All posts by Iris

High Five

Randomness

On November 17th, frustrated with the inaccuracy of my memory and spurred on by my doctor, I did geektastic thing: I started a private blog in which I chronicle every last thing about anything that might have a bearing on my energy levels. It lists everything I eat, copied & pasted weather information from Weather.gov, and a little narrative about, well, everything else. Then I attach categories. These are key. These are what make it function like a mini-database. Tthere are categories for things like headaches or the weird throat pressure that seems to predict bouts of extreme tiredness, and every day gets assigned one of 5 energy levels. Energy Level 1 would mean “can’t function.” Thankfully, I’ve never used that one. Energy Level 5 means “Feeling completely normal.” So far I’ve used that designation 7 times since November 17th.*

The really good news? Today seems on track to be a 5, and if it is it will be the first time I’ve recorded two 5s in a row. I’m so excited!!! If I didn’t have to work all afternoon and evening I’d do something crazy like spend the day walking around a lake or taking up Japanese or opening the windows to the cold February air and cleaning the house from top to bottom.

In a way, I’m glad that the last week was so hard because it makes the contrast starkly wonderful.

* I know this seems really low, especially since I’ve been doing much better since about mid-December. But you see, a 4 is pretty good, too, and I’ve recorded 21 4s. So all in all, 28 pretty good days, which is pretty good!

A Very Good Day

Me and My Life

Today could have been not so good. It had all the potential in the world to be below average. But in the end, things lined up so that this potential could never gather and organize itself against me.

So what made the day so good? Well, it was a perfect combination of the mundane and the special. This morning I did battle with my clogged bathroom drains and beat them into submission. Then I cleaned my kitchen, which predictably made my entire house feel clean, and rewarded myself with an hour and a half on the couch with tea and the episodes of “24” and “Hell’s Kitchen” that I’d missed this week (yay for TV shows that are available online!). I called and caught up with my brother for a while, learning that he an his wife are in the process are rescuing a small flock of pigeons and possibly a horse this week. I’m so glad that they rescue animals, but so amused at the thought of pigeons needing rescuing.

It was about at this point in my day that I realized I haven’t felt this normal in weeks, and after last week’s difficulty the contrast was especially stark and wonderful. It is such a luxury to decide what I want to do based on my actual preferences rather than my energy level. For the rest of the day I’d catch myself smiling at random moments simply because I no longer felt persistently crummy. Walking to the car without being aware of every step, conversing with ease, imagining a new recipe and looking forward to the process of cooking it as well as the meal itself, actually being hungry at normal times… it was as if I’d been transported back in time about 14 months.

But now I’m ahead of myself. I spent part of the afternoon at the local coffee shop, met a couple of great people, read some of a great book, and then went off with a friend to see Coraline (in enchanting 3D). What fun!! And for dinner I improvised with steak, mushrooms, onions, and red wine, and it turned out gloriously.

So all in all, I’d call today a success. I think I’ll go to bed early in hopes that tomorrow will be even half as energetic. But first, I’ll indulge in my favorite evening pass-time: book plus laptop plus cat plus tea. Or maybe I’ll have a glass of the wine I used in my dinner.

In Other News

Randomness

Minnesota may never have its full complement of senators. The country may decide that all the ruckus Coleman and Frankin are causing is reason enough for their fine state to forfeit one senator from here on out. Think of it as an eternal time out.

Taken is a pretty awesome movie. Think of it as a Bourne movie, only with Bourne being quite a bit older and motivated primarily by love for his kidnapped daughter, and without the CIA, and no amnesia, and set in France, and without a guy named Bourne. So, not like the Bourne movies at all, actually.

I have some pretty amazing friends. In related news, I routinely curse the stubbornness of geography and look forward to the advent of teleportation.

I was asked today if I had kids, and if I would therefore know about modern shifts in written language brought about by texting, IM, and LOLcats. I gave the questioner a withering look.

The fact that the latest winner of the Westminster Dog Show is named Stumpy cracks me up.

I apparently shook somebody’s perceptions of me this morning by quoting from the movie So I Married An Axe Murderer. Yes. I love that film. I hated it the first time I saw it, but the second time it suddenly transformed into one of the funniest movies I’d ever seen. I quote from a lot of movies, but that and The Princess Bride probably account for most of my random movie quotes. I wish I could quote Euripides or Shaw with as much ease, but I can’t.

My neighbor (the one who had the medical emergency last Sunday) hasn’t come back to her apartment yet. Her mother stopped by earlier this week to let me know that the daughter had had a seizure before going into her diabetic coma and was still in the ICU.

My friend apparently dreamed that my mom gave birth to octuplets and that this ruined my sister’s wedding. Apparently everyone was mad at everyone. I’d like to make it clear that my mom has not, in fact, given birth to octuplets.

The End.

Grinning Crazily

Randomness

People in my town probably wonder why I often drive around with a silly grin slapped on my face.

People in my town probably don’t know that I often listening to podcasts of Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me as I drive around. There’s no way to listen to these podcasts without grinning crazily for the entire 45 minutes. It’s a test of will not to laugh out loud, in fact. And it’s a test that I often don’t care to even try to overcome. And so I drive around with a silly grin slapped on my face, gleefully confusing the steady, calm people that populate my town.

Things are looking up

Me and My Life

So yeah, not the best weekend, followed by not the best week. But things are looking up.

Tonight I left work at 7, went grocery shopping, dragged my groceries up 2 flights of stairs, put away the groceries, and still had enough energy to make an actual salad for dinner and clean up the kitchen after eating. I even thought of what I want to cook tomorrow, which is evidence of imagination and planning that requires a level of mental energy I no longer take for granted.

Three days ago it wouldn’t have occurred to me to even try these things. Two days ago, these would have been non-trivial tasks accomplished in the same way that I managed the walk from my car to work: chanting “right foot, left food, right foot, left foot” to myself. Yesterday I’d have done better, but even then the acupuncturist didn’t place all the needles she normally places because I was apparently too weak for them. But today, after a morning spent at home, things are starting to look up. I’m starting to feel like I’m just a tired and slightly wobbly version of me.

I look forward to tomorrow.