| May 23, 2013 |
[May. 23rd, 2013|11:55 pm]
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| [ | Current Mood |
| | good | ] |
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| | (Random Playlist) | ] |
The temperature continues to drop, which suits me right down to the ground. I can sleep again! Also, my walk to work is much more pleasant when I'm not sweating through my shirt. Several customers today complained about how cold it was, but I just smiled and nodded and disagreed inside. I'm loving this weather.
I worked another noon to 6:00 close shift today, and once again it was a very busy day -- not so much because of the customers, but because we had a lot of stuff to receive and shelve. We're headed into the summer season, when the store gets packed from top to bottom with books and other items of interest. Also, we had an author/illustrator of children's books in town today. The store sponsored him visiting four of the local grade schools, and after that he came by the store itself to sign books. (That's actually why I was asked to work today: I ran the front of the store while the owner and the manager took care of the author.)
The tendonitis in my right ankle was particularly bad today, and I found myself limping on my walk home. Tomorrow, I plan to stay off my feet and do some icing and heat to see if that works. I spent a little bit of the evening playing about online, after which I lay down for a quick nap. Several hours late I woke up for dinner, and soon I'll be headed back to bed. Tomorrow is my second day off this week, and I have plenty to catch up on, so here's to hoping I get another good night's sleep tonight. |
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| May 22, 2013 |
[May. 22nd, 2013|11:55 pm]
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| | dissatisfied | ] |
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Last night was much cooler than earlier this week, so I was actually able to get to sleep at a decent hour and enjoy a good night's rest. Still, I must have been running quite the sleep deficit, as I woke up well after noon and then took a four-hour afternoon/evening nap. It didn't help that today was a very rainy, dreary, gray sort of day.
I did a whole bunch of dishes this afternoon, but that was about it for productivity for the day. Also, for some reason, my lack of substantive posting on LiveJournal is starting to bother me. I used to write mini-essays about current events and thoughtful book reviews here -- not to mention posting poetry, but that's another disaster entirely -- but not so much lately. I'll have to remedy that. Assuming I can dredge up the energy to become engaged again in such matters. I need more energy in general in any case. |
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| May 21, 2013 |
[May. 21st, 2013|11:55 pm]
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| | blah | ] |
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I had another rough night last night, again due to it being so hot. I didn't even try to put my CPAP on until about 4:00 AM, and even then it was still very uncomfortable. I had particularly vivid dreams as well. In one of them, I was supposed to kick something very hard -- I don't remember what or why -- and my lizard brain apparently took my dream situation for a real-life one. The pain of the top of my left foot kicking into the edge of the dresser beside the bed woke me up quite thoroughly.
Once awake, I managed to hobble my way through the morning and make it to work on time. I worked another noon to 6:00 close shift today, and it wasn't that bad. We had a decent number of customers, and like yesterday we had a very large shipment to receive and put away. It kept me busy. My walk home was not pleasant, though, between the tendonitis in my right ankle and the soreness at the top of my left foot from kicking the furniture this morning. I was happy to get home, take off my shoes, and sit down for a while.
I spent a quiet evening at home, most of my time being wasted online. I'm trying to work up the energy to finish reading the two books I presented last night that I haven't made it through yet, but that may not happen this week. Otherwise, I'm ready for bed. It's cooled down somewhat outside, so I might get a better night's sleep tonight. |
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| May 20, 2013 |
[May. 20th, 2013|11:55 pm]
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| | tired | ] |
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I had a pretty rough night last night. The heat made it difficult for me to sleep, and even when I did drop off, I wasn't really able to wear my CPAP because it was just too uncomfortable. I actually woke up early this morning, and spent the morning moving about in a bit of a daze. I eventually turned on the downstairs air conditioner, and that helped me wake up somewhat.
This is just as well, as I was called in to work early. Instead of showing up at 4:00 PM, I came in a little after 2:00 PM. Basically, the store got a huge shipment of books today from one specific publisher, in addition to the usual Monday order and some smaller packages. There were only two people on the clock when the shipment arrived, one of whom was the manager, who also needed to bring up chairs from the basement for this evening's event. In any case, I helped put away books and then helped rearrange the store for the Book Club Symposium (which I really should start calling Top 20 and an Author, as that is now it's official name.)
The event this evening was a great success, which is a relief after last time, which was a bit of a disaster. I managed to present all of my books successfully, despite not having finished two of them and still not feeling completely awake. Our guest author for the evening was interesting, and the audience generally seemed to like him. (At the very least, they bought a lot of his books.) After the talk I was assigned to wander the store helping people find books, which was a good thing. I'm not sure I was in any condition to run the cash register.
After we all put the store back in order, the manager gave me a ride home. I walked in the front door a little after 9:00 PM, which is earlier than usual on these nights. I was hot and sweaty and tired, so  queenmomcat and I went out for dinner instead of staying in and cooking something. And now I need to go to bed. I work again tomorrow at the book store, and it should be another busy day. |
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| May 19, 2013 |
[May. 19th, 2013|11:55 pm]
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| | hot | ] |
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| | none | ] |
Up just before noon today, and the first thing I did after checking my e-mail and a few websites was mow the lawn. I should have done that Friday -- migraine or not -- or even earlier. It was pretty rough going, and the temperatures had risen into the low 80s°F by the time I finished. I came in hot and sweaty and sore and ready to unwind, which I did.
I basically spent the rest of the afternoon on the computer. Sure, I balanced the checkbook and paid some bills, but most of my time online was recreational. Towards evening, I tossed some clothes in the washing machine and then took a long nap. They were ready for the dryer by the time I woke up.
I didn't feel all that good in the evening -- and I still don't now -- and I'm generally blaming the heat for that one. We're supposed to get cooler temperatures later in the week, but until then I suspect I'm going to be vaguely miserable. I just don't do hot weather. |
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| May 18, 2013 |
[May. 18th, 2013|11:55 pm]
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| | perky | ] |
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| | none | ] |
Up late today, which is not good: I had wanted to get up early and mow the lawn before work, but that didn't happen. I'll have to do it tomorrow. The grass is getting very long, and I worry that our piddling little mower won't be able to handle it.
In any case, I worked noon to close (6:00 PM) at the book store today, and it was another pleasantly busy day with lots of customers. The weather has turned delightful, and that brought a lot of people out and downtown. It also made my walk to and from work much more enjoyable than it has been lately. Unfortunately, I'm still suffering from tendonitis in my right ankle, and that made the walk a little bit more painful than it would have been otherwise.
I spent the evening catching up my LiveJournal, which has been languishing again. Otherwise, not much else is new. I have tomorrow off, and then Monday is the Book Club Symposium at work. I'm actually scheduled to work most of next week at the book store. I think subbing is pretty much done for the year, so it's a good thing I'm getting more book store hours. |
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| May 17, 2013 |
[May. 17th, 2013|11:55 pm]
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| | sore | ] |
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Terrible night last night. A splitting headache woke me up in the early hours of the morning, and it became apparent pretty soon that I had a migraine. I had to get up to vomit twice, after which, thankfully, things settled down a bit. I slept as late as I could this morning, but I still had to get up eventually and go to work. The migraine was over by the time I clocked in, but I still felt very tired and groggy all day.
In any case, it was a pleasantly busy day. I hid in the back and did some returns in the late afternoon, but otherwise I was out on the floor helping customers. And we had lots of them, which is always a good thing. There was an event downtown in the evening -- the unveiling of this summer's public art projects -- and that brought out a lot of people. The store was pretty crowded up until closing time, but thankfully everybody left by the time I was supposed to shut everything down.
queenmomcat and I had our weekly dinner date out this evening, and that was pleasant. Less pleasant was the fact that the tendonitis in my ankles, especially my right one, is starting to have an impact on my mobility. Walking hurts a little, but going up and down stairs is a real strain. I work at the book store again tomorrow, but I have Sunday off, and I plan to rest my poor legs as much as I possibly can. We'll see how successful I am at that. |
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| May 16, 2013 |
[May. 16th, 2013|11:55 pm]
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| | good | ] |
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Up early again for subbing, and once more off to the junior high to our north. This time, my assignment was for the cognitively impaired special ed class, and it was a wonderfully easy day. The students listened when I spoke, did their work without complaining or copying from each other, and generally behaved themselves. Such a change from the normal ed classes. To think, I used to be nervous about taking over special ed classes as a sub. Nowadays I jump at the chance to work with them.
In any case, I had some time to read more of The Golem and the Jinni, which continues to be good. And I came home tired, but in a pretty good mood. I took my usual afternoon nap, and woke up still in a good mood. The evening was a quiet one, most of which I spent online, as is par for the course. Tomorrow, I don't have to be to work until noon, but I might get up early to mow the lawn. It needs it again. |
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| May 15, 2013 |
[May. 15th, 2013|11:55 pm]
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| [ | Current Mood |
| | better | ] |
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All right: I made a concentrated effort today to make it a better day than yesterday. For starters, I pushed myself to get out of bed before noon. This helped. I did some laundry and washed some more dishes, mainly to keep myself busy (and because they needed to be done). I did take a long nap this afternoon, but that's nothing unusual. So just there, today was an improvement over my last few days off.
What's more to the point, I finally started reading one of the books I need to read by Monday evening: The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker. So far I'm enjoying it, although there are some romantic passages that I find a little dull. (I can be such a guy reader sometimes.) Still, I may be able to finish quite a bit of the book this week, leaving me Monday morning and afternoon to at least start my last book for the Book Club Symposium. The last book is a mystery, so I really only need to present the setup. Revealing whodunit would be frowned upon.
And now to bed. Subbing again tomorrow. They're keeping me busy here at the end of the year. |
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| May 14, 2013 |
[May. 14th, 2013|11:55 pm]
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| | desperate | ] |
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I stayed in bed quite a long time this morning, fading in and out of sleep. Thankfully, I had a cat to keep me company, so it wasn't as lonely as it sounds. Still, it made for a slightly depressing start to the day, and that air of depression never quite lifted. Psychologically speaking, today was something of a lost day.
This doesn't mean the day was totally wasted. In the afternoon, I portioned out some soup stock for freezing, and I did some dishes. So that was something. Unfortunately, I couldn't work up the energy to do any reading. I'm afraid this is becoming a self-destructive cycle: I know I need to read two specific books by Monday, and that makes me stressed, which makes it difficult for me to concentrate on reading, which makes me more stressed, etc. Hopefully, I can break out of that cycle sometime this week, even if I can't get the two books read by Monday. It's the stress that's unhealthy. |
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| May 13, 2013 |
[May. 13th, 2013|11:55 pm]
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| | mixed | ] |
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Up early for subbing, today's assignment being social studies in the junior high to out north. I was also asked to take over one period of special ed (learning disabled, not cognitively impaired). That class period was fine -- the teacher was having the students practice math and thinking ahead by playing Monopoly -- but the other classes were a bit chaotic. I had a lot of the students who make the French/art assignment at the school in question so difficult, although thankfully they were more spread out during the day. Still, I came home tired and headachy.
As usual, upon getting home, I spent a little time online and then crawled into bed for a nice, long nap. I also spent most of the evening puttering about on the computer, except for a break to make dinner. Also, I didn't get any reading done today. My low-key panic over this continues. |
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| May 12, 2013 |
[May. 12th, 2013|11:55 pm]
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| | sore | ] |
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| | none | ] |
Solo Sunday shift at the book store, one of two I'm doing this month. It was actually a very busy day, with a lot of customers. Whole families were out and about today, perhaps because of Mother's Day, and they came downtown to walk about and shop. I barely had enough time to finish the short list of other tasks left for me and write a couple of book reviews between customers. This is a good thing.
I came home tired with sore ankles of all things. My left elbow is still suffering from tendonitis, and now I fear my Achilles tendons are acquiring the same malady. My knees hurt, too, but that's almost background noise by this point.
queenmomcat and I spent a quiet evening at home. We did bestir ourselves enough to bring in the flats of seedlings queenmomcat had been letting sit out on the porch and enjoy last week's pleasant weather. Unfortunately, we're under freeze advisory for tonight and tomorrow morning, so in came the plants. Don't want the delicate little shoots to snap off.
Tomorrow, I'm off to the junior high to our north for another subbing assignment, so off to bed I go. Hopefully, my poor little joints will heal somewhat overnight. |
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| May 11, 2013 |
[May. 11th, 2013|11:55 pm]
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| [ | Current Mood |
| | okay | ] |
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| | none | ] |
Up late again, but at least before noon. I had the day off anyways, so it didn't matter much. Since I work tomorrow, I did some of my usual Sunday tasks today, like balancing the checkbook and updating my LiveJournal. I also did laundry. And took a long nap. And that was about it. No reading done at all, which is -- I'm afraid -- going to be a major complaint of mine for most of the next week. The next Book Club Symposium at work is going to be the 20th, and I strongly suspect I'll once again be presenting books I haven't finished reading.
Otherwise, not much is new. queenmomcat has been rearranging out Netflix queue, which is fair, because she tends to watch her movies within a day of getting them while mine tend to sit for a while. I, on the other hand, have been searching for more movies to add to the list, lest it fall too far below 500 items for too long. One movie I wouldn't mind seeing again is the vampire story Blood and Donuts, which doesn't appear to be available on Netflix. I may actually have to buy I copy, if I can find one on DVD somewhere. But this is just nattering on about trivial matters. I need to go to bed, as I have work tomorrow. Maybe I'll come home with something more to talk about. |
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| May 10, 2013 |
[May. 10th, 2013|11:55 pm]
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| | tired | ] |
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| | (Random Playlist) | ] |
I worked the usual Friday noon to 8:00 PM closing shift today, and it wasn't bad. We had a decent number of customers, and between waiting on people I had the usual list of little tasks to keep me busy (making posters, setting up displays, etc.). The evening was pretty quiet, until just before closing time of course, when a group of four kids and then a family came in to browse. Surprisingly enough, they all left by a few minutes after 8:00 PM, so I was able to close more or less on time.
I came home tired, as usual, to find that queenmomcat had started a chicken roasting in my absence. It turned out well, and I'm now full of chickeny goodness. I'm still planning to go to bed early, even though I have tomorrow off. I want to be well-rested for a change. Maybe I'll even be able to get some reading done tomorrow. Weirder things have happened. |
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| May 9, 2013 |
[May. 9th, 2013|11:55 pm]
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| [ | Current Mood |
| | relaxed | ] |
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Pretty mellow day today. Got up latish, but before noon, which is always good. We had a front come through this evening with colder air and rain, but most of the day was hot and sunny. I did my part and got out into the beautiful weather by mowing the lawn this afternoon, something that, once again, I should have done several days ago. Our front lawn is getting really lush and seems to be growing at a faster rate than it did last spring.
What else did I do today? I washed some dishes, which is something. I didn't do any reading, which is very bad. But queenmomcat and I did set aside some time to watch The Complete History of America, which is by the Reduced Shakespeare Company. It was a lot of fun. And then I fried a steak and cooked some peas for dinner and now we're thinking of going to bed. I work at the book store tomorrow, but I don't have to be up early. Still, I think we may try to get to sleep early tonight. I, at least, need the rest. |
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| May 3, 2013 |
[May. 3rd, 2013|11:55 pm]
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| [ | Current Mood |
| | ouchy | ] |
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I actually got up earlier than usual this morning, and I took advantage of the extra time to go out and mow the lawn, something that I should have done several days ago. At least the weather was pleasant this morning -- I wouldn't have wanted to mow during one of the recent 80°F days. Still, it was pretty stiff going, and the lawn looks a little ragged. I hope the city doesn't get pissy about it when they come around to do their summer inspections.
In any case, after a busy morning, I headed off to work, where I pulled the usual Friday noon to 8:00 PM close shift. It was a comparatively busy day, which is a very good thing, and we did some more returns, which is not that good a thing. Needless to say, my tendonitis objected to the carrying of boxes around, but I was able to get a lot more done than the last time we did returns. I appear to be healing.
The walk to and from work was just lovely. Temperatures have been in the 60°F range, which is a range I like quite a bit. As a result, I'm feeling perkier than I did yesterday. Still, my elbows and knees are complaining at great length about how I mistreat them, so maybe some Ibuprofen is called for before bedtime. We'll see how my joints feel tomorrow. |
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| May 2, 2013 |
[May. 2nd, 2013|11:55 pm]
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| [ | Current Mood |
| | crappy | ] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | Anton Bruckner, Symphony No. 6 | ] |
I got up very late this morning after a particularly bad night, and spent most of the day dragging around the house. I was able to catch up my LiveJournal for the last several days, but that was about it for activity this afternoon. Despite sleeping in until after noon, I ended up back in bed for an early evening nap. It was that kind of day. I just felt "off."
At least I got out of the house in the evening. There was a staff meeting at the book store this evening, and a reasonably productive one at that. We did a lot of planning for what will hopefully turn out to be a very productive summer. I, personally, have been assigned to run the store's summer reading program for kids, which could be fun. We'll see what happens as the summer progresses.
Also in good news, our Federal tax refund was posted to out checking account this evening. Given that I was more worried about screwing up on the Federal return than the state one, this is a relief. Now to put that money away into an account where it might earn some interest. |
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| May 1, 2013 |
[May. 1st, 2013|11:55 pm]
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| | tired | ] |
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My subbing assignment today was once again for the French/art teacher at the junior high to our north -- the same assignment I've had so much trouble with in the past. To be fair, it's only one class, but they are trouble enough for a whole day. Oh well. I showed up to an almost-empty parking lot and no buses, and my first thought was that the computer and/or the regular teacher had scheduled me on a day off, which has happened before. Turns out the school was having trouble with water pressure, and they were on a two-hour delay. The secretary had tried to call me at home before I left, but missed me by a matter of minutes. Rather than drive back home, hang out for a while, and drive back up, I decided to just settle in at the school and read for a while. I started Bee Ridgway's The River of No Return, which I suspect is going to be heavy going for me. Historical time-travel adventure romance really isn't my genre.
In any case, the day went reasonably well. The students were generally in a good mood because of the delayed start to the day and subsequent shorter classes. As usual, third hour was just an anarchic nightmare, compounded by there being a fire drill during that hour. After that, I basically just gave up on trying to get the kids to settle down. At least the two art classes were good, but they had a fun assignment: go down to the school library to look at the display by the high school art classes and answer a bunch of questions on a "scavenger hunt" worksheet. The students were actually very good about paying attention to the artworks and critiquing them fairly.
I got to come home early again because the regular teacher has a planning period last hour. Once again, I tried to take a nap, but had trouble falling into a deep sleep because of the heat. Today was the second day of temperatures above 80°F, which is unusual for early May and makes me wonder what July and August are going to be like. At least I don't feel as sick this evening as I did yesterday. I guess the house is a little cooler for us having left the fans going overnight.
Tomorrow I have off again, except for a book store staff meeting in the evening. I should make an effort to get some more reading done. We'll see if I can. |
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| April 30, 2013 |
[Apr. 30th, 2013|11:55 pm]
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| [ | Current Mood |
| | blah | ] |
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| | (Random Playlist) | ] |
Up early this morning for subbing, in this case for one of the sixth-grade science teachers in the middle school to our south. There were some technical issues to be dealt with early in the day, and since they involved iPad apps I had very little clue as to what to do, but I managed to find a workaround. After that, the day went by rather smoothly, and I was able to come home early because the regular teacher had a planning period at the end of the day.
Shortly after I got back home, niyabinghi and a friend of hers dropped by, and queenmomcat and I went out for a late lunch with the two of them. We had a nice visit over some good food, which is an excellent way to spend an afternoon.
After lunch, we all headed back to our respective homes. I lay down for a nap, but had trouble getting to sleep. It was actually a very hot day today, and I don't deal well with heat. In fact, this evening I'm feeling a bit sickly, and it's almost certainly because of how hot the house is. We'll put fans in the window overnight, and that might help me get to sleep. I hope so, because I have another subbing assignment tomorrow. |
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| April 29, 2013 |
[Apr. 29th, 2013|11:55 pm]
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| [ | Current Mood |
| | mellow | ] |
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| | (Random Playlist) | ] |
Up just before noon today, but it was a day off, so that wasn't necessarily a bad thing. As usual, I haven't been sleeping well at night, and my extended mornings in bed are just ways of catching up for that. Maybe I should just give in to the inevitable and try staying up until 3:00 AM or so. I might be more productive.
In any case, I had a reasonably good day. I did laundry -- getting ready for work this week -- and I caught up my LiveJournal. I also got out of the house for a while. I ran some errands and stopped by the book store to report bestsellers. I still haven't worked out all the bugs for the latter process, which means I still need to go in and do it myself rather than let whomever works on Mondays do it. Hopefully, I'll be able to get things cleared up in a few weeks.
After all, of that, I betook myself to bed for an afternoon nap, despite how late I was in getting up. Followed thence a very quiet evening. This is the usual pattern for my days off. Tomorrow, at least, I have a subbing assignment, so I'll get out of bed early, leave the house, and be productive. |
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