I slept better last night. I took a trazadone to help with that. I know I had some dreams, but I couldn’t remember them. I went to sleep thinking of seeing Ambrose at Yellow Bank on the Washington Coast.
I woke up feeling muzzy headed and snoozed a few times before getting up and doing a half mile walk. The bug bites are going down, but still getting irritated. I tried using my waterproof socks and my SoftStar Switchback boots; that seemed to help, but I could still feel the irritation. I’ve been applying hydrocortisone throughout the day. The two on the top of my right foot are almost gone, but the ones at the sides keep getting irritated from shoes.
I almost forgot to call in to find out if I needed to get tested for drugs today. Good thing that I didn’t, because I did indeed get called again today. I had to request time off work, cutting short a planned meeting. It just threw me for a loop. I decided to have an espresso after breakfast so that I could have enough energy to drive in the afternoon.
And then my period arrived with no fanfare, but much pain. I had class to teach today, and about three quarters of the way through my Zoom application crashed and wouldn’t restart. I had to scramble for a solution and ended up using my personal laptop to get back in. But then I had trouble accessing what I needed to demo, so I had to use my co-teacher’s screen with remote control to finish up. It was a pain in the butt.
In the afternoon, I had another meeting, with someone I’ve known a number of years. She asked how my day was going and I was honest and a bit tearful. She offered to reschedule, but I wanted to talk. We talked quite a bit before getting to the work for which the meeting had been called. I appreciated so much that she took that time out of her day to converse with me and share her experiences with me. I needed to be seen today. To share what was really happening with someone who cares.
I picked up the money order on the way to the testing facility. This time, I had to wait quite a bit before getting called back as there were two women in front of me in line. The waiting room filled with men, talking loudly with each other and smelling of cigarettes. I didn’t like being in that waiting room. On the way home, I stopped at Valley Fruit N Feed in Weiser and got some fruit, soap, and lotion. Then I stopped in Midvale at the cafe to get a burger for dinner. I needed the meat and I didn’t want to cook when I got home.
The burger was delicious and really hit the spot. I’m going to go for a walk as soon as the sun sinks below the ridgeline. I want to get my walk in for the evening, even if it’s just another half mile. I started reviewing week 5 of the Shoulders & Arms level 1 program during my exercise release time. I’ll keep working through that until I get back from South Carolina; maybe even a bit after I return to make sure I’m prepared for level 2. I’m planning to start running when I get back, too. After work until it’s bright enough in the morning not to need the headlamp.
I’ve been listening to audiobooks on my long drives. My current one is Lirael by Garth Nix. My neighbor recommended the series; I read the first one, but then I found that the books are narrated by Tim Curry, so it’s all about the audiobooks for those from now on. I adore his voice. More than one person over the years told Ambrose he would make a good audiobook narrator. I adore his voice, too. Some nights, Ambrose would try to put me to sleep by just telling me stories, but I’d be struggling to stay awake so he’d know that I was listening to him, paying attention to him. I didn’t want him to think that he was boring me so much that I’d fall asleep! We were kind of working at cross purposes by accident.
I got my Known Traveler Number onto my upcoming flight. It took some doing, but I managed after almost a week of trying to figure it out on and off. It will be nice to have slightly less hassle at the airport for my upcoming trip.
My daffodils are starting to bud, but no blooms as of yet. I’m checking them every day. They inexorably continue to push toward bloom, as I must continue to move forward through this life.
