When will things finally get back to normal?
What is normal?
I think I'm going to have to readjust just what that is for us.
So what's been happening in the last while?
For starters, Dh has been home for over 2 weeks now. He's been able to work from home for most of that, at least, but some days he's had to medicate more then others, and at that level, it affects his ability to think clear enough to do his job. He's in a bit of a bind. Either he takes the meds to treat the pain and can't work, or he doesn't medicate so he can think clearly, but the pain leaves him with absolutely no patience at all and he becomes very ... snarky. *ahem* Yeah, that's the word. :-/ He's been forcing himself to get outside, even though he's not really improved, just because he recognises that he has to get out and about.
Unfortunately, even when he isn't working, he's still usually on the computer, since that's where he can sit that is least painful on his back. A downside of this is that, because of how he has to sit, plus the constant adjusting to relieve pressure on his back, it's breaking our new office chair. We bought the best we could afford, but we knew it wasn't going to last long. The type of chair he needs is going to cost many hundreds of dollars. Yes, he has a prescription for one, but it's the sort of thing he can claim at tax time, not through insurance, so we have to have the money up front. *sigh* We'll just add that to the list, along with a new CPAP machine.
It's been extra hard on him lately, since his sister has been going through some tough times and he isn't able to be there for her. Even if we could scape together the money to send him out, and get the time off work to do it, he wouldn't be physically able to take the trip. He might be able to handle a flight, but not without crippling himself by the end of it.
He knows being home has completely disrupted our routine. Well, mostly my routine. I haven't been doing much writing at all lately. This at a time when I'm starting to do writing that will pay. Not anything that requires major deadlines, but still a priority. Which means lower priority writing - like blog posts and answering emails - falls farther and farther behind. I'm starting to think I should have got a second desktop instead of the tablet. We're getting good use out of the tablet, but for the writing I do, I need my desktop. And uninterrupted quiet time. The quiet time is actually harder to come by. You see, the only other seat Dh can sit in for any length of time is the armchair. So he ends up either watching TV or gaming. Have I ever mentioned he's deaf in one ear? Yeah. Things end up being pretty darn loud. Especially when the commercials start. Is there some kind of rule that, the quieter the show, the louder the commercials have to be? The kids and I don't watch much TV, but when we do, muting the commercials is a big deal with us. Dh actually likes to watch the commercials sometimes. Either that or, as soon as a commercial starts, he switches to other channels to see what else he can watch.
Then, as if that weren't enough, the pain is messing with his sleep habits. Lying down for a full night's sleep messes him up, so he sleeps for a few hours in the evening, is up for a few hours, then is down for a few more before he has to get up and either work from home or, even if he can't work, take his time and meal dependant morning medications. Now, I've happily been a night owl and gone to bed at 2 or 3 in the morning, but that only works if I can sleep in until 9 or 10 in the morning. That hasn't been happening, so I've been going to bed as early as *gasp* midnight these days. *L* With my own sleep schedule messed up, that means I've been too tired to do any priority writing. Certainly not anything that requires any sort of background research and references.
Ah, well. Such is life. We'll figure something out.
Meanwhile, we've gone all politically active and stuff. Our province is rewriting some legislation, and it involves changing the wording that pertains to homeschoolers, including linking the education act to the human rights act. Since home schoolers don't have that separation between class time and non-class time that is more clearly delineated by going to school, it effectively gives the government control over our daily lives. There are special interest groups behind these changes, but the usual folks are far more incensed over the special interest groups that are alerting parents to the changes and trying to fight them. All in the name of "diversity." The girls and I even went to a protest about it, which is just not something we tend to do. We've taken part in only one other protest since moving here, and the time before that was a counter protest I took part in at the start of the Gulf War.
The first one.
On the more ordinarily front, Eldest is preparing for her first art festival of the year coming up. She's taken inventory of what she has read that she wants to put up, and figure pricing out. That's really hard to do! She's got 29 pieces right now, plus she intends to do more in smaller sizes that will have lower prices; stuff that's more affordable for people who happen through the festival, but aren't up to buying large, expensive paintings. She's also registered for the big art festival she's taken part in the last two years. Next year, we'll have to make a point of being there right when the doors open on the first day of registration. She snagged the last spot available in the location she wanted, and it's not particularly good. At least not compared to the one she had last year.
The weather is turning nice again, so I should be able to get Youngest out and driving again. I want to get her to a point that when I need to go run some errands, I can just grab her along to drive. I need to get that girl out more. :-D
Well, it's coming up on 1 am right now, and I am expecting to get up early to drive Dh to work in the morning - I hope! We shall see how he feels.
Time for bed!
