Song: “Get Over You” by The Undertones
Mood: 6.5
Nightmares: 0
J had the day off today so we stayed up a little later than usual last night and watched some more Boston Legal. I think the show peaked between the end of the first and middle of the second seasons. The third season isn’t too bad, but I seem to recall the fourth being kind of painful and obviously suffering from budget cuts. I’m a big Star Trek fan (and I enjoyed T.J. Hooker) but I think William Shatner did a great job in BL.
Unfortunately, after going to bed a little later, I woke up at almost the regular time and had my usual sleep interruptions during the night so I’ve been tired today.
I did my little preparations before I started my exercises again today and they still seem to be helping. Things aren’t perfect but it’s good that I’m not getting frustrated and giving up after half an hour anymore. While I was doing my exercises, J went out to do some paperwork stuff, and she got home just as I was climbing the stairs after finishing.
We hung out and got in some relaxing – perfect for a day off. Later in the afternoon, J went out again to pick up some groceries and birthday cards (nephews’ birthdays are coming up), and while she was gone I potted a chili pepper plant that she picked up yesterday.
I did a lot of texting today. I know it’s not as good as going out to see people or talking to them on the phone, but I’m actually communicating with quite a few more people than I have for the last couple of years, so I suppose there’s something to be said about that.
After J got home in the afternoon, we sat around and talked. After a while, we could hear some booming off in the distance. I checked the weather map and it appeared to be a storm coming, so we grabbed our little bottles of bubble soap and went outside to sit on the deck steps and blow bubbles while the thunder rumbled around us. It’s kind of a weird habit, but J picked up two bottles of bubble stuff from the dollar store about ten years ago and whenever we hear a storm coming, we go outside and blow bubbles until the rain starts or the wind gets crazy. It’s nice to sit outside with J – I should probably do that more often.
Three storms burped and rumbled their way through the area and brought some heavy rain with them. I mentioned the other day that I enjoy the low booming of a distant storm, and that’s still true. When I was younger, however, I also really used to enjoy big nasty storms. I used to freak my Catholic mom out during storms by standing at the patio door, shaking my fist up at the sky and yelling, “IS THAT ALL YOU GOT???”
Unfortunately, now that I’m grown up and need to worry about my own shingles, siding, windows, plants, garage, and vehicles, huge nasty storms aren’t as fun as they used to be. Making it even worse is that I can’t keep myself from freaking out about anything else I can think of. Sewer backup, water ingress from a crack in the foundation, the power spiking and damaging equipment, lightning starting a fire, wind blowing over one of the huge trees that bracket the house, lots of heavy rain contributing to a sinkhole, erosion of the soil under the concrete pad the garage sits on, the wood at the bottom of the shed and the deck being too wet for too long and rotting even though it’s treated lumber… all kinds of things. The last time I sat through a REALLY good storm was when I was last at DA’s cabin out in the woods. It was incredible but instead of appreciating it, I was terrified.
I used to play a lot of Call of Duty and I was decent at it (I have good reflexes) but that was quite a while ago. Years, even. I even played some multiplayer and won quite often on some of the maps that worked well with my twitchiness. But it’s been a while. I’ve heard a lot about a game called Fortnite recently and decided to give it a try this evening. It took a while to install (pretty big download) and after it was ready I figured I would just give it a quick try. Every game nowadays does the WASD and mouse thing so I thought I’d be able to run around for a couple of minutes and maybe kill one or two people. I started the game, joined a server, and was promptly killed by someone with a machine gun while I fled with my… axe. No respawning, either. I think I need to do some reading before I try it again.
Another storm is rolling through as I write this. Lots more thunder and rain…
This evening, J and I watched Black Panther. Both of us had heard a lot of good things about the movie, and it was quite good. I think it might have been a little slow to start but they needed to build a whole country and backstory and introduce the characters. After they got that established, however, the pace and stakes picked up and there were some laughs to be had. The car crash scene with Okoye and Nakia was particularly chuckle-worthy. Oh, and Bucky? BUCKY?
So we’re all up to date on our Marvel movies and ready to watch Infinity War. I must admit, I’m really looking forward to that one. Can’t wait until it comes out on disc!
J has been working like mad on the new paperwork that needs to be submitted for my insurance. She has put in a crazy amount of work on it and has basically brought it to me a couple of times, saying, “sign here… sign here… sign here…”. She sent the papers off this morning. I still can’t handle dealing with the insurance stuff, so I really, REALLY appreciate all of the work J does. She keeps me going and helps me fight off the demons. She’s amazing!
I’m not sure what the weather is supposed to be like tomorrow but if it’s not too bad I may go see if anything catches my eye as being interesting to look at under the microscope. There’s just something incredible about looking at something that’s invisible to the naked eye and realizing that it’s not just sitting there – it’s doing work. It has a job. It’s trying to feed, grow, reproduce, and not get eaten. And it happens 24/7 in almost every environment this planet has to offer. I’m not great at it, but I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of biology (and microbiology in particular).
Stay safe.