"it could be worse"

Today was not the best day. It wasn't even a good day.

I started with some deep and necessary conversation with Himself, and felt a bit better afterwards. Then the Queen Mother was upset that the cats were in the kitchen and there was no food at that moment for them, never mind that they had eaten their "second breakfast" roughly an hour before. I was in the middle of my "first" breakfast, and Insisted that I was going to Finish My Breakfast before going out and replenishing the cat food. She's all about taking care of everyone else before yourself - and I am So Over that, with my Caregiver Burnout.

I did set out after breakfast and got a decent amount of cat food while Himself stayed home and worked on a grant application for the Alano Club on the computer. After I decompressed a bit, we went out to take care of a few moree errands. As the afternoon progressed, I realized I was going to need to prepare my go-to of mac-n-cheese and stay home this evening, as the crowds were starting to feel oppressive. My already frazzled nerves were fraying all the way down, and I was needing to breathe deeply just to maintain a modicum of control. Anxiety is no fun, folks.

Himself was still considering going to the seminar when he was called down to the Club for emergency coverage of the Coffee Bar shift. When we found out why, I realized that my problems really weren't that bad, and at least one other person was having a worse day than I was. He is on his way home with recycling in tow, which will help with making sure we have enough to cover us for the next week.

I watched a few funny videos earlier to lighten my mood, and they seemed to work, along with the mac-n-cheese. We will take care of the recycling tomorrow, and maybe, just maybe, get a workout in before our joint Friday meetings. As with everything else these days, I am not holding my breath. 

Day 362: on making it a tiny adventure

Today was Bill-Paying day, where I visited the credit union to get the cash I need to pay the homeowner's insurance, the water bill, and the gas & electric bill. As the Queen Mother is feeling better, Himself and I turned it into a fun outing day. 

In between paying bills, we stopped by Michael's, ostensibly to get some double-sided tape that would help keep Himself's kippah (the little cap he wears for religious services and during special occasions, like High Holidays) securely attached to his head. Then we took turns drooling over our special sections: he drooled over the baking & food decorating sections; I drooled over the journals and lettering in the scrapbooking section. We escaped there with our wallets intact. ;)

The topic of eating came up, so we went elsewhere in the ersatz mall to visit Firehouse Subs for the first time. I got a veggie sub and he got a turkey with avocado and cheese sub. I didn't realized the subs were toasted, so getting a warm sandwich with melting cheese was a pleasant surprise. The Five-Cheese Mac and Cheese, however, left much to be desired, and I shall be informing them of such on their website.

The bills have been paid, the tummies have been filled, the double sided tape has been secured and is being used, and I managed to get more cat litter and ice cream - you know, the important things in life. I got the Queen Mother's dinner ready, then settled down and drew my Inktober doodle for the day. I believe that I will jump on to Instagram very briefly during the weekends, just long enough to post the day's drawing, before jumping off again. I feel good about this because I'm going to be off social media for most of November, avoiding the drama llama stampedes during Mercury Retrograde. I'm three drawings in and having a lot of fun. 

Not sure how the day is going to unfold tomorrow, other than I will be completing another drawing. 

Day 355: on a damp day

Autumn has officially arrived in my part of SoCal. We awoke to cloudy skies and wet ground, as it rained overnight - not much, but enough to give everything a good soaking. It was a good day to move slowly and gently and just focus on what was needful.

Today was a rare double laundry day, as I went first with the washing of clothes, and Himself followed after me. Inkblot wanted to make sure I was properly separating the dark clothes from the light ones and hopped into the washer as I was loading it. I took some video of him in the washer and posted it on Instagram. Afterwards, Himself and I took both loads to the laundromat for drying. Then it was home to prepare dinner and put away a few groceries that we needed to get before tomorrow morning.

With the day opening up tomorrow, I'm not sure what we're going to do. If the Queen Mother is faring a bit better, I will check with Himself to see if he has any ideas.

Day 334: on a stormy day

The laundry won out, for me. I got it washed and dried, but by the time all was said and done, Himself needed to go solo to his Cardiac session today, since it would have been way too late to go down and come back up in a reasonable time. For the record, though, the Queen Mother did have a later than usual dinner today.

We were out of breakfast items, so we went to Trader Joe's to grab some cereal and almond milk, and picked up a few other things while we were there. We pulled in to our covered parking spot in time to hear thunder clapping in the sky, and said sky to the southeast looked very dark indeed. Himself had taken the car through the car wash while I was at the laundromat, so you can guess what happened next - it rained.

I joke about San Diego having an "annual ten minute thunderstorm." It seems that every year, usually around late July/early August, we have a bit of thunder and lightning, it rains cats and dogs for about ten minutes, then clears up and returns to more "regular" SoCal weather. The storm was either a little late this year, or we're kicking off the 2019/2020 Rainy Season with a bang. Depends on your perspective.

Himself had some dinner while waiting out the storm, and then went on his merry way. Yes, the evening commute was a soggy mess, but he managed to avoid the worst of it. My dinner was a bit later than his, as I was in no hurry to eat.

Tomorrow I have lunch with a good friend, followed by another trip to Trader Joe's, mainly because I forgot to take inventory of what the Queen Mother was going to need for her dinners. No biggie...and I'm hearty-glad I'm able to say it's no biggie!

Day 330: on a better day

Today was a day to sleep in after yesterday ended the week with a bang.

Yesttrday, Himself had a pair of visits to make in the VA medical system: the Pharmacy in La Jolla first, to pick up a prescription, then his Primary doctor's office in Mission Valley. It was the second visit that threw everything off, as the people in the front failed to notify the doctor in the back that we were there, even though we let them know that we were waiting several times, and it was about an hour before we were actually seen. Then his actual appointment lasted another 45 minutes or so! Fortunately, he wasn't as sick as he thought he might have been - which is to say, not at all.

It was about 4:15 pm when I finally dropped him off at the Alano Club for his shift, and I still had to head back home to get the Queen Mother's dinner ready. I got smart and took an alternate route home to bypass most of the commuting traffic, but I had a bit of an adventure getting to said alternate route. Let's just say I'm super grateful that there's an anti-collision system in the car!

I got home in about an hour, all told, and got the Queen Mother her dinner. Then I thought I would be nice and have dinner with her, only to be regaled with her latest obsession: how the cats are "suffering" now that they are "indoor only." The only thing that stopped her was turning on the TV for the news, which gave me the excuse to leave the table, as I don't indulge in that drama these days. After I was done with dinner, I had a nap, and eventually gathered my energy together to make the drive down back to San Diego to pick Himself up at the end of his shift. We wound up getting home just in time for me to help the Queen Mother into bed.

Today was much better. We all slept in, and deservedly so. When Himself and I  finally left the house, we got some recycling cashed in, a few more necessities purchased, and a bill or two paid before the banks closed for Labor Day. We came home in time for me to get the Queen Mother's dinner ready, then I went with Himself to his usual Saturday meeting. We went out to eat afterwards at our favorite Greek restaurant, and finished up in time for the "Sky Show," a big fireworks display one of our radio stations puts on each year for the Labor Day Weekend. It was an awesome show, and a soundtrack that brought back memories if you listened along on the radio station. We caught most of the display before we returned home.

Tomorrow Himself has a business meeting or two to attend in the morning, so I will be staying home and doing some more Huswifery. It will be a nice change of pace after a few days of being the Social Butterfly. Balancing these two modes of activity - Staying In and Going Out - will be the key for me to preserve my Sanity as I move forward.

On *300* Days of Blogging!

Wow. I have reached the home stretch. Two more months (-ish) to go! When I began, I was only hoping I could reach this point. Now I am taking a moment to look at what I have accomplished in this space and am giving myself a wee pat on the back. :)

As for today: I returned to my Spiritual project. I went out and did some significant grocery shopping with Himself, as mom's Social Security money arrived. I paid some bills and figured out which other bills to pay tomorrow. I am coloring a new mandala to celebrate the start of the Harvest Season, Autumn.

We had to shift a few more plans around, namely when we could have someone come over to repair our rear windshield; yes, we found someone who could do a house call! Himself has already squirrled away the $250 for our deductible, and our insurance will pay the rest. I'm halfway expecting our rates to go up after this is all said and done, though...

I have returned to that wonderful calm and stable place. Things might not be that great, but they're not that horrible either. I'm looking forward to building on this momentum and perhaps even getting back to some decent Adulting next week.

Tomorrow I will be dropping Himself off at the Alano Club in the afternoon - for a planned shift, this time - and gifting myself with a small treat before heading over for my Friday meeting. The energy is shifting, and Just for Today, I am breathing much easier.

Day 290: on deep quiet

Himself arrived home late last night, so we both agreed we were going to sleep in this morning, and figure out breakfast after we awoke. We did and we did, as there was just enough cereal left for all three of us to partake. The cats, of course, had other ideas, and woke me up well before the alarm went off for our breakfast, but I did come back to bed after they had received theirs.

Once we were awake enough, Himself and I went out to get more cereal, and cat food, and a few other things. He returned home long enough to drop me off, then took off again for his Cardiac session and Club business. I stayed home and rested. Mom was reading, the cats were occupying themselves, and I noticed a Deep Quiet settle in the house. I wasn't particularly sleepy today - a little odd, considering it's the most vigorous part of my Moonflow - but I felt my spirit soaking it up like a sponge. More of this, with thanks, I recall thinking. 

My Morning Pages became "Afternoon Pages" today, because my mind was in no mood to create coherent sentences when I first woke up. I did enjoy my usual Chai Tea Latte, though. 

I finished off the rice I had steamed yesterday, pairing it with a bean and cheese burrito. I am feeling the need for a little extra iron and am eating accordingly.  Himself is having a late dinner, so I steamed some more rice for him while he was on his way home. I wish I could record and share smells on the blog, because the veggie broth makes everything smell so Divine when the rice is just about done. You'll just have to use your imagination. ;)

Tomorrow we have to get up rather early for the all important Compensation and Pension appointment. Pray hard that this is truly the beginning of the end for Himself's fight for rightful compensation! Regardless, I look forward to some luxurious napping when we're done!

Day 245: on calming down

Today Himself and I went out to get a new cat carrier. Though the original plan was to get one more Inkblot-sized, we got one that was nicely Pippa-sized. If I have learned one thing through this whole process, it's to take advantage of the resources offered to us and not to quibble too much about specifics. Flexibility is key!

While we were out, we stopped by the motel and managed to check out one of the suites: it's big enough for the three of us, has decent privacy, and has a sofa bed at the perfect height for the Queen Mother. There is a Mexican restaurant a dozen or so steps away, and the motel also offers its own free hot breakfast daily. Nice!

The one downside is that they don't accommodate pets, but no worries there either: we have combined Plans A and B, wherein a good friend will cover the boarding of the cats at a Petsmart in town. They asked us lovely questions: would you like us to feed them with your food or our food? Would they like some fresh catnip toys? (Our food and some catnip toys, please and thank you. Inkblot tends to rip the toys apart, as catnip makes him a wee bit too excited.) They won't be happy away from us, but at least they will have a boutique experience, and a can of people tuna awaiting them when we're all reunited at home. ;)

We're feeling much better about everything after checking out the motel for ourselves, and with everything covered, can now focus on the bagging of the food we won't be taking with us (as the fridge in the suite is very small) and the trimming of the bouganvillea. 

I am noticing the handiwork of Goddess in all of this, making sure every piece of the puzzle has come together smoothly, even if the pieces didn't look like I expected them to. I am also noticing that I am still easily frazzled and thrown off-stride. Though I can recover quicker these days than I could in the past, I am still hoping for/desiring some Extended Downtime in the near future.

Tomorrow I will be refocusing on the homestead, as Himself tends to his business in San Diego. It's a bit of a bummer that he won't be around, but it can't be helped.

Day 208: on a moodling wednesday

"Moodling" is a concept introduced by Sarah Ben Breathnach, if you're at all familiar with her work. It's a combination of Meandering and Puttering, doing small activities  with no particular agenda. I have been saving my Moodling for Mondays, as the calendar has been open on those days, but as there's an exception to every rule, today was my designated Moodling day. It went okay.

I received a call from the DMV, which I had to put on speaker phone so that the Queen Mother could talk to them, with a little help from me. (They didn't want to speak with me directly; how rude!) Basically, they said their records only went back to 2009, even in Microfilm, as they only keep records for ten years. It doesn't look like they will be of any help to us. 

While a part of me wants to give up, another part is still looking for answers. One option is to swear out an affidavit of my own; another is to get a Doctor's Note to swear that mom has been disabled since before 2004. There may be other options out there; right now, I'm putting out my feelers. (Himself's philosophy of Keep Copies of All Pertinent Records Forever is looking more sensible by the day!) 

Himself and I also took a trip to Fry's Electronics in San Marcos to price video cards. We found a reasonably priced one today that we will attempt to pick up tomorrow, which means our computer might just be up and functional again by the weekend. That will make the Queen Mother very happy.

Tomorrow looks to be a busy day, with appointments to be kept and errrands to be run. Fortunately it's the only really busy day this week, which has been a nice change of pace. We have reached a bit of a plateau, and it feels nice to make progress this way to the summit of the mountain, instead of having to try to scale at a near-vertical incline!

I have a few clothes to put away yet, and the tucking of mom into bed. We'll see if we can actually get up a little earlier than usual to get things done.

Day 206: on a marvelous monday

It rained off and on today, but that didn't stop me from enjoying a day out with an errand here and a commitment there. An actual April shower - who'da thunk it? ;)

I got a nice bonus today when I found a bigger total in my account than had been there yesterday. Seems my State Tax refund was direct deposited. Now to see when the Federal one might arrive. I was able to pick up a few other things besides chicken for the Queen Mother.

I was totally pleased to find a big jar of mixed nuts on our latest, and hopefully LAST, pantry visit. I have been looking for a healthy snack that I could indulge in on my own, and this will definitely do the trick. 

We would have gone to the peace vigil this evening, but we had a commitment we had made weeks before the insanity unfolded a few days ago. I honored that commitment, and Himself came along in support. Things unfolded rather nicely. We stopped off at the ocean afterwards for a few minutes, inhaling the salty air and doing a bit of stargazing. The skies were busy tonight, as we tracked airplane lights moving toward, and away from, San Diego proper.

We had to make a pit stop at a Hampton Inn. I had booked a stay there when we thought we were going to be fumigated in November, but cancelled it when the fumigation was postponed. We received word over the weekend that the fumigation is back on for mid-June, and I wanted to confirm that they would still accept the cats, and for how much. (Yes and not for much at all.) If the timing works out with the VA settlement money, we could go directly from fumigation into condo renovation, and I have the temporary accomodations worked out.

The skies look to be a bit clearer tomorrow, and it looks like I will have the time to tend to some domestic business. Looking forward to a productive day. :)

Day 177: on a sunday with some swerves

We made it to our Support Group today, despite Himself scaring the bejeezus out of me a couple of times en route. He drove a cab for 20 years, off and on, and let's just say it shows significantly now and again. Our group, as usual, was lovely. One of the members now brings an assortment of squishy stress balls, some more squishy than others, and I have taken to using them to decrease my stress, and increase my hand strength.

Then Himself and I got into discussing our schedule for tomorrow, and what needed to be done tomorrow, and I went into a full-blown panic attack, once again envisioning trying to stuff ten pounds of (scheduling) potatoes into a five pound sack. I settled down somewhat after eating dinner, and after further discussion, we agreed to tackle part of that to-do list today instead of waiting for tomorrow. Except for the cable company's office being closed today, we were successful.

The source of my panic was seeing my desire to visit the ocean being steadily chipped away by all of the errands that needed to be run. I know that I need a break, especially after today, not even 24 hours after decompressing from the previous week! My challenge is to prioritize my Self-Care and holding it as something just as important as any appointment or errand - if not MORE important in some cases. With the shifting of some of our errands to tonight, I am now back on track to visiting the ocean tomorrow.

So, I will be looking over everything once more, and plotting accordingly. Himself has appointments tomorrow and Tuesday, and then the days are free for the rest of the week. There is also a chance of rain in the forecast starting on Wednesday, so we have a very good reason for shifting from an outward focus (appointments and errands) to an inward one (tackling the kitchen and maybe some more decluttering). 

With any luck, Himself's VA attorney will be presenting his case before the Board of Veteran's Affairs tomorrow or Tuesday, so we can start that final ball rolling - and calculate just how far away the summit of the mountain is. Pray for us, if you would. 

Day 174: on a simplified thursday

I finished the last of my "distateful" phone calls today, and took a few deep breaths afterward. Not the way I wanted to disentangle myself from the situation, but I'm hoping that we've bought a little more time to allow for the influx of cash to arrive. Now I can concentrate on the "everyday" bills and dole out money to the various parties.

Speaking of, Himself and I paid a visit to AAA, then to Cox Communications. Our intention was to switch things around to have him pay these bills until the above mentioned cash influx arrives. It turns out we were trying to overcomplicate some rather simple things: for AAA, it would be best for him to give me the money until the policy renews in June, then we can make the necessary switches. For Cox, since it's not an automatic payment, it really doesn't matter which of us makes the payment, as long as it's made. So, life was simplified.

We then journeyed down south to visit the abode of the Queen Mother's bestie, to pick up a couple of packages. It will be the Queen Mother's birthday tomorrow. She got a pair of birthday cards in the mail today, and some others might arrive over the next day or two.

I come to the end of the week in much better shape than I was at the beginning of the week. I have handled my challenging business, and am feeling okay about it. I have short list of things to do over the weekend, but no worries; Monday is going to be another day at the beach, perhaps this time with an actual picnic lunch!

Now I just have to find the Queen Mother's birthday card... :)

Day 143: on plugging back in

It did me a world of good to Unplug yesterday and return to reading to fill the time!

Besides reading several sections of the newspaper yesterday, I also returned to a book I started a few months ago, Passages in Caregiving by Gail Sheehy. A great pity I didn't know about this book when I was starting this Odyssey, as it would have helped to allay some of my early concerns. I have it now, though, and I am picking up valuable tidbits of insight and wisdom as I read. :)

I plugged back in this morning and found that my money had arrived, so grocery shopping we went. There were a couple of surprises today, one quirky and cute, the other not so much. First, when I moved my bags a bit closer to the groceries on the conveyer belt as we were checking out, we found a small grasshopper hitching a ride! Was it there all along or did it stow away in one of our bags? That I don't know, but it wound up hopping onto me as I tried to coax it into a roll of paper towels, so I borrowed the roll and went outside to deposit the little bug into the bushes outside of the store. I did return the paper towels to the cashier afterwards.

On the way home, things got a little scary - some dude jumped out of the passenger door of a black car in front of us. With a baseball bat in hand, he proceeded to bang savagely on the rear bumper of the burgundy pickup trunk in front of us. I have no idea why. When the pickup truck pulled off into a dirt lot a little further down the road, a woman got out of the truck and started looking behind us, as though she was looking for the black car. We didn't see the car behind us, but that was enough for Himself to call 911 and report the whole incident as we continued on our way home.

It wasn't until I was waiting for my dinner to heat up that I realized I was more shaken up than I had given myself credit for; how often do you see some random act of road rage unfold before you in traffic? I'm more than happy to stay home tonight, thank you, and I'm wondering if perhaps I shouldn't start practicing a bit of protective shielding again. :-O

I'm not sure if I'm going to get much constructive done tonight. Tomorrow feels like a better day to pick up where I've left off, methinks. Tonight I shall pray that people start working through their Shadow material, instead of allowing the material to work them over! 

Day 122: on honoring my instincts

Sometimes discretion is the better part of valor, and today I chose to reschedule just about everything that required me to leave the house. A cold rainy day + the start of my Moonflow = significant introversion and zero tolerance for bureaucratic ineptitude. I knew that if we were to go to the Social Security office today, there was a fair chance that I would be arrested, or politely escorted off the property at the very least, as my claws were Out.

I did have to do some grocery shopping, getting a few essentials for all parties of the household, and we were fortunate to get in, out, and done before the rains began in earnest. It rained early in the morning, then stopped until mid-afternoon, and has been going on and off since. It's supposed to rain tomorrow as well, then we get a few days to dry out before the next system pays a visit on Saturday.

I also managed to print out the medical release form for the Queen Mother, and enter my timesheet for the second half of January, so I managed to Adult a little. Mainly it's been trying very hard to stay "civil" to the rest of the family, and not go postal on them. (This arises from a deep desire simply to be Left Alone while I go about the very important task of Bleeding.)

Tomorrow, Himself has some appointments, one of them being an eye exam, where they will probably want to dilate his pupils. So I will make an effort to go with and drive him back home. Wish me luck...

Day 116: on a day suddenly opening up

I thought we were going to have an early day today, but Himself and I talked it over last night, and chose to sleep in a little. Sleeping in turned out to be even less of a deal than I thought. We had planned to attend an event, but I had written down the wrong date; it actually unfolds on Thursday instead of today. This led to both of us looking at our calendars and pretty well shifting the rest of the week around. When we were done, the only thing we had to do today was grocery shopping, and that was it.

I am grateful when I can get up and get moving at a leisurely pace, instead of having to be mindful of any appointments or other events. I am doubly grateful when a busy day suddenly empties out and swings wide open. I feel like I can breathe a little deeper and put down my burdens, even if just for one day.

I informed the Queen Mother of our change of plans, and she took advantage of the situation by taking a shower, and (as usual) kvetching about it for an hour or so afterwards. I figure there will come a time when I will have to get in the shower with her and do all of the work while she sits still, but that time is (fortunately) not Now.

Once the Queen Mother was clean and lotioned, I took my shower and got ready to go grocery shopping. I had to watch the prices very carefully, and get only necessities, but I came in below my allotted limit and took care of our immediate needs. I always feel satisfied when I can go in, get what is on the priority list, and not have to put anything back. Is it the willpower? Is it some successful Adulting? I would have to think on that to give you a definitive answer.

The cats were very happy that we came back with more food for them, and the Queen Mother was happy to have more ice cream. So a good trip all in all. ;)

Both Himself and I should be getting our monthly payments before the week is out, so I am not terribly worried about running out of anything. Today was a good day, another one I can add to the tally of good days vs. bad ones. I'm having more good days than bad now, so I call that Progress and grow even more content. :)

Day 89: on moving into a new day

Since I stayed inside yesterday, I chose to turn the focus outside today. We had groceries we needed to get, a car payment to make, and money to get things done. The errands unfolded one after the other without a hitch, and we got home in plenty of time before we needed to fix mom dinner.

Before we launched into the grocery shopping, Himself and I treated ourselves to a nice brunch at a local diner that has reasonable prices. It was a nice little treat for ourselves to start off the new year. I had something I don't usually eat: a breakfast burrito, vegetarian style, so it had no bacon or sausage in it. I got a fruit cup to go with it and gave Himself the cantaloupe pieces and I had the rest of the fruit. (Fun fact: I don't like cantaloupe. It has a gnarly aftertaste that I've never gotten used to.) The brunch was so filling, that I wound up having a later dinner than usual, tucking in to my "mock chili" I described a few days ago.

I also started a second small experiment: while out shopping at Trader Joe's, and waiting for Himself to join me in the store, I took a pic of one of the pretty flower bouquets they sell there and posted it on Messenger, with a Daily Story hashtag. I want to post a pic (or two) and/or a video on my Messenger Stories every day for the next year. I don't guarantee that I will make it every day, and some of the pics will be totally random, but I'm feeling ready to reach out a little more on social media again, after being off of it for over a year (July 2017 - August 2018) and keeping a low profile since I returned.

Tonight is forecast to be a chilly night, with temperatures at or slightly below (!) freezing. Fortunately the cats are in, the central heater is working, and I have on socks. We are going to be quite cozy tonight. :)

Day 83: on taking care of the essentials

My money from the state arrived today, so I was able to take care of a few more bills and do some much needed grocery shopping. As lovely as the charitable pantry is, they don't have items to cleanse dentures, nor do they have Kleenex boxes, nor do they offer cat food, at least, nothing the cats would actually eat. There are also certain things the Queen Mother will only eat a certain brand of, and won't accept any substitutes. So we loaded up our supply of canvas shopping bags and headed out.

It's Himself's turn to have a wonky back - he overexerted himself yesterday, and has been a bit out of sorts today. Fortunately, there are the little shopping scooters available, so he drove around while I got necessities. I had to rest my back for a little while after we returned home, but not for too long. Everybody is basically happy now.

I received a lovely surprise in the mail when Himself came home: a mermaid coloring book, based on one of Doreen Virtue's oracle decks. I may or may not have done a wee Happy Pagan dance. It will be nice change of pace to color in when I need a break from the intricate patterns of the mandalas. I'm grateful to have such cool friends who support me in all sorts of ways. :)

Since we took care of necessities today, tomorrow will be the day I roll up my sleeves and return to following the (seemingly) never ending paper trail. Oh what fun. ;p

Day 75: on summarizing another good day

I made it to my chiropractic appointment in plenty of time, and felt better afterwards. I'm going to see if I can return after the new year to get my spine re-aligned still further.

After I had my breakfast, I made it out to the post office. The self-serve kiosk was down, doubtless after being overwhelmed with so many holiday shipments, so I had to get in the "full service" line and paid a grand total of 71 cents to get my Very Important Papers mailed to Sacramento to see if I can get those October paychecks (that were gobbled up by the evil Share of Cost) re-sent to me.

From there, it was a trip to Walmart to pick up a few necessities. I'm down to a little more than a dollar in ye olde bank account, but no worries, I'm going to be submitting another timesheet tomorrow.

Post-dinner, I loaded up the dishwasher and turned it on, then settled into my mandala coloring book to work on a special Solstice mandala. I have to take occasional breaks when I'm coloring, because my mind is considering different colors in the patterns, and sometimes it takes me a while to choose which color is going where! So far, though, it's always turned out well, at least in my opinion.

I was delayed in posting this evening because I had to some proofreading for Himself in a project he's working on. Gotta trim up those run-on sentences! ;) Perhaps tomorrow I'll wax a bit more eloquently and at length. I've been mulling over a few things as the year draws to a close, and I have a few thoughts to share...

Day 74: on shifting focus

Errands and Fun Outside the Home were the order of today.

Once a month or so, I have a lunch date with one of my sisters from the support group Himself and I attend on Sundays. She helps me keep my head on straight, and when I need it, very gently helps me remove my head from my arse. Lunches with her are lovely - just the two of us, sharing conversation and yummy food. She has been, and will continue to be, a lovely angel in my life.

Once we finished up at lunch, we went our separate ways, and Himself picked me up en route to the VA Medical Center. He had an access port implanted before he started chemotherapy a couple of years ago, and kept it when his regimen was over. He goes in once a month or so to have it flushed, and when blood needs to be drawn for lab work, the nurses use the port to draw the blood. Having the port has come in very handy in the nearly two years post-chemotherapy, as he's been hospitalized several times since his cancer adventure, and having IV needles inserted into his arm has been problematic at best! At any rate, we were also finally able to nail down the elusive PET scan appointment, which he needs before his next oncology appointment, and made a trip to the Pharmacy for some medication renewals.

We were delayed on the trip home by some heavier traffic than usual, thanks to some gnarly accidents on the 15. We eventually made it, though, and I prepared mom's dinner while Himself grabbed a bite to eat before heading back out into the fray, for more business. I finally grabbbed a few things to munch on about three hours ago; lunch was that filling. I've also tidied up the kitchen a bit, mostly in gathering up everything that needs to be recycled.

I have a chiropractic appointment for myself tomorrow, as the muscles in my lower back have been tensing up the past few days, which normally means my back is about ready to go out. Before it does, I'm going to get it re-aligned. Then there's a quick trip to the post office that needs to be made, to get some vital documents up to Sacramento to see if I can get those elusive paychecks from October. After that will be the usual grocery shopping, then home to (hopefully) tackle the dishes!

Winter Solstice is on Friday, and I'm feeling a lift in my energy as we get closer to that Longest Night... :)

Day 67: on adulting

I pat myself on the back today for getting some Adulting done successfully. I beat the Depression back with my walking stick. ;)

I made some challenging phone calls. I didn't get all the answers I had hoped for, but the calls are done, and I have a better idea of what things look like.

I also did a load of laundry and got some much needed groceries. I have enough that I could get by with a few things here and there, and Himself could probably do some culinary improvisation as well. Even the cats have a basic routine that doesn't cost a horrible amount of money.

The Queen Mother is the most significant challenge: she know what she wants, and waivers very little from what she wants. I have noticed, however, she's become a little less picky in the past few weeks. Either she doesn't remember what she's wanted in the past, or she's stopped complaining about her dietary options (preferring to save her complaints for how "messy" the house is). Either way, I'm grateful for the extra wiggle room, and do what I can to save money.

Change of pace tomorrow: caregiver support group (yay!), plus an appointment or two. Himself and I are also going to meet with one of our friends to talk some shop and possibly brainstorm on ideas.

By degress, Hope returns... :)