Working to Turn 180

 

After a very rough weekend, I am striving to turn around my mindset to focus and reshape my thoughts to feel happier and more content.  I am not going to be "poly-anna-like" and try to dismiss or deny or ignore the things that hurt, but I am going to work damn hard to see beyond them.  So, bullets of good and bad:

• The vaccinations are DONE!  Both of them.... bivalent Covid and Flu.  With getting the shots on Friday, I was utterly wiped out and sore and achy all day Saturday.  But, I forced myself to (with my wife's help) clean out the garden and get it empty and set.  As we use a community garden space, we were required to have this accomplished before November 1st.  We did so with a few days to spare.  I felt as if I had been run over by a truck.
• Apparently, the vaccines (perhaps) caused a massive flare-up in  my TMJ.  The inflammation was so intense on my left side of my jaw that I could not close my mouth sufficiently to get my teeth to mesh.  I used the time to fast completely (other than fluids) on Saturday.  
• The person who I no longer write about here had a major blow-out in terms of attitude and emotions on Sunday.  I resolutely worked to remain calm and not get into an argument.  Unfortunately, this one was a "solo" event as my wife was gone all day with my SIL and they went to a concert together (a present for my SIL's birthday).  While my SIL struggled a fair amount getting into and out of the concert venue (even with using her handicap sticker on my wife's vehicle to get her as close as possible to the venue), she and my wife had a good time.  
• In order to try to feel some peace myself, after the person's blow-out, and after things had settled into a general "normalcy" with this person, I decided that in order for me to calm myself that I would go to the U.  Part of this was to allow the person to work on what the person needed to do on my home-office computer (I used my computer at work when I got to the U), and part was I needed to change my focus and feel I had accomplished something, and part was that it was better than feeling alone (without my wife).  I got home from the U at ~9:30pm last night.  
• Got up at my 5:00am alarm, and proceed to again dress and head to the track.  I was feeling still somewhat sore and tired and really not in the mindset to run, but it was my only time of today to be able to do so, so I forced through it.  I only was able to get in 10.7 miles (~17.2 km) before I had to stop so I could get to the U on time this morning.  
• PCS = 7.  I do not know what to say positive about this, other than I positively WANT to smoke my pipes.  But, I do not know how to do so safely in a way that isn't just more struggle and work to maintain.  So, I sit as I do, just living in the "7" I guess.  
• Four hours of lecturing coming up, and then a late afternoon of research.  I hope my jaw stays calm after all the loud yammering I need to do.  
• There is a small potential that my wife may be able to go with me and we can go swimming in the late afternoon today.  I would like that very, very much.  I hope that it is able to happen.

Happy Halloween,

PipeTobacco