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.

Three days till surgery

This deserves the full-screen treatment, not merely a widget. Sigh. I'm not sleeping. There seems to be so much to do, even with all the prep, and I'm overwhelmed, and I know that's just my mind talking, because actually, I'm in decent shape. I fell asleep at 4 am, though. I wish I'd taken Monday and Tuesday off, but I didn't. I work up to 4 pm on Tuesday. The only reason I'm leaving a half hour earlier than normal is that they're delivering a range of motion machine that Dr Talwalkar prescribed at 5 PM, and I have to be there because they need to do a teaching demo for the daily therapy sessions online. I've been doing all the laundry this weekend except my bedding, which I'll do Tuesday, so I'll go straight into clean bedding from the cleansing you do the night before surgery. Otherwise, I'm gonna to do some practising with the stairs and my bed, my PT exercises, get my room in order, test or ask the assistive aids and the cold therapy machine. I also want to get a haircut today and return my old phone (I upgraded from my Samsung Galaxy Flip4 to a Flip7 for the cost of taxes and activation fee with half a terabyte of storage... I couldn't pass it up.) And of course, there's my Sunday chores, which I won't be doing for a while. That's enough for today, isn't it?

So tired

I was absolutely exhausted last night and crashed. Because it was Sabbath, we ate early, right after nightfall. I'd gone to get some Captain D's and then my friend lit the Chanukah lights (the eight-armed menorah used at Chanukah is called a Chanukiyah, plural Chanukiyot) and then the Sabbath candles. We ate our meal and talked and then I couldn't stand it anymore, the constriction of day clothes. I went and changed out of my jeans and shirt into my sleep shorts and tank top, took out my contacts, came back to the table for all of 10 minutes, and then announced I had to lie down. It was a little after 7:30 PM. My back was hurting and I'd just had a long (albeit not particularly busy day; we mostly worked in queues). So I fed the animals, let the dogs out and in, and put my nebula projector on and a Bluetooth speaker that cycles through lights, and I was gone within 10 minutes, dead to the music and the world. I got up briefly at 11:30 to take my meds, and then slept till about 6 AM. It's just 8 AM now and I have gotten dressed, made my bed, sat in front of the SAD light for a bit, taken my thyroid medicine (I can't eat for an hour after that, so it gets taken first), driven to Kroger and made them give me a deal off a digital coupon that wasn't scanning, got ice from the Kroger Starbucks (it's free, and we don't keep it in the house; I don't know what they think of me, I'm the little older lady who asks for ice each week), came back, have almost finished making coffee for my roommate, have started caffeinating with soda, and moved the dryer against the wall so it wasn't blocking my chair or the utility room, and I think that's good. In about half an hour I'll wake him up for services (he's reading a passage) and start making my to-do list, like most Saturdays. I'm feeling pretty darn productive. It's amazing what rest can do for you.

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.

So...

Just woke up. The cat was all comfy after dinner on my belly and I fell asleep. The dogs were out for three hours (although mind you, it's 67 degrees now and very mild). A co-worker gave me some ingredients for bread, so I just put them in the bread machine and will have bread shortly before midnight. Can't believe I just totally fell asleep!  It was very steady at work today, between the number of appointments and the number of phone calls and messages.  I worked really hard.  I guess I was more tired than I thought I was.

On the way home I stopped at Kroger and got a sharps container.  I was going to get some extra pen needles (I take seven injections per day.  That means over the course of a month I use 210+ pen needles, and I have a prescription for a box of 100.  Occasionally I get another box from Kroger to supplement what I get at my pharmacy.)

Except for today.  Apparently, Kroger's policy is now that they will give you the third degree about having a prescription, make you sign a log, there must be a pharmacist on duty (there wasn't), etc., etc., to get a box of needles that, as far as I know, only work on insulin and related pens.  As far as I know, no one has figured out how to prefill an insulin pen with heroin or similar illicit drugs, so the policy is kind of insane, and only punishes those of us who need it for actual, real, (and yes) prescribed medicine.  This is why I don't normally use Kroger pharmacy for anything except a round of antibiotics--they make everything incredibly harder than it has to be and give me nowhere near the service of my small, independent pharmacy.

It's a stupid policy. Period.  And while it was not the fault of the girl who was explaining it all, you could tell she was mindlessly quoting the rules and policy rather than actually engaging into the why of it.  Sigh.  I guess next time I go to my pharmacy I'll have to pick up an extra box.  My prescriptions don't get run till the end of the month, though, so that means an extra trip across town, as I'll be out of them before then. Grrrr....

So, after getting back to sleep about 2 am

I woke up on my own at 6:30 am and showered, went to the grocery, picked up a friend and taken him to work, had breakfast, scored a series of books in two disciplines for a collection development tool, and then got sleepy about 10 am. I got out of my belted pants and into my pygama bottoms, kept everything else on save my necklace, and I'm took a take a nap--until 1 pm. It's just starting to warm up (the sun is coming out, because of course it's Derby Day, so there's been rain), but it was 68 degrees in the apartment, which wasn't too bad, just a touch cool for me if I wasn't doing much. But it occurred to me the tank was pretty cool, and the fish a little sluggish, and I got to looking, and the heater, which I'd left plugged up all that time, had actually been turned down all the way so it wouldn't come on (what genius did that?) :). So I turned it to 72, a little on the warm side for the goldfish, but within range, and a little cool for the algae eater, but high enough so it won't stop eating or anything. The water should gradually rise in temperature. Good to go. Now to tackle my list (but first, a diversion).

So tired

I packed 48 boxes today, almost 5,000 journals, to be sent to India this week. This is what my library looks like now.

After work, I took a friend to an appointment, and listened to an audiobook (John Skalzi's The Dispatcher) while chilling out in the waiting room. Then we went to the store, got gas and groceries, stopped by Gumbo Ya Ya for takeout, stopped by yet another grocery store with a wine and spirits shop, and then spent three and a half hours watching videos. I got home just a little while ago, at 11:30 pm. I'm pooped. I've taken some ibuprofen (forgot to do that last night and slept very little) and a half a Trazadone. I really want to get some rest tonight.

Good night.

Where the bound journals were.

The unbound journals were on these two middle ranges.

Most of the library is bare now.

Everything's gone from the two middle ranges.

Just have the books to go; most to departments, others to donate.

Correction

It's actually a fairly substantial colony of ants. :( I may have to head over to Kroger later for something to take care of it. And the fountain may just have to go live outside for a day or two. I keep feeling like they're crawling on me, even though they're not--my computer desk is in a corner near the window they're swarming from.

Today has been about getting used to changes and being one phone call away when needed. But I'm having a quiet night alone at the apartment, and I've had a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, a banana, and some string cheese, so I'm good for the night, hopefully. I brought some very sturdy copy boxes home from work over the last couple of days in the hopes of doing some spring cleaning--putting loose things in the boxes and then going through each one item at a time. Basically I want to contain things and make it easier to break down the process. I also need to water the plants and add some to the fish tanks. They're not dangerously low, but they do need some. My violets and geraniums are blooming nicely. I've put a couple of sprigs of my Christmas cactus which fell off into another pot and hopefully they'll root.

They sent the modem out today and I should get it tomorrow, although I'm going to be at an appointment or two tomorrow afternoon, so I may have to come back later and see if it came. Tomorrow I should be away from home in the evening, but I'll try to set it up after I get in. I'm just using the laptop at home right now; a friend still has my desktop borrowed.

I didn't sleep much at all last night. I went to bed early, about 10 or 10:30, and I slept till about midnight. After that, it was all tossing and turning back and forth. So I think I'll take a short nap before proceeding with my afternoon.

There is a very annoyed bee who keeps trying to get to my geraniums through the screen. :)

Okay, time for a nap.

I had two projects to complete tonight by midnight in preparation for tomorrow’s Call of Cthulhu game

The game notes, which I finished about 2:30 pm (starting about 10 am with about a half-hour break at some point), and then a passage from a few years ago that was important that somehow never got transcribed because it was a very complex 15-minute snippet of a recording with very dense information, also related to the game. That got finished about 8:30 (that one small snippet took about an hour-and-a-half to transcribe). In the interim I went and visited with friends for about an hour-and-a-half, as A and I were supposed to do the Saturday grocery run, but he’s got some sort of crud and so we postponed it until tomorrow when he’s hopefully feeling better (or if not, it’s not a huge list, I can go do it before the game for them).

It was nice to finish, though, because that’s two items off my to-do list, plus another (I finally found my stamps, much later than needed!) I’m now about 30 experience points away from 50th level on Habitica as a result. :) After that was finished, I laid down for a half-hour ‘nap’, setting my alarm carefully and despite my tendency to go to sleep rather than nap, was hopeful of waking up and doing some things around here. But I just woke up and it was 12:30 am. I guess I was more tired than I had thought. My phone helpfully told me that Donald Trump won our state’s Republican caucus (not surprising, really, as I’m not sure they have a viable candidate to really put the brakes on his momentum, and that’s sad). Bernie Sanders won two states as well. (Our Democratic primary isn’t until May). I could have gone back to bed, but I thought I’d get up and write for a bit.

I have to admit, I haven’t felt up to major physical activity today. I’m not sick. But I’ve had a headache and muscle aches most of the day (the weather has been rainy and not particularly warm, and in fact kind of icky). I ate too much early in the day and didn’t take any of my medicine until I went over to my friends’ house (I just took all the bottles over there and filled up my pill reminder tray) and took my insulin then, too. My blood sugar, as a result, has been running higher than usual today, and I’ve felt out of sorts and tired. It’s not too bad right now, all things considered, about 170, but that’s the highest I’ve run in a while, at any time today. It was actually over 200 earlier, which is almost unheard for me of late--even my fasting sugars in the morning have been pretty much normal. I’m back on track, though, and once I take my bedtime insulin, should be doing better tomorrow, hopefully, as it is game day now that we’re back from hiatus and one of the NPCs (non-player characters) is trying to kill one of Brenda’s characters who had her committed, so best to be operating on all thrusters. Diabetes is somewhat hard to manage; there are so many things that affect blood sugar, from food, to medicine, to stress, to illness, and no matter how consistent you are, sometimes it doesn’t work well. And if you do get off on taking care of yourself, you can see changes for the worse pretty quickly. It’s not an easy illness to live with, and while I should be a pro at this by now, I’m not. I’m not sure anyone really is, to be honest, no matter how diligent--all of us have times when we feel bad. But it’s worse if you’re not diligent, of course, and that was my problem this morning, as I was focused on what I had to get finished and not taking care of myself. With diabetes, self-care really has to come first.

I am getting a little sleepy again now. I’m sitting here staring ahead at my diplomas. Really, some day, I should get them put into my name now. I changed my name in 1993--almost 23 years ago--and they’re still in my birth name, so whenever I need to copy them and send them somewhere I include a copy of my court papers. It costs about $50 for both diplomas to be put in my legal name. If it were just a matter of having a different last name, it would be one thing, as that’s common enough with women, but my entire name was changed (it was Lisa Kay Broadbent). I’ve almost made it as long with my new name as with the old, and that name seems foreign to me now. But if you’re looking for an old classmate or something, yeah, that’s probably me. Anyway, that’s low on my to-do list. Really, after I pay my car insurance and cell phone bill, I’m already tapped out again in terms of funds, and while I did pay my rent on time, get some groceries and gas, and the like, I was disappointed that I wasn’t able to get my hair cut (it was just going to be a basic hair cut at Supercuts, not a salon sort of thing) this weekend. Even though I’m operating within my budget, and got a raise (that’s offset by a biweekly payment on a debt), I’m still struggling. I still have too much debt (yes, my fault, of course). Next year may be far worse, given that my job is ending, and unemployment lasts about 6 months these days, and any severance will be eaten up with taxes and be fairly fleeting. I’ve stepped up the job search, but it’s hard to find a library job in this area, and I can’t move. At six month’s out, I may have to start looking beyond the library field entirely, which saddens me. I love being a librarian, and I’m good at it, and I’d like to continue with my career in that field. I’m not married to the idea of always being a medical librarian, but I would like to be working as a librarian somewhere in the area. If you hear of anything, let me know. My resume and curriculum vitae, along with my e-mail, are on the links on the sidebar. Meanwhile, I’ve got Indeed alerts and check the Kentucky state library job list every couple of days, as well as other job sites. I had such hopes for the University of Louisville/St. Joseph job, but it wasn’t apparently meant to be. I need to e-mail the supervisor of that position and see if she has any input for how I could have made my application stronger.

I’ll be very busy on Monday, between doctors’ appointments and working in scheduling. After that, it gets better. I may or may not be in scheduling other days of the week (we have I high clinic census and the person who is out may or may not be back Tuesday). But there aren’t any evening appointments or ones’ during the day, for that matter, to go to.

I am beginning to feel like my life, and this blog, is getting somewhat more boring than normal. Am I in a rut? Maybe it’s just that I’m not online that much with no home Internet. I’ll try to blog more new stories and not ramble about the minutiae of my day as much, and I also need to add more commentary when I do include links out to other stories. Maybe, just maybe, I’ll write more about libraries and librarianship. If I’m facing having to leave the profession, at least for a while, at the very least I can blog about it to keep it in my system. But on the other hand, I’m still blogging at least every couple of days, and considering I’ve been writing this blog for almost fifteen years, regularly, I think that’s pretty amazing, given how people drop them over time when they get busy or lose interest, or how more people share things on other social media sites like Facebook these days. So I’m still committed to blogging.

Anyway, I guess I’ll sign off for tonight. Hope you’re having a good weekend.

PS

The heat's back on,  the fan is back in the bedroom,  I've brushed my teeth and done my nightly routine. The door is chained,  the aquaria lights and all the others are off,  so both the fish and I have better rest. I don't even think I am up to music tonight--I'm pretty sleepy.  Good night.

I felt run down today

So I've spent most of the afternoon and evening in bed.  It's the middle of the night,  and I surfaced for water,  Lantus,  and brushing of teeth. Along the way I talked to two friends,  my mom (who is doing much better),  and replied to an email from an aunt.  I ate dinner,  and I blogged on the computer,  but I haven't posted that yet; I will in the morning.  I do feel better. I guess I just needed a lot of rest.  I plan to get up early and do some things around here.  I'm off for Presidents' Day (which is still new to us,  as it just started last year after years of no break between New Year's and Memorial Day).

It has been snowing just about the whole time I've been in bed. We were supposed to get 3 to 5 inches.  From my window,  it looks like three. That's not enough to be a problem after the morning,  so I should be able to go to the library and my PT appointment. I wouldn't want to miss my last session.

Okay,  I'm going back to bed for awhile.  Good night.

I didn't sleep hardly at all last night

I was worried about the choice between fixing the car and paying rent. Since the next time I should supposedly get paid is within the timeframe for paying my rent without being evicted, I decided to fix the car,  although that means most of next pay cheque will be taken up by rent and fees.

Today I took my car to a Tire Discounters and had the oil changed (long overdue--they didn't put a sticker reminder in last time). I had them check the battery, EGR valve, brakes, replace the battery, replace a brake light, and rotate the tyres.  Everything was fine except for the battery, which was cold cranking at a fourth of regular amount. I got out of there just under $200. But the car is starting much better and with no hesitation.

Okay,  I'm sleepy and I want to get going early tomorrow morning. Good night!

I think that it is time

To increase the number of wake-up alarms from two to five again.  With the dark mornings we've had lately,  I've really struggled with waking, and even more importantly,  getting up.  Today I slept through my normal alarm, which played every ten minutes for two-and-a-quarter hours before I woke up, as well as a one-time alarm.  On a normal day,  7:45 is about right,  but I meant to be at work by 7:30 this morning.

At least the daylight savings will end Sunday.  I'll have at least two or three weeks where the mornings will be lighter (albeit sacrificing the evening light) earlier before it's just dark both when I get up and when I get off work.

As on that note, it is time for bed.  I am going to try for earlier than a normal Wednesday,  so I should turn in.  Also,  it is hard to type on a phone, especially by swiping,  when you have hiccoughs, anyway.  :)

PS I finished Hollow City tonight,  and Library of Souls came via UPS today,  which was very timely. I'm going to let YKWIA read it first, though,  since he finished the second book before I did.

I fell asleep (imagine!)

at about 8 pm, and woke up feeling like it must be 2 am or later, when it was only 10:30 pm. My mouth was terribly dry so I got up for something to drink and I'm eating the last of the cereal and milk; I love cereal at night for some reason. I think it's because my grandfather always ate it then. Of course, he also put cornbread in buttermilk, and I despise buttermilk, so hey, go figure. We pick and choose our endearing moments, I guess.

The air conditioner is apparently completely fixed. They changed out the compressor motor, which was bad. So now it's set on 76 and it's 75 degrees in here and I'm comfortable. Amazing what a difference a couple of degrees makes, but more importantly, it's not humid or stuffy like it was. Since September has already been hotter on average than August was, this is a good thing. Still, cool weather must be on its way soon. I wore a dress today because 1) I didn't want to take the time to switch purses and it matches and 2) pretty soon I won't be wearing dresses at all. It is a pretty light dress with lots of purple, blue, and green splashes over a lavender shell, with a irregular hem that comes up in a slit on the front right. I get a lot of compliments on it. I probably spent $10-$12 on it at Gabriel Brothers last year. :) The only problem with wearing a dress, as opposed to a skirt, when you have diabetes is figuring out how best to give yourself a shot so you don't expose yourself. I hate going into the bathroom to do that--it doesn't seem very sterile. With a skirt or pants I can do it quite discreetly; today I just had to pick times when no one was looking, turn around, and use that slit to the dress well. Hey, it worked. The other thing I hate about wearing dresses, or skirts, for that matter, is that every time I get up from a seat, I'm afraid I'll get my dress hung up on my butt, or in the case of the bathroom, in my underwear. I did that once. I went out of Blimpie's restroom at Euclid and Rose, and walked all the way up the street past the fine arts building and up to the president of the University of Kentucky's house, when a nice lady pulled over her car and quietly informed me that my skirt was hiked up in my underwear. I was so embarrassed, yet so glad she stopped and told me. Really, after you've aired yourself down a major thoroughfare (and this was before they blocked off one end of the street, so it was even busier), you lose a certain amount of shame.

I'm glad we're over the hump towards a long weekend. Tomorrow I should have that ergonomic assessment and get a better idea of things I can do to help my hands, neck, and back. I downloaded some articles and put one through interlibrary loan (hey, I'm a patron, too, or more correctly, a patroness) on wrist bracing in carpal tunnel and arthritis. It apparently helps either. They're not sure exactly what's wrong with my hands--the EMG does read mild carpal tunnel, but whether it has returned after release surgery or if that's residual, it's hard to say. I did not get immediate relief from the cortisone injections, which should have helped if it was carpal tunnel. What is helping is the bracing. I didn't use the brace for the two and a half hours I 'napped' just now, and I can tell a difference. The night bracing, especially, is helping. I'm not so sure about the day bracing, when I'm using my hands. I'll ask the occupational therapist tomorrow if she thinks they're useful. It may be just having something like an ergonomic keyboard, such as the one I'm using now, would help at work. But during the day, my wrists really hurt. The compression of the Smart Glove does help a bit, and they hurt more when it's off, but on the other hand, I don't want to weaken my hands by bracing too much. I have a back brace, too, but wear it only when I'm doing something that requires a lot of back use, rather than all the time, because it can weaken the muscles. The same thing can happen to the hands. But I did find a set of exercises that help, too. (7 Hand Exercises to Ease Arthritis Pain)

I think I'll check on the news and see if there's anything good (is there ever? rarely). Then I'll head back to bed. Good night. But I leave you with this, a silly song that brings a smile to my face every time I hear it:

I just crashed for three hours in the middle on the afternoon

and I feel a lot better. I've been busy of late, and while I have been getting rest (as opposed to last week), I guess I needed it. I hadn't had any caffeine all day, and that probably had something to do with it. But I'm good now. Here's what's been happening with my life:

Wednesdsday
1. We had our last class. It was great. I've learned so much teaching it, both from the material and from the participants. Part of the class is sharing our own experiences, and these are the real experts in dealing with things first hand.
2. We celebrated with a potluck of yummy, mostly vegetarian food (even the green beans and potatoes had no meat in them. The fried chicken and baked beans were the only things.)
3. We (the co=teachers) each got a card signed by the class, which was very sweet. Later, I read through everything on mine, and they were very nice. I have it posted on my bulletin board, along with the one my co-teacher gave me. I even kept the envelope because it was nicely decorated.
4. The other teacher and I also received two gifts: a DVD called Courageous that one of the students thought would be good for us to see, and a lovely fairy garden basket, each with symbols meant for us individually, each with plants and then tiny resin items, along with shells and driftwood set in an old dish. Mine had a lounge chair and umbrella with a pool. I've included a picture here. It's on my office desk, and I have to admit, when I went into the office on Friday (I brought it in on Thursday) and found it sitting there, it was a nice greeting. She learned to make them in a class at her local library. She also gave us little oral syringes to water the plants with. She had wrapped the DVD in butterfly paper with butterfly cutouts on the ribbon, and of course I love butterflies. She was happy to find out my middle name ('Eilir') means butterfly in Welsh.
5. After class I took went to my friends' house and made dinner for YKWIA We sat and watched an episode of 'Lost Girl', which I've been enjoying. But I got home at 12:30 am, and so Thursday morning I was still a bit tired.

Thursday
1. A busy day at work, with article requests and other things on the agenda meaning I worked very steadily through my library and data entry duties. I got several things that needed to be completed by Friday done, and felt like I'd been pretty productive.
2. I went to the library and gave in one book that was a bit late and paid the fine (yes, sometimes even librarians tend to keep the books too long, especially librarians, actually). I picked up an interlibrary loan and a hold, and some other books as well. I have a few I'd like to get from Central Library, and meant to go there today (Saturday), but didn't manage to, mainly because I left my friends' house, came home, and crashed.
3. I went to Target and got The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, which I have not yet seen (I never made it to the theatre on this one), on DVD with the gift card my co-teacher gave me in appreciation for teaching with her. spent the balance on groceries such as bread, macaroni and cheese, and spreadable fruit. Oh, and Oreos to throw a little fun into the mix. (She also gave me a Post-It notepad, seen in the picture, which is very useful, as the notes are much bigger than a traditional sticky note).
4. I 'napped'. Fortunately, I got bread at the store, because I didn't manage to stay awake long enough to bake it. I slept till almost 1 am (falling asleep around 8 or 9), tried to get up super-early on Friday, and wound up sleeping to 7 am. I think I was still working on a deficit from Wednesday night.

Friday
1. Another steady day at work. Since I'd slept so long and it was my early day, I forewent a shower (I wasn't particularly dirty), and washed up in the sink a little. My hair is the only problem when I (rarely) do this, because it is already fine and thin, and it just looks oily and flat if I don't wash it every day. So I was a little self-conscious there.
2. I got into my closet and went through a lot of books and filled up the children's books in the clinic that go with our early literacy project. I was very hot and sweaty by the time I was finished.
3. I stayed a little late at work, skipping my allergy shot, which I probably shouldn't have done, but I just felt like making up some time, and then I went over to my friends' house. I watched some more of 'Lost Girl' and visited.
4. I came home a little early, took a welcome shower, made some bread, watched an episode of 'Lost Girl' that we cannot watch together (it has spiders), and went on the bed.

Today
1. I got a call right after waking up that YKWIA needed something from the store (although it was not an emergency, it's just nothing goes much further without coffee, and there was no creamer), so I got ready, got over there, and then went and got it. I explained to him the plot points of the 'Lost Girl' I'd watched.
2. I took A to the store for the weekly grocery run. He gave me some money for gas, which was great, as my gas light came one today.
3. I watched 'Lost Girl' with YKWIA.
4. I couldn't seem to stay awake. I excused myself, stopped and got gas, came home, ate a piece of my bread, and went to sleep for three hours.
5. I got up and went online to do something for my friends.
6. Now I'd like to watch Mockingjay, but first I'm going to make something else to eat (macaroni and cheese) and start some bread going. A reminded me today that I had promised to make them some bread and also bring over some pasta and sauce I've had in the pantry for a nice meal. Whereas YKWIA rarely forgets anything, A rarely forgets anything related to food. :)

Hope your weekend is going well.

Up briefly

I got home about 5:30 this afternoon, after taking A to his appointment and to the grocery, watching the missing episode of 'Grimm' with YKWIA, and going by the grocery myself. In fact, I'd been to Chinoe Kroger three times in one day, twice for them (a bread and milk run, then the regular one) and for me (YKWIA gave me $5, and I used it for bread, mil, and chips, to go with the cereal and peanut butter I had.) The last time I went I thought the $5 bill was in my shirt pocket, so I left everything else in the car. I got to the U-Scan and discovered the paper in my pocket was a receipt from earlier, and that the bill was out in my phone case, so I had to leave everything and run out. I came home, put up the windows, ate, and then promptly went to bed for a nap that turned out to last till now, about 1 am. I need to close the windows (it's a bit nippy in here now), take some medicine, and get some water down, as I'm very thirsty. I need to set my CPAP humidifier back up, as I do have distilled water now. Then I'm going to head back to bed again, as I have an early morning in preparations for the game, and then there will be the game, and then 'Salem' late, at 10 pm. So I'll sign off for now. Good night.

There was no Cthulhu game today

so instead I helped a friend go ahead and clean house, then watched with him as the Kentucky Wildcats won the SEC men's basketball championship.  Later I spent time with another friend, watching a couple of episodes of 'Heart of Dixie', two seasons of the YouTube series 'Adult Wednesday Addams' (which was well done), plus a few more videos on YouTube.

All in all, it's been a busy week, and I'm ready to return to work and see how things fared there. There was a large clinic last Wednesday, and the lady who was my backup person for putting in the clinic charges had her last day on Friday, so I won't really know how it went, but she's supposed to have left the sheets for me so I can check them over.  I'm going to mail a card to the librarian who gave me a ride in Chicago, in appreciation of her kindness, and I also need to start reviewing a book for The Journal of Hospital Librarianship.

It's only 10 pm. I'm getting pretty sleepy, and my phone just buzzed to tell me it is time to go to sleep. I must still have the clock set early from when I had to check out before the meeting on Friday. I think I'll go on to bed all the same, though.  Good night.

I know it's only 9 pm

but I have to get up early tomorrow and take friends their animals to the vet. So I'm calling it a night. Have a great weekend!

I've been mostly relaxing

this evening, when I should have been working on the house. I didn't exactly crash, but I did take a nap, using a new application that was free through Amazon today that uses your phone as a measure of how well you're sleeping. It was interesting. I don't think I'd use it every night, but it does give some insight into how much you toss and turn, etc. It's called Sleep, and the unlock key for the paid version is available for free, along with a bundle of various applications worth $140. Just follow the link from the Amazon App Store. I got a few of them. Some had been the free application of the day in the past, so I already had them.

There seems to be a small war going on in my apartment building, one which I plan to stay well clear of. There was a collection of different-coloured sticky notes taped together haphazardly on the front door this morning with all sorts of masking tape, with some sort of missive (I didn't read it, as I was heading to work and was in a hurry) of how dogs bark and it was addressed to whomever complained to the leasing office. There is an apartment with two small dogs who go off at the least bit of noise, something new for our apartment building, as it's always been rather quiet. Now I am a dog person, but I admit, it annoys me. There are other dogs in the building, but you would never know it. But these guys go off the moment someone enters the building. So while I didn't complain, I can understand why someone might have. And we've recently had one of those general 'clean up after your dog' reminders sent out from the leasing office, to be ignored if you don't have pets or clean up after them. So I do wonder if there is anything else going on. Anyway, the sticky notes were gone when I got home today, and I got the impression that they were perhaps taken down by the office, so the person who put it up isn't getting any points as a good tenant, and while I can't be certain it was that apartment, surely the leasing office knew who the complaint was against. When I had a dog, she did not bark. Period. I was very lucky in that regard. And when my friends seriously considering finding another home for one of their dogs, who would probably love to be an only dog, I did not take her because she has a high, shrill bark and goes off easily. I don't mind people having pets at all, but I don't think it's right to assume the rest of the world is wrong because they don't like your pet's barking. The sticky note collection spoke volumes about the pet owner, and it seemed very immature. We're an apartment complex of mostly working people. There aren't a lot of students or the like. Noise isn't generally tolerated. Loud parties do not happen; our courtesy officers are also police officers and will give citations. But more to the point, people are mostly considerate. I turn down my music, for example, if my windows are down, the moment I turn into our parking lot with the car. I don't play the TV or music loud. I think it's reasonable to expect some quiet, especially at night. Now I will say the dogs don't bark constantly--only when someone is going in and out of the building, and that's good, at least. But we'll see if this escalates. My impression though is that the pet owner will probably not be here that long with that attitude.

At least

I didn't sleep the night away--just three hours. :) But I did have a fairly long 'sleep' (too long for a 'nap'), and I'd set my alarm for only 30 minutes after I stretched out. Fridays can be like that, when all the stresses of the week fall away as I relax and let it all go. One great thing about me is that I don't normally 'take work home with me' in the sense of emotional and intellectual baggage from one day or week to another. But my weekends are exceedingly busy and my weeks outside of work often are as well. So I tend to fall asleep on Monday evenings (due to the weekend) and Fridays (due to the week), and be busy the rest of the time. I know it probably sounds like I'm some sort of torpid toad.

I did wake up just in time to get a medical librarian reference question (YKWIA loves having a personal librarian to find things, and as it's Sabbath, A called and asked). I found the information and relayed it. Sometimes his questions are much more difficult than those others give me. He keeps me on my toes.

Still, it's almost 11:30 pm and so it's a bit late to start the notes and yet I haven't had a real night's sleep yet, either. I'll try to get up a little earlier tomorrow. I may check the news and add anything of interest, but otherwise I think it's off to bed for me.