Song: “Swing The Mood” by Jive Bunny and the Mastermixers
Mood: 6
Nightmares: 0
I got to bed last night just before midnight, which is too late for a weeknight and not good for me. Fortunately, I slept quite well last night. I don’t remember having any nightmares or bad dreams, and I think I only woke up worrying two, maybe three times. The biggest difference last night was that I didn’t wake up early. Usually I am already awake when J’s alarm goes off, and some days I’m awake at 5-5:30. For whatever reason (either I was more zonked out than normal or J was super stealthy), I slept right through everything and woke up at around 8:20 or so. That’s the best sleep I’ve had in a LONG time. I’ve been dragging quite a bit lately and maybe my body just decided it wasn’t going to get tricked into getting up by my brain this morning.
After I did my preparations, my exercises went pretty well today, too. The extra sound of the waves and the thunderstorm are doing a great job of blotting out car, people, and house sounds, so I don’t get distracted as much. Another thing I’ve noticed about having the waves and thunderstorm playing is that it’s another thing I can focus on when I’m doing my mindfulness. I tend to listen to music in a kind of weird way – I usually pick it apart and listen to the instruments one at a time. Only later will I listen to everything playing together. In particular, I like following the bass and rhythm lines, but how all of the sounds interleave and stack and work together to make harmonies is pretty amazing. I think I picked that up from listening to a lot of march music by Sousa – his melody/countermelody style is instantly recognized and really gives a lot to think about as the melody is passed around from one section in the band to another. If you’ve never listened to march music, I highly recommend giving it a try. “King Cotton” by Sousa, “H.M. Jollies” by Kenneth Alford, “Voice of the Guns” by Alford, “Colonel Bogey” by Alford, “Military Escort” by Harold Bennett, and “Heart of Oak” by Dr William Boyce, are all good songs to try out.
Whoo… went a little long on that topic. Sorry. Music has always been a big part of my life and as I get older I just keep being introduced to (or discovering) more amazing stuff.
I texted everybody again today. When I do that, I hope for two main things: one, that they get a little smile, and two, that they know they don’t need to reply. I’m not trying to keep everybody busy all day. I just want to say hi and send a dumb animal picture or two. Since I’ve started making texting part of my day, I have been keeping in touch with relatives that I haven’t spoken to in years. I think it’s good.
My appointment with Dr P this afternoon was not easy. He and I both think that things seem to be a little better, though. It was our first appointment in about a month. We talked a lot about what I’d been doing in the meantime, and I told him about getting to the strip mall parking lot and walking around there, with my next step being going into the grocery store. He was happy about that, and was pleased that I had found something that helps make it easier to do my mindfulness and worry exercises. I don’t think he was quite as pleased with me having trouble with the toaster or my worries about the hot water tank, but overall I think things went better today than they did the last time I saw him. He gave me some more homework to do. I spend a lot of time each day going back through the text histories of all the messages I’ve sent and received, making sure that I sent everything to the right person and didn’t offend or otherwise upset anyone. This used to take 15-20 minutes but now that I’m texting so many other people, it can take over an hour. If I can somehow trust that I haven’t sworn like a sailor’s grandma and that it’s not a big deal if I accidentally send a message to the wrong person AND that if I do send a message to the wrong person or choose the wrong words, chances are the recipient will ask what I mean instead of never talking to me again. That’s all I have to do. Yeah…
I sent J’s aunt a text today, saying that the fact that her dog’s vet is busty probably means she is very good at her job. I felt kind of dumb and sent a correction but I think she was more amused by it than anything, so that’s good.
Oh, I almost forgot – we planted two little spruce trees last year. One in the front and one in the back. The front one is a cute, full tree, and the one in the back looks a little scrawny. But… I took this picture as soon as J and I got home from our appointments this afternoon:
That’s the front tree. Look at all the buds! The one in the back yard is growing buds like crazy, too! I was worried they weren’t going to make it through their first winter but they look like they’re having a great time.
Tomorrow’s Friday, and I have no appointments or anything scheduled. I believe I will get some microscope work in, do my walk (if it’s not raining again), and maybe play around with OpenShot again. Who knows, though – my days don’t ever seem to go how I’d planned them.
Stay safe.