I had taken this Friday off from work as the day after the end of the now-cancelled training. Then the husband and I decided to grab the last open tickets we could get for 9-to-5 the musical at one of our favorite dinner theaters for tomorrow, and given that it's in the opposite side of the area from where I work I went ahead and took tomorrow off so we could get there on time. Then I remembered I have an ophthalmologist appointment Monday where they'll dilate my eyes so I won't be able to work after that, and took Monday off as well. So here I am with an inadvertent five day weekend. Go me. I look forward to some sleep. And the musical. And a clean bill of health from the ophthalmologist.

Survived another week working for the chaos machine that is the US government these days. Go me.

Hopefully I'll be able to catch up on some meaningful sleep this weekend. Because it sure wasn't happening during the week. The Garmin watch I've been wearing since December gives you a "body battery" score based on how you're recovering, sleep, dealing with stress, etc., and all this week it's been in the low to mid 20s. Out of 100. Yikes.

Only plan I have for the weekend, other than sleep, is looking for some walking shoes at the local REI. And maybe some knitting.

First off, I'm fine. Don't you love when an entry starts out that way?

Tuesday morning (December 5th, 2023) around 10:30 I was standing in my living room when I had a sudden bout of dizziness, followed by numbness in my right hand and some tingling on the fingertips. Almost felt like my blood sugar had dropped out (the dizziness) and like I'd pinched something so my hand fell asleep. Both passed very quickly, then the hand numbness came back less severely and stopped again. And then the inside of my mouth and tongue on the right side got numb, at which point I started googling stroke and heart attack symptoms, and drove myself over to the local urgent care center. The symptoms were all resolved at that point, in less than ten minutes, but I still wanted to get checked out. They took me back immediately and examined me, then advised me to go to an emergency room.

Drove home, grabbed some things in anticipation of a long wait, summoned an Uber ride, texted the husband to let him know what was up, and went to the ER at the hospital attached to the university he works at, even though it's twice as far as the two closest. It also happens to be in the same network as the urgent care center, so they had all of my info from the earlier check in. The husband met me there, the team again jumped in on me pretty quickly - you say/describe "stroke symptoms" and medical professionals' eyes get big and they immediately start doing things. CT scan that afternoon, then they checked me in that afternoon for an overnight stay for more tests and observation. The poor husband had to return home for the tools to get my piercings out so I could have an MRI, which happened around 12:30am (hospital corridors are much less busy at that hour). Echocardiogram with bubble contrast was late morning on Wednesday, plus constant EKG monitoring and more blood draws than I care to think about over the course of the day.

Tested, prodded, and evaluated, the verdict was that I probably had a "low-impact transient ischemic attack (TIA)", a kind of stroke-like event that quickly resolved itself. No damage, tests all came back normal, not a stroke, but now I get some new medications (baby aspirin and a statin) and a longer discussion about all of this with my primary care physician at a pre-existing appointment on Monday, at which I was already going to be discussing slightly elevated blood pressure (which has not been helped by the lack of ability to do a lot of cardio because of my knee dislocation in September).

All-in-all I'm doing okay now. I feel fine, and other than needing some more sleep everything seems to have returned to status quo ante. I'm annoyed at the elevated blood pressure and adding yet another drug to the morning mix (I hate that I have to take pills to function), but the results came out well for what happened, and I'm glad I got it all checked out and will get an appropriate treatment plan. And maybe a new doctor to add to the deck? Because as you age doctors seem to be like Pokemon - gotta catch 'em all! Heh.

With the in-laws here, our female cat has been crashing in the bed with me, which I love, but I'm a couple years out of the habit of sleeping with her there. She likes to curl up on top of my legs, where the male cat just curls up at my feet, so it's been an adjustment to have her back there (that was her normal spot back at the apartment, but not really since we moved to the townhouse). So I've needed to take some naps to keep going.

Lunch was a spiral cut ham, warmed in the sous vide (no glaze, because nah), melting potatoes, sautéed green beans, some stove top stuffing (family tradition for the in-laws), and rolls. Dessert was an apple crumble from the slow cooker (apples & spices cooked down for several hours, with a nut/oat/honey topping that you [quickly] bake separately in the oven). Breakfast was an attempt at a yeasted cinnamon roll, but it didn't want to rise very well, so they were a little dense. I later found a recipe for a yeast-free version, which was basically the same dough recipe but used baking powder and baking soda for the rise, so we'll probably try that in the next day or two. Tomorrow will be leftovers, with maybe some sautéed zucchini thrown in since we finished off the green beans. Or we order pizza. Who knows?

I get eczema occasionally on my hands, and the last two outbreaks it's managed to manifest on the outside of a finger, right at the edge of the first joint, so it's on a spot that's constantly moving and getting irritated from being inflamed. Stoopid immune system. Probably need to calm down on the caffeine again and maybe sneak in a good nap or two.

While out with the husband on Wednesday for the weekly comics run we also stopped by the mall that's close to there because I needed some more body cleaning supplies. Stopped into the Body Shop for conditioner and as I was ringing out the clerk asked if I'd used the products before (mind you, I came in, identified where the conditioner was, made a beeline for it, and while I did make small talk with them, I did not get upsold) and I replied, "A while now, yeah. 30 years now, I think?" I was introduced to the products while I was in college in the early 90s by my favorite cousin, so it has been about 30 years. Afterward as we wandered out the husband was mock-appalled that it had been almost 30 years since I was in college (class of 1994, baby!). I do take a perverse pride in pointing out that all of my formal schooling happened in the previous century (grad school ended in 1998). Heh.

Woke up early this morning and managed to get up without waking the husband. We've both had some sleep issues, getting too little of it, so letting him continue to doze was a good thing. Mostly putzed about quietly through my morning routine. The problem is my brain keeps going to work scenarios, mostly revolving around laying out an argument for why I should be the right choice for my boss' job. And once that happens I'm just awake. I did manage to corral the male cat and keep him on my side of the bed when he came up for cuddles when he noticed I was awake (normally he comes up between the two of us), so that was a definite win for the husband's sleep.

Spent a bunch of time reorganizing stuff in my office yesterday. There were a bunch of things that had been placed on shelves somewhat haphazardly when we moved in and inertia had kept them mostly where they'd initially been put. I did some thinking about how I actually use the space and what made sense to have where, and needed to make changes. The triathlon books don't need to be right next to my reading chair, but the knitting stuff does. I don't need a bag I'm not using right next to my desk, but I do need headphones to be closer. That sort of thing. This after adding some more indirect lighting downstairs in the dining area so we don't have to use the overheads. Proper nesting to settle in, seven months on.

Not a ton of sleep last night. I almost never watch TV news unless there's something of import happening right that instant, and watching the Congress restart their debate felt like one of those moments. So I watched a lot of that, at least until after they were done with Arizona, then CBS switched over to a report about the invasion of the Capitol. I filled up on that, then finally made my way to bed. Didn't sleep well, and was up early on top of it. This may be an afternoon nap kind of day.

It only took two trips to the MVA (motor vehicles administration, for those who do not dwell here in the land of Mary) to get plates. I fully expected that it would take more than that, and that I'd have to go back later for the actual plates, because they have to get the title from my credit union, but apparently that can come later. I had an appointment first thing in the morning, but because we don't (yet) have a printer at home they needed to give me a bunch of forms to fill out (even though I had put most of that into their online system?). Then there was some confusion about whether the husband was on the car registration or not (he's not, though he is on the loan), so I went back late afternoon with the husband in tow, but he didn't end up being necessary in the end. But he got to see the MVA, and we both got out of the house, so not all bad? And at the end of it we got plates. We got the standard 'state flag across the bottom' plates and not any of the fancy ones, and I'll pop those on at some point today.

So now I have to go drop the old plates off in DC at some point. That's literally down the street from the old apartment, so it'll be easy enough to do.

But, due to their 'everything must be scheduled online' appointment system, I can't get a new driver's license until sometime in November, because that was the earliest available appointment. LOL So I'm part of the way there.

Slept in this morning. Alarm went off to go running and I decided another two hours of sleep was more important, so that's what I did. It's a maids day, though, so now I'm scrambling to put things away so she can clean around just what's normally out and not the extra stuff that tends to accumulate outside of its normal homes in the interim. I've been tracking heart rate variability via an app and my apple watch, a once daily measurement, and it's been fun to note how it changes with more or less sleep, and more or less activity. It definite appreciated the extra sleep, as did my brain, which isn't quite as foggy as it felt at 5-something.

At some point I expect I will actually get sleep. Probably once I'm in Denver this upcoming week for work. It certainly wasn't happening last night, or pretty any time the past two weeks, with the build up to and aftermath from the fourth, and the resultant fireworks. The newest one this year makes a window-rattling boom, with a quick, bright flash of light. It's impossible to sleep through. And of course they were going at all hours last night, and the night before.

I expect more of it tonight. And perhaps the night after. I will be much more aggressive about calling the cops starting tonight.

Moving on.

The husband has warned me that I may come back to more cats. I blame susandennis and the pics of her new kittens. ;) I told him that would simply mean more litter for him to scoop, and that then they'd outnumber us (we have two now - Ezri and Benjamin; yes, he got to name them, and yes, he's a huge Star Trek fan, and yes, he's totally jealous because they are definitely "my" cats, or I'm their boy, however one views that). I doubt he'd do it, but one never knows.

So the last day at the office was, as usual, a whirlwind of crazy as I prepped to get out of town, assigned stuff out, tried to get things done, and generally dealt with post-flood issues. But, I'm out, and flying out Sunday. Looking forward to the break.