I was feeling so great yesterday… by the end of the day, that is. I got up around 7:30 and got to puttering and blogging… writing and thinking and doing some extra needed maintenance on the blog. My upstairs study has devolved into a general holding tank for all kinds of crap I can’t figure out what to do with, so I steered clear of it and used the computer downstairs to do my blogging.
I needed to run some errands in the a.m. — pick up a package and mail out important things at the post office, buy a leaf blower, deposit a check at the bank, pick up milk at the store, and then come home to take trash to the dump and get some other chores done around the house.
I really needed to leave the house by 10:30 in order to get everything done on time. But the time got away from me, and at 11:04, I found myself pulling the car out of the garage, wondering how the heck I was going to get into town in less than an hour — the post office — the main place I needed to get to — closed at noon, and traffic was bound to be really slow, due to everyone milling around, trying to line up their lives before the Thanksgiving holiday.
I decided to take the freeway, instead of secondary roads, to get into town, and I was able to reach my destination with 9 minutes to spare. That was all I needed — and thank heavens for the upcoming holiday, as a lot of the college students who usually leave their errands till the last minute on Saturday and hold up the lines at the post office, were probably either headed home for Thanksgiving or off doing something else.
So, I did everything I thought I was supposed to do, I got myself something to eat, and then I hopped in the car and headed home. Again, I was late — the dump closed at 3:00, and I had all of an hour and a half to get to the bank, stop off at the store to buy milk, and head home to take out the trash.
I hauled ass back down the road, a little spacey and out of it — I was feeling foggy and not entirely with it — and I was losing track of what I was supposed to be doing. I managed to deposit the check in the bank and pick up milk and look at a leaf blower at the hardware store… and I was on track to make it home in time to bag up trash and haul it to the dump. But then I realized that I’d forgotten to mail out the stuff that was time-sensitive — part of the reason I’d gone into town, in the first place was to get the stuff mailed out that day!!! And now all the local post offices were closed for the weekend. Ack!!! Well, I couldn’t worry about it. I dropped the stuff in a box at a nearby post office, noting that it would all go out at 6 a.m. on Monday, so that was almost good enough. And I made a note to make notes to myself and follow them, when something was important.
I did manage to get back to the house in time to take the trash to the dump. But then I realized that I had really needed to purchase a leaf blower, not just look at it. I guess I had used my time okay earlier, because I had at least found where the leaf blowers were in the hardware store, which is sometimes half the battle, and I’d managed to price them and found them cheaper than I’d expected.
So, after I got the trash to the dump, I drove back to the hardware store, pulled the leaf blower off the shelf, and went looking for an extension cord. The associate who helped me pick out the right extension cord was helpful, but I didn’t understand everything they were saying to me… I sort of went by their tone and nodded and smiled and repeated what they said to me, to make it sound like I was following… then I hauled it all to checkout, credit card and rewards card in hand. When the clerk input the amounts, I realized that the extension cord was almost as expensive as the leaf blower — it was an 80-foot heavy duty cord that I’m sure will be fine… as long as it doesn’t blow the fuses in my house. I had tried to see how much it was, but I got confused and thought it was $19.95 — it was almost $40. Holy smokes! I guess I’d better take good care of it… I didn’t have time for the price change to register — if I’d had time and I’d considered that I needed to really watch my spending, I might have told the clerk to take the extension cord off, but I ended up just going with it anyway. I’ll probably get plenty of use out of it, and I need a good heavy-duty cord, anyway, so I can’t worry about it.
The hardest part of the visit to the store was dealing with the credit card payment. It should be easy, right? But there were lines all over the screen, and I had a dickens of a time figuring out where to sign my name, and then were to tap on the screen, after I was done signing my name. It took me a couple of tries, and the clerk had to tell me how to do it. But at least I used the stylus instead of the pen I had in my hand. And when all was said and done, I had a leaf blower and new 80-foot extension cord in the back of my car.
When I got home, I was so tapped, I just took a shower and fell into bed. I hate being so easily fatigued, and I wanted to spend some time in the afternoon using my new leaf blower, but it was not to be. Plus, the wind was up, and there were so many friggin’ leaves, it tired me out just looking at them. I didn’t want to push it. I’ve been feeling like I’m coming down with a cold, and I didn’t want to stress myself any more.
I wasn’t able to sleep the whole two hours I was intending to. About an hour into my nap, I woke up suddenly and started to cry. I hate when that happens. And it’s been happening a lot, lately. It often happens when I’m either freshly rested or I’m over-tired. Fortunately, I’m usually alone when it comes over me — first thing in the a.m. while I’m getting ready for work, when I wake up from a nap, or before I fall asleep at night. I can’t stand crying with other people around me. I feel weak and pitiful and self-conscious. But when I woke up yesterday, I was all alone, except for one of my cats, so I had a little cry and released some of the pressure of this time.
Thanksgiving is the anniversary of two of my past tbi’s (1995 and 2004), and I experience a deep sense of loss that I can’t always put my finger on, around this time. It’s also the time of year when I started to really realize and come to terms with the various losses I’ve sustained — the jobs, the relationships, the financial security — and it’s when I was first able to really look at the impact that tbi has had in my life, ever since I was young. It’s a time when I face all the more closely the loss of my dreams, the loss of many of my fondly held assumptions about what I am capable of doing and what I can safely attempt, the loss of the person I once was… not to mention the person I mistakenly thought I had been (but never truly was). Thanksgiving can be a very hard time for me, so I have to cut myself a break and just let myself cry when I need to cry.
Last night was a little difficult — lots of agitation coming up, lots of resentment and stress and breakdowns in communication and bad timing. But by the end of the evening, I had regained my footing and relaxed into a children’s movie that — while a little simplistic and not quite believable in places — still didn’t have the rough language, sex and violence that tends to upset me.
All in all, forgetfulness and backtracking and confusion notwithstanding, I did manage to get many of my chores done. And today is shaping up to be a nice day, so I can continue with the theme and hopefully fire up that leaf blower.
Note to self: Read the manual and double-check everything, so you don’t blow the motor or screw up the apparatus before you get started. I don’t want to wreck my latest power tool, like I did my chainsaw – which I totally hosed because I used it a bunch of times without ever oiling the chain. (In case you’re wondering, that’s a bad thing and leads to malfunction — never a good thing with chainsaws!)
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I’ve got my hands full, for the next 24 hours. I’m coming down to the wire with shopping and cooking and preparation for Christmas Day tomorrow. My spouse and I typically take it easy on Christmas, when we’re at home.
Merry Christmas, everyone. Happy Christmas. Frohe Weinachten. Feliz Navidad. And many more wishes in languages I do not know.
Broken Brain - Brilliant Mind 