Way back in November/December, I took what Himself told me and calculated that we would see results in 4-6 months, and I needed to work some magic to get to that point. With our arrival in April, we are entering that "golden" period, and I have worked the magic to get here. Himself is going to check this week to make sure his VA attorney has filed his case; once he has, we will begin to scale the summit of the mountain, so to speak.
Today's visit to the VA Medical Center entailed a flushing of Himself's chemo port. He does this every month or so because he has chosen to keep it implanted in his body. When he needs blood drawn, as he did today, all anyone has to do is access his port and they can get all the blood they need, thus sparing everyone the challenge of trying to access a vein in his arm, or elsewhere.
That was his only appointment for the day, so the next stop was the nearby Ralph's deli, where we got some sandwiches. We wound up re-registering with the store because his phone number got flushed out of their system, so that delayed us a bit, and I began to get frustrated and angry, as I felt this was cutting into precious time I could be spending at the ocean!
While it's true that I'm getting better at catching myself before I plunge headlong down the rabbit hole of Depression, the reverse seems to be true as well: my fuse has become much shorter, and it's easier for me to start looking for the rabbit hole to dive into. I find myself becoming way less tolerant of delays and interruptions to "my" agenda - a sure sign that I'm heading back toward Burnout, and more spectacularly than the first time to boot!
Today I brought myself out of the rabbit hole by remembering my endeavors of Going Small...sometimes I can only carve out a little beach time, or I have to fold in some fun while I am out taking care of errands, because it's too challenging to set aside an entire day. So let me Enjoy what I can carve out, when I can carve it out, and not sweat it if plans change half a dozen times during the day. Memo to Self - !
Once we got everything straight at the grocery store, the law of You Will Hit Every Red Light When You Are In a Hurry to Get Somewhere kicked in. I'm sure the tricksters got a good laugh today. We eventually made it to the ocean, however, and had just enough time for a nice picnic lunch at the beach. I even shot some video on my phone for my Messenger Daily Stories, which I'm going to attempt to start again. (Whatever it takes to stave off insanity, right?)
We were a bit delayed in getting home, but the Queen Mother wasn't too put out. I timed how long it would take to get her dinner ready, as the increase in her IHSS hours became effective, at least theoretically, as of today. So once I establish my "baseline," then I can fill in the rest of the hours with laundry, grocery shopping, and things like that. Now we hope the DMV comes through with the right records!
While Himself went down to take care of business in San Diego, I stayed home and decompressed, first listening to some gentle meditative music, then switching over to some more upbeat "Chill Lounge" music. I've just now switched back to the gentle meditative music to start winding down.
Here's hoping that we begin to receive Resolution to our various quests!
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