It's very quiet in the house

Just the sounds of my fans going above my head and nearby. We finally have some relief to the heat (it's been in the 90s with little to no rain for weeks), with rain in the forecast tomorrow, but I'm hot-natured, so even though it's in the 70s now both inside and out, I keep the fans on in my room whenever I'm there. But the quiet is nice. Sometimes it's good to only hear your own thoughts.

Today  I did many things but I did not go to the YMCA and do exercises in the pool like I meant to.  I haven't given up, I just had a lot to do today.  But I did have some time to myself and some relaxation time, as well as game notes and laundry and errands.

I went to the pharmacy today to get my roommate some medicine and see if they had my Lantus, as I started on my last pen of the pack.  Turns out they'd sent a request to my doctor's office for a refill and it had been denied.  The reason? They said they had never prescribed it.

Now, I have been on Lantus for a couple of years, Basaglar before that for a short time when it was on my insurance's formulary, and years of Lantus prior to that, including quite some time of it from this office, continuously up till this past month.  So obviously there has been a mistake. I'll have to call them on Monday.  I'm hoping I have enough to last me through Monday so we can get it taken care of, a pen only lasts a few days--I get 10 per refill, and they last about 3 days each.

On Habitica, the task/productivity 'game' I play, there was a reading challenge I took up to read a book called The Halloween Tree by Ray Bradbury.  Now I like Ray Bradbury, and it's actually a children's book, so I thought it would be good to read some fast-moving fiction. It's been such a struggle to read fiction (even non-fiction has its challenges), for several reasons.  For one thing, I think being on the Internet has made my attention span that of a gnat.  I've also apparently been a little off in how I use my bifocals, and it's hard for me to find a nice comfy place to read--I can't read in bed easily, and the comfy chairs are in the study (where my friend is often watching streaming stuff) or in his room.  Reading in bed requires lots of pillows, a folding lap desk, and a study pillow with a neck bolster.  I can read at the kitchen and study tables, when it is quiet, but the chairs are wooden and really need cushions after a while.  Still, I managed to read the whole book in a very short time, maybe an hour or an hour and a half (it's 145 pages long).  I enjoyed it--I knew all the various cultural ties to the practices of Halloween, but that was fine. And I'd figured out what happened to one of the characters.  I guess the only real thing I had a bit of an issue with it--not a lot, just a bit, were that there were no girls at all in the characters, and little to no character description or development, really.  But it is a product of 1972, and while Bradbury's writing deviates poetically from standard writing styles, he shares a common thread you find particularly in male writers of the time, and especially in science fiction writers, somewhat tilted towards action and away from characterization.  (Women, by contrast, tend to over-describe and have a lot of emoting going without driving the action forward at all)--a good writer balances both.  Still, his description of the settings and experiences are very good, and this story actually needs somewhat blank characters, as they represent certain timeframes of history in their costumes and with the exception of the one character from whose perspective the story is told,  there's no real personality among the children, and I guess there really doesn't need to be.  Anyway, I did enjoy the story, and it was a little chilling there at the end, so suitably Halloweenesque.

Later, we ate dinner from Subway with a friend, who had a couple of Pierce Brosnan 007 movies on, and then we returned home and I took up finishing the laundry.  I've done my clothes and I'm working on my friend's bedding right now. I'm going to do mine tomorrow.

Tomorrow I think I'll try to get up early.  I was supposed to do a couple of shelves, pulling off the books and dusting them.  I didn't, but I can today.  I did do the game notes, which were more timely.  If I could get that and my normal Sunday pre-game chores are done really early, I might still be able to go to the Y and do some exercises in the pool and work out in general for maybe an hour, total.  Then Monday I can go back for the low-impact pool class that I took this past week.  I did really well with everything (and have been in much less pain and been able to move and bend better as a result) except this thing where you put the foam dumbbells under your knees and then balance above them.  I need something to hold on and even so couldn't do it.  The instructor suggested getting a lighter pair of dumbbells (I had the heavy ones) next time.  People were really nice and non-judgmental, though, and I enjoyed it.  The instructor was very good.  We ended with a mindfulness exercise.  So it starts out easy, gets the heart pumping, puts you through all sorts of movement, but it isn't extremely intense--just right for my level of conditioning.

I  also need to run by the library while they're open and pick up a book on hold on the zero-waste home--I've been on the list for a while.  It must have been there when I picked up The Halloween Tree earlier, but I didn't realise it was in, so I didn't look.  I also checked out CDs by Sam Smith and Rush.

Okay, I'm going to get ready for bed.  The laundry's still in the dryer, but at least I'll have my teeth brushed, etc.  Hope you're having a good weekend.

So

On Wednesday, I graduated from aquatherapy (got the shirt to prove it). :)  Now I could go to the pool at Cardinal Hill for $5 a visit and work out there, but that would get pretty expensive pretty quickly if I want to do it two or three days a week, and I'd have to get there by 5:15 pm to get anything done, as the pool closes at 6 pm. I usually get off work at 5 pm--I had a special schedule where I got to come in early and leave early on Tuesdays and Thursdays temporarily, but as we progress into autumn and winter it will be less likely I can do that (I'm very light-sensitive in the morning as far as waking up, which is why I bought an alarm clock that lights up in the morning.)

It has different modes including cycling through colours, an evening mode where it shuts off after a certain time, one that changes colour to do with the humidity and temperature, and then a guided breathing one.  But most importantly, a little before the sound alarm goes off, the light gradually brightens to bright white when it's time to wake up.

Anyway, I talked it over with my therapist and I decided to join the YMCA last weekend.  I was able to get 10% off and no joining fee through work, with everything prorated for September.  I tried to go to the pool last Monday, actually, (only Beaumont YMCA has a warm water pool like the hospital), but the heater was out.  They got it fixed later in the week, though, so yesterday I went and spent some time doing my exercises.  It was during an open swim, so there were a couple of families with small children in it, but I did fine, at least until they were playing with a ball, but I still managed to get all my walking in, most of my leg exercises (I forgot a couple), but did forget to do my arm ones.  I'll do better next time.

On Monday [tomorrow], however, there is a class that I think I'll try to go to that's a basic workout in the pool.  Tuesday I have my first real session of cognitive-behavioural therapy for fibromyalgia.  Wednesday I'm going to try to go to the Y again for open swim and do my exercises, and then again on Saturday.  I hope to make that a standard thing.

Today I'd thought about going because we weren't playing the game, but I'm having a slight reaction to a shingles vaccine [my second dose], where my arm hurts a bit and my joints and muscles are aching a little.  So I didn't quite feel like getting into the pool today.

Anyway, that's what's going on these days with me.  I thought I'd actually sit down and blog for a bit.

Not feeling the best tonight

A walk was out of the question today as I've been having a lot of pain in my knee. This has been going on since the beginning of May, and I think it's past time to have it looked at. Unfortunately, when I got home there were storms coming in, so no pool visit, either. So I watched the news for a bit and then propped my leg up on some pillows where it felt better for a good long while.

I'm hormonal, and while I was doing fine at work, interacting with my best friend, which is sometimes difficult (think dealing with Sheldon Cooper from 'Big Bang Theory' or PL Travers from Saving Mr Banks) was nigh on impossible. So I took him to an appointment and then dropped him off at home so I could go sit in the hut alone and away from folks and wait for my menstruation to begin, which it is just now starting to, so hopefully I will feel better soon. I'm not weepy or anything like that, just a little irritable and not thinking at my best.

I found out that my colleague at our hospital in Los Angeles had her position eliminated, leaving even fewer librarians in our system. Today I also found out that the job I'd applied for at the Lexington Public Library was filled. So that was disappointing, and I'm starting to feel more stressed over job security. I mean I have none, we know the library won't be going to the new building in a couple of years, but I'm afraid they'll make cuts before then, and the job hunt, while pretty active, is not going well. I've revised my résumé, which I'll update soon online, that is more concise, leaving the full list of things for more of a vita. But there's nothing in the area that I can drive to in a reasonable commute at the moment.

Tomorrow I have to:

1. Call my family doctor and make an appointment about my knee and also to get my refills renewed.
2. Call my dentist to see about adjusting the partials, which I haven't been wearing because I can't get them in.
3. Call my student loan administrator about recertifying my income contingent repayment and discuss some issues with them.
4. Call my optometrist and order new contacts.

All that in addition to a full day tomorrow at work. Then there's the season finale of 'The 100' to watch with YKWIA, assuming I'm up to company tomorrow night.

Okay, time for bed. Good night. Hopefully tomorrow will not be quite so depressing.

It's been a very peaceful day

I've done quite a bit of reading, and finished the last novel of the Sookie Stackhouse Southern Vampire Mysteries. I enjoyed it, although I'm still not sure how I feel about the ending, which I will not go into here to avoid spoilers.

I'm finally ready to go into the pool but it looks like it could rain any minute, so I may not be able to get in after all. We'll see. I didn't go to the Y though, as I was really into the book and was loathe to put it down. And no, I can't walk and read at the same time, even on a treadmill, without getting a bit motion sick.

I also found that once I got up and got a shower, I didn't want to rush into a re-potting craze just yet. I didn't feel like going out and getting pots and potting soil, when the plants are probably fine for now. I'll try to do that on another weekend soon. I think they'll be fine so long as I do it before winter.

I spoke on the phone with a friend a little while ago and was invited to Thanksgiving dinner there. :)

So that leaves the evening ahead. I think listening to music and watching videos is in order to make a peaceful day complete. Then tomorrow it's back to the grind.

Wow...

One of the things I did before bed last night was disarm the five alarms I use to wake up in the morning. I rarely just sleep in to when I want these days, and I decided I was going to do it. That was about 11:30 or so last night. I woke up about 10 am and got out of bed at 10:22. I slept well and long. So I'm up, it's cycling between sunny and cloudy outside, and the cicadas are so loud I can hear them from inside.

Things I'd like to do today:
1. Do some reading. I'm working on Charlaine Harris' Dead and Gone, the last Sookie Stackhouse novel.
2. Watch some videos. I have one of the 'Sherlock's to catch up on, some 'Downton Abbey', etc.
3. Go to either the pool or the YMCA, or both.
4. Work on the window boxes (they were tossed around by the storms this weekend, and some of the plants need some attention, plus the strawberries are sad and almost dried out in places.
5. Get some pots and re-pot some of the indoor plants like the hoya and the prayer plant.

I don't think I can do anything about my dark aquarium. The folks who told me about the electronic ignition assembly (I can't remember what it's actually called) are usually closed on Labor Day, as it is a family-run business. I'm not sure Incredipet or PetSmart would be helpful. I don't have to replace the whole hood, just that assembly, but I don't remember how to, to be honest. That may be something for later in the week.

I totally crashed

when I got home from Kroger after work. I worked 9 1/2 hours today, trying to make up some time for the half-day yesterday. For once it wasn't that my blood sugar was through the roof, I just had a busy day. With the exception of a few things that needed to go into the refrigerator, I just left everything on the couch and went straight to bed, ostensibly for a short time (I even changed my alarm tone, and it did wake me up after a half hour, but I went back to sleep). Now, three hours later, I feel better in general, although my joints are really bothering me, no doubt because of the rain (we're having a thunderstorm now--I think thunder is what actually woke me up.) I had packed my bag for the Y today just in case I felt like going, but what I really needed was the pool, and the pool here wasn't an option due to the weather and there is no open swim at the High Street YMCA on Wednesdays, so no pool today. Again, trying to manage without ibuprofen due to the blood drive tomorrow, despite arthritis pain. Hey, I'm pretty good at chronic pain and grinning and bearing it, despite the whining I do here sometimes. It's acute pain that I'm a real weenie about.

The rain is coming down pretty hard now. Maybe it will make it to the window boxes. :)

Tomorrow I'm going to try to work another long shift, and Friday as well. I don't feel as bad about coming down and crashing as I could have because my class has been extended for last submissions by the 19th, as opposed to Friday. That doesn't mean I can wait till the last moment, as I have two assignments to do, but it's a relief, anyway. If it's not raining in the morning, I'm going to try my best to do a few things around the house that include taking out the recyclables. I never got around to them earlier.

So the question becomes what to do with the remaining evening. I could watch 'Big Bang Theory' or 'Downton Abbey', or I could work on the notes, but the sound of the rain is actually quite soothing. I'm halfway tempted to head back to bed and just start my day tomorrow super early. It would be the best in terms of my joint pain, and I'm still tired. Not just sleepy like usual, but actually tired. It was a busy day, with a lot of catch-up to do. We did have our employee appreciation day, with a catered picnic (inside, due to the muggy weather that threatened to pour) and we got some movie tickets like we usually do each year. Yay.

There are quite a few stories I really meant to blog about tonight. I'm a bit behind. But there is one that really broke my heart, and so I'm including it here. The rest will have to wait, I'm afraid. And instead of including the teaser text for the story this time, I'm including the picture, which really is worth a thousand words. This is what we have to look forward to on a larger scale over the coming years, and it's very sad. The picture is by Ashley Cooper/Global Warming Images. I'm not sure we can avert their fate at this point, but I hope so. I hope this picture becomes a rallying point for raising awareness of what we are doing to the environment, to other creatures, and ultimately, to ourselves.

A victim of climate change? Polar bear found starved to death looked 'like a rug'

Wow

Today I was energised, alert, and had a really pleasant day. For one thing, my blood sugar was near-normal all day. In fact, before lunch, it was 101. Even two hours after lunch, it was 121. That's very good. I'm still a little high in the mornings, but I suddenly realised this morning when updating my medication list that I'm supposed to take two metformin a day, and so I'm supposed to take an evening dose as well. That should help with the morning highs. But even so, it wasn't nearly as high as usual. And although I know part of it is water weight, I've lost 12 lbs since Thursday. Really. I was really productive today, and so much clearer mentally. When I got home, the first thing I did was change into my swimsuit and go to the pool, where I did exercises (I didn't really attempt to swim, exactly, nor did I float about, as there was a young girl splashing all over the place). But I did some good exercises and got my joints moving. That's what counts.

Tonight I have a quiet evening at home. I have a few things to do around the house. One of my co-workers really wants me to watch 'Downton Abbey', as she has finished season 3 and she's afraid she'll let something slip since I'm only five episodes into season 1. :) I think tonight I will watch some of that, and also start 'The Big Bang Theory' from the beginning. I might work on the game notes a bit, too, and get them squared away.

I do have a headache (I have almost all day), but I think that's because of the rain that's due tomorrow, and maybe because my blood sugar is lower than it has been, too. I'm resisting taking ibuprofen because Thursday is our blood drive at work and I don't want to have to have them mark it for having had aspirin/NSAIDs exposure. I do think I'll listen to some music for just a bit and rest my eyes, hopefully without actually going to sleep. I'll set several alarms. :)

Sunday was cancelled due to pain

I went over to my friends' house to help with the Sunday chores, and over the course of the day my back and neck were really bothering me, and pain was going down my right leg. I kept nearly dropping things, too. So YKWIA sent me home to get some rest and I set up some music in the bedroom, and lined myself up with pillows to try to ease the back pain, and then I fell asleep. I've been in bed for about four hours, and have only now surfaced to get something to eat.

My neck hurts now, and my back (although not as much as it did). I have pain going down my arms and even into my fingers. The pain in my leg isn't as bad, but my feet and hips hurt. I am seriously thinking of going into the pool to relieve some of the pain, but there's numbness too, and that bothers me in terms of swimming, as there is no lifeguard or anything. But I think the buoyancy would help the pain and maybe relax the muscles some. My neck and shoulders feel like they're terribly knotted.

The weather, meanwhile, is quite pleasant, even spring-like. I managed to open the windows when I got home, and a light breeze is coming in. Maybe the cooler temperatures are partly to blame for the pain. I can hear kids down at the pool from here. So maybe the pool wouldn't be that relaxing after all. YKWIA just called to check on me, and he suggested a good long bath. I think I'll take his advice, which will no doubt shock him.

Triumph of the pink blobbie

I did not go to the Y tonight, but I did go to my complex pool, despite my neon pink swimsuit and my blobbie-shaped body. And you know what? It was great. There actually were no other people at the pool (several people went to the laundry room, and of course I walked back to my apartment later, and there was no sense putting anything over the suit as I was still wet). But I forgot how absolutely freeing the water can be. I floated, I did some exercises, I swam (such as it is). I got some good exercise in and enjoyed myself thoroughly. I was in for about 40 minutes and burned between 500-640 calories or so, according to my fitness applications for leisurely swimming. :) I definitely have to do this more often, both here at the apartments (the pool will be open through Labour Day weekend) and at the YMCA. Yay for the pink blobbie. And when I looked in the mirror, I didn't seem quite as huge as I was afraid I'd look. The suit has rauching, a bit of a skirt, and a lot of bosom support. It worked out pretty well.

So glad the weekend's here

I'm up briefly. I fell asleep by about 9 pm, mainly because the week has been long and tiring, although I have gotten plenty of rest, really. The afternoon was odd, as I went by the pharmacy, got one friend's medicine, delivered it, came home, another friend called asking if I could bring over food, so I did (Texas Roadhouse salmon!), but the other friend wasn't home yet, so of course when I got over there with the food he called and said he was getting off in a half an hour, pretty late at work, and of course, it would take a long time to get home on the bus, so I went ahead and ate with my other friend, got the other afterwards, and then he ate while we spent some time in their library at the computer talking. Meanwhile another friend texted me as he didn't hear from me last night (I fell asleep so early). So much running about was to be had, but friendships are doing better. Yay!

I'm getting a farmer's tan on my arms, especially where I'm driving this summer. I really must learn to put on sunscreen even when I'm not 'out' in the sun. I'm quite pink, even on the back of my neck (since I no longer have hair to cover it), and that's all from just driving about.

Tomorrow, the plan is to get up, get my rent from the bank and some money for the farmer's market, go to said farmer's market (really, this time; it will at least be less muggy and cooler), and maybe go to our pool at the complex for a little while (assuming I can get sunscreen on my back). Tomorrow afternoon there's a big grocery run with a friend and game notes to do. Sunday is the game.

I'm looking forward to the short week next week. I plan to go to our downtown Fourth of July festival as usual on Thursday, and then go to the fireworks at the Idle Hour Golf Course. I'm lucky that because I work right across the street, I can go see it from the front lawn and park with my badge in the hospital parking lot. Yay! I hopefully will be able to take Friday off as well, as it will be dreadfully slow at work that day otherwise. A four-day weekend sounds lovely. Too bad my friend A couldn't swing it; we could have gone somewhere, maybe. I also want to see the movie 'Despicable Me 2'. I loved the first one, and I'm looking forward to seeing the sequel. That's coming out next weekend. I think I still have a free admission ticket for Cinemark that was given to us as an employee gift last year (well, we had two, but I used one last year for Hunger Games. Speaking of that, in one weekend in November, Catching Fire, the 50th Anniversary 'Doctor Who' programme, and the return of 'Sherlock' all happen, although I'm not sure if that's just on the other side of the pond or here as well. :) That'll be a busy weekend if the dates are the same for here!

Okay, I think I'll go on back to sleep so I can get up early and get some things done. Have a good night!

Trying to breathe

just back in from putting my clothes in the dryer, and the lady who cleans our hallways has been and it's very, very strong cleaner she uses on the carpets, way too strong. It will make that place smell like cleaner for about three days, at least. Brandon once had to send his wife in to get me on one of our trips to the doctor when my ankle was broken, it was so strong, and even though I saw them going out of the next building and walking to mine, and knew what to expect, I choked horribly. Still, I guess it's better than them not cleaning it at all. Once I got into the apartment, at least, what I smell is baking bread. I'm making a normal loaf (no herbs). The next one I'll try is whole wheat.

So far I've cleaned the toilet and did a once-over in the bathroom, washed dishes (there were just a few in the sink), did the hand-wash laundry, of which there was a whole hamper full, and I've washed three loads of clothes and am drying them now. I'm about 15 minutes away from freshly baked bread. Right now at the pool there are some young men who are banging around a beach ball and are loud and obnoxious, so I don't think I'll go quite yet, if at all. Maybe in the evening. If not, I'll go to the YMCA tomorrow or Wednesday, depending on my schedule. I've got about 40 minutes before the laundry is ready to come out, so I think I'll listen to some music and relax. Outside is gorgeous, with sunny skies and a pleasant breeze. It's supposed to be partly cloudy and quite a bit more humid this evening. I'm going to turn off the air conditioner and open the windows for awhile, I think.

I decided that I would sleep in today

But even I didn't expect to wake up at eleven. I had strange, vivid dreams, the type you remember readily after waking. Two involved guns, including some guy at a student center shooting me for no particular reason except he was going on a rampage. One involved some people who were trying to get me to pay double for a taxi they were not able to procure (that actually happened, to a point, one time in real life). Just strange things, and mysteries to be solved, that sort of thing. I apparently tossed and turned because when I did wake up my CPAP was in the floor (fortunately it has a separate humidifier that I don't use in warmer weather as a rule). My hair looked a fright, standing up on one side and falling over a bit like a Kewpie doll.

My day isn't slated to be as busy as normal on a Saturday. I have to go out in search of wine and chili paste to bring tomorrow. Otherwise it's game notes, and if I possibly can, the pool, which opened yesterday at our apartment complex. But I don't want to go in the heat of the day; I'm not sure my sunscreen is still good, so no trusting it and getting burned to a crisp. But maybe around 3 or 4 would be good. I'll probably be good and hot after walking around Richmond Road. Then there's just a bit to do around the house (maintain the bathroom and kitchen, maybe vacuum, and clean up around the computer).

Tomorrow, as far as I know, we'll be playing in the game, unless Brenda has something to do for the holiday weekend. So it'll be busy. So the plan today is to strike a balance between productive and rest. I wish I had thought to do some yoga this morning, but I've eaten now and don't like to do it when I'm full, especially since I had the most perfect pancakes I've ever made, at the perfect temperature (with sugar-free syrup, of course).

Okay, I suppose I should get going, or at least go check the bus schedule. I'm used to getting up much earlier on a Saturday. The first three go like Sunday, but then they start the ever 70 minute thing. I wish Richmond Road's bus went every 35 like some of the others on Saturday. It used to be holidays, such as Monday, would go on a Saturday schedule, but this year they're on a Sunday one, meaning the last bus goes out of the transit centre at 8:20 pm. So if you ride the bus, be sure you don't miss that last bus.