Of Moose And Men
The Best Laid Plans Of Both Often Go Astray

Just as I was wondering how my other friends who knit find time to do it, I discovered the secret to getting myself to sit down and do it: have a really busy, stressful day at work.

Came home from work, sort of ate. Loaded up the Resident Evil movies on the TiVo, and proceeded to add several inches to the scarf, I’m guessing at little over a third of what’s on it now was added over the past couple of hours tonight. And it was quite soothing, with the movies, the rain and hail, and the repetitive nature of this particular project (31 stitches, RS: k1, *k1b, p1, repeat and k1 at end; WS: *k1, p1, repeat). Precisely what I needed to get law, and work, off the brain.

Going to be interesting soon – I’m almost done with the first skein, so I’m going to have to switch off shortly. Shouldn’t be difficult, but it’s another new step to take. Not tonight, too tired for that, but soon.

So, the acid test this evening was to lie down flat, relatively quickly, wait a bit, then get back up with similar speed, and see if the dizziness returned either time. I’m quite, quite happy to report it did not. What. A. Relief.

A few more days of not sleeping on my right side and I should be back to completely normal. I went in late to work this morning so I could take the full, prescribed 24 hours in the blasted collar. Actually, I did cheat a little by sleeping most of the night without it, but only because I’d managed to “lock” my head into position with a well-placed pillow that wrapped partially around my head and kept it upright and forward like it was supposed to be. Much more comfortable that way, and it did the trick.

It was very difficult not to want to dance around the room when there was no reaction to the shift in position.

Definitely in much, much better spirits this evening, and quite relieved that the worst seems to be behind me.

It moved! Or, rather, it was both sides, not just the one that got treated last week.

Okay, let’s back up. I continued to experience vertigo, first lighter after the treatment last Monday, then back to how it had been over the weekend. Yesterday morning a lie-down on the bed (from full upright to fully on the back) induced full fledged spins. Whee! So, a call to the ENT set up another appointment for this morning.

When they tested to see which side it was this time (last time was definitely the left), the right side is what turned up positive. The doc said the audiologist last time noted some reaction on the right, but because the left was so much more dramatic they thought it was just the left. So, this time we treated the right side, and hopefully that’ll knock it out.

Took the day off so I can sit around, keep myself upright, and try not to worry about stuff.

Unfortunately, it’ll be another week before we know for sure if this has gotten the last of it fixed. Which means a full three weeks off from exercise. I’m now less than 12 weeks out from my first planned tri, and so much closer to the 10 miler and the half marathon, which means I’m not going to have the fitness base there to be able to run any of the three of them. And that means I’m canning them for this year. Which sucks in a major way, because I enjoy these two particular running races, and was looking forward to doing this particular tri for the first time.

Got myself all kinds of stressed out over the lack of exercise this past weekend. Stressed enough that my hands are a big mess of eczema. It’s getting better now that I’ve let go of the races, but how gross. At least I discovered that my old med for the eczema was out of date, so I’ve got a fresh batch to pick up in a little bit (and no visit to the dermatologist needed, thank heavens).

Anyway, so just chilling out at home today, and meditating over where I’m going to go, fitness wise, once I’m good to get back to exercise. My first race would then be a 10k in June, then the two tris in September and November. Probably should hit the weight room, as I should have been doing over the winter, as well as base building cardio fitness, and lots of technique work. But that’s to be mulled over while I try not to drive myself crazy in this collar for the next day.

Take a note: Don’t go book buying (or to the library) if tilting your head to read spines makes you dizzy.

And don’t tilt your head all the way back when sitting in your office chair, either.

Took off from work a little early (after the office chair incident referenced above) to do some shopping, which I cut somewhat short after the dizziness at the book store. Thankfully that particular store is on the bus route that drops me in front of my building, so after a short wait in the cold I was delivered directly to my front door.

Some Super Mario Galaxy this evening (I can power the spaceship finally), and a few more rows on BC’s scarf (I started a scarf for him Monday – fisherman’s rib). And lots of grousing about not being able to exercise since I can’t exactly bounce around a lot right now. So. Annoyed. At. My. Ears. Hopefully the doc was right and this is just a little viral thing that’ll work its way out in a week or so. We’ll see what the ENT says on Monday.

I do look forward to having something else to write about.

I decided to give up caffeine again because it was affecting my sleep, which in turn was screwing with my training. Today was day two, and I warned BC that I might get a bit testy in a week or so. So far, so good, no headaches, sleeping better, all good.

I have, however, been extra-snarky. Like, really, really overly sarcastic at every little thing. Poor BC got to see a lot of it this weekend as we watched TV and I did a complete snark-a-thon at pretty much every show. Not quite what I was intending when giving up caffeine (New and Improved! Now with extra Snark!), and hopefully it’ll pass shortly as my system gets used to the change. Until then I suppose I’m going to have to watch my tongue more than usual.

After spending several hours reviewing a document just to find out that the office who sent it up for review couldn’t actually make any of the changes we sent back, I was more than a tad pissed as I left work this evening. Walked home (no buses convenient when I was near a stop), made some dinner, pigged out on some soy ice cream (better than drinking), and popped down for more knitting. Managed to add several inches of knit stitch to the thing as I cleared out stuff on the TiVo. It was mostly calming, and I feel a little bit better, but it’s going to be hard not to go in tomorrow and want to bite someone’s head off over wasting several hours of my time which could have been better spent doing work that actually needed to be done.

In other news, work actually gave me a choice of blackberries, which is both gratifying and annoying. Gratifying because I won’t get one of the ancient, leftover ones from someone else. Annoying because I have to choose and I know nothing about the devices. If anyone has a reason why I should go with either an 8800 series or an 8300 series model, let me know, otherwise I’m just going to tell them 8800 series.

I’m also missing BC. We moved a date originally scheduled for yesterday to tomorrow, and I’m feeling withdrawal. Hopefully our schedules will better match for it then.

I am at the point with Zelda: Twilight Princess where I just want the game to fucking well be over and done with. I’m not even really trying to play it any more, I’m just following a game guide to get through it. Nowhere near as fun as Bioshock or Mass Effect (both of which I was able to follow, without the need for a guide, to a successful end). This game has made me cranky from the first, and I will glad when it is done and over with.

And no, stopping is not an option, I want to see the bloody ending at this point. But there better not be any more fucking fishing. If I have to fish in this game one more time I shall kill someone.

Retail therapy was in order today. I was almost out of body wash anyway, and I was feeling a tad bummed (more on that in a bit), so I zipped out to pick up BC and headed out to Tyson’s for therapy. I lucked out again with suit separates (Mr. Klein loves me), and picked up a nice black suit, which I needed.

Was feeling bummed because I decided not to apply for the job with the other not-so-BGA. Ultimately they dropped the position to a GS-scale one, so it would be a lateral switch over. In the end it would mean a longer commute, longer hours, and a much more politicized atmosphere, with no more money. So, phooey on it. I was kind of excited at the possibility of moving, but thankfully I’m quite happy where I am, so staying isn’t a bad thing (unlike leaving the previous job), but it was still a bit blah making. It had me up late last night thinking about it (stressing over it?), which I’m sure contributed to the funk.

Better this evening, but still have to tell da boss lady tomorrow. She’ll be greatly relieved, and it’s always nice to be the bearer of good news for the listener. Even if one is disappointed at the cause.

Wiped out. Completely wiped out. But a fun time was had in getting to here.

I spent the past three days with BC and his family. They do big stuff for the holidays, culminating in a big party the evening of the 25th at his Mom’s place. The 24th was relatively sedate – some last minute wrapping, prepping food for the next day, and some good Indian take-out for dinner. Wine and spades (the card game) after dinner, then a late bed time. The morning of the 25th bloomed with BC’s younger sister (29? 30?) coming in and announcing that Santa had come and we had to to come out to see what he brought.

At least, I’m told she did. I don’t recall it at all, and BC says I just buried my head further and snuggled up closer to him when she came in. Eventually we got up and did gift exchange with BC, his younger sister, Mom and Step-Dad. After that we cleaned up and then it was off to his oldest sister’s house for brunch and more exchanging of gifts. His brother-in-law did a fantastic job with the food, and including vegan dishes for me. Had fun picking on his niece (12 y/o), then it was off to Dad’s place.

The event at Dad’s went very well. This was the first time bringing a boyfriend to Dad’s event, and I think it went well. Step-mother’s family was in full force, and they were a trip and a half. Unfortunately there was not a damned thing there I could eat, so nibbling, just sipping of red wine over the course of the afternoon. Whew. Dad was gracious and pleasant, so was a pretty good time. Finally it was time to return to Mom’s house and the party, already in progress.

Plenty of food for me at Mom’s, which I dived into as soon as I could. And more wine. And then there was singing.

A big family tradition is the singing of carols. I have a fairly strong baritone (aided by the wine), and I’m not shy of singing in such a crowd, so I kept us mostly on key and pace, which I think Mom appreciated. No solos this year for anyone (thank heavens), but it was quite fun. At the end of the night BC volunteered the two of us to clean up and sent Mom & her husband off to bed. We got it pretty well policed, all food and dishes put away, and everything else straightened up nicely for the morning.

Slept in this morning, obviously, and thanks to lots of water at the end of the party and while cleaning, there was no hangover. And, as an added bonus, the plague that’s been stuck in my system for the last 2-3 weeks seems to have finally, finally been killed off. Late brunch, relaxing at the house with BC while his parents were at work, a good movie & cuddling. Finally came home at 5 or so.

No energy whatsoever tonight, so not going to set up the new Xbox 360, nor pop in any of the games I’m playing at the moment on the Wii. Working the next two days, and a good, long sleep tonight should be just what the doctor ordered. Get to have a talk with da bosslady this week about job prospects and how to proceed with these things. I trust her, so I know it won’t be a problem to tell her I’m considering some other options, but it’ll still be an interesting conversation.

With the plague over, hopefully there will be a return to regular training. I’ve missed getting out to run, and being active generally, and I know from past experience how much I need that activity for my physical and mental health. So, time to dig back in, and prep for the year to come.

Just out of a meeting with that worst kind of bureaucrat – the one who is constitutionally incapable of summarizing anything, even facts well known to all participants, and who must drone on at every chance he can, expounding at great lengths on the obvious.

Shoot
Me
Now

This is same guy who, when asked for a one-page summary, insists upon producing a 10 page treatise. Meetings with him are always painful, and always run over, unless you can somehow limit his ability to hijack the discussion. And he’s very good at insinuating himself into any conversational thread, no matter the topic.

Is it 6 pm yet? I’m done for today.