Working Wednesday, the Late Edition, February 15, 2023

~ Jenny

I was sick all weekend, like contemplating the ER sick, and then slept through Monday and Tuesday, so I didn’t notice it was Wednesday until, uh, now (7:31 PM). I apologize.

So I mostly cried and threw up this week. What did you do?

39 thoughts on “Working Wednesday, the Late Edition, February 15, 2023”

  1. Do not apologize, just get well. I’ve only been awake a hour or two, myself. Not sick. Just lethargic and sleepy and resting.

  3. I cried but didn’t throw up yesterday!

    I had the audition for my dream show. I thought I did really well at it. But of course, I’m me. Not only did I not get in–they could have had more women in it and gave two of the female parts to a guy, too–the crush auditioned (which I did not know, as he’d said repeatedly he didn’t want to, and otherwise I’m not contacting him unless I run into him IRL) and got in. Hence the crying, and the anger.

    I knew it was a long shot for me to get in, but him getting in is kinda insult to injury. But he’s a guy, so it’s easy-peasy for a guy to get into theater, of course. It almost makes me want to act out an 80’s/90’s movie and pretend to be a guy in shows, except then people would think I’m trans and get rightfully offended.

    Other than that, I’m making a skirt and just…killing and wasting time and my life here. Feeling like a total loser because nobody I want wants me.

    3. You audtioned… got up in front of people and performed, be proud. All the other stuff is on other people.

    4. I’m sorry. It’s so hard to be in an activity that’s dependent on factors beyond one’s control (I say as a writer who’s dependent on the quirks of agents, acquisition editors, and ultimately readers). I know it probably won’t help right now, but I admire your willingness to risk the rejection, and I hope it pays off before long! I’m going to remember your bravery the next time I get cold feet on a writing project!

  4. I’m sorry the week’s been a downer for Jenny & Jennifer. 🙁

    Mine’s been productive but not in a ‘notably fun things to report’ way. Maybe next week. Hope everybody feels better soon!

  5. Yay Jenny you’re okay!

    I’ve been whittling away at stuff. Seems like I get one thing done and 2 more pop up.

    I’m on the board of my writers critique group. We had to redo our website. Took forever but it’s up finally.

    I love it. Check it out:

    Pinellaswriters.org

  6. I’ve been working on health care. It seems clear I need a parathyroid surgery but after something like six different medical tests including a 3 hour nuclear medicine test they can’t be sure exactly what operation so Monday I go see a third specialist. Which means my operation has to wait until after DH gets back from Sweden/Nepal/India (3 cities)/ Frankfort or London tbd, at the end of March, when I was hoping to fit it in before he goes.
    And I have two other medical things waiting until this is done.
    None of it is “serious” meaning the doctors don’t think it’s urgent. But I want to get it done with! And I suspect the parathyroid thing is making me tired and lethargic.
    Meanwhile I’m slowly working on a very long to do list. Many items on it like the tax forms really should be done before DH leaves the country.
    And today we met with our attorney about updating our power of attorney, advance care directive and wills. We haven’t updated them in a decade and the law has changed and our kids have grown up and we acquired an adult foster daughter and …. what I started out thinking was pretty mechanical actually means changing a bunch of stuff. And even though we are both basically fine and don’t expect to need it any time soon it’s grim. Especially since my close friends mom is in hospice and so she is using this legal stuff now—so it feels very concrete.

    1. I’m glad you’re getting multiple opinions. My rare disorder comes with a side helping of hyperparathyroidism, sometimes transitory, sometimes permanent (tertiary). From what I’ve heard from others in my community (I haven’t had the surgery myself), it’s really, REALLY important to get a surgeon who’s done a lot of parathyroidectomies. I’ve heard too many stories of surgeons messing it up (not fatal, just annoying outcomes — not getting the entire gland or getting too much, depending on what they’re supposed to be doing) from my rare disorder community. Great results when working with experts, not so great with surgeons who may be good at other things but don’t have a lot of parathyroid experience.

  7. Hey Jenny — really sorry you’ve felt crummy, glad you slept a lot. Do not fret about schedule irregularities. Intermittent reinforcement beats continuous reinforcement any day.

  11. That sounds like some really awful days, Jenny. Good thing they’re behind you now. Rest and get well soon!
    And for everyone else whom have had a rough week: I’m sorry you had to walk through a bumpy week-patch there. Hope it changes its mood right about now and starts treating you with kindness.

    I’m… working on myself? My start of week was pretty rough on the emotional plane, thanks to therapy and whatnots and things and a full-fledged panic attack that I did not see coming and hadn’t exactly requested either. Luckily I’ve got good people around me. Yesterday (Wednesday), MIL and Sven and I went out to the pier to throw a HUGE rock in the sea that symbolized “The punitive parent” (schema therapy-term, the part of you telling you you suck, can’t do things, are never enough, never good enough, always lazy, ugly, stupid etc) in me, to get rid of her. She’s an absolute bitch and I don’t want her in my head anymore. I held a little speech for her (crying, bleh), then threw her in the sea, where she is now rotting among bloodthirsty sharks. As she should. Bye!
    After that, we celebrated with hot chocolate and apple pie. Victory.
    Now if I could just find a solution to this exhaustion so I could actually do all the things that hag has keept shouting I can’t… Argh!

  12. I’ve been pretty productive, while pacing myself – still unsure if the B12’s still a problem, since though I went back to the doctor, they messed up the blood test. She’s prescribed three months more pills anyway, plus another blood test in a month. Meanwhile, I’m also brainstorming weaving more people and activities into my life, so there’s some structure & social contact, since I think I’m getting a bit too isolated & stressed.

    I’m pleased with how much I’ve done on the allotment. I’m waiting on the greenhouse build, due next week, before I finish all the paths. But it’s looking a lot more manageable and attractive. I restarted a photography project that’s been on the back burner for four years, and had a great day up in the hills. Even managed not to fall off a slippery hillside, or pursue a non-existent path into a boggy conifer plantation.

    And the Penguin proofs finally arrived, two months and a day late, so I’m working on those.

  13. I spent way too much time in waiting rooms. The cat threw up everything Saturday evening, and I noticed a piece of string hanging from his mouth. I grabbed it, pulled it out and then bundled him and DH for a trip to the emergency vet. This is the cat who had to have surgery to remove thread from his intestines. I don’t know what it is about thread that he likes, but apparently, he just does. After three hours, we took him home as the vet found nothing.

    Sunday, the cat wasn’t acting like himself, so I bundled him back to the vet. Another three hours to find out he had lots of air bubbles in his intestines. No wonder he was laying around, near the litter box, looking miserable. On the bright side, I did see – and hear – him give three good farts on Monday. It was funny to see him try to figure out where that noise came from. But he’s all good now.

    Monday, I took DH for his colonoscopy. Minimal angst, and a lot less waiting than at the vet. All good and clear.

    Over the weekend, my family has decided that my dad should be in hospice care. There’s nothing a hospital can do now except keep him alive, and that’s not the kind of life he wants. So, he’s now settled in at my sister’s place.

    It’s been a traumatic weekend, emotionally, and I had a hard time doing anything creative. I started a crochet blanket that was mindless, and used a whole skein in the vet waiting room. I’m sure I’ll get back to it. And I’ve been chugging along with daily February crochet. Through it all, I’m thankful for my family and my pets. Here the cats are looking pretty comfy

    https://www.instagram.com/p/CorkSe5OCo2/

    1. That sounds like a horrible weekend, Nancy. Hugs. I have a cat that eats toilet paper. Don’t ask me why. After finding a wad stuck in her butt months ago, I had to buy a special dispenser box that hides all the the end of the roll, plus all the extra rolls. Sigh. You have all my sympathy.

      1. My cat likes to unroll the paper, and parade it through the house. Luckily, she doesn’t eat it! If it isn’t too bedraggled, we can reroll it on the tube and make use of it.

      2. Hannah likes to eat paper products too. She will gleefully pack around paper towels, tissues, anything she can get her mouth on and if I’m not following her around prying her jaws open she will eat them.

        String/thread eating is a special kind of pet hell.

    2. I’m religious about keeping thread/string away from my cat who almost died and needed surgery after eating thread, but she will actually create her own string if there isn’t any from me — she pulls the loops out of terry cloth towels, to make her own strings and will unravel the unfinished edges of fabric, so I now need to keep it all boxed up when I’m not actively quilting. Sigh.

  15. My sympathy and support to all of you who struggled this past week.

    A funny — I drove my daughter to Lake Placid to see World Cup Ski Jumping, something I was dreading.

    Our motel had been sold and we were moved to a house with a new interior but surrounded by trash. It was great — we got lots of videos of a fisher as it caught mice in the garbage.

    Ski Jumping is fantastic! Thousands of Poles — both American and from Poland — carried red and white flags with the names of the towns they’re from. All the skiers responded to the crowd’s enthusiasm by skiing really well. Apparently, the Polish fans are famous for following ski jumping.

    And, my daughter broke in the Lake Placid visitor services with her wheelchair. She had them trained to have an ADA shuttle at hand by the last day of the competition.

  16. Poor baby. I made a lemon cake, swore at the white chocolate ganache (white chocolate is the devil’s work), did some work, worried about my elderly dog. Now about to walk said dog then make a pie to feed 16 adult males, and try to get a bit more work done.

  17. Argh. So sorry you were sick. Hope you’re feeling much better now. Was it some kind of flu?

    I’m working on decorating the new four-season porch, now that it is FINALLY finished. The electrician wrapped up the last of his stuff yesterday, and then we spent hours trying to label the upgraded electrical box, which involved much turning off of breakers and then running around the house and up and down the stairs yelling, “No, that’s not it!” It went pretty well, except for the discovery that the wires going out to the barn/garage were done completely wrong and not up to code, and so now I have to fix that. Argh. Still, at least I know, and have a solution.

    I finally should be able to get back to writing, except of course I got final revision notes back for my next Llewellyn book…which due to some kind of issue at their end, have a really tight turn-around time. They need them by March 1st. Which wouldn’t be so bad, except I’m going to the Coastal Magic convention in Orlando from the 23rd-28th, so it really means I have to get them done by the 22nd. So that’s what I’ll be working on until they’re done.

    1. If it’ll make you feel better about your wiring challenges — a local hospital caught fire last week and the electrical system (probably installed around the time it was built in 1898 — no, I didn’t transpose any numbers) is fried, and the hospital is likely going to be closed for three months! I can’t even imagine what it’s going to take to get it properly wired to current codes. It’s not the equal of big Boston hospitals, but it’s got some pretty advanced equipment, like the imaging and stress testing I did before I went to a Boston hospital for my heart surgery.

  19. Jenny I hope you are feeling much better and that the source of the crying (if it’s not related) is also improving.

    I am working on a film analysis project, which is really fun, though I know zip about it and have to learn all sorts of things. I had a really good writing day working on it, the kind where all the synapses are firing. Doesn’t happen a lot any more, so I’m noting it.

    Had routine blood work and am back in range for glucose, which makes me very happy.

  22. Sorry your so sick. Hope you feel better soon.

    Getting through the week. Had the doctor today, dentist tomorrow. One more meeting tonight. Like, I gotta get ready right now!

    No motivation to start my taxes or a Board of Election project. Maybe tomorrow.

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