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Didn't make it to bell practice last night; was getting to the point where I was worried that I wouldn't be safe to drive.  Good news; I do have my narcolepsy meds now. Should be doing better quickly.   Plan for today Change out cat litter ✔️ Listen to praise music✔️ Put lotion on feet✔️ Work✔️ Drink bottle of plain water✔️ Get med from FedEx✔️ Bell choir practice Brush and floss✔️ In bed by 10✔️     Plan for today Listen to praise music Put lotion on feet Work Drink bottle of plain water Shower Do dishes Cook 2nd meal Do dishes made while cooking Brush and floss In bed by 10

Nic helped me put together one of the red bookcases on Sunday evening, and that means that now only have seven items left to assemble. I'd like to have these done over the next couple weeks. I also have a few furniture pieces that have no home, and probably need to get given away. I'd like to play with the arrangement of things once everything is assembled and see if these pieces are useful or need to find a new home.    I miss having an herb garden. Just in general, I love having herbs around, but specifically lemon balm (for heat relief) and basil (becuase basil). I have some window box planters that are empty and I think I might set up some herbs in them and place them near the dining table or at the back of the kitchen counter between the sink and the living room space.   Happy full moon! It's officially the end of eclipse season! What has been revealed to you or culminated into fruition since March 25th? I can't believe that was only a few weeks ago; it seems like ancient history. I like to go to a favorite farm and pick strawberries at the end of April / beginning of May as a way to put the semester behind me and welcome in summer, and I invited Nic to come with me on Saturday to pick strawberries.  I'll likely need to have the afternoon and evening to work on the novel and the legislation spreadsheet, but I'm looking forward to having a whole mess of local strawberries.   I wrote another 750 words yesterday on the novel (total is now 11,900; goal is 90,000). Keep watching for word counts, since this is a big project that needs to come into the world. I have an agent at Folio who asked for a full manuscript, and I'd like to deliver it in August or so, definitely by the end of Challenge 6 (September 1). The beginning work of writing always seems impressive (look, another thousand words!!), but that's because it is like starting a campaign with a first level character.  Going from level 1 to 2 is a lot different than leveling up from 11 to 12.   I had given up on acupuncture, with the Other Acupuncturists not really fitting my needs after My Acupuncturist retired. When I met with my Jedi Council (Quaker small group) yesterday, one of them mentioned a new-to-town acupuncturist that he really likes, so I made an appointment for next week. Fingers crossed.   I fell asleep at 8:30 last night and slept until 6. I woke up with a headache (weather changes -- it's downright cold this morning) and read some news before logging in. The president of my university is floating a proposal to absorb the faculty-driven senate into a trustee-driven body, effectively stripping the faculty of any policy voice in what seems to be an obvious power grab. I wrote to my advisor and asked for some time to discuss this next week, since it seems unthinkable to me, and yet it is likely to pass. Academia is broken, and it seems to be crumbling in real time around me. I am very much looking forward to completing my degree. I don't know if I'll continue with the library degree afterwards, though since it's  essentially a vocational degree, it seems to be a program that fits well in the new-Academia™ model. The current timeline looks like Qualifying Exam in the summer of 2025, then dissertation the year after, PhD awarded in May 2026. I imagine the academic landscape will look measurably different by then.    The weather has mee sleepy and wanting to hunker down under blankets, despite the good rest of last night. I have a much-needed massage later this morning, otherwise I would still be in my flannel nightgown. Chances are good that I'll come home from the appointment and take a shower and be right back into the nightgown-with-tea mode, and I'm looking forward to it.  

My friends, I have posted on my battle log that I am taking some time off from May-September to make art and relax. I have spreadsheets ready for the rest of the year, so before I run off into the woods with a box of crayons and bag of snacks, how would you like to deal with this? I can share the links to the whole group for the upcoming spreadsheets, or hand it over to one person with the copy for the first post of each challenge.  Also, if you have other ideas/suggestion, let's discuss and decide together! 

Good news, my mammogram results came back and they are fine!   I'm also looking at my hair today and am really glad I made the appointment. I really don't know what went wrong here. It looks like one haircut stacked on another haircut. I think I may come out of it with one length.    Last week I said I think I need a break, but I wasn't sure what that meant.  What I really want to do is take the summer offline.  I want to go play outside, eat popsicles and read books and work on my art a lot.  I'm stuck in caregiving mode right now, and I don't need to be and that's super stressful. Everyone passed all their healthy tests so we can relax this summer. I want to really stop and remember what being an artist feels like. Also, I want to have fun.  I don't feel very fun these days.  I feel grouchy and irritable and withdrawn. I also need a break from thinking about weight loss and obsessing about my health. I just want to exercise and eat well and not think about scales, blood pressure, heart rates, and evaluating all my choices that week and what I need to do next week.    With Bert the nephew coming to live with us in the fall, I feel like taking this time to kinda reset is really important so I feel really relaxe and good about me when he comes in and pees on the toilet seat and I say "Bert, if you sprinkle when you tinkle please be neat and wipe the seat."   Honestly, even without him coming to live here, I need a break so that's what I'm going to do. I'm gonna make art, go outside and play, and relax from May to September.  I'm really excited for this!     Now the important bit: popsicle flavors! What's your favorite? I love orange and grape!

WOOHOO!

That's where Mr.R and I are currently 😬 we want to move so bad and get more land but everything is expensive, it would be nice to pay more off of our current house and I need a job. 

Whoa, worth it!  

Thank you. I'm thinking that we need to watch all of Drumhead and have a conversation about it. It's an excellent episode, and dense with ideals. And timely.

Reinforcement for a couple of days of not eating like a jerk, weight is down finally!   Oof, sleepy this morning - I woke up during the night and had a hard time getting back to sleep. BUT the sky looks to be some groovy shade of pink right now, which i am hoping ushers in a bright blue sky day, and that always gives me energy. As a backup, I’m going to prep a latte, haha.   Today: PhD defence (NOT MINE, I’m just an examiner, but it will take most of the day) and lifting after that. Exams are winding down so I’m optimistic that even if I roll up to the gym at 430 pm it shouldn’t be too too crowded. I think that, plus keeping on top of essential emails that roll in, will be all I can do work wise. Bleh, tomorrow is another day of all day events! I struggle with feeling super unproductive on such days, which is true in one sense (just keeping up with the treadmill and getting no writing done or even grading), but on the other hand all the meetings are job related, it’s just the part of my job that doesn’t directly advance my own research program.   Let’s see what cool birds I can find on the way to campus! Brown thrashers and pine warblers are back, apparently, I haven’t seen ‘em but colleagues have. And fuzzy little goslings are starting to hatch all over town ❤️

Yes these! Thanks       And thank you!