Monday Update (More Things to Talk about in Therapy)

I was up all night on Monday night. I read (more Shirley Jackson, more Sisters Brothers), watched some youtube videos, tried to sleep. I finally managed to get back to sleep around 6:45, when Dave was getting read to start his workday. I slept until 11:30 or so, got up, started my day by downing a liter of water. (I've been incredibly dehydrated recently, which has something to do with the ibuprofen I was taking to help my shoulder and neck.)

Dave made berry-banana-yogurt bowls for breakfast and I had mine with a cup of Pero. (I'm totally off caffeine these days because it's been making me jumpy. Even two cups of decaf will make me feel jumpy.)

While I was still lounging over breakfast in bed, my friend Hannah texted me to let me know that she had moved up her test date to a few days ago and had just received her results. Of course she passed. There was never any doubt. I congratulated her and asked her a few questions about the exam. (It had been rumored that the board exams are easier than the exit exams we took for the program and she confirmed that that is true. Since I aced--and I mean ACED--the exit exams, I'm not too worried about the board exams. But I still will give myself a few more weeks to study.)

After breakfast, I sat down to write in my journal (a sticker chart reward activity). When I finished that, I got up and made a big pot of vegetable soup. I don't get a sticker for that, but I did get to use up some of the enormous quantity of veg we bought at Costco. (Either we get to eat it or the worms do. And we manage to waste enough food that the worms aren't going hungry by any means.) It's a big pot of onions, carrots, bell peppers, butternut squash, tomatoes, potatoes, green beans, corn, and spinach. (I think that's it?) It was a lot of prep work, but it will last for days.

When it was done, I had a bowl for lunch along with some avocado toast. (Our big bag of Costco avocados are also ripening at a ridiculous pace!) I lingered too long over my late lunch, but then I got to work studying. (I'm writing this during a study break. I study for 45 minutes then take a break.)

Tonight's plan includes some time on the exercise bike (sticker) and grocery shopping (no sticker). I also pulled out my copy of Shirley Jackson's short stories, which includes "The Lottery." That's my next read, I think.

(A while later:)

When Dave was finished with work (and I had had a chance to take a shower and get out of my pajamas), we went up to Ulta to pick up some of my Clinique face wash and a couple of NYX lip pencils, one a bright turquoise blue (that stained my lips so now I look cyanotic). After, we stopped by the co-op and did our Big Shop (the shopping trip we do twice a year when co-op members get a big discount). We didn't seem to buy as much as we normally do on our Big Shop outings, for whatever reason, but we still came home with four big bags of groceries.

After we unpacked everything, we had dinner (vegetable soup for both of us, a burger steak for me and Quorn nuggets for Dave). While I was warming up the veggie soup, Dave returned a text from a friend who had texted while we were out shopping. Turns out that his wife (also a friend of ours) has breast cancer and is going in for surgery tomorrow. We haven't gotten together with them for awhile, but we'll text tomorrow and see how she is doing after the surgery.  They've had a hell of a time in the last couple of years. He had a heart attack earlier this year and she spent most of the year before last recovering from another big health problem. So is this what it's like to get old?

After dinner, Dave got on the stationary bike for some exercise and I sat nearby and ate half a chocolate bar while I read quilting blogs. Longevity is not in my genes anyway.