I feel like I spent most of my work week fighting ones and zeroes. Software. Hardware. Computery stuff.
I was productive, but it was a lot of five steps forward, three back. Lather, rinse, repeat. And repeat, and repeat.
I get to go back into the office starting July 6th, and I am STOKED! I need to see what I can wear. What fits, what looks OK, what is as comfortable as shorts but isn't shorts...
Although I don't intend to dwell on the particulars here, my mother is starting to have some health issues. It is chronic, with bouts of acuity here and there. I don't know what the long-term outlook is yet, and I might not until shit hits the fan. It's respiratory in nature, which takes its toll on the whole carcass. She's in good spirits and trying to enjoy herself in spite of it. I really don't want to go more into it than that for now, except to say that the work required to advocate for an aging parent is exhausting. It is, in effect, its own full-time job. I'd give myself a middling review.
Not being in the same zip code, area code or even time zone is a challenge. Ideally, I could call and make doctor appointments, refill requests, whatever after hours - but healthcare is a very 9-5 kind of thing, again, until something hits the fan, and thankfully, we're not there yet.
It doesn't help that everyone seems to have different opinions about things. Not just her doctors, but those of us on Team Mom. And we have different strengths. Like, don't ask me to touch finances, but send me to a doctor visit and I can take notes and ask questions. Two of the docs have complemented my note-taking and comprehension skills. It's small victories like that keeping me from losing my ever-loving mind.
I am also grateful that I have family, friends and colleagues (who are also friends) who get where I'm at in life. It's good to have people my age around me because we're at a similar stage. The younger pals are sympathetic, but it's in a "I can't even imagine" kind of way. My contemporaries are quick with a "That sucks, have you thought about X?" comment.
I'd also like to give a shout out to sugar. Refined sugar and fructose have both kept my energy and mood stabilized-ish over the past... lifetime. Honestly, yeah - I'm a sugar junkie. But better that than, say, PCP? Angel dust? Horse, Chronic, Laudunum Cap'n Cody, Hillbilly Heroin, Smack, Rock, whatever... I know a lot of drug slang. It's from training classes, I assure you.
Sugar has a lot of other names as well. Fructose, Maltodextrose, lactose, sucrose, Pete Rose,
Today I had some emergency Milk Duds, and they were awesome.
Milk Duds: When you want to lose a filling "the hard way".
And with that, I'm going to go chop some vegetables and sing some showtunes. Or disco. Whatever.
ae
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