A Whirlwind Blur of Icy Cold Weather, Tax Returns, Illness, and Lack of Sleep

If I were to describe this week in a few words, I’d say it has been a whirlwind blur of: icy cold weather, coughs, tax returns, congestion, working from home, working from work, tiredness, what to eat, what to drink, driving to work, driving home from work, whether to take cold meds or not, getting some sleep, getting no sleep, checking the weather, working on video, finally getting good sleep, meeting deadlines, more coughing, not meeting deadlines. Yes all that – just a blur of all that! It just seemed like those things were all the things I concentrated on amidst of week of not feeling my best. I’ve held on all week. But last night, I was just so discouraged. It’d been since Tuesday of LAST week since I’ve not felt like myself. I was so tired of having congestion. I finally prayed, “Father please relieve me of all this”. I took some cold meds that I don’t usually do, so that I could get some sleep. I slept probably the best sleep that I have slept in days. And I feel great this morning with eyes wide open, got up early, and feel like thinking and planning instead of just rolling through the day. It’s the best I’ve felt so far. But I’m by no means all well, but there is less congestion than yesterday.

The streets above were after a rain last week going to work. It was before all the icy weather came in this week. The picture doesn’t capture what my eyes saw. The atmosphere and the streets were a beautiful light cobalt blue.

That same morning I was able to capture the sunrise on the lake as I went over the bridge. This is about half way to work. It’s been a long while since I’ve seen the sunset on the way to work. But my not feeling well and icy mornings have made me leave for work later in the day – giving me pause to see a sunset instead of just blackness before the sun’s light.

One day as well as today, I have a work at home day. It’s difficult to schedule and plan these as I really need my entire desk cabinet there to max out my work. But I did what I could do.

I could have been more productive if: 1) I’d received the data I needed on time so we could meet deadlines 2) The icy weather this week had stayed at bay 3) I’d have felt better.

It seems like the odds stacked against me. So much so that I decided it was pointless to worry about any of it because there was not a thing I could do but try to get better, do the best I can with the time I had, and just be prepared and safe with the weather and driving.

Working from home has its perks. George brought me some scrambled eggs. My chef, bless him.

Dexter loved having us home some this week. It made his week easier. George was able to run down the street at lunch time and get his flu shot that that is required at one of the doggy day cares we use. He has to get a 2nd dose before long.

One night I couldn’t sleep and finally turned the light on. He covered his eyes. lol

He’s been a little Snuggle Button this week. But he doesn’t start out the night that way – he sleeps in the floor, then my chair, then finally the bed. So weird. He moves to get in bed with me when I get up to go potty or sit up for water. Or sometimes I don’t wake up and find that he’s moved over anyway.

I fixed Cincinnati chili this week. It was really good. But very different. It has nutmeg, cloves, bbq sauce, vinegar, dark chocolate and all the other stuff. It was very good. I was surprised. However, the 2nd night we put the chili on hot dogs and it was disgusting over a hot dog. George ate it. I could only eat half.

Sometimes I munch on peanuts at my desk to get some extra protein in my system.

The Lord provided me with a smile – a kitten or cat face in my peanut. Please ignore the cracked mess of my hands on a microscopic level. I didn’t realize they were so dry.

It’s time to go get the nails done but I’ve not had time this week.

The funny thing is that I see animal faces all over the place. I see animal faces in the wood doors at home, in the spotted tile in our bathroom, and several other places.

Oh do you know how good it feels to drink coffee without a sore throat from drainage? I can swallow this morning! (The sore throat has come and gone.) I hope it stays gone.

Dexter went to doggie daycare yesterday just a get a day of running and socializing! The staffers knew him by name. It was cold but they got to outside some. Then back into the warmer areas.

Little Bit came in and wanted to snuggle last night, during my final melt down. I really didn’t melt down but physically and mentally I was just OVER life last night. Dexter was quite jealous but finally let the cat alone to snuggle with me. I think mainly George got him re-directed on to other things. Plus he was tired from him day out yesterday and probably from his flu shot.

Ok so here’s what is happening over the next few days:

• Mom’s eye appt is today, so since my office was semi-set up for working from home, I decided to work from here and save lots of drive time. Saves probably an hour and a half, making my morning more productive. Her appt is 12:45 so right smack in the middle of the day but we had to take what they could give since she has to have the eye injections timely to save her one good eye. We will grab something quick to eat and then I need to run to Publix to get a few things I’m out of.
• Fancy’s trim is in the morning really early so we’ll drop her off and then go eat breakfast out. Mom wants to look for the third set of chairs. She was not happy with the first set, nor the second set, but she wants to go to some furniture stores to sit in some. So we know of one store. We just don’t have a lot of furniture stores close by. But there is one. Once I get through with her, I need to come home and get our laundry done and whatever projects I still have time for which won’t be much.
• Sunday is church day and takes up a chunk of the day. Will probably get any groceries Mom needs and then back home to finish up weekend tasks and projects.
• Monday is our early morning mother/daughter mammograms. So that is 8:30 and 9:00 I think in Lebanon. At least I switched to that imaging center for less driving. Then on to work from there to finish out the day.
• Then next week I will be attempting to do a mix of year end reporting returns, month end returns since January ended, and I guess the week after that I can start to do w-2 reporting. Some states require these things by end of Jan and some by end of Feb. But all I can do is all one person can do, especially with ice storms, doc appts, and not getting info in time anyway.

So that is my life right now. January is always tough but we’ve found some pleasure in the first two weeks of it. The second half with illness, we’ve tried to both just make the best of it and keep rolling along.

I need to go as I need to start work in like 2 minutes, lol! So take care everyone and I’ll be back at some point in the next few days, Lord willing.

OH! And the 2023 goals video is coming out tomorrow at 6:00 a.m. I gotta do the thumbnail tonight and get it scheduled. It’s at least already loaded up but won’t go live til tomorrow at 6 a.m. I’m doing 6 so I have time to promote it and get the word out on social media as I’ll be on the road at 7.

How’s your January going?