should head on to bed. The headache is easing up somewhat. Good night!

After work

I went to the library and checked out a book I had on hold for a friend, and while I was there I picked up some new books for myself: How Google Works by Eric Schmidt & Jonathan Rosenberg, Encyclopedia of Witch Craft by Judika Illes, Wonders of the Solar System by Brian Cox, and a delightful book I’ve been reading since I got home, Good Manners for Nice People Who Sometimes Say F*ck by Amy Alkon. So I’ve been reading with the radio playing in the background, and I’ve gotten all comfy. I went through the mail, which contains a $4.78 reimbursement cheque from my flexible spending company, my AAA renewal (I’m not sure that’s going to be feasible before it expires at the end of the month) and the final Time Warner Cable bill.

YKWIA just called asking about some bagels he thought I’d left there, and I explained about the book on witchcraft and that when I randomly opened a page, the first entry I saw was on ‘Charmed’, which is his favourite TV show. I think that made him happy.

There’s a lot I should be doing tonight. Dishes, taking out some cardboard boxes, finally doing the stuff for the fish tanks, that sort of thing, plus the trash and recyclables. Right now I have an annoying headache, so I’m going to take some ibuprofen and relax for a bit before trying to do anything. That usually winds up with me falling asleep far too early. I’m going to try to not do that—but I’m not promising anything. I had thought to stop by the house and take the laptop over to the library, blogging from there, but decided to just settle in at home and use my phone hotspot anyway.

I also need to give a libation tonight to the Goddess, and although I do not have wine, I have some nice honey. Yesterday when I started my period (I give the libation when I menstruate), I also managed to restore the backup of the Android application that keeps my cycle calendar, so that made me happy. I think that was the last thing that hadn’t been set correctly since I had to get the phone factory reset when I locked myself out of it with the fingerprint scanner. :)

Okay, I’m going to take that ibuprofen. If I don’t blog anymore tonight, I hope you have a good night.

I have a splitting headache

So I've taken some Tylenol and I am going to lie down for a bit.  Hope I don't miss the ball drop.  I'll set a couple of alarms to make sure.

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.

Oh, my head

I have had a headache all day, and I know it's from lack of caffeine. The Tylenol isn't really helping. But hey, this is what I get for getting myself addicted to sodas and then quitting cold turkey.

I finished my holiday shopping today. I felt like I shopped till I dropped even though I didn't go near a mall. But I found some nice things, they weren't too expensive, and I think they'll like them.

The main other accomplishment I had was getting the leg lifts back on the wheelchair. I took them off, stupidly, during my exercises yesterday rather than just swinging them out of the way. I had to transfer to the loveseat in order to see what I was doing when I put them back on. But my foot was hurting and I was watching the old Clue movie with Tim Curry, so I had to get the lifts back on.

I didn't get any of the notes worked on today. I did some last night. I'm about a third of the way through. I'll try to work on them early tomorrow.

I think I'm going to head back to the bedroom and lie down, stretch out. I wasn't able to get comfortable in there earlier, but it was really not a great time for a nap or anything, I was just listening to music. Now I'm ready to go to bed, despite the headache. I'll try to get some sleep anyway. The lack of caffeine should help in that department.

I took a little stroll around the apartment complex

and spoke with a friend by phone while sitting at a picnic table under some pine trees. The smell of the honeysuckle that grows along the creek is quite strong. I used to have an aversion to that scent, having gorged myself on the nectar (along with a friend) as a child only to get a 24-hour stomach bug that night, and for years the smell of honeysuckle made me nauseous, but I've overcome it.

I do have a headache, which I'm hoping some caffeine and ibuprofen will take care of. I'm almost out of the latter. Fortunately I get paid in a couple of days, because things have been pretty tight. I think I'm going to try naproxen (Aleve) so that I don't have to take as much when I have pain.

It's a lovely evening, with all sorts of people out and about. Several ladies from South Asia have been walking around in their colourful saris. I do love that style; I wish I could carry it off. Well, maybe I could, but I'd probably look a little odd.

I got quite a lot done at work today. I was somewhat disheartened by the results of my needs assessment survey. I get great marks for my customer service, and although usage of the library in general is up, most respondents said they didn't use it, or if they did, they used the printers/copiers or read the paper. I got 45 responses out of 200 employees, but had to throw one out because they pretty much treated it like a joke and wrote comments like, 'get a Redbox' when I asked about the video collection, or 'is that like Check into Cash' when I asked about interlibrary loan (even though I explained what that was in the question), etc. on it. But there were some helpful comments on other surveys. Oh, well. Now if I can just schedule a library committee meeting around one of the physicians' schedule, I'll be okay.

I'm not really tired, but I think I will go lie down in my bedroom with the lights off. It's not a migraine (I've had those often, although thankfully they've lessened as I've gotten older). I think it's just a sinus headache. But my eyes hurt, too. I'll try to write a little later. The plan is not to turn in for the night. I'm not going to turn the comforter down, for example. We'll see.

Wow, I konked out

About 8 o'clock, after texting with a friend (who is terribly sick with chills, vomiting, and diarrhea--I hope he gets better soon!) and then folding and putting away my laundry, I had a headache, so I turned on some soft Classical music and laid down for awhile. I just woke up. The headache is gone (perhaps because it's actually raining now, rather than that period before). My bedding is still a bit damp so I'm sleeping on an uncovered mattress with my regular pillowcases but a small felt blanket that was an employee gift a few years ago. I had the window open, letting in some fresh air (it's almost midnight and 59 degrees, November or not), but I guess someone could have watched me sleep (creepy) or even come in. I don't normally sleep with the windows open now that I no longer have a dog to alert me.

I had found quarters for two more loads of laundry in my purse, which happens to be all the laundry, and had thought to do it tonight, but then decided not to when the headache came up, which is good, as it is raining steadily now. I did put the clothes in the hamper that's in my granny cart to get ready for taking over there, and put the collapsible hamper away. I may do it tomorrow morning. I don't have to be anywhere as early as usual; I have a doctor's appointment at 11:15 and it made absolutely no sense to go into work as usual and then turn around on the next bus and come back out here. Since I live within a short distance of the doctor's office, my boss is letting me just go straight there. So I could get up and do the laundry like I did this morning, but not as early. We'll see what the weather's like.

PS I got an e-mail a little while ago from Amazon that my package had shipped. We have a warehouse here in Lexington. It must have shipped from here. :)

Yay :) and boo :(

Yay:

Because my blood sugars have been doing better, my doctor took me off of my remaining diabetes oral meds and increased the dosage of my insulin with a target of 100 reading on the glucometer upon waking.

That means I'm down to four pills (I was at 7 for a long time). He also changed my short-acting insulin from Apidra to Novolog since I was still reacting to the Apidra. It's another pen sort of delivery, and my pen tip needles fit both, even though they're different manufacturers.

Boo:

I've had a headache all day that has gradually gotten worse to the point where I'm almost no longer aware of the pain in my foot. I'm generally aching, too, and the bus ride home tonight did nothing good for that. Not to play poor pitiful me, but I think I'm going to just take YNWIA's advice and take some ibuprofen, put something cool on my forehead, and go on to bed. So there won't be much blogging tonight, I'm afraid. I just came in from being over at a friend's house, and being up and about helped a bit (well, not my foot), but I was fading by the time I got home.

Good night.