Quiet Sunday

I don't have much to write about today.  It's been overcast and rainy/drizzling so it makes for a quiet day. Just came back from Mass & breakfast with a friend (always a good time and lots of laughs). He makes the strangest food combinations you'll ever see.  The secret is, I've tried and liked some of them. Today was salt on (rye) toast.  I'm not even joking (Bix, I know your stomach is churning.. all that salt intake!).  But fear not; it's not a lot of salt, just a sprinkle.  It brought out the flavour more, it was quite nice.  Excuse me while I go have a heart-attack now.  If you want to know other food combinations you'll have to ask - I don't want to gross anyone out if they have a sensitive stomach :)

Regardless of how social I've been lately and how much human contact I've had the past week, I can still feel lonely and alone.  I don't care for that.  The gloomy weather isn't helping.  I'd like some sun now, please. kthanks.

Meh.  Kind of blah today, so I'm going to go take my blah self and get ready for work.  It's my Friday, so I get to relax a bit tomorrow.  Then I'm on for another 4 days until the weekend.

Quotes

"There are those who seek knowledge for the sake of knowledge - That is curiosity.
There are those who seek knowledge to be known by others - That is vanity.
There are those who seek knowledge in order to serve - That is love."
~St. Bernard of Clairvaux

Random Pictures

Here are a few pictures I've had piling up.

Clouds from last weekend; it was super hot and we had threats of rain and storms here and there.  

Went out for sushi one day. Mmmm... tempura...

Mmmm....cucumber and avocado handroll... Oops, one of them has my friends tempura shrimp in it.

This is the church in my friend's 'hood that I spoke of going to.  It was quite comparable to ours here in town.

The fantastic ceiling.

Stop working so hard, Babu.

Hmm.. it seems I didn't have as many today as I thought.  Sorry! :)

Blessings

I'm not sitting with a coffee posting, this morning.  I'm slowly coming to terms (denial is a wonderful thing) that coffee is one of the things that upsets my stomach.  Yes, even decaf.  This makes me sad.  I like my coffee.  I don't even drink it for the caffeine, I don't need it.  I drink it for the taste.

Be careful what you wish for, you might just get it......

My social calendar has been uncharacteristically busy.  Weekends and days off have been full of coffee dates.  Hell, last Saturday I got a late-morning surprise visit from J.H, then a surprise text from A.C (followed by a brief, but very welcomed, enjoyable visit), then work, then a visit afterwards from a co-worker/friend (kicked back and watched a movie, then had a drink and talked a bit).  It was crazy!  But such a great day.  I'm thankful that when I feel lonely I can surround myself with wonderful friends.

Also under the "careful what you wish for" category, remember how I needed to be conversationally-challenged more?  I am thankful for my new neighbour.  We have great conversations and she's not afraid to challenge me and ask questions.  Hopefully we challenge each other equally well, but she definitely gets me thinking sometimes.  This is a good thing :)

Well, I've got some cleaning to do before work.  Hope everyone's having a good Wednesday.  I'll be posting pics soon, so keep an eye out for those :)

Updates

I thought it's been a while since I've updated y'all on what's going on and it's quiet here this morning so it's the perfect opportunity.  Feeling a little 'blah' and tired today, though.  The barometric (I keep wanting to say bariatric.. ha!) pressure must be changing.  My fingers have been sore the past two days plus headaches up the wazoo.  Not cool.

Health: I don't think I gave much update on the sleep apnea/CPAP trial, did I?  The trial didn't go great but I did notice a little improvement.  After talking with the respirologist when I handed in the machine she said my numbers were very low and not to rush out and buy a machine right away (it would have costs me $672 if I did).  After some talking (and a long story short) I have been trying the Breathe Right nose strips and they're working miracles.  I'm sleeping through the night pretty much every night now, for the first time in months (if not years).  It's not bringing back full energy again, but a lot more than what I had.

Blood sugar has been maintaining at 'normal' levels (I quote normal because they don't always feel normal, despite the numbers).  Thinking something else is setting off other symptoms, but time will tell (and the appointment with the endocrinologist.  Is it November, yet?).

Warning, gurl stuff: Right, so, remember how I said I went off the pill and things were going fine?  I was on a 45-day cycle and loving it.  When it came it was short.  Ahh..bliss.  Well, I went to the doc to make sure it was normal and she didn't have any real concerns.  She ordered a pelvic ultrasound just in case but I had to cancel it.  It seems my monthly came sooner than expected and I've been having it now, as of today, 15 days straight.  Yeah.  15 DAYS!  WTF!?  To be fair, my body might take up to a year to regulate, I'm coming to terms with that now.  I was on the pill for a very, very long time so it has to learn all over again how to produce it's own cycle.  And somehow, God-willing, I have to be patient with that.  I have confidence it will make me anemic again and I'm taking a pre-emptive and upping my B12 and perhaps also my iron, now that I think of it.  I'm just not feelin' great, y'know?  2 weeks is a long time.  /whining

Work: Meh.  Things have calmed down a bit and it's pretty much SSDD.  Our change in hours (reduction) will be happening next month.  Not looking forward to that without something else to back it up.  I'm not in panic-mode yet, though.

There's a change coming in the fall.  I'm not sure with what, but it's coming.

I made it out to C.Z's farm last weekend.  We went to Mass in her neighbourhood (pics of a lovely church I will have to post sometime) and back to the house for a very yummy lunch.  Not all the siblings were there and there were some of us who were friends... plus the priest they invited back for lunch (I didn't think anybody did that anymore!).  Father K. came to talk to me after, as we were all standing around, saying goodbyes, talking, etc.  He commented how he enjoyed himself and he tried counting how many of us there were at the table.  "18," I said.  "I counted."  We were in amazement.  "Well that's a lot of people.  But they're fun, aren't they?" To which I replied, "Yes. I love visiting. I count myself thankful to be around such a loving and caring family."  :)  I didn't get to see the jersey's.  Didn't have the time, or proper shoes for that fact.

This weekend has just been working.  Nothing special.  Oh... I walked in on a dead body at work a couple days ago.  That was fun.  Had the tray in my hand and was about to walk in and say, "Hello Mrs. G! How are you?" except when I walked in the curtain was pulled around her bed.  That's not usual for her and that was red flag #1.  I peaked in, anyways and thought to myself, 'She doesn't look very good' but one never knows so I set the tray down anyways.  Came out and talked to a nurse and asked if she was still alive.  She in fact, was not and hadn't been for a few hours.  That's...... fantastic.  It was a surprise to me; she was doing well last I saw.  Not great, but not anything near what I'd classify as dead.  And for some reason it didn't bother me.  That in itself, bothers me.  Am I becoming more desensitized?  Am I caring less?  Neither of those options can be good.  This has been in the back of my mind.

I think I'm done blogging for the day.  Hope everyone has a great Saturday.  Stay out of the heat :)

It's Coming!

I saw it about a week ago and didn't believe it.  Today I got a picture for proof.  I present, ladies and gentlemen, the beginning of fall.......

I also took a couple pictures on the way to work of the river.  Caught a duck or two :)

Tonight You Get A Piece Of Me

There's been a bit of a surreal feeling lately.  The common word for the past 2-3 days is 'synchronicity' (look, I'm even giving it its own label).  And every time I spell the word it gets underlined in red and the web is telling me it's not a real word.  Too bad.  It's fitting so I'm going to use it. I had lunch with a girlfriend a couple days ago (we've known each other since high school, but haven't seen each other since then) and we talked about how well her life is going and how everything's fallen into place; that there was a sort of.. synchronicity.. in the universe.  When she moved to another city for a job, there were random, though similar events (sorry, sounds odd and vague but I don't want to give away details to her life) that lead her to where she is now. Then the 'synchronicity' topic got pulled into conversation when I met someone for coffee last night; a series of random, yet similar events that lead to... how things should be (for lack of better terms).  Or perhaps, that things are going along as they should.  Does any of this make sense?  I hope so.  I'm not sure how else to describe it.  I just... can't wrap my head around all this.  It's like two worlds colliding.  Or is it meshing?

Random fact and question for the day: is it possible to meet with someone for coffee (someone you're meeting for the first time) and come home and realize there's something missing in your life?  That this person 'pulled' that feeling from you?  I can't articulate what this feeling is.  I can identify it's emotional.  I was just talking about it with a friend and I described it as, "... like something familiar was taken away from you and then there's that void".  Whatever that *void* is.  Even talking about it now I can feel it.  It's in my solar plexus.  I know what I've felt there before and it makes me leery.  I had a feeling this person was going to be significant but I wasn't sure how.

On a separate side note, a friend texted me they were having not only a bad day, but a bad week.  My reply was brief, although sympathetic.  It wasn't enough of what this person needed and I got a little yelled at (don't worry, I didn't take it personally; we're cool with each other like that).  Apparently they needed to talk and I didn't fill that need right away for them.  I've been called on this before.  Listen, I can't effing read minds.  If you need to talk, tell me.  Having said that, perhaps I should have inquired more.  I don't know.  I was in the middle of a movie (an emotional one for me) and my mind was somewhere else (trying to escape from my own day).

It's been a weird day and I'm spent.  'Night.

Mindfully Numb

Summer is kind of funny, I guess, because your schedule has a potential to be all sporadic.  Even for someone like me who has a non-active social life, apparently.  I keep saying I don't have a social life, yet everyday for the past 4 days off I've had plans.  Even when it's quiet, on any given week I can make plans with a friend for coffee.  In the past week alone I've made 2 new friends.  So I guess if I ever bitch I don't have a social life, you have permission to smack me aside the head and point out the fact I have friends I can call for coffee if I wanted.

The last four days off have been very relaxing.  At this point, though, you get used to the time off and dread going back to the grind.  But.. such is life.

I've written and re-written a couple of paragraphs.  I just can't seem to...make things come out right.  I know I've been writing less this summer, but it seems I've had more going on in my head. A lot more to sort out.  New thinking processes, new coping mechanisms for new things, new (or at least different) challenges.  So please forgive me, faithful reader, for not writing as often as I should.  Right now I just... can't.

As a side note, if you are a personal friend to me and we haven't been in contact lately, please don't hesitate to drop me a line.  This whole "sorting things out in my head" extends far beyond this blog page.  It doesn't mean I don't want to talk or catch up.  Writing a quick message on Facebook or an email to simply say hello is *very* difficult for me right now (sounds rediculous, doesn't it?), so please take the initiative.

They say having a clean, tidy house or an unmade bed ("messy bed, messy head") are representations of our mind... but my house is clean, my bed is made, yet I am still mentally cluttered.  So much that it starts to shut other things down or out.  So.... I don't know what to say about that.

Quotes

An early morning walk is a blessing for the whole day.
~Henry David Thoreau

Lazy Hazy Day

Been taking it easy today.  Last nights escapades were one for the books (I'll refrain from telling you how much I had to drink, only that surprisingly, I was still standing after).  The evening ended with a discussion with a very attractive man :)

Babu's also taking it easy today; he's under the covers.  I came home to find him with his head peaking out, near the pillow.  Right now he's just a ball under the covers.

Went to market this morning in hopes to find peaches, but none were obtained for canning (those are due in a couple weeks, apparently.  Just got a few for eating).  Also got some carrots for snacking and pesticide-free corn on the cob.

The temperatures have been MUCH better for sleeping the past couple nights.  It was as low as 11C, I think last night.  Today is sitting at a very comfortable and non-humid 22C (72F for the rest of you).  My ideal weather conditions.

I haven't gone swimming lately, which has me greatly annoyed.  My body, it seems, is still regulating itself post-pill and the regular irregularity (or is that irregular regularity?) is gone.  That's all I have to say about that.

I have been greatly calmed without having to worry about studies, though I'll admit part of me wants to sink my teeth into something new in the fall.  Oh to resist the temptation.......

I'm sitting with a self-made mint tea (hot water, mint leaves), loving the breeze coming through the window.  I think I'll sit back and read a bit; enjoy the quiet.  I'm also going to ponder what my plans will be this fall.  All of my plans I had sprouting in my head have fallen through so I have to start from scratch and devise something new.  Perhaps a time to think out of the box?  I definitely need to stop worrying and have more faith He will take care of things.

Hope everyone's having a fabulous weekend!  I'll be getting together with friends off and on between now and Sunday. Hope you get to connect with someone that matters to you, too! :)