now with less hermityness

It's going to be kind of a busy weekend. Friday evening I'll be having drinks with three women with names that are a variations on the historical name Maryām. I offered to temporarily borrow the name Marion from my grandmother, to minimize confusion.

Saturday is more of a mixed bag. At 10 we've got a memorial service to attend, for a dear friend who passed away this week. My heart is breaking for her family and friends, as we've lost a beautiful, vibrant woman in the prime of her life.

I'll be going from there to K's house. She's petsitting for several dogs, but has to be out for the day. So I'm coming to give the pups a break outside and some people company for a few hours. The pups won't mind if I'm in a quiet mood, after the memorial. They'll just be happy to have a person around. And pups are so full of life, it will be a happy way for me to reconnect to joy after saying goodbye to our friend.

Then dinner at the St. Paul Tea House with my Mister and some new friends who are curious about my Mister's favorite Szechuan dish, boiled fish in spicy Szechuan broth. We're always happy to introduce more folks to the Tea House. And the last get-together with one of these particular friends was a fun occasion.

Yes, folks, after being a virtual hermit over the last two years, I'm getting out and being social. Thank FSM for the current combo of medications and acupuncture.

Sunday will need to be a day of house chores and unpacking. I'm hoping this level of energy I'm rolling on stays consistent, so I can get at least one room presentable. I actually love the "nesting" aspect of unpacking. It's just been too exhausting to get much done. The ear stabby J stuck me with a week and a half ago is still doing well, and I've been sleeping better due to the lower pain levels.

For those of you playing along at home, my Mister has been doing job interviews, and getting promising feedback from several of them. All digits crossed for a good match, and preferably soon.

Speaking of the ASP needles (my ear stabbies) I've been getting so much relief from, here's an article I found via the NIH on their use in a trial in Nigeria. Fascinating stuff. I spoke to my local acupuncturist and she said she won't use them due to a fear of infection, since they stay in your ear when you're no longer under her observation. Fortunately, J gave my Mister the info he needs to be able to use them on me when needed.

But I'd like to find a good acupuncturist in the MN Twin Cities area who does use them, so I have someone to recommend people to. I've had a number of people ask me about my sudden improvement, and then follow up by asking where they - or a loved one - can try a the treatment. Sure, it doesn't work for everyone. But when it does work, Wow!

Ok... break's over. Back to the grindstone.

plans

Ok, so I'm on this new medicine. I'm transitioning from my old meds, to Cymbalta, for fibromyalgia. In theory, I should start to have some relief in a few weeks.

In the mean time, switching off of the old med, onto this new one, is wreaking havoc with my thinker. Thanks fsm for spell check, because concentrating is like navigating through a fog.

But soon, hopefully, I'll be seeing some of that relief.

Right now, the medicine combination I'm on gets me enough focus and energy to work. Either from home or - ideally - in the office. But there isn't much left of me once the work day is over. I come home and collapse. Joe's weekly game night was at our house two weeks ago, and I was in so much pain and so tired that I couldn't even muster the energy to go downstairs to say hello, much less join in. Weekends are catching up time. Sleep 12 to 14 hours. Get a few things done if I'm lucky. Sleep another 12 to 14 hours. Hello, Monday. Rinse, repeat.

My time when I'm not working is all recovering from having worked. If I have to run up and down the halls retrieving lots of pages from the printer all day, or to meetings, or if I have to park in the furthest reaches of the parking lot, the impact on my system is even heavier.

Today, the med transition clobbered me. Too foggy to think in a straight line most of the day. It's evening, and my Mister has brought me dinner. I'm scooping up some of the thoughts I've had today and dropping them here.

So, what do I most hope for from success with the new medication?

I'd really love to have a little bit of energy left at the end of each work day to do something fun. I miss knitting. I miss reading for pleasure, which the worst brain fog of exhaustion often robs me of. I miss quilting. Spring is here... I'd like to fly a kite again this year. I'd love to finish unpacking the boxes from our move- we moved in December, after all, and it's now almost April.

I'm not expecting to ever be able to go on hikes again. I don't expect I'll be flying my parafoil stunt kite in anything but light winds again. Standing all day at Disneyland is probably right out of the "ever going to happen again" set of options.

But I'd love to have the energy to walk around my yard and pick up the sticks that fell out of the trees over the winter. I'd like to be able to help my Mister to mow the lawn. And I desperately want to have the energy to crafts again.

I've got a bunch of craft projects in my "queue".

• The friend of a dear friend needs a knitted womb. Should be a one to two evening project if I can focus enough to knit in the round.
• Another dear friend sent me yarn he spun himself for a knitted Cthulhu. Another one to two day project if I can only get the energy to start.
• I've got a baby quilt stewing in my brain that needs bringing to fruition.
• I already have the yarn for a special baby hat for a friend's little bitty.
• I have frogged and restarted a project for my Grandmother several times, but my foggy brain keeps throwing wrenches into the pattern.
  
• There are several projects I'd love to knit for myself. I have the yarn already for most of them.
  
• There are several mixed media projects stewing in the back of my brain, waiting for a chance to escape.
• Did I mention all that unpacking that needs doing? It'll be lovely when it's done.

All projects aside, a few nights' sleep without waking up because of this pain or that would be bliss.

So I'm taking this new med. Wading through the fog and funk of the transition from old pharmaceutical to new. And have my fingers crossed that some of the things I've lost will be found again at the other end.