This week

I have put in 15 applications, 6 today alone. I'm doing what I can to find a job as quickly as I can.

My unemployment benefit claim has been denied because I did not understand the waiting week--I thought it was the first full week after you apply, when actually they backdate your week to the beginning of the week in which you apply. So, for me, I lost my job on a Wednesday and applied that day, so my waiting week started February 15th, even though I was let go on the 18th. While I was reeling from that and applying for unemployment, Medicaid, SNAP, and everything else I could think of, calling about my retirement and how to pay off my line of credit and the dryer I'd bought through my paycheque, I'd put in a couple of applications, but in fact I'd needed to put in five. When I had to put in the claim, it became obvious that I'd been wrong about the week (the first week following I did have five, and was fine on the requirement, because I thought that was my waiting week, and I already had enough lined up for the next week--this week to make everything work.

I went ahead and appealed it immediately, throwing myself on their mercy. I really didn't understand the wording of their FAQs, the phone just referred me back to those FAQs, and the Internet just let me down completely, because it seemed to say it was the week after, too. I explained that I often have trouble understanding certain concepts that may seem cut and dry to most people, due to my autism, which is often the case. They did say at the time to keep claiming it in case they decide to grant it later.

In the meantime, I do have Medicaid, which was a big one to me, as my healthcare is a priority. 

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.

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. 

I have been a very busy girl today

 

Originally I had planned to take some things to my storage unit, as it was a pretty day, but I ran out of steam. Unfortunately it's going to rain the next three days, so my next opportunity is Thursday, but I get off at 4:30 PM, so I think that's doable. They're winter clothes and photographs, mainly. My stepmother sent me five boxes of photos, some in frames, from my father's side of the family. I just don't have the room here; I live in my friend's library, essentially. But I got everything else, small and large, accomplished. Go, me. [I didn't make a list yesterday, but it was fairly decent in terms of being productive but balanced with rest, too.]

Time for bed. Good night.

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 stayed home today to get some rest

I just woke up after sleeping three-and-a-half-hours. I needed it. I'd hoped to follow up with my primary care provider, but he didn't have anything till Thursday afternoon.

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.

Very sleepy

But I'm waiting for the candles to burn down safely from Sabbath dinner...

I am pooped

I have gone to Kroger twice (once for caffeine to get going, once for more litter). I have taken the trash out, changed the litter out completely (and changed the pads under them), looked all over for a small grey kitten, including moving furniture and mattresses, taken plants outside, and while I've only walked 3,318 steps, it is also on 1:38 pm. Fortunately, I don't have to game notes today, as I did them last week. We don't have anywhere to go specifically today, although I might go by my storage unit. The other day I went before work and found the large map and one flanking map to hang on my office wall, but couldn't find the other. And several others are somewhere. Meanwhile, there are some things I put in the storage unit first that I might need on a pinch, or just want to get out occasionally, so I may move the pictures and mattresses out, get the other stuff up to the front, and then put the mattresses in the back and move the pictures back somewhat.

I really do think I'm going to lie down for a little while and listen to some music. YKWIA is sitting in the living room with the kitten on his lap having quiet time and reading. I have the cat. The dog is outside (it is a pleasant day). Time for a nap, I think.

I'm pooped, and it isn't even game time

Today I've:

1. Laundered my bedding and clothes
2. Changed out the spring and winter clothes, put spring clothes away, packed up the winter ones, and prepared to take them to storage
3. Swept and mopped the floors
4. Cleaned the bathroom
5. Taken out the trash and recyclables
6. Cleaned the cat boxes
7. Started a loaf of bread

Yesterday I cleaned a very dirty shelf with magazines and did YKWIA's laundry, and that was enough to make my back hurt quite a bit, so I laid down for awhile while he helped a friend out at his house who is battling cancer.  They called me to go get Subway and we all ate and visited, then we got home about 8:30 pm.  I think we were both done in by midnight (he's been over several days in a row and took the bus out Friday, getting lost on the walk over there, and probably walked four miles back and forth until he found it), and we .were up by 7:30 am.  I have no real reason to be as tired as I've felt lately.  I've done some housework and of course, I worked at the medical centre, but still, I'm just tired all the time.  I've been up doing my stuff and listening to shows he's watching (he finished the 'Almost Human' DVDs and we watched a couple of episodes of 'Up the Women'.  I unplugged my tablet, which has been on the charger for two days and really needed to be unplugged and just turned off.  He's got a lot of documents to transfer to it and we're going to see if there's enough room once I cleaned my stuff off of the microSD card.  There's not much on it, now, just some basic applications and one from Adobe for reading PDFs and one for reading Word files.  That should suffice for him.  I haven't used my old tablet for some time.  I'm not sure it'll have the processing speed he'll need, but it's worth a try since neither of us can afford a newer tablet or laptop right now.

Today I'm looking forward to the game.  I'm kind of grungy and should go ahead and take a shower, but I'm just not up to it.  I'd like to lie down for awhile, but the bed hasn't been made yet.   I just feel a mess today. 

My strawberry plant that Brenda gave me is back outside after being brought in for a frost advisory last night, and it has two ripe strawberries and one that is turning on it.  I have lost three smallish African violets recently, including the two pink ones in the bathroom and a purple one in the bedroom.  I'm not sure what happened; they got puny and I tried to save them, but it was a no go.  On the other hand, one of the orchids has grown a new leaf and I have two that are getting ready to re-bloom.  Maybe orchids are more my thing, although I've had no problem with violets before.  The window seat in YKWIA's room is lush with shamrocks, an umbrella tree I just repotted, dumb cane, and philodendrons.  They love that window:

So overall, the plants are doing well.  Also, the orchid at work is putting out new shoots and buds.  I separated the stems out to give them more room:

It's the same colour as part of my mousepad, my pen holder, and my water cup, so it's coordinated to the checkout bay. :)  What can I say, I like it when things match.

Okay, I'm going to go check on the last of the laundry.  I realised I started the bread while still running the dryer (the bread machine is on the washer, as that's a good place for it usually when I'm not washing, as it has a tendency to 'walk' as it mixes, which is apparently supposed to happen, according to the manual.  But the vibration isn't good for rising bread.  I don't want to mess up this loaf.  I'm experimenting with all-purpose rather than bread flour, as I'm low on the other.  But the other day I forgot to put the yeast in until 30 minutes into the cycle.  While it was edible and looked fine, it was chewier than usual.  I can't believe I did that.  I was washing dishes and remembered suddenly, doing what I could to fix things.  It wasn't bad, but not ideal.  Hopefully, this one will come out fine; I definitely put all the ingredients in. :)

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.

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!

*yawn*

One of the great things about living with someone who cares about you but has an outside perspective is that they have candid talks with you about how tired you are all the time. My blood sugar has been great. My sleep apnea is well-treated. I don't feel overwhelmed or retreat to bed due to my psychology anymore. I blame work, or lack of caffeine, or arthritis pain, but the fact is I'm getting good sleep and barely have any energy. I think it's time to call my doctor, just to be sure. And on that note, I'm headed for bed.

So tired tonight

I could barely make it home, was in bed shortly after the dogs came back in around 7:30. Just got up and got some cereal and let them out and in, and I'm going back to bed. I feel better, though, not so exhausted.

I got the book review finished

I've packed a lunch (vegetarian chilli and applesauce--I know, it's getting a bit low, though; I think YKWIA will probably cook tomorrow, which is good, as we have quite a few fresh vegetables, but not a lot of ready-made stuff.  Although come to think of it, we do have veggie burgers and some other frozen food, which will be good for lunches this week.  I don't get paid until Thursday, and I'm afraid my finances are rather bleak at the moment for the first time in awhile.  That $5 an hour pay cut really hurt.  But I'm glad I have insurance.)

I took a shower just now so my hair will be dry in the cold of the morning.  I'm listening to a station on Amazon Music for Portugal. The Man, which has been very entertaining.

I've got the dogs at my feet.  I fed them earlier, then brought them in after only about 10 minutes due to the cold.  Unfortunately, I forgot to gate them so when they came in one ate the cat's remaining food.  So I had to give him a little more after gating them.  He's allergic to just about everything and is on a special hypo-allergenic food without grain or chicken.  I figured he was pretty hungry; he threw up this morning.  But as the vet said, a weekly hack up is better than daily, and in general, this food is working pretty well, although it's a $20 small bag.  So I'm sorry I accidentally let one of the dogs to get a treat.

YKWIA is reading again in his room.  He usually calls a friend on Monday nights, so I'm going to finish this up pretty quickly.  I'm just waiting for my hair to dry, really.  Once that happens, I can go on to bed.  The lack of caffeine is one thing, but all I've done is one and a half loads of laundry, so I'm not sure why I'm so tired.

The house is looking good.  My stuff is all in order. I temporarily 'lost' the book I was reviewing, which was amazing, as I have books in and on top of the bed's bookcase, but nowhere else, but I found it, thankfully.  It was pretty interesting; it was on makerspaces.  I made a discovery in the course of writing it: Google's definitions that they display whenever you put in 'define [word]) come from the Oxford Pocket Dictionary. So I was able to go to Oxford's website to get a good citation for the definition.  Merriam-Webster failed me, I'm afraid.  I guess the term is too new.

I finished the night at 1134 calories, which is 306 under what I should be for dieting.  I might have something else later, like some applesauce, but I'm really not hungry right now.  I only walked about 2,800 steps, but I never left the house beyond taking the recyclables to the containers outside.

I was on the Internet yesterday and found something about a prequel to His Dark Materials by Philip Pulman.  It's called La Belle Sauvage, the first of The Book of Dust trilogy.  I don't know how I missed it.  I've put it on hold at the Library, along with A is for Alibi by Sue Grafton.  I always said I'd read that series when she finished the alphabet.  Sadly, it looks like it will end at Y, but still.

Okay, I'm going to transfer some new music to my phone, and then I'll go ahead and head into my room and listen to some more music for a while, then go to sleep.  Hope you had a restful and happy new year.

I was exhausted last night

I wound up, after coming home, taking a shower, and blogging just a bit, going to bed about 11 pm. So even though I meant to get up at my usual 6 am, I slept in till 8, whereupon I was awakened by a hungry cat. We had agreed that I wouldn't feed them in the morning so it wouldn't set a precedent of barking, etc. Now YKWIA has woken up and is doing it instead. The plan is to put some clothes on, go get some caffeine, and start working again. We both had bizarre dreams, apparently.

Okay, I'll sign off here for now. Have a good morning.

You know you're really tired

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

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

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

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

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

Have a safe and lovely holiday. Good night.

Ah...

So Friday wasn't too bad, really. Work was much calmer than the rest of the week, and we worked at a steady but relaxed pace. I left at 5 pm and went and got a friend who had taken a bus to an appointment that didn't happen (but I was more annoyed at that than he was), and we went and got another one, and I dropped them off and came on home, and I stayed up till (get this) almost 11 pm (although I was just heavy-lidded and falling asleep quickly). The rest of the days this week have mostly been about 8:30 pm as far as bedtime, I've been exhausted (to the point that while I met my goals the other day on Habitica, I fell asleep before checking off the boxes, and woke up 10 minutes after the start of a new 'day' (which I've got set at 2 am), so my little avatar took damage--and so did everyone else I game with. I felt so bad. It's just been hard to get everything done that needed to be done lately.

This morning I called A at 6:30 am, picked him up at 7:30, took him to work, got a couple of cheese and egg biscuits and a parfait at McDonald's, and came back intending to go back to sleep. But I laid in bed from about the time I got home (8:30 am) till about 9:30, and decided to go ahead and get my day going. I went to Costco, intending to get some light bulbs and a couple of other things, and spent more than I meant to, but everything I got was quite useful. Well, maybe not the cheese bagels and tomatoes, but they're yummy nonetheless. Then I went to the library, where I sheepishly turned in most of the books I had (most of which were overdue, including one of two interlibrary loans I'd gotten for a friend, who'd taken off the papers that have all the information on them that the ILL department uses. I had most of it to give them. It so embarrasses me that he does that, and I know they're not happy with me. He wants to see the covers. I tell him not to do it. He almost ripped the cover off one, because they changed how they do it, so instead of having two sticky labels, they wrapped the cover in a piece of paper that was carefully taped. I am beginning to think that should they ever let me borrow again, I should remove them myself, carefully. The man mangles anything he tries to remove (paper from a notebook, or my favourite, the DVD envelopes from Netflix, which we just leave to me now). Anyway, I apologised, left the other books in the book drop, and slinked away without mentioning in any way that I am, indeed, a librarian. And with all the overdues, I checked later after everything got checked in, and I owe $6.30, which is actually less than I expected. The interlibrary loans are $1.00 a day. One was still before the deadline, but one was due the 25th. :( I got it from him on the 26th or 27th, but I literally was just too wiped out to take them back during the library hours, and didn't just want to dump them in with the papers just sitting inside the books. Also, they had a 'read off your fines' thing going on through the 31st, and while I planned to do that, I just decided I was too tired. So I'll happily pay the fine.

Speaking of public libraries, I have an interview about an hour's away up the interstate on Friday afternoon, and got permission to leave work at noon so I can get there before 2 pm. I'll probably come home, change clothes, and go straight up there. It's Owen county. My dad's family, the Duncans and the Cobbs, have lived in the Owenton area for generations. I'm interested to know more about the library. I never visited the library there as a child; I don't know much about it, actually, and I should educate myself on it before I go. I also need to e-mail a confirmation that I will be coming.

I went to the grocery a little while and got some veggies for a tray for the game, some cheese, some crackers, and some dill dip, so I'm good for the game tomorrow. And I spent four hours today doing the notes. I came back and collected the trash and recyclables from various containers and some horizontal surfaces, and I now have quite a load to take out. I had to take a break, though, before actually taking the bags outside, as my back was bothering me. Mainly I've been doing better with my back, although that workout on Thursday made muscles in my lower back and buttocks scream, because they apparently didn't know they were supposed to do anything. I didn't make it to the gym at the complex today (there was a pool party going on early afternoon that was intriguing, but too many people for me, I think, being a shy introvert who would have stood around, not eaten hamburgers or hot dogs, would have had to slather on a ton of sunscreen, and gee, talk to people). It's not my thing. I am glad the complex did that sort of activity, though. I wish they'd have a yard sale. They did that every year for several years while I was at Speedway and working on Saturdays. Now I could participate, and I have plenty of stuff that needs to go, if I can part with it.

Okay, as much as I hate to admit it, those bags of trash and recyclables are not going to take themselves out. I should get up and do that, so they're taken care of and I can tick that off my busy day list.

I kicked butt today

First, I think I handled the normal busy pace at work well and any of the weird stuff that crops up, too. Then I went to pulmonary rehab and went up to a 39 on the inhaling resistance gizmo (it only goes to 42, I think), 2750 on the spirometer, and 45 seconds on the pursed breathing, my best yet for any of them. They put me on a heart monitor while I exercised to see if my heart remained normal in response, with the idea that when I'm exercising on my own I have an idea for how high to get my heart rate up. The good news is that my workout was at higher watts, higher resistance, and more duration than normal on the Nu-Step, the bike, and the hand bike (I did treadmill for cool down), and my heart responded exactly as it should, going back down to normal within two minutes of exercise cessation at each piece of equipment. She said I should be safe going up to 120-130 beats per minute, so I have that as a goal. The equipment takes heart rate, as does my phone, which also takes the oxygen level. So I'm set to work out on my own. Also, although technically I have four more visits approved, I'm going to cut that down to Tuesday being my last day, my fifteenth visit, so that it will work better with the schedule and coverage at the hospital. I think graduating early is okay in my case--I don't have COPD, and I'm doing much better. Anyway, that's the plan. I got one planned for Tuesday approved to make up for this Tuesday.

After rehab I took YKWIA to a couple of doctors' offices he goes to using the bus route and pointed out the correct stops. He's going to have to go on his own. Then I took him by the grocery for a quick stop and looked up the bus times for his appointment. Now I'm home, I've eaten, and I'm looking at how much needs to be done around here, none of which I really have any energy for at the moment. I'm going to try to rest for a little while and then tackle things. Barring that, I'll see about getting up early and doing what needs to be done before work. We'll see how successful I am in that endeavour. :)

I won't actually say I'm exhausted

But I am looking forward to this weekend, especially tomorrow and Monday, as I don't have to take A to and from work at ungodly hours.

After six weeks of an open schedule, where I was very busy, but not working, I feel like I've plunged back into the world of work pretty deeply, and at times I was treading water, because it's very fast-paced work involving lots of mental gymnastics, flexibility, and multi-tasking. Most nights I've come home and dropped to sleep by 8 or 9 pm. I haven't been up to blogging at all. Tonight I feel that way, like if I could just close my eyes for five minutes, I would feel better.

I can't make this long. I'll try to write later.