Falling off the Sleep Cycle

Yikes, I was up around 3 AM, then back down around 4:30, then back up around 6, then down for the absolute count until the downstairs banging began around 8. After all, it's the weekend, why expect to rest? So I watched baseball (both NY teams won), tackled the linen closet and the vanity drawers, caught up on finances, put things in their new places with two shopping bags full of castoff t-shirts waiting to be donated, the trash has been taken out, even our couch is now reclaimed. Oh, and I made my first pitcher of iced tea of the season. As presumed, the Greek salad will wait until tomorrow, but I do feel quite the sense of accomplishment. Now if only I could sleep through the night without waking up in the wee smalls! Maybe watching the entire Tony Awards will help.

Vanity Thy Name Is...

I took a look this morning at the little cups holding my pills and said "I should really get new ones." I have a whole bag of the tiny things in... well, somewhere in either the medical shelf of the linen closet or one of my vanity drawers and... wait, why is this stuff all over the place? These vanity drawers need a cleanout! The perfect task to distract myself from the downstairs construction. The two left drawers were full of t-shirts from my comic convention days to my Firesign collection to other novelties, and the two right drawers had lots of electronics (Robin's department, and he disposed of them the way they should be) and OMG so many unused needles from when I was doing the Ozempic before I switched to Mounjaro and they just had to go because-- HOW many tubes of Parodontax toothpaste do I have again? And what do I have on that shelf in the linen closet that can go into the now-empty vanity drawers? So yeah, the t's are on the couch and I'll tackle the lot tomorrow, because today was early food shopping before it got too hot. I also have notions of making a Greek salad, but that may wait until Monday because I'm more in organizational mode than food prep mode...

Bang Bang Bang Went the Folly

Back to the noise of the downstairs construction as I tried to work. I'd put on leggings to feel more comfy in the heat, and of course Robin drew the blinds to keep out some of it, but I had to venture downstairs to ask that the workman please keep down his music while I tried to work as well. For some reason the thumping of the beat bothers me more than hammering and sanding and such. He was done around 5 PM today which meant no afternoon nap, but I'm starting to get used to the New Temporary Normal and not expecting to rest unless I have earbuds in. We've decided to put off looking for a new car until all the dust literally settles (our current vehicle is covered in it), and we're not going anywhere this weekend anyway due to the heat. So we'll make the best of things!

Feeling/Not Feeling Hot

Nice to be back to a regular commuter after Tuesday's debacle. My morning express bus driver was pretty amused that I knew about the surprise safety check at the Yonkers depot which completely scuttled the morning bus I take, forcing me to go via local bus/subway/hobbling two days ago, but hey, I pride myself in staying informed. I pretty much stayed put in my workstation for much of the day, as I wasn't feeling that well anyway between the aches and pains and lack of proper sleep and I didn't want to wander in the heating-up weather. I have to remember to take ibuprofen tonight to avoid further pain...

I'm Getting Too Old For This Riggs

That extra walking yesterday really did me in. I had so much foot and calf pain overnight that I didn't sleep very well. Thank goodness I was able to work from home today, and even take a bit of time off as a breather because the construction noise downstairs was fairly quiet. It really only gets loud when he decides to blast his music from a different room than the one in which he's working, which he didn't do today. My poor hallux is still pretty hurting, so I don't know how well I'll manage tomorrow. At least I won't have to worry about a jacket or anything, just have to remember to stick a mask in my pocket because summertime in NY means very crowded public transit!

Commutation

What a way to celebrate my half-birthday! Yeah, I know, at my age I shouldn't be commemorating that anyway, but OMG the express bus wasn't running this morning, as the depot decided to do a safety check which apparently took offline all the buses that run to the West Side of Manhattan. Undeterred, I realized I needed to do some extra walking today, so I got the local bus to the subway to Penn where I hobbled a couple avenues and still got to the office about 10 minutes earlier than I usually do, but without the relaxation and space the express bus affords me. And of course with extra wear and tear, which showed up as soon as I hit the bed earlier this evening. Oh man, my left IT band and foot are really killing me. Let's hope I can get some sleep!

The Noise Redoubled

White Rabbits! As if to make up for yesterday's bucolic atmosphere, the peace was shattered around 8 AM and still has not let up fully, as one workman is drilling and banging as I type so that he can complete his job today, while either his radio or the next door neighbors' sound system is blasting. Not staying in here long, just checking in...

Blessed Quiet

The workers weren't here today, and for the first time in a few weeks it was quiet downstairs. Not outside, mind you, but we don't expect that in the nice weather months anyway. It was so great to be able to think without straining, listen to the TV without the sound being turned up to an unreasonable volume, and just relax. I caught up on finances, spoke with my brother about Mom's estate, and even got in an afternoon nap. We're sure not to be as lucky tomorrow, but we're counting our blessings whilst they last.

A Little Tap

Because the work downstairs throws me for such a loop, I find myself at less than 100% far more than I'd like. Such was the case when we shopped this morning. On the way back home I'd stopped at an intersection behind a car I was sure had gone before a light change a block away had started oncoming traffic. She had not, and because I was looking to the side (at the traffic) instead of ahead my car wound up tapping hers a bit at like 2mph. No injuries or even scuff marks at all on either vehicle, but I felt bad about not paying attention, that's totally not like me, and I've been sulking about it ever since. My conclusion is that my age is starting to catch up on me, but I'm too tired for eternal vigilance. I'm just not sure at this point what is going to give. Perhaps all will right itself post-renovation, but I'm just not sure at this point. Until then, I continue to rewatch Frozen II and remind myself that everything changes but you just need to keep doing the next right thing.

Early to Rise

When I was living in my parents home, I trained myself to wake up earlier than they did (usually around 5-6 AM) so that I could deal with whatever was coming my way once Mom opened my did-not-lock bedroom door. I suppose that's where my morning-person habits (which have served me well during my working life) originated. The more things I can get done earlier in the day, the better off I seem to be. Now with the downstairs apartment renovations going on, it behooves me to get up before my alarm goes off (6 AM on the days when I work from home) and get stuff done before the noise distracts me. So today I did various personal financial things (which wound up continuing throughout the day talking to my family's financial advisors and DocuSigning papers) and straightening things around the house and even work prep before I actually logged on, changed my Windows password right away (with one day to spare!), and started my actual job stuff. The downside to doing things this way, of course, is that I usually find myself exhausted by the afternoon, and with all the renovation work I can't exactly nap until the workman leaves at around 6 PM. I keep reminding myself, this too shall pass. Hey, at least I got paid today!