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Monday, Monday

“Monday, Monday” damn now I have that Mamas and the Papas song stuck in my head. It’s been a shit day at work, which happens. It’s literally one of the most normal things in a salesperson’s life. Not all days are gonna be easy. Anyway, this is usually a non factor because anyone that works sales knows this axiom to be true except for one person who shall remain nameless. While they shall remain nameless, they shall live in shame and infamy for their ridiculousness. Anyway, time to brush that shit off my shoudlers and move on.

If I seem a bit cranky, it’s because I am. I haven’t slept well since mid August and I need my sleep. The fact that I can’t fall asleep is driving me nuts. I’m hoping since I stopped taking the prednisone yesterday that my sleep pattern will go back to normal. Hopefully, once my sleep goes back to normal everting else falls back into place. This past month has been really tough. I’ve pretty much had to cancel any and every plans I’ve had even when I was in Minny because I wasn’t up for them physically.

Anyway, I didn’t get much accomplished this weekend outside of baking. I did, however, get our bushes fertilized and trimmed. Unfortunately, the skies didn’t open up like I had hoped, but hopefully we get some rain today. Afterwards. the Hubby walked me through his plans for the bedrooms upstairs. Spoiler alert, they’re going to look amazing once he’s through with them. My only feedback was to get the painting and closet organizers done first, so we can maximize the space.

I did two bakes this weekend to keep myself busy since leaving the house was a risky endeavor. The first bake was a homemade toaster strudel. I’ll share the recipe in a later post, but it’s super easy. It’s literally puff pastry, the filling of your choice, and simple frosting. Honestly, this is a recipe I’ll make often when the boys are home. It’s simple, but really tasty. The second bake I made was an attempt at Paul Hollywood’s recipe of Kouign-Amann, which is a magnificent dessert from Brittany. It was a lot more complicated, but very tasty.

Describe your ideal week.

My ideal week is one spent exploring the world with my family. It’s not spent behind a desk or on a couch. I’m looking forward to the week I have planned for Jake and I exploring Utah’s Mighty Five and the surrounding national monuments and state parks. Adventure, hiking and exploring the world is something that I enjoy. I find myself at peace up in the mountains of Utah, so I’m really looking forward to my trip.

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Why?

Why must all Mondays be a clusterfuck? Is there an unwritten law in the universe that I’m unaware of? My Monday started when I woke up late for work. Now this is truly an astonishing feat as my desk is five paces from my bed. Yet here I was sleeping away like Sleeping Beauty until 8:06 am. Whoops! Fortunately, I was able to get up and on the computer without much effort. I just wasn’t mentally present for the first forty five minutes. I was so tired, I felt like a martian.

On top of my late start, my allergy/exercise induced asthma has been wreaking havoc in my lungs today. If you listened to my last phone calls, you would think I had just ran ten miles after smoking 59 cigarettes. I’d love to say that my voice sounded raspy and sexy prompting my custom get to buy , but I think they felt sorry for me. Thank god for prednisone and rescue inhalers. Albeit, I had to go out and get both since the stuff I had on hand was used up or expired. Nevertheless, the meds should help clear up my lungs pretty quickly.

In between the wheezing and phone calls, I completed my annual compliance training. It was a wonderful reminder that I longer work at a place where work place bullying is venerated especially for the upper echelons. Honestly, I miss the workplace bullying about as much as I miss smelling the reheated five day old fish. Anywhere else, HR would have put a stop to both, but hey that’s not my problem anymore. And guess what I guarantee you, there will be no reheating of five day old fish in my new office.

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Whoops

Whoops!! I was so exhausted when I got up this morning, I couldn’t figure out why. I’m usually pretty tired by Fridays, but even with the additional workouts it didn’t make sense. And then I realized I forgot to take my thyroid meds that last two days. Whoops!! No wonder it took two cups of Dunkin’ this morning to make me semi human. Now that the thyroid meds, specifically the t3, are on board I’m awake. Before you tell me to set a reminder and an alarm, I’ll let you know that I’ve set both and still manage to forget.

This weekend our excessive heat warnings will a change into heat advisories. Nevertheless, it is still sizzling hot out there. Did you know the word sizzle is a onomatopoeia meaning it’s name is how it sounds. Another example of this would be the cuckoo. You can thank me the next time you play Scrabble and score a million points with that word. Anyways, I’m so glad the insane heat is finally breaking. It was borderline pleasant when I took out the dogs at lunchtime. The last few weeks it’s been an absolutely miserable enterprise to walk them at noon.

Tonight we’re having Sushi Yama for dinner to celebrate Goalielocks last night at home. Tomorrow he’ll head back to Orlando to start school. He’s got a beautiful apartment for the year and amazing roommates. He and his roommates have been best friends since middle school. They do a good job taking care of each other and keeping each other in line. Meanwhile, I’m looking forward to a decrease in my grocery, light and energy bill. Our FPL bill last month was over $700. Anyone want to guess what it will be next month when it’s just Luke and I at home. My guess is is will be around $200. We shall see!

What change, big or small, would you like your blog to make in the world?

The only change I’d like for my blog to make in this world is to make it a better place. Not because it’s profound, but because kindness and family are the major themes. I think it’s a nice change to read stuff that isn’t overly serious. While I’m am empath, the blog doesn’t usually get too deep or too serious.

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Working Saturday

It’s a working Saturday in our house today. Well, at least I’m working. I don’t think you’d count the Mayor watching the junior game or the hubby scrolling endlessly through Twitter working. A skin is keeping me company, while Athena and Arrow hold down the fort in the family room. Fortunately, it’s been a productive working Saturday so far. It’s not bursting with leads, but it’s not slow either. The puppies, with Athena now joining Anakin, are doing a great job of keeping me company while I work.

I decided to work to add to my production, but there are plenty of things I could be doing around the house. Our loft upstairs looks like a bomb went off in it. To be fair, a bomb named Goalielocks did go off in it. We just added a spin bike, so it would be nice to have it organized and look good. Additionally, the upstairs hallway looks like a donation room for Goodwill. I definitely need to go through everything upstairs. There’s a lot of stuff that we can donate, throw away or put away. I’d also like to get all my shopping and errands done this weekend, but the hubby’s prodigious volunteer status is really cramping my style. Hopefully, his boss will pay him before the month is out.

And now for your shingles update because I’m apparently eighty-five. Fortunately, the rash hasn’t spread any further. It is, however, mighty uncomfortable. In fact, it is both itchy and painful despite looking like it’s healing. The shoulder patch feels like it’s still there in its full glory, but looks like it’s almost gone. Truly, it is an odd and uncomfortable feeling. Moreover, my stomach is not loving all the medicines I’m having to take to eradicate the rash. I can’t wait until I can stop taking the anti-virals and antibiotics. The steroid cream, however, is doing its job nicely without killing my tummy.

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A Nefarious Tale

So my rental saga has now gone from a trilogy to a nefarious tale. Apparently, they didn’t tow the car on the 14th. In fact, they allegedly towed the car from the Marriott back to Hertz last night. This is according to Hertz. Keep in mind, Hertz sent me several text messages on the 14th indicating they had received the card and closed my case. In fact, I distinctly remember looking for the truck when we came back from the rink that night and it wasn’t there.

Unfortunately, that was only part one of this nefarious tale. Because I also got my bill. First of all, they billed me for the entire trip. Secondly, they billed me a higher rate than what I had been quoted. This, of course, begs the question: will Hertz ever get this right. Unfortunately, I think the answer to that question is no. Consequently, all transactions from Hertz remained blocked on my credit cards. But hey at least they sent me a nice letter asking for their rental vehicle back…..

And now for a not-so-nefarious tail. While I worked, the Mayor and hubby headed to FLA Live arena for a high school game. You got to love a high school game scheduled during the middle of the school/work day. Based on the updates and snippets, I saw it was a high-scoring game. My friend Christy sent me an awesome video of the Mayor’s goal. Unfortunately, they ended up losing 6-5, but I think it was fun for them to play on the Panthers’ ice.

As for the shingles/rash situation, the shoulder is looking better. It, however, still hurts and is a bit of a nuisance. The patch on my back still looks quite raw, but it hasn’t spread. I’ve decided I should probably follow up with a rheumatologist to make sure there’s not an underlying autoimmune issue at work. Nevertheless, I’m a bit overtaking a ton of pills every day.

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Change

Well, there hasn’t been much change from yesterday. Well, except I’m now taking eight pills plus using a steroid cream to keep this thing at bay. Naturally, I’m still miserable with my patches of itchiness/hell and my husband is still an unpaid volunteer. Hopefully, I’ll start to see a change in the skin irritation rather soon. I’d really like to go back to my regular workouts and wear shirts. I’ve resorted to wearing a loose hoodie over my sports bra to stay comfortable. Or at least, try to stay comfortable.

I can’t say that I’m feeling great either. I’m not sleeping well, so I’m super fatigued. Unfortunately, I think the fatigue is magnifying my discomfort. The patches are quite painful and itchy today, which sucks. I feel better today than yesterday. Truthfully, the Mayor saved the day yesterday when he reminded my hubby to pick up my script. My hubby forgot to pick it up on his way home but forgot. Since we’re down to one vehicle at the moment that would have meant I would have had to wait to get my script filled until this evening. As it happened, the rink canceled the Mayor’s practice, so we would have been able to pick it up yesterday evening. Since he had no practice, the Mayor also made dinner. He really saved my evening.

Actually, I lied there has been one change since yesterday. I haven’t received a call from Herz’s vehicle recovery department. Yay for the small victories in life. This may be a byproduct of the flurry of tweets and Facebook messages I sent them yesterday. Unfortunately, I still have not received my closed contract or receipt for the rental. Nor have I heard back from Hertz about either item. Hopefully, the lack of a call this morning forebodes the resolution of my rental car debacle. At this point, I don’t know what’s more painful the shingles or the Hertz rental experience. Either way, stay tuned for an update.

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Shingles, maybe

I woke up with a new patch on my back, so now they thinks it’s shingles, maybe…. There not 100% sure what it is, although I think we all agree it’s precipitated by stress and an overexcited immune system. Consequently, I’ll be adding an antiviral to the mix of antibiotics and steroid cream. Adulting is so much fun. Needless to say, I’m quite cranky.

The rental car debacle and my hubby’s apparently unpaid, volunteer job clearly aren’t helping the situation. Hertz called me again asking why I haven’t returned their car yet. Do these folks even read notes? Hertz had to have a CRM that is sued across the company. I can’t fathom how so much incompetence can impact one rental. Hertz has never screwed up a rental for me previously, but I guess when they do, they do it big.

At this point, I’m hoping I don’t have to go to the media on the wayward rental. Also, hoping my spouse gets paid sometime this year. This volunteering shit isn’t going to work. Obviously, my system is not handling the stress well and is absolutely flaring. Needless, to say I’m in need of serious vacation, sauna time and a moment to recharge myself. So anyway, yeah two patches and it’s shingles, maybe.

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Becoming a Trilogy

My rental car saga from Chicago is becoming a trilogy. And not a good one. It’s becoming one of those trilogies Hollywood makes because they’ve run out of ideas. I have been working with Hertz since 1/14/23 to close out my failed rental car. You may recall, Hertz had to tow my rental back to O’Hare because it had a bad starter. Yet, here I am over a week later still fighting to get the contract closed.

Yesterday, Hertz customer care assured me that someone would be calling to resolve my case. Well, today Hertz called me about the rental. I answered thinking they were calling to resolve my escalation. You can imagine my surprise when they asked why I hadn’t returned the rental. Consequently, I lost my shit. By this point in the game, Hertz should have more than adequate documentation on this farce of rental experience Honestly, I tried my best to temper my reaction as it wasn’t that representative’s fault Hertz doesn’t have their shot together.

After forcefully explaining Hertz O’Hare has had my rental since 1/14/23, I provided her with confirmation that the tow was received at O’Hare and the roadside assistance case detailing the ordeal. How is it possible that none of this information is on their systems??? I have literally spoken to customer care at Hertz several times a day since before our trip. Candidly, I don’t understand how this went from a weekend rental to becoming a trilogy.

Thankfully, I blocked all charges from Hertz on my credit cards. Otherwise, they’d be charging me daily for a car they think I didn’t return. What an absolute clusterfuck. Hertz’s ubiquitous incompetence at all stages of this experience has been exceedingly frustrating. Here’s hoping this ends as a trilogy because I can’t deal with a whole series of this shit.

In other news, my right shoulder exploded with an angry-looking rash. I figured it was either dermatitis or cellulitis, so I set up a telehealth medicine. Unfortunately, the doctor couldn’t do anything for me via telehealth because of the possibility the rash was caused by a scratch from one of our dogs. Consequently, I headed to urgent care this morning.

The name urgent care is such a misnomer. There is nothing urgent about urgent cares in Florida. I’m a reasonable person, but I have my limits. Clearly, I should have checked in at home and waited until they were ready to see me. Instead, I waited almost two hours in the parking room and waiting room. It’s so frustrating!

I finally saw the doctor, who felt it was likely it was a contact dermatitis reaction. Since, however, I hadn’t made any changes to my routine (i.e. no new soaps, shampoos, cleaners, detergents, or clothes,) he opted to treat me for both. I am relieved that it is not from my dogs, but I’m at an absolute loss as to what caused the reaction. Hopefully, the rash will clear up quickly with the steroid cream and antibiotics.

Today’s accountability tracker:

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Ready for Bed

I’m ready for bed and it’s 8:05. Honestly, the temptation to skip writing the blog tonight was very real. The Mayor had two games in Estero today, which equated to an early morning this morning. This in the heels of one too many vodka sodas last night was a recipe for a winning day. Fortunately, I only woke up tired and not tied and hungover. Nevertheless, here I am at 8:05 ready for bed.

The problem this whole week is I’ve been fighting an autoimmune hangover since Chicago. What exactly is an autoimmune hangover? In my world, it’s incredible fatigue coupled with inflammation. Unfortunately, I’ve found that during this period of “hangover” I need to chill or my body will rebel. I certainly don’t enjoy an autoimmune flare after having spent years trying to calm it down.

Consequently, I’ve been shopping for saunas all week. One of the great things about my Endocrinologist is that she’s given me a lot of tools to manage the autoimmune side of Graves’ disease. Typical Graves’ disease treatment only addresses slowing down the toxicity of a hyperactive thyroid. It doesn’t address the underlying autoimmune inflammation that causes your thyroid to go insane. Honestly, it’s because we still don’t understand autoimmune diseases well.

So a sauna not only feels fantastic but is also great for reducing inflammation. Naturally, I have to go back to eating really clean, which will also help. Hopefully, this week I can get back to my workout routine. I try to work out daily, but I’m careful never to overtax my system. It’s a delicate balancing act between building my fitness and avoiding a flare. Anyway, I’m off to bed because I’m next level tired.

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Insomnia

Insomnia has been the bane of my existence these last few weeks. Speaking of treasures that have been lost. Mine has been sleeping. Ordinarily, I have no problem falling and staying asleep. Well, that’s not true. Thanks to childbirth, I have to get up to pee several times a night. Nevertheless, the bio breaks, as one of my former VPs called them, don’t normally disrupt my sleep either. At any rate, the inability to fall asleep immediately is beyond annoying. I’ve tried using melatonin as a stop-gap measure to help me fall asleep, but it has been ineffective. My sleep hygiene is good, so this irks me to no end, but I think I found a solution.

Instead of blogging in the evening, I’m blogging in the afternoon. I’m sure you’re thinking the connection between blogging and insomnia is a bit of a reach. I, however, think it may be the reason I can’t sleep. When I blog later in the evening, it gets my mind and creative juices flowing. Unfortunately, I can’t sleep because I can’t turn off my mind. Fortunately, or rather, unfortunately, work is slow enough that I can write the blog between phone calls and continuing education. Stay tuned to see if that solves my insomnia problem.

Speaking of sleep, we had some great sleeping weather over the holidays. I love going to sleep in cool weather. Honestly, it’s so much more comfortable than trying to sleep in the sticky south Florida heat. Unfortunately, the cooler nighttime temperatures were short-lived. We’re back to our normal sunny and warm weather. Our daytime weather is absolutely perfect. To be fair, I can’t really complain about the evenings either only that I like it a bit cooler at night. I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of our beautiful sunny skies.

On the other hand, my folks returned to a winter wonderland of misery. Granted it is much warmer in Minny now than it was over the holidays, but the weather has been grotesque. It has snowed quite a bit since they returned to Minny on Saturday. While the snow is a pain in the ass to drive in, it’s incredibly beautiful. Thankfully, my parents are able to enjoy the snow without having to needlessly drive through it. The roads were so bad that even our old school closed down for the day. When we were in school, our school system was rarely closed due to the weather.

Good news, I found the cure for my insomnia in my work inbox. Our training department sent me my continuing education information today. I’ve started the first course. The content is quite dry. To make matters worse, the voiceover guy’s voice is a less interesting version of Ben Stein’s. There is plenty of repetition in the material to make it boring even without the terrible voiceover. This will definitely put me to sleep! I have twenty hours of continuing education to complete, so that will cover plenty of formerly sleepless nights.

Today’s accountability tracker:

  • Workout: Week four Sweat Beginner HIIT full body workout. Ran one mile, and walked one. Day Four of the Everyday Yoga Shop/Practyce 21-day yoga challenge.
  • Book: Innocent Traitor by Alison Weir
  • Blog: done
  • Today’s song: Paint it Black by The Rolling Stones