Hello, my darlings
Apr. 29th, 2018 05:44 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
vanillafluffyMostly a good week, except for Friday, which was harrowing in the extreme.
To begin with, it was the dreaded psych eval for surgery. First, the damn van service didn't listen when I told them it was Building B--which, as I soon found out, is NOT AT ALL the same as the building I was dropped at. And of course, by the time I was elucidated, the bus had left.
It was a warmish day, and I had to hike a block to the right building. Good thing I'd taken my cane. I arrived panting with exertion, but on time and still ahead of the person I was supposed to see.
She was quite young, but hey, I'm at the age where everyone looks young to me, so I tried to ignore the fact that I'm old enough to be her mum and focused on saying All the Right Things. She was making notes on a laptop as I talked, and THEN she announced that there was a True/False questionnaire on an iPad that I'd also need to do. 350 questions, no hurry.
No hurry, my ass. I had a ticket for Avengers: Infinity War, bought specifically as a reward for getting through the eval--which I honestly didn't expect to be so fucking strenuous. I mean, I already did their damn 12 page fill-in-the-blank incredibly personal-detail-oriented preliminary, I thought I'd go in, review my answers with some nice therapist for an hour or so, and that would be that. Fortunately, I'm a fast reader, I just had to fight my tendency to overthink.
Taking it, I was reminded of the words of Hannibal Lector, who, when confronted with a similar test, chuckled and said, "Do you really think you can dissect me with that blunt little tool?". Because, really, I've been an amateur psychology buff from a very young age. My mother read books on child psychology, I read them, too, after she put them down. My sainted Aunt Mary had stacks of women's magazines, and I read the articles...usually there were case histories, which are stories, after all--and along the way, I've picked up more insights. (Hello, 13 seasons of Criminal Minds!)
That made it fairly easy to tell which questions were there to sniff out depression, paranoia, schizophrenia, and the like. Sometimes, if I could tell that which answer was more desirable, I went with that, regardless of my actual thoughts on the subject. I'm getting cynical in my old age, but I did my best to project Optimism! Happiness! Sunshine! Flying unicorns shooting rainbows out their butts!
It was quite wearing, trying to think my way through all 350 questions and still git 'er done before 3, but I managed. And THEN, when I told the young lady I really need the results urgently, she tells me that oh, the therapist gets her notes and the e-test results and she'll send the results to the bariatric clinic. It'll take a few weeks.
I think my mouth may have fallen open; wait, I just poured out the story of my life to some clerk?! I am none too pleased about that. But hey, it was finally over, I got to the theater early enough to get a desirable seat, still riding the wave of optimism I'd poured into the test.
I'm not going to spoil anything, I'm just going to say that if you're at all invested in the MCU, you may want to take tissues and Xanax. And possibly a chamber-pot, because holy cannoli, it's long.
Afterward, I needed something to jolt me out of my fugue, so I was going to walk across the parking lot to the mall...do a little shopping, maybe grab some food...only to find out that there was construction going on, which meant walking way around the building. After the hike to Building B earlier, I had had it by then, so I found a bench and hailed a Lyft.
Usually, Friday is my big TV night. I'd already missed McGyver, a chunk of Hawaii 5-O, and was blah about Blue Bloods. I did tune in for Colbert, who started with an absolutely hysterical sketch about the size of the Infinity War cast. I needed that!
Friday evening, I was in bed as soon as Colbert was over. Woke around 6, had breakfast...I was wiped out. I ended up laying down for an afternoon nap and sleeping for five hours, and despite my earlier nap, went to bed around 3 this morning--comparatively early for me!--and slept til 10:30.
Today I'm chipper, at least compared to yesterday. My back hates me, but it isn't grumbling nearly as badly as yesterday. I have had a couple dizzy moments, but yesterday it was outright debilitating. And despite being sub par, I've managed to Get Shit Done. I reorganized my hat shelf, which involved a lot of reaching and stretching, shifted some artwork and hung up a couple pieces, more reaching and stretching, and have a load of bedding in the laundry, because my sheets were due and my comforter was overdue. It's been a long winter!
The trees have leafed out--a bit earlier than usual this year--and the temps are playing games--warm, dare I say hot? during the day and into the overnight. Then I wake up (under only a sheet) around 6 a.m. going Fuck it's cold gimme a blanket! (And then I remind myself that Floridians probably already have their A/Cs on, and I don't feel so bad.)
In the spirit of "I needed that" (because I'm sure I'm far from the only one!), I wrote a wee MCU fix-it, total crack: "It's Not the End of the World", which can be found here: http://archiveofourown.org/works/14470800. Expect some discrete spoilers, although you won't recognize them as such if you haven't actually seen A:IW.
Meanwhile, I spent the majority of last week working on a happy little brain-eating fic that I naively went into thinking it might run 2 or 3 pages. It ended up being ten pages. Jeepers, as my heroine might say. It's one of those things that was purely a labor of love, since the audience for a Trixie Belden/Three Invesstigators crossover is pretty freakin' small.
The Guy in the Baby Blue Hearse: http://archiveofourown.org/works/14423703
Anyway, that's what's going on with me. Love to all!
...
To begin with, it was the dreaded psych eval for surgery. First, the damn van service didn't listen when I told them it was Building B--which, as I soon found out, is NOT AT ALL the same as the building I was dropped at. And of course, by the time I was elucidated, the bus had left.
It was a warmish day, and I had to hike a block to the right building. Good thing I'd taken my cane. I arrived panting with exertion, but on time and still ahead of the person I was supposed to see.
She was quite young, but hey, I'm at the age where everyone looks young to me, so I tried to ignore the fact that I'm old enough to be her mum and focused on saying All the Right Things. She was making notes on a laptop as I talked, and THEN she announced that there was a True/False questionnaire on an iPad that I'd also need to do. 350 questions, no hurry.
No hurry, my ass. I had a ticket for Avengers: Infinity War, bought specifically as a reward for getting through the eval--which I honestly didn't expect to be so fucking strenuous. I mean, I already did their damn 12 page fill-in-the-blank incredibly personal-detail-oriented preliminary, I thought I'd go in, review my answers with some nice therapist for an hour or so, and that would be that. Fortunately, I'm a fast reader, I just had to fight my tendency to overthink.
Taking it, I was reminded of the words of Hannibal Lector, who, when confronted with a similar test, chuckled and said, "Do you really think you can dissect me with that blunt little tool?". Because, really, I've been an amateur psychology buff from a very young age. My mother read books on child psychology, I read them, too, after she put them down. My sainted Aunt Mary had stacks of women's magazines, and I read the articles...usually there were case histories, which are stories, after all--and along the way, I've picked up more insights. (Hello, 13 seasons of Criminal Minds!)
That made it fairly easy to tell which questions were there to sniff out depression, paranoia, schizophrenia, and the like. Sometimes, if I could tell that which answer was more desirable, I went with that, regardless of my actual thoughts on the subject. I'm getting cynical in my old age, but I did my best to project Optimism! Happiness! Sunshine! Flying unicorns shooting rainbows out their butts!
It was quite wearing, trying to think my way through all 350 questions and still git 'er done before 3, but I managed. And THEN, when I told the young lady I really need the results urgently, she tells me that oh, the therapist gets her notes and the e-test results and she'll send the results to the bariatric clinic. It'll take a few weeks.
I think my mouth may have fallen open; wait, I just poured out the story of my life to some clerk?! I am none too pleased about that. But hey, it was finally over, I got to the theater early enough to get a desirable seat, still riding the wave of optimism I'd poured into the test.
I'm not going to spoil anything, I'm just going to say that if you're at all invested in the MCU, you may want to take tissues and Xanax. And possibly a chamber-pot, because holy cannoli, it's long.
Afterward, I needed something to jolt me out of my fugue, so I was going to walk across the parking lot to the mall...do a little shopping, maybe grab some food...only to find out that there was construction going on, which meant walking way around the building. After the hike to Building B earlier, I had had it by then, so I found a bench and hailed a Lyft.
Usually, Friday is my big TV night. I'd already missed McGyver, a chunk of Hawaii 5-O, and was blah about Blue Bloods. I did tune in for Colbert, who started with an absolutely hysterical sketch about the size of the Infinity War cast. I needed that!
Friday evening, I was in bed as soon as Colbert was over. Woke around 6, had breakfast...I was wiped out. I ended up laying down for an afternoon nap and sleeping for five hours, and despite my earlier nap, went to bed around 3 this morning--comparatively early for me!--and slept til 10:30.
Today I'm chipper, at least compared to yesterday. My back hates me, but it isn't grumbling nearly as badly as yesterday. I have had a couple dizzy moments, but yesterday it was outright debilitating. And despite being sub par, I've managed to Get Shit Done. I reorganized my hat shelf, which involved a lot of reaching and stretching, shifted some artwork and hung up a couple pieces, more reaching and stretching, and have a load of bedding in the laundry, because my sheets were due and my comforter was overdue. It's been a long winter!
The trees have leafed out--a bit earlier than usual this year--and the temps are playing games--warm, dare I say hot? during the day and into the overnight. Then I wake up (under only a sheet) around 6 a.m. going Fuck it's cold gimme a blanket! (And then I remind myself that Floridians probably already have their A/Cs on, and I don't feel so bad.)
In the spirit of "I needed that" (because I'm sure I'm far from the only one!), I wrote a wee MCU fix-it, total crack: "It's Not the End of the World", which can be found here: http://archiveofourown.org/works/14470800. Expect some discrete spoilers, although you won't recognize them as such if you haven't actually seen A:IW.
Meanwhile, I spent the majority of last week working on a happy little brain-eating fic that I naively went into thinking it might run 2 or 3 pages. It ended up being ten pages. Jeepers, as my heroine might say. It's one of those things that was purely a labor of love, since the audience for a Trixie Belden/Three Invesstigators crossover is pretty freakin' small.
The Guy in the Baby Blue Hearse: http://archiveofourown.org/works/14423703
Anyway, that's what's going on with me. Love to all!
...
(no subject)
Date: 2018-04-30 01:58 am (UTC)I have had a week off work, which has been wonderful, and have done a little writing, some sewing, made a swoop through the Salvation Army for a lovely picture frame and mat, and throughly cleaned the house. It's been nice, but it's time to go back and make some money. :-D
(no subject)
Date: 2018-04-30 02:31 am (UTC)Not much longer until the surgery, right?
Insert hysterical laughter here. God knows--I don't. Because I need the psych report, I need to get my A1C down, and my new primary--saying that I'm not happy with the care I'm getting is a five-star understatement. She is apparently vacationing for most of June--must be nice!--and can't see me again until July. I'm pretty sure the bariatric clinic won't schedule me without the A1C results they want, and once they get said results and schedule me, there's a three-week liquid protein diet that I have to go on. I'm horrified that it looks like August or even September before it gets done--and that ASSUMES that whatever the pshrink eventually comes through with is favorable.
I'm giving serious thought to finding another primary. This one...I don't know if it's her or her staff, but they're shit at calling in prescriptions, like needles and lancets. Luckily, I have some left from when I was on Victoza, or I'd be in deep kimchee. It seems like I never get anything done until I've called/asked at least three times! Am I being unreasonable?
Your stay-cation sounds wonderful. It's lovely that you're writing again--I meant to answer your response to my comment, but conked out first. What I love about your writing is your descriptive metaphors. When I try that, I rarely believe I've captured the feelings I'm trying to evoke. And when I go into detail, I often feel like it's too much detail and it sounds like an entry in a catalog.
Picture frames and mats! Aren't they fun? This week, I discovered that one sheet of foamcore (black) fits perfectly inside a very large frame I have. The next time I get to a craft store, I want to find some jeweler's pins so I can start displaying some of my treasures on it.
Good luck getting back in the saddle!
..
(no subject)
Date: 2018-04-30 02:40 am (UTC)Do you have any friends there with diabetes you could ask for a recommendation?
(no subject)
Date: 2018-04-30 02:49 am (UTC)And speaking of test results, I still haven't heard shit about the endoscopy/colonoscopy, and that was a full month ago. Grr.
(no subject)
Date: 2018-05-01 11:29 pm (UTC)Also, Trixie Belden/Three Investigators? *SQUEEEEEEE*
Off to read... :-)
(no subject)
Date: 2018-05-02 02:23 am (UTC)I didn't know you were into Trixie (or if I did know, it was subsumed by our mutual fondness for 3I). It never fails to amaze me how much you and I have in common! I was reading her adventures well before the boys from Rocky Beach came on the scene.
..
(no subject)
Date: 2018-05-03 01:36 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2018-05-03 09:39 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2018-05-03 10:05 am (UTC)Whenever you get a chance, no hurry. The way I'm booked I probably won't get it chance to do anything before the weekend at earliest.
(no subject)
Date: 2018-05-03 11:12 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2018-05-04 12:19 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2018-05-04 12:47 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2018-05-04 05:05 pm (UTC)