It's Been a Week!

So much going on!

I was robbed in November. A lady I'd hired to do some cleaning took some jewelery. I didn't discover the theft until December, and then only partially. It was January before I realized how many pieces had been taken. I hemmed and hawed about it for about a week then called the police to report the theft.

A month goes by, and I finally got the police report from them to give to my insurance company. I called my agent, and he intimidated me so bad I nearly didn't file the claim. But I had to file the claim!

Another week went by and I finally called them. They were fast, efficient, and downgraded my loss by about $2375, so I have to absorb that much of it. To be honest, that includes my deductible, so the amount of actual loss not covered is about $1375.

So that was story number one. Story number two...

I ordered some cat furniture from a reputable supplier. It was almost $400 for the order, and included two cat trees and one scratching post. One of the trees was 80 inches tall, almost to the ceiling, which I figured would give the cats a wonderful view of the bird feeders and space away from each other.

The items were all shipped separately, from different points of origin. The first never arrived, but the second arrived on Feb 10. I got another e-mail, for the third shipment, and looked into the three shipments.

It turns out that the wonderful, tall cat tree was delivered to someone other than me, left by a front door, with no signature confirmation. The delivery company says they delivered it to me. I'm sure it doesn't help that I had several deliveries that week, and continue to receive items I've ordered - specialty cat products, books, online-only office supplies, and so on. So, they closed the inquiry, and are offended that I would even hint at a mis-delivery.

Too bad. Now, I have to do a chargeback against my vendor. I hate to do that, but the item was the most expensive of the three that I ordered. In fact, the one cat tree that I received was a purchase afterthought because the large cat tree was $100 less on sale!

So, I went to my bank and did the chargeback yesterday. I really hate to do that. I really do. It's a black mark against any merchant when that happens. And it wasn't her fault, but the shipper's. The only mistake she made was allowing the shipment to be made without requiring a signature confirmation.

So much for story number two. On to story number three...

My doctor wanted me to take some allergy medicine because of the drainage I experience every night. She prescribed Zyrtec. It's known to make folks drowsy, so I took a pill at night with my other meds on Wednesday.

I had a very fitful night's sleep, came stark raving awake at several points, and my body seemed to slow down. The next day, I was in a fog all day, and had to slap myself awake during my last class. The drive home was a nightmare!

When I got home, I slept. Nothing but. The phone was ringing off the hook, and I just couldn't talk to anyone. I couldn't get the phone to my ear fast enough. I ended up with six messages on the machine. Two were the insurance company, one from the shipper, and three from friends.

I ended up sleeping till about 8:30. I got up and called two friends back, and it was too late to call the third. I ended up staying awake till about 4:30am and then went to bed. I slept like a log till 10:30 when the alarm went off.

It was now Friday, and I had a lot to do. I went to the bank to do the chargeback, went to the court and did my little research job there, and then went to get tires on the car before the next rain hits. I've not had time for that since I had the money, and it was becoming desparate. I almost hydro-planed during the last rain on Thursday, when I was groggy.

I got home, and forget the diet, I wanted a hamburger! So, I got one of those when it was time to have supper.

Story number four...

During all this, as if my week wasn't full enough, I printed the last of the research I'd done for my book. I organized what had been printed and started printing at home, and finished the job at school. I'm now looking for space to work.

I think I'll clear off the perfectly-good work space I have that's an accumulation of stuff that doesn't belong to me and wasted money. There is a furnace filter that's the wrong size, an older laptop computer, and a collection of stuff that belongs to a friend that moved to CA over a year ago. He want's it shipped to him if he ever sends money. Meanwhile, it's taking up space in my house. If I can get the table cleared off, I'll have a great work space for school work, sewing and other purposes.

Story number five...

Well, there's this mess that's been accumulating around my chair. Things fall and I'm not paying attention, so the mess gets bigger and bigger. Last night, I'd had enough. The reason for the mass purge was that my cat Fluffy, who never pukes up hairballs or anything, got sick. All over the place, repeatedly, and nastily. I had to clean up after her.

She started on a pair of shoes that got tossed yesterday afternoon. She has diabetes, so this is kind of a serious turn for her. She continued into several rooms, and hit the paid bills, computer programs (boxed), office supplies, clothes, and of course, all the stuff sitting around my chair. It was bad enough that the pile was growing, but her getting sick on it was more than I could stand.

So, it's been a very full week. Lots of ins and outs, lots of stuff happening. So much for not getting anything done!

Those pills from the doctor? - not taking them anymore. Once was enough.

Snow Day!

There is over 3" of snow on the ground, covering the walks, streets and parked cars. It even drifted a little bit! It's really pretty, but that means that the city is paralyzed again. Good thing I don't have to go out! I called in to work so that I only have to work around the house today.

I think I'll spread some ice-melt on the walks (already swept them with the broom) and work around here today. Maybe even finish that crocheted jacket/coat I've been working on forever! I have to backtrack a little on the construction so that I can properly move forward. Not a big deal, but I hate taking out stitches as much as the next person.

Feeling better, now that I'm sleeping better. Woke at 4:30 this morning, and the cats were all telling me about the snow, so they wouldn't let me get back to sleep. I got enough good sleep to make it, though.

Can't Sleep

I've been dealing with insomnia again. I haven't had it this bad in a while, though.

I go to bed - or at least take my pills around 11pm every night. Sometimes I take them early, around 10pm. Sometimes I forget and it's 1am! But, as a general intent and practice, I take them around 11pm.

Then, bedtime. Go to bed, turn on TV, set the sleep mode for 45 minutes, and I'm out before the TV goes off.

Lately, while this routine is the same, I'm waking up around 2:30am, and unable to go back to sleep. It doesn't help that the alarm in the ceiling is now going off at 3am instead of 4am, and I'm awake already when it goes off.

After about 30 minutes, I'll get up and take more Melatonin. That helps a little bit, but I never really get back to sleep for that deep, restful, REM sleep that we all need.

I can blame the house - too hot, or too cold. I can blame the cats because they hear me stirring and want to cuddle - and I close them out of the room some nights because of this. I can blame my financial stuff, or whatever. My mind races from 3:30am until the alarm goes off.

Don't get me wrong, I'm dozing, but not really sleeping. The slightest noise, movement of the cats, or the furnace turning on will wake me again.

I'm starting to see rings under my eyes, and I'm getting cranky. Then, I fall asleep in my chair in the evenings, and the cycle just repeats itself.

Today, I have registration at the local community college, so I won't be in my chair. The registration is followed by my normal 1st Thursday women's entrepreneurial group meeting so I won't get home till around 10:30-11pm tonight.

It's a situation where I will have to eat supper out, and the cat's dinner will be pretty late.

I need to leave the heat up a little bit. It snowed overnight, and the temp isn't doing much to defrost us. That's another reason to get a programmable thermostat!

Anyway, this may be my last meeting for a while due to classes, so I need to be there. Besides, the topic tonight is killer!

So, it's a long one today, even though I'm starting to fray at the edges from not getting restful sleep.

No wonder I sleep through the weekends!

Coffee is not the partner to sleep....

Even decaf can keep me awake till all hours at night.

I had coffee last night- decaf, but coffee. I went to a later meeting since I've had trouble lately getting to meetings. Things keep popping up at the last possible minute, and I'm kept from attending...

So, a friend and I went to a meeting last night. We had decaf coffee. We both were up till about 4am. Not the best way to get your rest, to be sure!

No way I could get to meeting this morning. I wanted to. I'd planned on it. I couldn't stand up straight or walk across the room without falling. I needed sleep. So, I went back to bed and got some more sleep.

A late start to the day, but I'll go to bed much earlier tonight. And I bet I'll be able to sleep, too.

Slept in

I didn't go to my meeting this morning. It was just too early. The light in my bedroom came on and woke me up in the middle of the night again. I ended up sleeping a lot longer than I'd intended, but I finally got rested.

I finally called the electrician today. He's coming over tomorrow to check stuff out.

I'm going to clean a bit today.

I'm worried about a friend who's having some medical issues. I love her dearly, and she's having a problem that needs to be addressed. She's taking care of herself, but her communication isn't always two-way. I worry about her.

Well, the litter boxes won't clean themselves... Gotta run! ;)

I'm Worn Out!

I feel like I've been taking care of other people's needs all week. I finally shut down last night. I mean shut down. I started refusing phone calls, invitaitons, conversations, friendships, pleas for help, and just folks saying "hi." I'm just tired out.

I feel like I've been pulled in a dozen different directions this past week. I feel like my insides are raw. I just need about 36 hours of peace.

When I get worn out like this, my boundaries begin to discintegrate, and people walk all over my needs, my desires and my life. I can't defend myself. The only defense is to check out. I saw it coming, so I didn't have to be nasty to anyone, but man! I'm so tired.

I didn't even know what day it was for several days running. I couldn't keep the calendar straight. I missed my meds one day. I had so much junk going on that I got emotional and melted down a couple of times.

Most folks don't even recognize when this is happening in me. I have such a cool, calm, controlled demeanor. I keep an iron lid on my emotions.

For instance...

I needed to do some laundry - so I packed it into the car, checked the soap and headed to the store for more. I got to the store, picked up the soap, and tried to open the trunk to put the soap in with the clothes. The trunk wouldn't open.

I drove over to my new mechanic, he took out the back seat, the bracing, the laundry in the trunk and finally popped the lock. A broken piece of plastic in the lock was the problem. So, he replaced it, put everything back and off I went.

The check I wrote bounced. I forgot about the monthly service charge because I didn't know what day/date it was. I moved money to the account, but the check didn't come through again, and now I have to track it down to collect it.

Example 2...

My landlady showed up unexpected and wanted to chide me about her air conditioner that is leaking water so bad that the outside of the building is soaked. There is mold growing in the window frame in the apartment below me. My landlady wants me to use my towels to soak up the water. I'll give you a hint - I don't have enough towels to do that for one day, much less the rest of the season. And she doesn't pay for laundry or provide facilities. But it's somehow my fault that her air conditioner is old, moldy, full of god knows what, and leaks water. Bullshit! I'm not enabling her behaviors. She needs to spend the money on the building instead of whatever she's spending it on, and replace the air conditioners. She didn't bring her keys, so I had to stick around to lock up - and I was running late for...

A friend, whom I love, hurt herself and can't drive right now. She needed a trip to the chiropractor early in the week - it was a 5 hour expedition. Later in the week, she was out of groceries, and her credit card had been lost, so she needed to pay a bill in person. It was only 3 hours, but I was late for something else, and totally forgot about it. I wandered around K-Mart intending to get cat litter, and then saw the lines. I left empty-handed about an hour after I arrived, and got home. There was a message on the machine for the dinner I'd agreed to a week ago. I'm driving, they are buying. So, I quickly cleared up the inbox and ran.

An entire afternoon blown to hell. I need to pack. I need to nap. I wake up with a headache every single day in this place. I can't handle the heat and the only A/C is the unit in my bedroom. I don't sleep well here, so I nap in the afternoon, after I've done my major bits of work. Then, I clear up when I wake up and pack till bedtime.

My schedule is blown. My life feels like a shambles. Moving is a bitch! But all these extra distractions are more than I can handle. And I need more meetings to keep me centered. Ain't gonna happen until I'm moved to the house...

Late last night, another distraction called - it was after 10pm. I told her it was too late to call. She pouted, too bad. I'm over it. That's another situation for another entry...