I had a little bit of trouble falling back asleep when I woke up at 2:30 to use the bathroom, but I got there eventually. I woke up again a little after 5 and decided to try and fall asleep again. I managed to fall into another dream, which was cool, except that when the alarm rang at 6 I was violently shoved from the dream. I had been just about to eat a popsicle while working with another woman to fix a bicycle in the garage of my childhood home, and it was apparently near the 4th of July.
My walk was slower than usual this morning, a bit over 20 minutes for the mile. The moon was rising, a yellow crescent over the lightening sky. So many birds were calling off my back porch, and the frogs were singing, too.
My color was called today, so I emailed a request for time off as soon as I got back from my walk. My boss was agreeable, so that was one less worry. I still had to worry about all the things I needed to take with me, and my preparations. For example, the instructions indicated that I should consume no caffeine within three hours of the test – no problem for me since I rarely drink caffeine at all, and especially not in the afternoon. But I also couldn’t drink more than 12 ounces of water within those three hours. So I got a small water bottle, filled it with 12 ounces, and then set an alarm on my phone to remind me to limit my drinking starting at 1:30 pm. I just hope the reduction in liquid consumption doesn’t give me constipation.
The next class session started today for the class I’m co-teaching at work. It is all about using PeopleSoft Query, which is something I’m also teaching to my new hire, so it’s kind of nice that I’m focusing on that topic. The class itself went well. I have a wonderful co-teacher. She sends her team care packages for Easter and this year she sent me one as well. I’m glad she asked if I’d gotten a package, because I might not have checked my package box if she hadn’t – and then the chocolate things might have melted!
The trouble with getting off work at 3:30 is that I decided to skip my afternoon break so I could get a little more work done – what’s the point of taking 15 minutes and then working 15 minutes and then leaving? Well, it turns out that the point is to remember to have an afternoon snack. By the time I got to Payette, I was hungry and I needed to pee. Needing to pee was good, because I needed to be “prepared” to give a sample, but the hunger I could have done without.
The GPS tried to kill me with the directions that it gave. It directed me to drive along a ditch road and then access the facility from there. The problem being that the ditch road is like 10 to 20 feet above the level of the parking lot, and there is no way to drive down the embankment. Not in a street legal car. So I had to figure out where the place was by checking numbers and I kicked myself for not just studying the map. The place isn’t that hard to find – as long as you ignore the GPS.
I got checked in pretty quickly, receiving a compliment for filling out the money order correctly. Then I had to wait to be called back as the room filled with men who all seemed to know each other. I didn’t make eye contact. Though there were people who had been waiting longer than me, I was called back before anyone else.
The process of giving the sample was straightforward. The goal of an observed test is to ensure that I’m not cheating. I had to show my naked body to the woman who administered the test, front and back. My bladder was a bit shy, but I was able to keep the stream going once I got it started. As expected, I tested completely clean, and then I was free to go.
Since I was already in Payette, I decided to stop by the Albertsons and do some grocery shopping. I may have gotten a bit too much stuff – that’s what I get for shopping hungry. Among other things, I got ingredients to make Irish soda bread, so I hope to get that done some time this week. Sunday at the latest, since that’s when the buttermilk expires.
I had a protein bar in the car before I drove home, and drank a Topo Chico blueberry seltzer that I just bought to try and start catching up on hydration. I had meant to bring additional water for after the test, but I forgot. Next time.
When I got home, it was just about time for family zoom. I didn’t know what to do for dinner, so I ended up frying some Spam and eating it with some cheese. Had a good long family zoom – a bit too long because I’m pretty tired and I want to get to bed as early as I can. I got my exercises done during exercise release time at lunch, but I haven’t done staff spinning today. I could skip it. I might skip it. When I was driving home, I had visions of going for a short walk and getting my staff spinning done, but I’m feeling so tired. I think I’ll settle for the two walks today. There’s still time to go to bed early.
