Of Calendars and Trackers and Lists and Reminders

Suzanne wrote recently about how she was forgetting things, and how to keep on top of things, which made me think about how I try to keep my own train on the rails. Spoiler alert, it doesn't always! Sometimes all the holes in the layers of Swiss cheese line up, and things fall through. But I have some methods that help.

These break down into three categories, which have some crossover: calendars, lists, and alarms.

Years ago, I found myself regularly writing and re-writing to-do lists and plans, and as I got sick of shuffling multiple pieces of paper, I came up with a bare-bones combination format, sized to print on a regular 8.5 x 11 piece of paper. 

The top half was to-do items, broken down by whether they were things to be done at home or out, on the computer or a dreaded phone call; the latter two were separate because if I just had a list of things to do at home, I would do some things on the computer, and later notice there was something else to be done on the computer, and be annoyed. (Anyone else remember the days before smartphones, when sitting down at the computer was a bigger deal?) These days, I don't usually use this, but it helped for a long time.

The bottom half of the page was a weekly calendar space.

At the time, working in offices, I would get home after work only to remember that I had meant to stop at the library or the store, so I started noting not just concrete items like appointments, but also intentions. 

Again, I haven't used this format in a while, but it certainly helped at the time, which would have been before I started using the Google calendar. I'm addicted to that now, but at times I use other methods as well.

First, for use by both my mother and me, we have two dry-erase weekly calendars on the side of the fridge. I rotate them weekly, using one marker color for Mom's things, another for mine, and a third for items for both of us (like watching the Bruins games).

This way, either of us can see at a glance if there's a conflict when planning something (for instance, I need to schedule an oil change, so I won't do it on a day when Mom has an appointment).

I also will sometimes use a 5x7 card to sketch out the coming days. It started when I used the back of something printed on that size card stock, but I like having it stand out a bit from regular paper.

As with the old way of doing it, this allows me to "pencil in" things that I wouldn't put on the google calendar. On Sunday, we were going to see a play, and that was on both calendars, but only on this are the plans: to have lunch first, and to stop at Norman Love, which meant I should bring an ice pack for the car.

Speaking of the google calendar, I use it not only for appointments and other fixed events, but as a mobile to-do list. 

If I don't get around to making the adjustment to my 401k on Monday, or calling to make the oil change appointment, I'll just move those over.

Right now I have another piece of the card stock with a few lists: the names of the people joining me for dinner on Friday, things I want to get next time I'm at Walmart, and things I want to get done this weekend. Like looking at that library book before it's due back!

In recent years, I have become a big user of alarms on my phone as reminders. The two main ones I use are to:

1. keep track of when I can next take ibuprofen, because otherwise I forget when I last took some
2. remind me just before stretch class, so I have time to go to the bathroom and log in to zoom

The stretch class (which I first heard of through Engie, thank you Engie) meets three times most weeks, at different times, and it's in Wisconsin so a different time zone from Florida. I have the classes on my google calendar, but I would never make it to a class if I didn't use alarms.

I frequently set other alarms, though, for things like:

• getting into the shower on a weekend in time to go out for an appointment
• unlocking a neighbor's door in two days to let a worker in
• changing my sheets, because otherwise I won't remember until bedtime
• calling a place that isn't open yet, because again I will forget

It has now been probably 15 or 20 years since I started telling friends, "If I say 'I'll have to remember that,' please hand me a pen. Because I will not remember." These are things that help.

In conclusion, cat:

Cat

This cat. I tell you.

The Day Before

Before my recent surgery, I was jittery, and I'm not just talking about the day of. One of the ways* I coped the day before was by reading, and totally coincidentally, I actually read something that helped my nerves.
*More to come on the other way I spent the day before.

The main character in this novel has been taken to safety by one of the supporting cast, and he is absolutely freaking out about what's happening at home and what might be happening to his husband, and he drives the other person crazy with his what-ifs, to the point where the other character turns it around:

The scene goes on, but that's the part I used. Every time I felt my mind going down the rabbit hole, I reeled it back in and said to myself, "What if everything's fine? What if the surgery all goes really smoothly and nothing goes wrong and it takes care of the problem? What if that?" And it really helped.

I should let the author know.

Slight Ouch

Having achieved the ripe old age of 57, this year I made what I think can be classed as an "older person" purchase: a nose hair trimmer. Yes, I felt the time had come, sigh. (Since I'm still dealing with the bleeding issue that hopefully the recent surgery will address, I was a bit bitter about buying panty liners and a nose hair trimmer in the same month.)

I then went through what I expect are probably the classic steps of New Nose Hair Trimmer Ownership:

1. A cautious, gentle trim that didn't have much of an effect.
2. An all-out, in-every-turn trim that left the inside of my nose feeling tender. No actual bleeding, but definitely ouchie for a few days.

Everyone probably does that, right? If you haven't, well, consider yourself warned. 

Continuing, if Slow Progress; Of Easter Eggs

With the timing of my surgery and DST, I'm now at the point where I can't always tell what's a surgical aftereffect and what's normal post-time-change exhaustion (or a combination of column A and column B). 

As Nicole said yesterday regarding the time change, I am "Team Pick A Time And Stick With It, For Fuck’s Sake, I Don’t Care" all the way. I think that one can find plenty of plus/minus points either way, so I don't swing one way or the other, I just don't want to go through this twice a year. Leave time alone.

What this has meant so far is probably just that the post-surgery tiredness is compounded by the time change. When I sat down at my desk at 8 Monday morning, I was so tired that I mentioned to my coworkers that I might not make it all day, but by midday I felt a lot better, so I think that was more column B than column A.

One thing that's definitely from column A is that I'm verging on losing my voice. My throat didn't feel awful after the surgery, but I had, not a cough, but I had to clear my throat all the time over the weekend, which I figured was from the breathing tube. Monday night, I got in the car to drive to knitting (yay, I felt up to going!), started singing along to music as I always do, and quickly realized that my voice was fading out. I stopped singing so that I could actually talk to my friends at knitting, but hey, that was unexpected. I promise I did talk over the weekend, but apparently not enough at a time to notice this weirdness. I am actually going to dinner with other friends tonight*, and shall have to make a point of listening more than speaking.
*Out two nights in a row! After the time change! Leading the risky life here.

One other thing from the surgery is that I had the IV in the back of my hand, which was a weird feeling, but to my surprise, the bandage holding it on had a window over it! I would have preferred it not to, as I am squeamish and would rather not see that going into my skin, but I assume there was a medical reason for it. At least the hand is only lightly bruised now, not livid.

Now, this has nothing to do with either surgery or time change, but this morning on Instagram, I noticed this from Dandelion Chocolate, which is a very fancy chocolate place in California:

It's an Easter egg that is a chocolate shell, marshmallow for the egg white, and caramel for the yolk. Yum! I thought I might be willing to pay to try that as a treat, so I went to the website to see how much it was.

Mind you, I was not expecting it to be cheap. This is a fine chocolatier. 

However, I was not expecting it to be $45 for ONE EGG.

One! Just one! And yes, it looks amazing and I'm sure it tastes amazing, but one egg! Even as a gift, I don't think I could stomach that (pun intended).

You know what? I'm pretty plebian. I'll manage just fine with Russell Stover. It doesn't look like a real egg, but it tastes good.

Even the plain marshmallow ones are good.

Would you pay $45 for the egg? What's your favorite Easter candy treat?

Getting There, Post-Surgery

Recovering from the surgery/operation/procedure has been slower than I would have liked, but not as bad as it could have been, I'm sure. I spent all of Saturday on the couch, with brief stints lying down, and no energy to even shower. The Sunday morning shower felt great, but I'm still wobbly and not up for much.

The silver lining, I guess, is that at least today, the time change hasn't hurt me, since I've barely known the time at any point since getting to the hospital on Friday morning. I'm sure I'll hate it when the alarm goes off in the morning, though.

In terms of the surgery experience, a few weird and/or unexpected things:

• I wore my contacts to go in, but had to take them out in pre-op. I knew it would be weird to wear my glasses for long, since I generally don't wear them much, but the weirdest part was being rolled back for surgery without them. I'm really near-sighted, and seeing vague shapes of people but not being able to make out faces was deeply odd, like I was moving through a haunted landscape. 
• Similarly, coming to in post-op and not being able to see didn't help me reorient to the world. I was a little nauseous and a little crampy, and not being able to focus didn't help.
• The idea of being under anesthesia continues to weird me out. Not that I wanted to be awake for the surgery, but the idea that things were done to my body when I wasn't aware of them is strange.
• For quite a while after I was in post-op, they couldn't find my belongings: the bag of my clothes, and the small pouch that had my glasses and other things. At one point someone was asking me to describe my clothes, and talking about seeing if the bag was "sent upstairs" with the wrong patient! I don't even know what happened in the end, but I did get a big of a near-sighted laugh when someone appeared at the end of the bed and said, "Is this yours?" while holding up something I couldn't see! She had to get closer before I could see that it was indeed the pouch, and I felt better once I had the glasses back on.

While I hope not to need anything similar done again, at least I can now say I have done it, I didn't have a bad reaction to the anesthesia, and I'd have a better idea what to expect. In this case, though, I am very much hoping that first time's the charm.

Now, have a cat picture. Just what we all need in these troubling times is Newman, striking a pose. Or three.

I’m Fine

I’m home and recovering. More later, but just so you know. The nurse is on the job.

No Advice, Please, Just Good Thoughts

On Friday, I'm having a procedure done. Operation? Surgery? Thing. I'm not sure how much the language of it matters. I'm having an outpatient experience? Even the paperwork is unsure (both of the terminology and the need for a dash):

Speaking of uncertain terminology, I'm either having a fibroid or a polyp removed, depending on where you look. All I know is, there's a little something in my uterine lining and we're taking it out in hopes that I stop having what we are apparently calling 'bleeding' rather than a period. Speaking of more terminological uncertainty.

Why, yes, I think I am focusing on the language instead of the thing itself, how did you guess? I admit, I'm a bit nervous about it. This is my first surgical-or-whatever experience. Anyone who crosses their fingers for me on Friday, thank you.

Nixe Shawl, Blocked

If you are a knitter, you know what blocking is: washing and shaping a knitted item. For some things, washing is enough, while for others, pinning it into shape is practically demanded. For me, Nixe fell in between. I wanted to see if I could spread out the bind-off edge, to make it a bit less ruffled, and also fix a gathered bit in the early part of the shawl, with the plain knitting that was between the patterned.

Laid out, pre-wash. These squares are two feet by two feet.

The bind-off edge.

The central ruffle.

So I soaked it in wool wash, then put it in towels to stomp the excess water out.

Knit burrito!

Damp and pinned out. You can see that it grew both wider and longer (as aligned to the blocks).

I pinned all along the bind-off edge.

And then on both sides of this part, to flatten it.

Ta-da! 

I can see much experimentation in my future as to how to wear it, but it is so soft and cozy (and warm!), who cares how it lands?

Finished Knitting x2

I finished two very different projects this week, one of which was started and finished in under a fortnight, and the other that took more than 9 months. Quite the contrast!

The long project is the Nixe shawl, which I wrote about working on last summer. I bound it off on Monday, but it needs blocking, so I'm not going to go into detail yet. But it's done!

The quick one was a hat, for which I used a baby hat pattern but bulky yarn, so it fits me nicely:

Although off the head, it definitely looks like it wouldn't fit, and would also be much too long. Such is the mystery of ribbing.

I actually knit it for an inch more than called for, so that it would cover my ears. This is for me to sleep in, so that the strap of the eye mask doesn't bother my ears, and I think it's going to work well. I'm also planning to make a headband, about three inches, for when I'm too hot for the hat but want the ear cover.

And there we are! I'll show the shawl blocking when I get to it.

Some Olympic Humor

When I heard that a dog had run onto the course during Olympic skiing, I had to look for the story, and the Guardian did not disappoint. This was a day the headline writer lived for.

And also the article writer:

NPR also got in on the joke:

But I think the Guardian won that one.

Three Good Reads Recently

I read three books via the library recently that were all good enough to mention--and a fourth that didn't click and was a DNF, but that's still a good result. I'm not writing up real reviews here, but just wanted to share what they are. Good reads, entertaining enough to finish, enjoyable, but not me trumpeting that you must read this book. 

Recommending books is hard, y'all. I struggle.

The Forget-Me-Not Library by Heather Webber is a romance with an element of 'is it magical realism or not' that I mostly bought into, but partly just decided to roll with. It was an enjoyable read but I sort of think it's not one that will stay with me, if you know what I mean.

For various reasons, I've been reading almost exclusively ebooks, so it felt big that I got an actual paper copy of this when an ebook was not available. The Wedding Date by Jasmine Guillory had a fun premise and was an entertaining read, though when I saw it was the first in a series, I hesitate to get the next one. Maybe I will, maybe I won't. I did like the supporting character who is a main in book two...

After seeing this book mentioned on Stephany's blog, and then Kim's, I decided to give it a try, and I'm glad I did (and if I hadn't, Engie might have persuaded me!). I don't always get into books this way, but in this case I really enjoyed it, and I'm glad I did. Thank you, library!

Pretty Pictures

After yesterday's somewhat bleak post (news these days, I tell you), I thought I would share some pictures I took this weekend and lighten the mood a little. My mood is pretty light, actually: I took Friday off work, and with today being a US holiday (Presidents Day), that gave me a four-day weekend! Woo, I need to do this more often, it's awesome, even if I did spend some of today dreading going back to work.

Increasing the awesomeness is that I had friends in town for the weekend, so I got to have dinner with them Friday night (after a lovely lazy day at home, not working), and then they came down here Saturday, and we had lunch and hit a little local art fair and then walked on the beach. I loved showing off my neighborhood, and it was a very fun time with no downsides.

The restaurant Friday night is on a river, so there's always some boat traffic, but the gondola rides are new to me.

But I was just glad it was clear weather, since most of the day by me was like this:

The fog did roll in at the restaurant later, after the sun went down, but at least it was clear for most of dinner. 

And then Saturday was beautiful! The view from lunch was worth eating early so we could be there when they opened to get a table by the water. Check out the view.

We even saw dolphins!

And in addition to the rest of the boat traffic, we saw the pirate ship boat tour nearby. It's a whole production with a pirate in a dinghy trying to board, and a water pistol fight.

The food was good, too. After lunch, we wandered around the little art fair in the park, and I bought a decorated mirror:

And a photo print:

And my friend got some things as well.

They came back to my place and met my mother, and we chatted a bit before walking to the beach. Someone had made a turtle in the sand:

We saw this odd thing, perhaps an egg case? Not really sure. I should have stuck my hand in for scale; it was big.

What a beautiful day.

I loved having them here. And once they were gone, kitty loved having my undivided attention again.