Apparently

Chair yoga is not for me. I used to do yoga back in the day when I could get up from the floor fairly easier, and I really enjoyed it and found it beneficial. I thought chair yoga would be great, so I went to a library programme, but I didn't think about how much arm work there would be, things like raising the arms above the head and hugging yourself. I have one torn long head on the biceps tendon and the rotator cuff is also torn on the right which was never repaired; on the other side both have been torn in a fall and repaired, but it has been hurti for awhile, so I've been wondering if I should go back to my orthopaedist. I still have range of motion issues on that injured side and probably always will. There's only so much moddification I can do. I did modify the legs a little. I didn't put my lower legs on my thighs, as that does hurt, even after knee replacement, although I can do it briefly. But my back hurts today from doing the twists, and I had to get dog food and cat litter today. Even though the food was 18.5 lbs and the cat litter was 'lightweight' (the torn rotator cuff/biceps tear on the right was from pulling regular cat litter off a shelf, so I'm really careful with that and only use the lightweight, but it's only 10 lbs. difference). So everything kind of hurts today, even with Tylenol. I'm signed up to do it again next Saturday. I'm thinking maybe not. If I do it, I may stick with books and at home videos where I can modify in peace. I know it's not a competition, but it feels like I'm failing if I don't try to do them as demonstrated in front of other people. And I suffered for that idiocy today.

So tired

I came home and couldn't think straight; I was so tired. I'm on the bus because while I managed to dig my car out of 3 1/2" of compacted snow and ice, I can't get the thing reversed over a shelf of ice in the driveway. I hate ice storms. Monday, I managed to get to work thanks to a veterans group, Camp Heroes, and home thanks to our medical centre administrator. Tuesday, the Fayette County Sheriff's Office, KY's WinterCare folks got me there and back. I couldn't go out the back as per usual because of the back gate being blocked by snow and ice, so I had to go out the front, down and up the same steps I fell off of in June, without any snow or ice. When I was driven, I had help, but I was on my own after that. I took off Wednesday, eating the occurrence, because I knew the temperatures were, if anything, going to plummet further, so it's not like things were going to get better soon, and I needed to dig us out. I did manage to open my trunk to get my little collapsible shovel out, get into the shed to get the snow shovel and a regular shovel (which was great for the ice), and get the layers of ice clear in front of the gate enough that I can squeeze into our out of the backyard's gate. I haven't been able to touch the front steps yet. I cleaned my car mostly off, and got in and ran it for a while, but as I said, couldn't surmount the ledge. I'm pretty sure my tyres are finally no longer frozen to the driveway, at least. But as frustrating as this is, I think it's the Universe protecting me. I'm having power steering issues that may be serious, and not good on the snow. It may be that I shouldn't drive until I can get it looked at, especially on snow. So I'm on the city bus in the meantime.

I forgot that they'd still be on the Snow Plan at this point and went to the regular stop, which is now a Snow Plan stop, then went to the one across the street and caught the right bus after about a half hour, all at about 9° Fahrenheit. The bus wasn't so bad except when it let me off at Shriners on a giant mound of ice and snow where a snowplough had come through. Fortunately, I'd brought my hiking poles with snow tips, rather than my cane, but even with those, you had to kind of have a leap of faith to balance on that and not fall in the street. I may get off at the Kentucky Clinic tomorrow and walk the last block despite the icy sidewalks just to avoid that in the future.

Anyway, I came home, warmed up two microwavable heating pads (I chipped at ice till 11 pm last night while working on the car, and my back is hurting today), and then I collapsed for four hours, did three loads of laundry while the temperature outside was in the double digits, and helped my friend set up another e-mail account on Outlook. They're still on the Snow Plan tomorrow, so I need to figure out when to be ut there tomorrow as that bus comes earlier than the other.

So sleepy

Fortunately, I haven't had this experience much with these surgeries, but last night it took me FOUR hours to fall asleep, then it was disordered, light sleep, and I woke up at 8 AM feeling nowhere near rested. My leg was incredibly swollen, tight, and hurting. I tried ice, elevation on the wedge pillow, Tylenol, stronger meds--nothing was doing it. I finally tried side sleeping with a pillow between my knees and my operant knee on top, and that sort of worked (it's my normal sleeping position), but it still took a while longer, and it wasn't good sleep. I had to meet someone at 10 AM, and we saw each other a little early. It is now a quarter after 1,0 and I am fighting the urge to go back to bed.

Slight setback

I went to get up last night and of all things pulled a muscle in my left (non-operant) thigh, which is fairly painful. It's making it more difficult to walk independently from the walker or cane. The pain on both sides has been about equal, a 4 at the most, and that's during certain stressful movements. I've only been taking one 8-hour Tylenol for pain for the  last 24 hours. I haven't taken any opioids all,l since I had the surgery. That Journavx did really help, but I haven't needed it, either, and it's meant for short-term use. So it's not super painful, but I'm resting the muscle so when I go out it'll be okay. I don't want to fall due to it being weak. Next appointment is Wednesday, so hopefully it will recover by then. 

I so

Overdid it this weekend, and I'm paying for it tonight. I've only been able to do the ROMTech bike once yesterday and today due to all I did yesterday, the resulting soreness, and the additional resistance that they added to my treatment plan. Both knees and hips are hurting. I've taken Tylenol but I think something stronger is going to be needed at bedtime. I've only taken 8 of those pills in the 25 days since my surgery, so I feel pretty good about that. I am not driving since my car is down for now, so that's not an issue. But I've tried to rest most of the day and have done very little and I'm still so wiped out I'm too tired to do a jigsaw puzzle online. It's the only thing left to do on my to-do list except my night meds. Whew. 

Argggh!!!! Oww!

I may have overdone it. I went from a pain of 1 or 2 directly after doing the bike to about a 6 or 7 about an hour or so later. After three and a half hours of lying in bed in pain, unable to sleep, debating, given that I can drive but do not have a working car and do not have prospects for fixing it soon, I finally took something stronger than Tylenol and fell asleep. Now, six hours later, I'm still a little sore, especially in my knees, hips, legs, and buttocks. Five sessions are just too much for me, although I know my roommate was very proud of me for hitting the magic number. I'll stick with my normal three; it seems to work well, four if I'm really feeling it. Peter, my physical therapist, said to count PT as a session, so definitely no more than three those days.

PS, I have also made peace with the fact that I cannot adjust the pedals all the way. There are six settings outward. I can do four and still pedal. I have made it to five briefly on passive, but cannot pedal actively and certainly not on resistance with it. I have not even tried six. I am 5'3". My knees only go so far. It occurred to me that this machine is built for people of all sizes, and I am on the lower end. I must make peace with that.

Owww....

I'm trying not to whine. I woke up to so much pain today that I could barely move or think. I have fibromyalgia and major osteoarthritis. I got up to go to the bathroom, and my right knee was so painful that it made me yell and nearly went out from under me. Ibuprofen is relieving minutely. I only have one other dose of that. My friend has arthritis-strength acetaminophen. I have to be careful taking either, due to my liver issues and diabetes (the need to protect the kidneys). I need to see if I can get some dual-action pain reliever, that has a smaller amount of both. Does anyone have suggestions for other pain relievers? Naproxen does nothing for me. Diclofenac used to, but it got to the point where I couldn't be on it long-term and it wasn't doing as well. Anyway, I called into work, it was bad enough, and I've only ever called in once for fibromyalgia before, and I was diagnosed back when I was in college. I've taken my meds and tried to basically sleep and distract myself, on and off. Right now I have the dogs, though, because my roommate is having a new appliance delivered. They are going wild with other people and other smells in the house. They're just losing their minds, so no rest for Lisa at the moment. I can't get in the bed with the three 60-lb. dogs on a full-sized day bed, not with being so tender. My roommate touched me lightly on a point earlier and it hurt.

Sigh. I thought I'd done reasonably well all of these years with pain, but now I'm really having a lot more trouble. The water would help with the fibromyalgia, but I did cancel my YMCA membership, so after this month it's gone. though today may be a possibility. (I wasn't going enough, because of the issues I had with finding a good time to go to the pool, and couldn't really use the machines, so I wasn't getting much in the way of value.) Yoga was good for it, and of course I don't move well anymore, and I can't get on the floor anymore and back up, but I've got videos to watch for chair yoga. I think I'll try some of that But I've got to do something. But now I can let the dogs out, so I'm going to go find the manual online for the appliance and then lie down a bit.

Better

I was in a very bad place earlier tonight, in a lot of pain, and I railed against the Universe there for a moment in a since-deleted link from Facebook to this page (which still has it). Four hours and some good rest later, I feel better. Still hurting a bit, but back down to a 2 from a 7.  We joke that my bed is my 'cocoon of love' where I retreat when needed. But I have to admit, this time it helped.

Sunday I hurt my foot, and I'm in a Unna boot wrap with a walking boot, and you know what?

I am not a great person to be around right now. Indeed, I'm really not a happy camper. My pain is around 7 out of 10 for various reasons, the NSAIDs and acetaminophen that I can take are doing nothing. I'm trying not to be irritable, but I am. I had a decent day at work, I made it through, tomorrow is Friday, lots of good things, but at this precise moment I just want to kick off the stupid boot, get into shorts (have I mentioned the AC seems to be broken, so we turned it off?), get into bed, squeeze a teddy bear, ice my foot, and let Ed Sheeran music take me away.  At the moment I think Dolly Parton could come into my room and I'd growl at her, and that's an unpardonable sin.

All over a toe, which turned into a foot, which necessitated a boot, which exacerbated pain in my back and knees, which reminded me that I'm out of fibromyalgia medicine, which means I'm in a flareup, when I'm still getting over sciatica, so my body feels like it's burning on the inside and outside and I just am therefore no fun.

And it makes me mad at myself because it's not like I have cancer, or some incurable disease, or I'm in a wartorn country, or have just lost a child, or all the other things that are so much more painful and significant.  This too shall pass. But at this moment, I'm having trouble reminding myself of that or breathing through the pain (I was never good at meditation anyway).  I'm good at low chronic pain. But this is acute and all over, in every joint, in every muscle, and I just want to scream.

Instead I'll get into my bed, also known as the cocoon of love, and ice my foot, and hug my teddy bear, and try to lose myself in music and drift off into the land of dreams. For tomorrow is another day.

Ugh

It's 9 pm on a Friday night and both my roommate and I are headed for bed. He cooked and did a lot today at home. I worked really hard despite less than 4 hours of sleep and forgetting to take my meds till about 3:30 pm. Also, I hurt all over tonight (a fibromyalgia flare up) but also my knee is throbbing so badly I can barely walk, and it's swollen. I haven't done anything to it recently. It took three ibuprofen and ice to get where I could do the dishes. I tore my meniscus when I fell in February of last year, but not to the point of surgery. I think I've somehow irritated that. I'm off it now; hopefully it goes back to its normal, everyday osteoarthritis pain. Good night.

I should be asleep

But I'm not very tired, which is a little odd.  I was pretty active today, walking over 7500 steps, although I did not go to the Y and work out, mainly because I had some errands to run that had to be done today and while I could have gone to open swim after 8:15 pm, that's a little late.  I don't know about exercising that late.  Of course, it's a warm water pool and it's pretty relaxing, so maybe it'll be fine.  I'm definitely going to try to go to the gym Saturday for a much longer time, try the Nu-Step machines and the pool and try to figure out where the sauna is, as that's always nice to end with.  (I did see where the hot tub is. I've never been in one but it looked very inviting.

I was sharing things from my newsfeed on Facebook and apparently, I got share-silly because a pop-up window came up asking me if I was a robot; I had to check the box to continue.  I need to be doing more sharing on this page; I've hardly written anything all summer.  I'm going to take the 'habit' I have on my phone on Habitica (the app that's a productivity one but with avatars and roleplaying game trappings that I've used for years now) and make it a daily, meaning I'll be more likely to think to write.

There are several applications I'm using right now that I'm finding useful for my health, beyond the one that comes with my activity tracker or something like Samsung Health or Google Fit.  I highly recommend them:

Daylio -- This is a mood tracker that I've used now for over 1100 days (I know, I have entries for that many).  Given that I have Bipolar Disorder II, it's been really helpful in seeing how my mood varies.  I'm generally in the good category, so that's nice to see.  It allows you to track activities as well that might contribute to the mood.

PainScale -- This app allows you to track where and how intense your pain is, as well as a journal, keep track of treatments, triggers, and you can also track food to see if what you're eating is contributing.  It keeps track of the weather and activity factors as well.

Ate -- This one is in beta.  It's a visual food diary that has you take a picture of your meal and then answer a few questions that have to do with mindfulness--why did you eat, who did you eat with, where did you eat, etc., and rather than keeping track of nutrients and calories, it asks were you 'on path' or 'off path'.  It also calculates the time between eating.  So instead of working with minutiae, you're getting to the reasons why you eat and how mindfully.  I mentioned it to my therapist, actually, as in addition to cognitive-behavioural therapy she includes mindfulness. I'm seeing her about every three or four weeks.

Okay, I think I will try to go to sleep, maybe listen to some soothing music.  I've been listening to the collaborative album Ed Sheeran put out all day, and I've now got 'South of the Border' stuck in my head.  I like it, don't get me wrong, but it's too damn catchy.

Have a good night.

Being proactive (finally)

When I was about 25 or 26 I was diagnosed by a specialist they brought in at UK's Student Health with fibromyalgia. At the time there were doctors who didn't believe it even existed, and there wasn't much to do about it, except try to stay active to stave off the chronic pain. There's no blood test, and at the time there wasn't much they could do medication-wise. And so I've lived for decades with a lot of pain that limited my activity levels. I finally decided a lot had probably changed since 26 or 27 years ago and it was worth going to a rheumatologist to see if anything can be done. So I went this morning and turns out that I'm doing a lot of things right already. I use my CPAP religiously. I'm on medication that helps with anxiety and depression. I used to do yoga but can't get up from the floor anymore, but he suggested doing chair yoga or modified poses. He also prescribed 8 to 10 weeks aquatherapy and some cognitive-behavioural therapy, both of which studies show reduce pain 50% together with no other treatment. He also put me on a very small dose of a medication, the lowest available given the other meds I'm on, but my pharmacy didn't have it, or Kroger on Tates Creek either. My pharmacy tracked down one that had it (apparently the low dose is not popular). But since it's a controlled substance (but not an opioid) the Kroger pharmacy has to request a new prescription from the doctor. So I can pick it up tomorrow. I'm really hoping all this will help and I can be more active.
Also, when they weighed me I had a crossbody purse on with my phone, etc. in it, and it was already lower than I expected. So I've lost about 8-10 lbs in the last couple of weeks without trying. That was nice.

When I moved away from the apartment, which had a pool that I rarely got in due to having a bright fuschia swimsuit that made me feel like a giant pink blobbie, I got rid of the suit and gave it to Goodwill. So today I ordered a new suit for the aquatherapy. Here's hoping it fits fine and makes me feel less conspicuous than the old one did. I've attached a photo on a model. 
Meanwhile, I have both initial appointments made and I've emailed my boss about tweaking my schedule when I know more about how often I need to go to therapy and when. 

Alright, time for bed. Good night. 

x

Ouch!

I love the baby kitten...I love the baby kitten...I love the baby kitten....it's my fault for wearing shorts to bed when I am a convenient way to climb up. He took a nap while we were gone and is very rambunctious at the moment. But wow, I've never had anyone cause me that much pain in such an absolutely adorable manner. And yes, he obviously slid down most of my leg.

Up in the middle of the night

I can't sleep because my feet - especially the tops of my feet - are really hurting, along with my hips and back. It's all arthritis. It's raining hard outside and the rain that moved in is to last for days. I took some ibuprofen, rubbed my feet with a muscle rub, filled up the humidifier of my CPAP, and I'm going to try to sleep again.

I think

This is the longest break I've taken from blogging in a while. I've mostly been working and getting a handle on the new job, and I think I'm settling in pretty well.

Also, I've started physical therapy for the sciatica/myofacial pain, which consists of deep massage and loosening the tense muscles and tissue, which is pretty painful at the time, but it is lessening the pain I'm feeling the rest of the time. I'm lucky that they have late appointments, plus my schedule was adjusted a half hour earlier on arrival and departure from work, so that helps, too.

The dog is still full of anxiety. She only feels relaxed and safe with YKWIA and Brenda - not me. He was here all weekend but went over to help our friend who has cancer today, and when he got back she was just shaking. She needs a companion (the cat does not count; he just acts out and beats her up when he's ready to eat). But neither of us can afford to adopt another dog from the pound just yet. I hope she gets better at being alone.

I guess that's how my life is going right now.

So tired

I finished everything on my list except putting away clothes and bringing the winter ones out for storage.  That will simply have to wait till another day.  YKWIA called me about 4:30 or 5 and wanted me to make a run to Long John Silver's for everyone, and I went over there, got some money, got some gas, as I was on my light, with the last of my funds, and got the food and went back.  We visited for another two hours or so, and it was good to do so, but I stood most of that time and YKWIA had done a lot of helping around the house, so by the time we left we were both hurting and tired.  I got home and had to put my feet up for a bit, and then got up and did the dishes and floor.  YKWIA made some coffee and then went into the bedroom.  Now everyone else in the house is asleep in there.  I had to pull out the little dog's bed because she'd been in the kitchen with me and I'd taken up the blanket to sweep and mop, and she was distressed to not have a blanket in every room. :)  The bedroom one is fleece over a comforter, so particularly cushiony.  Anyway, I'm finished.  I'm going to go to the bathroom, drink a little water, listen to some music, and lie down.  At eleven I'll get up (that's the plan anyway, take some medicine, get him to take his medications, and then I'll go back to bed for the night.  I may have to take some tizanidine--everything feels like it's out of alignment and there are pain and numbness radiating out to my limbs.  Our friend's 93-year-old mother is probably in better shape than either of us, really.  Bless her heart, she has a lot on her plate, with his illness and her age.

Okay, I'm definitely lying down.  Everything's hurting.  Rain is coming, and that's part of it, perhaps.  Oh, and the cat is awake, so I think he wants me to lie down so he can cuddle.  Good night.

Up in the middle of the night

And no, it wasn't the soda.  I sleep in two braces, one on each arm, and tonight they're hot and uncomfortable, they're not helping the pain in my hands, and one arm is hurting from the hand all the way up through the shoulder to the point where I'm having trouble sleeping.  L Although the pain is radiating UP my arm, I know it comes from nerves being impinged at the neck on between the chest and shoulder, as I've had trouble before. I just got up to go to the bathroom, originally thinking it was later and I might as well get up and stay up, but it's only 3 am.  Still, that was good, as YKWIA was sitting up with his glasses on and a cat on his lap (sans a cup of tea in his hand, at least), totally asleep, which is bad for his neck.  I woke him up, which was good, as he also hadn't taken his medicine before bed.  So I went and peed, he took his medicine, I took some ibuprofen, and I'm waiting for that to kick in.  I wish I could take one of the muscle relaxers, but it's too late.

He is winning the war of dog comfort.  One dog sleeps in the bed.  One dog wishes she did, but she's older and can't get into it, for one, and they were discouraged years ago until the puppy came and melted hearts and was spoilt just a bit.  So the little dog usually sleeps at the foot of my bed (well the side, it's a daybed, so it's complicated, anyway, the short end) on a blanket that's actually a thin comforter/bedspread, so it's comfier than the others, which are fleece.  She also loves a little purple blanket I was given when I broke my ankle, that on impulse I put down on a cold night, because one, she knows it's hers, and two, she can make a pillow out of it.  But the other day YKWIA put an old worn out comforter under the thick fleece blanket in his room.  So just now, despite apparently starting out in my room, she was stretched out on this nice, thick, padded bed.  That, and I may have frozen her out with the fans going, but really it's 62 outside right now and the heat is on because YKWIA is from a desert people and freezes in sub-80 degree weather.  My people, on the other hand, are from a cool, rainy island, and I sweat like a pig in any sort of humid summer day.  He'll actually come up in the middle of winter and hold onto my hands, which generate their own heat or try the back of my neck, and his hands will be like ice.

Okay, it's not really easing up yet (in fact my thumb, which is the focal point of my arthritis, is actually throbbing and referring up the arm), but I think I'll try to go back to bed now.  I'm having trouble opening not only jars but resealable pouches due to my arthritis, or turning certain things.  If I'm like this at 51, that's not a good sign. Typing's uncomfortable too, at least at the moment, and since I do an awful lot of that, it's not good either.  :(

It's been slow going today

I woke up about eight and went to the bathroom, intending to sleep till nine, and I couldn't get comfortable until about 9:15, when the cat came and cuddled, and I slept till ten.  Apparently, he'd thrown up after eating (it happens sometimes, although he holds down the non-chicken, non-grain food better than anything else we've tried) and had come to me for comfort.  I did eventually get up, but I've been hurting all day, and I got something to eat while YKWIA watched the 'Teen Wolf' DVD we have out from Netflix, but I didn't really get dressed or going until noon.  I called and made an appointment with my optometrist for an upcoming Saturday and changed my address with them.  The lady on the phone was obviously training, and I was very patient.  We schedulers have to stick together. :)

Then I went to the grocery and got some things for us and a few toiletries, etc. that I've been putting off.  I got some ibuprofen in a non-childproof, easy-open bottle.  There are no kids in the home and quite frankly, with my arthritis in my hands, it's becoming harder to open the regular kind.  I came back and had some herb bread that was left over from yesterday's potluck (best batch ever; I included some red pepper flakes for a bit of a kick) and some cheese and a banana for lunch and caffeinated for the day.  Now I've started my bedding in the washer, as I haven't washed it since I was sick, and that would be good, and I think the cat has been on it enough that I'm starting to react (I am allergic to cats and dogs (and horses, and cattle), but cats really make me react.  But I love them.)

I have a few things I want to do today:

1. The game notes from last week's Call of Cthulhu game, which is the most timely task.
2. We've decided on a project involving thoroughly dusting/cleaning a shelf or two each Saturday and then rotate it, as it can be overwhelming to do all those books and shelves at one time.  There are 117 shelves of books in this house.  Yes, really.  So we broke it down to a manageable amount.  I'm going to start with the bookcase in the living room, which is antique and so it holds a lot of dust.  Today I'll just do the top shelf.  It's lower, not to the ceiling, so no getting up on a stepstool, and while dustier, it has a table right next to it that I can put the books on and dust them.  So in some ways, it'll be easier.  YKWIA is in there reading, though, at the moment, and we're both allergic to dust but he's worse, and I don't want him in there while I'm working.
3. Clean the cat box instead of waiting for tomorrow.
4. Take out the trash and recyclables.  We keep the recyclables atop the refrigerator and it's pretty full.  All the trash in the house need it, I think, as the kitchen one, bath, and my two little ones are all full, and that leaves the one in the living room/study and bedroom that might be okay, but I doubt it.  I've been taking the kitchen trash out regularly, but the others were fine last weekend, so I left them for this week.
5. Do my bedding and some more laundry so I can concentrate on other laundry items tomorrow.  I didn't do it last week because we had worn jeans most of the week before as our boss was off and she'd said we could do to the low clinic numbers.  So I had most of my other pants clean and enough shirts, underwear, and socks.  I'm getting low now, though.
6. Sweep and mop the tile in the kitchen and bath.  I think the hardwood is fine.
7. Go through my nightstands and rearrange things.
8. Put away a few things in my room.

I haven't made the bed today because the cat was on it earlier (he loves the microfleece blankets) and I was going to wash the bedding anyway.  I'm in my room right now with the door closed and he's at it wanting in, but I think I'll just let him be for now.  I've spoilt him by lying down with him after dinner when he wants his post-prandial cuddle. :)

Okay, time to check the laundry and go do those game notes.  Have a great weekend!

It is a dark and stormy night

The wind is hypnotic. I'm certainly not going to see any meteors tonight (the Leonid shower peaks, and it's dark of the moon, which means normally it would be great viewing). It's been quiet and restful today. We did a few errands this morning but I napped for a bit this afternoon. Tomorrow we're not having the game, as Brenda is under the weather with some sort of crud, so I'm going to put off the notes. But tomorrow I plan to be active, doing some laundry and other things around here. I'm looking forward to a busy but short week ahead. And then there's Thanksgiving and getting Friday off as well. Yay!

I haven't been on the computer much at all lately, so I need to at least blog on my phone. Or get on the laptop and actually write rather than just going on Facebook. It's so easy to share things there, I don't have to even write about it, and that's a pitfall. I want to write. I should write. I will write.

I've been having some trouble with my hip lately. It's very painful to get up from a sitting position, probably because I'm sitting too much at work. It seems to be muscular, as it improves with walking and stretching. I'm hoping I can stretch enough to get it to settle down, as I feel like a little old lady. Hell, worse than a little old lady.

It's just 9 pm. I'm resisting going to be early. Maybe I should read. If I listen to music I'll most likely just fall asleep. Besides, there is a black cat perched up on top of two pillows and two blankets on my bed right now who will be most wroth with me should I disturb him. :) The dogs are in the kitchen, having been out in the driving rain briefly after being fed. The kitchen floor is very muddy as a result.

I think I'm going to do some job searching. I like my job, and my workplace, but I'm not giving up being a librarian, either. UK has a government docs position open, and there may be some others. Good night.

I am such a klutz

So last night I ran into a cinder block with my pinky toe; it is now swollen compared to the other. Today, when the guy came to fix the air conditioning and I was trying to answer the door, I hooked my middle toe on a heavy barred waste paper basket. Now it's bruised, hurting, will most likely turn darker, and it didn't help that a 75-lb dog kept sitting on it under the table at dinner. I am a menace to myself some days. At least the beet juice all came out of my white blouse that I spilled on myself while eating dinner, which is amazing. Thank goodness they didn't name me Grace.