Song: “Another One Bites the Dust” by Queen
Mood: 7.5
Other than one particularly vivid nightmare last night, I think I slept quite well. I got up, had breakfast, did my exercises, and tidied up the house a bit to get ready for FA’s arrival.
She showed up around 2PM and had a very interesting idea for a project. She wants to use an old-style steel pulley from farm equipment for the wheel on her new fence. We found some steel tubing out in the garage that fit closely enough to be an axle, and then we were off to the hardware store to look at bearings and do an aisle crawl.
We found some of the parts that she needed and I think have a plan to move forward. It’s going to involve steel, plasma cutting, welding – all kinds of fun stuff.
Time flew by while we were at the store, and we had to be at the restaurant to meet J and DM at 4:45. We paid for our stuff (I bought a welding respirator and a little bag of candy) and then headed over to the restaurant.
J and DM arrived shortly after and we had a really good conversation while we waited for our food. It was great to hang out with them again and J and I had a very good time. I had the steak and it was delightful; if all steaks were like that, the world would be a better place.
About two hours later, the restaurant started to fill up and I found it more difficult to keep track of the conversation and I could feel my anxiety building. Grounding exercises helped quite a bit and I don’t think I looked too weird. Eventually, the sound got to the point where none of us could really hear so we decided to leave. We’d been there for almost three hours!
Aside from the noise later on, I had a fantastic time and it felt good to be out of the house for a while (if you guys read this, thanks again!). FA and I didn’t walk to the hardware store like we’d planned, but between the heavy steel pulley she brought along and the rainy, cool weather, everything worked out better. I’m sure we’ll walk to the store sometime in the future.
This weekend I need to work on the homework that both Dr W and Dr P gave me. For Dr W, I need to finish writing out my nightmares in as much detail as I can. For Dr P, I need to work on the cognitive defusion techniques that he gave me. I don’t need to learn them all, just pick two or three that I can relate to and concentrate on them.
Stay safe.