Helenka, Queen of Outer Space

The good: sleeping all the way to 10:38.

The excellent: getting an eVite from Brian for a zoom get-together, set for 1:30. Eek. I had to hurry to get ready in time.

The excellent: finding out completely by accident - when I grabbed the iPad by the upper right corner = how and where certain control buttons were revealed.

Everything after that was a disaster as I headed to bed to try to sooth the pain. I also tried the long fanfic reading as a distraction and my usual TV shows. Now I'm just hanging on for midnight.

And shredded my abs that are present only during muscle spasms. But I feel terrific (and have to hope for a lot of healing overnight).

I went to bed at 1:30. Nothing new there. But I was so not a happy campy to wake up at 4:55. Sigh. Because of the pain, I spent half the day lying on my back and catching up on two weeks of Wheel of Fortune, hoping for a good distraction. It was … adequate.

When I finally felt a little better, I tackled the steam cleaning. Did the two major areas (kitchen/desk and entry/dining table). But the muscles were screaming at me so I'll do the bathroom tomorrow. Then, after another rest, I put out the Christmas bed linens. No, I wasn't doing my muscles any favours there, either. Because the bed is wedged into a corner, the only way I can put a fitted sheet on is to start on the farthest corner, lying diagonally on the mattress, Go on. Imagine it and have a laugh at my expense!

I also fluffed up the comforter and my penguin fleece in the dryer. Oh, yes, it was definitely cozy.

I checked on FB and saw that Brian had posted the memory of his Victorian tea with Peter and me. You can bet that, when this is all over, we are going to party like it's - uh - 2021!!! I suggested we should party over Zoom and said I was decorating, even if only to lift my spirits. Anyway, I need pills and bed and maybe even a piggy and formerly blind old tiger. Yup. Sounds good to me!

It's usually the right one, so I guess the left one is trying to catch up. But it's a trivial pain which suits all the trivialities of my day.

I ate, watched TV, read fanfic, caught up on FB, huddled in bed for warmth and am about to have cherry cobbler for my midnight snack before swallowing my pills. Obviously, with all the eyeball exercise, I had a decent vision day. Hope it'll continue.

Okay, let's dig into that yummy dessert.

So, let's begin with the mind. After missing a couple of Final Jeopardy clues even though I knew the identity of the person but couldn't remember the name (e.g. key and lightning but not Ben Franklin and prosecutor of Jean Valjean but not Javert), my faith in my ability to recall things - especially music - was restored as I finally solved the earworm from Thursday's Young Sheldon. While Sheldon is in the middle of a quandary, there was this driving music in the background. I first thought it was from Glee but then recalled it was a flash mob during America's Got Talent. Still don't know the name of it.

Anyway, even though the vision was only so-so, I watched ST: Disco (even though S. had to explain what happened at the salvage place) and got something out of Battle of the Blades.

I was too tired to post on Friday - just before my electronic disaster on Saturday. I restarted my computer and allowed Windows 10 to update. Uh-oh. Windows was refusing to talk to ZoomText, leaving me with no method of accessing any browsers or files or anything. ::shrieks::

I couldn't get in touch with Brian because I checked FB on my phone and saw he was visiting his sisters and toddler nephews, so I figured I would wait until yesterday to text him of my woes.

In the meantime, SuM, S. and I planned to watch "Aquaman" on Netflix Sunday night. I thought it was a stupid movie with all those explosions underwater. But it wasted a few hours. I'd asked if S. could visit me to see if there were things she could do, because I can't read the screen.

So, today, after S. tried and failed to resolve things, I texted Brian again. He phoned back. Oh, joy, he took today off as a holiday. With him on speakerphone and S. at my keyboard (and Brian eventually taking over control remotely), I had my ZoomText uninstalled with colours applied through Ease of Access (huh, can't they call it Accessibility?), so I can now read everything more clearly than before in browsers, but not documents. I guess I'll have to tackle that independently. It was a little insulting to learn that my version of ZT is considered "Legacy" aka Ancient!

Anyway, I'm just finally relaxing and watching TV. I think I'll watch Bull and then collapse. I need to scrape my freezer tomorrow morning before I get more (yummy) meals delivered.

I'm definitely not looking a gift horse in the mouth. For whatever miraculous alignment of the earth and other planets, I enjoyed three consecutive nights of amnesiac sleep, waking up each morning with NO pain and also mostly free from it during the day. I'll bet you can hear my sigh of extreme relief.

I was also energized tonight by the blind group's executive meeting that dragged on for two hours and twenty-two minutes - until the host (our prez) got kicked out by Zoom problems. Oops. Anyway, it appears that one of my ideas was well received so I was a happy camper.

Now I'm just tired. I'm catching up on TV and shouldn't stay up too late.

All I had to do was lie in bed during our Exec meeting in the evening, with my iPad propped up against a ledge. Well, I was in pain so couldn't sit at my desk. But the lights were off so I couldn't be seen. Just as well: nobody needs to be frightened seeing my face and uncombed hair. We zipped through the agenda and ended the meeting 50 minutes ahead of schedule.

I'd also been super busy during the morning processing charitable donations and membership renewals. I also received a beautiful email from the admin of the meals provider. She said my words of thanks yesterday made her cry. Awww.

Even though I'd been productive, my body was a mess - with pain flaring up whenever and no decent vision. So watching TV was more like listening to TV.

I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed by tomorrow. After ordering my meals, I have a two-hour Zoom book club. Then, after that, I have to steam clean my floor in three major areas. I think I'll be worn out. Sigh.

Step 1: buy a bottle of raspberry vodka;
Step 2: buy a bottle of curacao;
Step 3: mix above with ??? juice, various berries, and crushed ice.

Repeat!

And then revel in a lack of pain, spasms, or inefficient eyesight.

If you haven't figured it out yet, I had a divine late afternoon lunch on my fave patio with church-John. It was very warm but breezy with lots of sun. Just a perfect day. Well, except for where they processed my debit card against someone else's lunch. Then they reversed the charge. As c-J was handling the card, they gave him a second bill. He started entering the numbers before realizing it wasn't our bill either. Can you see my eyebrows rising to the ceiling? Anyway, we finally got the correct bill and paid it. We also received a gift card (that was nice so we can use it next time) as well as the manager's business card. C-J also took the paper menu with him so he can convince Brent and John to dine there.

So, speaking about church, it turns out I didn't surprise him at all with the revelation I would not be returning to church. I'll send them some money before Christmas. C-J feels no compulsion to return either, but is sad to have lost a vital social connection. I'm foreseeing there won't be any Thanksgiving or Christmas Day dinners for people without family - for the first time in decades.

Anyway, when I got home, I discovered by accident after turning on the TV that my vision was so amazing, making it the perfect ending to my day. Not wanting to tempt fate, I just took my pills (after skipping my 4 PM dose). Here's hoping for more good sleep (after nearly 8 hours last night).

Just utterly glorious … even if all I was reading was trash. I managed to stay one step ahead of the spasms and fell into my lovely coma-like sleep, waking up at 9:35 and then stirring out of bed around 10:25. It was … acceptable.

Alas, my vision was rotten for most of the day. I couldn't even see the colour of my money as I was expecting eyedrops to be delivered (so S. sorted it for me). In gratitude (LoL) I told her all about the new cartoon show Dog and Pony. Then, with such lousy vision, I just watched listened to TV. Laughed at the introduction of the "white thing" used by players on Wheel of Fortune. And no touching each other's thing!

Luckily, I seem to have recovered more colour acuity, so I'm going to try to read a few chapters of the book for tomorrow's Zoom meeting.

Actually, it was a mega blursday. From waking up at 4:40 a.m. and trying to read - but my vision was extra blurry and leeching by the minute. So, I alternated between bed and computer, had a real entrée for brekkie, took my pills, returned to bed and discovered that, if you keep your eyes closed in a dark room, you will eventually slip into a coma sleep.

But the vision continued to defy me. I tried reading the book because it is effortlessly funny about people's foibles. The pain tried to reassert control when I was an hour late taking my second round of Robax, but I have vanquished the pain - at least for a third day. I'll just forget that my right hand was cramping first thing.

In good news for TO and Canada, the Raptor's head coach was just voted best coach of the year. Yay, we need cheerful news er ,,, on the … news. Apparently, there's a soft launch being announced for reopening church. Uh, I believe the total current capacity of ANY room is 50. How's that gonna work?

Anyway, as I have some vision now, I'm staying up to read!

Note to self: blondie, if you want to get to sleep, do NOT drink two cans of Coke in the evening. Sigh. It took forever to fall asleep. I remember a similar feeling when I had a double espresso at my fave resto in Yorkville about 17 years ago. Duh.

On the plus side, I was trying to find the last prescription delivery receipt when I found a large, unopened bottle of the eyedrops I needed desperately. Okay, problem solved. [Yes, I am always entertaining myself.]

The vision was lousy (pale yellow against fuzzy dark sage) so I didn't do much on the computer. Watched my usual TV and lolled about in bed. And so goes another blursday.