Wool Gathering

Got kind of a random list of stuff on my mind, so this post will be loosely organized, however not as fanciful as the title implies. HA!

The main thing on my mind is something I’ve been struggling with for a while now. It is my status as The Party Girl™. I’ve always been known for knowing how to have a good time and I’ve certainly leaned into it over the years. I do love me a good party, true, but now that I’m getting old and slowing down, it has been damned hard to move people away from the perception that every interaction with me needs to be a party. This may seem to be a minor thing, and for most people, perhaps it is, but for me, it has become an issue. I can’t have people over for dinner without it becoming an all night affair. Again, I like to party as much as the next girl, but I simply CANNOT do all nighters any more (I don’t even do it at CONS any more FFS!). I am simply too old. It takes me DAYS to get over it – the fatigue, the detox, the angry tummy, all of it. Late night parties are just not worth the price any more! BUT I can’t seem to get anyone to understand this. Every person to the one is deeply embedded with the belief that if you’re at MY house, then baby it’s gonna be a par-TAY! I know change is hard and all that, but I really need my friends to be more open to having a relatively early evening (1am I can do!) and perhaps not all of it spent smoking (which is getting harder for me to recover from). I AM capable of having movie night, or game night, or whatever without it being a balls to the wall party. Sigh. This is my cry for help!

I had a keratosis thing on my cheek recently. It just appeared and was pretty big and ugly – keratosis is basically a skin bump. I fished around the intertubes and found a thread about diclofenac (yes, arthritis cream) being useful to get rid of them. I had some, so I thought: what the hell! I’d already been using microneedle blemish patches with a little success, as well as hyaluronic acid moisturizer and retinol serum. Well, the diclofenac WORKED! Who knew? I also now have eczema spots all over my body, which I find most irritating. They don’t itch, they just look awful. My neighbor works for Dermalogica, and she gave me some serum stuff that has plant STEM cells for the keratosis. It did little for the keratosis, BUT it did help with the eczema spots. I’ve never had so many issues with my skin. UGH. I hates it.

My chronic GERD has advanced to a LOT more spitting up and/or vomiting up the whole meal. It is fairly random, but sometimes I can feel when it’s going to happen and stop eating immediately. Yes, I know that getting a revision to a full bypass would solve this, but I just can’t. I may be driven to it at some point, but for now, I just can’t face another surgery. So I’ll live with occasional bulimia. Sigh.

Shasti is starting to show her true age. We think she is probably 15+, which is 4 years more than we initially thought. Her eyes have begun to show age with the irises changing colour and the pupils becoming a bit cloudy. She sleeps a LOT more. Her kidney numbers are not great, but holding steady for now. I have to get her on fluid therapy, which means I have to learn to do it myself ($145 a pop? NOPE.). I have a difficult time with the hard jab necessary to pierce that tough skin on her scruff. I’ve managed to get her to take her kidney and constipation meds in her food, but now we are trying to do a week of antibiotics every month, rotating the kind, to see if we can keep that gum infection at bay. THAT is proving nearly impossible to put in food – it is the pink stuff, clavamox, and she is supposed to get 1ml a day. It is too much for food and gods I hate fighting her to take it orally. I spend an inordinate amount of time dealing with the cat.

And finally, I guess I’m just a little on the depressed side lately. I feel misunderstood, I am always tired and I have no motivation to do anything. BUH. It will pass, it always does, but it’s just a DRAG. I try daily to remember that I have a basically good life with a nice home, good friends and a wonderful partner in crime. I try to avoid the news and avoid thinking about this country going down the toilet because I am trapped here and can’t leave, so what good is it to waste time worrying about it? I just try to accentuate the positive, baby.

And with that, I go forth to find some happiness. Which means I’ll probably cook something. ;)

The MEH Continues

The Pollening™ has begun in earnest. Seems early this year? Is it early? I dunno, time has become so fluid now, it is impossible to tell if something happened one or four years ago. Sigh.

We are doing pretty well here at the Weasel Lair™. Nick’s job is going, he got the small raise and a bonus to make up for not getting the big raise. I’m still slumming over at MRC. Not sure how much longer that will go, the work with my hands has brought forth a trigger finger on my right ring finger and overall stiffness and pain in both hands. Arthritis, no doubt. Thanks Gran and Mom! BUT the result of the effort is good, we are finally AHEAD on bills and the CCs are being paid down. Progress is good and it’s alleviating much of the doldrums we’ve been in, but MEH is still our overall state.

Shasti had a clean bill of health other than the one gum spot that STAYS gross and infected. Tooth is fine, but that spot is always an issue. She got an antibiotic shot and we are to attempt to clean the area with kitty toothpaste. LOL This should be fun! Dr says, “But she’s SO GOOD!” and I reply “She is for YOU.” This is a quote from TNG episode Genesis:

She is for YOU.
“She is for YOU.”

Everything is trundling along. Time flies. We’ll have been here for TEN YEARS in June. Shasti is probably a bit older than we estimated, likely 11-12ish. I don’t want to think about that. So many friends are losing pets I just CAN’T think about losing her right now.

I feel somewhat untethered of late. Just sort of floating along. I think Nick is the same. We are in the same pool, but not on the same float, if that makes sense. It’ll pass.

We wrapped up our long distance client and Nick is working to wrap up several other clients that have been languishing. Time to move on. We’re selling off a bunch of project cabinets, too. We’ve basically shut down POAS as far as new clients and projects. We’ve not received any invitations to cons this year, so we’re not even sure we’ll do THAT. If they ask, we feel obliged to go – if nothing else, to hold our spot. If they don’t ask, I guess we’ll take the year off. ::shrug:: I wish I cared more, but honestly, cons are fun, but VERY, VERY stressful and tiring. And we’re OLD. Might be time to just stop all of it. We shall see. We’ll just continue taking care of our core client and see how it goes.

Guess that’s about it for what’s going on around here. Like I said: MEH. I’d love to hear from y’all, feel free to comment, it’s open. :)

I Survived Captain Trips!

I tested positive after DragonCon this year. Not a shock at all, but an inconvenience.

This current strain is very transmissible, but also pretty mild. It was like a very light flu. I had a low grade fever for about a week with some light congestion and cough.

Nick got it, too, despite his getting a booster right before con. All the booster did for him was make the tests give a false negative. He’s a couple of days behind me in recovery.

I’m on day 9 today. I tested positive yesterday but no fever since Thursday, so I think I’m done. The rules are unclear and most places have given up trying to control the spread. I put off starting the p/t job until I at least had no fever, so with that done, I’ll be starting on Monday. I’ve got a jury summons for Monday as well, but if I get called, they’ll give me a 3 month waiver due to the Covid infection.

I’m happy to have a p/t job – gods know we need the money. Nick is also pursuing two jobs that pay better than MM and are on this side of town. I really hope he gets one of them! Even a buck or two more without an hour long commute would be excellent. [He did! He will start at the new gig on Halloween!]

So, I feel a bit more positive than I have for a while. At least money will be less tight with me bringing in a coupla hundred per week. I got a notice from Macy’s Northlake that they want to hire me, but I think I’ll go with TJX even tho there’s a commute. For some reason, that store appeals to me. WE SHALL SEE. LOL I give it 2 weeks before they get on my last nerve. [YEP, 2 weeks is all I could stand. The horrible management did me in. After being accused of riding the clock, then grilled about how long it takes me to pee and poop, I WALKED. No more retail for me, it has become less desirable than fucking fast food. UGH. I began a prep job instead and I love it. See next post!]

That’s the state of the Weasels on this fine September day. Mercury Rx has been a bitch, but hopefully it will not interfere with Nick’s job hunt. It didn’t hurt mine. We will likely drive to Buford tomorrow to fix a game at the skating rink. It’s been put off due to the plague. Need to get that out of the way. Then we need to get the bathroom painted. It is disgusting with mold growth despite our best efforts. Sigh.

So I can definitely say “I Survived Captain Trips” now! I’ll wear my shirt with pride! LOL Get yours at Tee Public!

Acupuncture for GERD #5

Didn’t feel all that great this morning, so I knew the session would be painful. YUP.

She left everything in place for twice as long as usual.

I am still on the same Death Tea™, which is not too horrible at least.

After a hard session, I usually feel tired, as I do today. So I’m going to take it easy today, do some light cooking and just chill.

I really wish my body was as compliant as Nick’s. He’s already feeling better after 3 sessions. ::sob::

Alas, my body is as stubborn as my mind, so onward we go with treatment.

SIGH.

Acupuncture for GERD Session #4

Since the previous session, I’ve been taking the new Death Tea™ as directed, but the GERD is back in force. Last week I had several days where every single thing I ingested caused a GERD spike and I was eating Tums by the handful. NOT GOOD.

At the first of this week, I was feeling depressed about the GERD resisting acupuncture and just not in a great space. But the GERD did ease off a little bit this week. You have to remember that when it’s spiking badly, it will wake me up twice every night as well, and I have to eat a Tums. Once a night is bad enough, but twice is pretty bad for sleep quality.

I am tired and feeling gross today, so I knew the acupuncture was going to suck. I almost didn’t go! And I was not surprised when almost every needle hurt. Being overly tired will often read as anxiety to Drs because, for me, my heart rate is elevated when I’m overtired. So she gave me two scalp and a third eye needles today – which did help me relax. The needles even hurt coming out today – which NEVER happens. :(

No cups today, but I did get seeds in the ears for acupressure! They look like this:

acupressure seeds
Acupressure Seeds

I also got a new Death Tea™, since the one she gave me was clearly not working. She said she’s changing tack and give me a more supportive tea rather than trying to take on my issues directly. She said that this tea will support my spleen and help bolster my “good energies”.

WE SHALL SEE.

Next appointment is 3 wks, on a good luck Friday the 13th! I really hope this new tea works!