(no subject)

I have an absentee ballot now. I hesitated over getting one because my disability is so complicated. I probably *could*-- at least in theory-- manage getting to our polling place, waiting in line, voting and getting home, all with Cordelia in tow. It would just half-kill me. I'm fine in elections where the wait to vote is short, where there aren't a lot of people crammed into that tiny room, where the lines don't run out the door and down the hill. I don't expect any of that to be true this time.

I'd probably still try it if Cordelia were going to be in school, but school's canceled on Tuesday. It's just too much. I might be able to do it if I take a vicodin, but I'm not convinced that voting while medicated, even if that medication doesn't normally affect my thought processes, is a wise move. An absentee ballot is a much better alternative.

(For those wondering, our polling place is far enough away that I can't walk both ways but close enough that I feel like a moron taking the bus. It's only a few blocks, two stops down the line. I have trouble standing for long periods, with 'long' defined as more than ten to fifteen minutes. I'm also agoraphobic and get more nervous when there are more people around and even more nervous when there are a lot of people in a small space. Add in that I'm asthmatic to cold air and start to ache when I'm out in the cold for very long.)

Getting the ballot at city hall yesterday was the last of a series of errands. Cordelia and I were out for four hours. I picked her up at school, and we went straight to the bus. We went to the post office first to mail one BookMooch package. Then I bought her lunch. After that, we went to the dentist for two more fillings. Then another bus to get close to city hall and into the building to get the absentee ballot. We walked two more blocks to get the bus home and had a long wait in the cold for it.

Cordelia cried and whined between the school and the bus stop. She was trying to convince me that she didn't need the fillings, that it's too scary, too exhausting, too painful. She tried to talk me out of the trip to the dentist several times after that. We have one more appointment, next week. I will be so relieved when we're done.

We got home after Scott did. He and I were both dead on our feet, but we dragged ourselves out to the pharmacy to see if his insurance would cover the Provigil. They would, so we left that to be filled while we got dinner.

The Big Boy on Plymouth Road has an excellent soup and salad bar. I wish they had more soups without green peppers and/or tomatoes (usually, there's only one), but the fruit is always good. We can get Cordelia to eat a really big meal there. She usually gets a kids' meal with scrambled egg, two pancakes and two strips of bacon and then eats fruit and cucumber from the salad bar. (We tried a different Big Boy in another town last week, and that salad bar was awful. It taught us to check before buying. Cordelia was really disappointed about it.)

Today will be split between cleaning and writing. The cleaning lady comes today, so I have to shift all the crap out of the living room so that she can get at the floor. (We can only afford her for two hours a week, so we don't want her tidying. We want her to do the stuff I really can't. I do what I can before she shows up so that what's left is what we want her to do.)

( Dithering about writing troubles )

Anyway, laundry and dishes await. I also have to call the psychiatrist and the mother who's supposed to be taking Cordelia for a playdate after school. I need to clear up what we want to do about the dosage of the Provigil, and I have to be sure that the other mother still remembers the plans.

(no subject)

Cordelia had a friend over for a sleepover Saturday night. The two girls shared the twin bed in reasonable comfort. The other little girl showed Cordelia how to make her bed. Scott's not entirely sure this is a good thing as it adds a complication to bedtime. I suspect that he's also concerned that she'll ask why Mama and Daddy never make their bed. (We don't because I'm not comfortable with a top sheet that's tucked in and because I'm suppose to have rolled blankets on both sides to act as body pillows and because having individual blankets solves the problems of cover stealing and wildly different internal thermostats.)

Sunday was my brother's birthday. I tried to call him, but he wasn't home and wasn't answering his cell. I'm never sure when to call him because he works nights, delivering pizza. I know he sleeps late because he often doesn't get to bed until five or six in the morning. I need to mail his card (and hugely belated Father's Day cards and the card for my sister's August birthday).

Monday was Scott's sister's birthday. We had dinner with her family and her husband's family Sunday at a restaurant in Brighton. The food was mediocre, and the service was poor. Scott's comment was that these family dinners, every few years, are a good reminder about why we avoid Italian restaurants. (When one's avoiding nuts, olives, tomatoes, beef, peppers, eggs and oregano, menus at such places are fraught at the best of times.) We found only one entrée that looked reasonably safe for me, well, two if one counts pasta with no sauce. Naturally, it came smothered in diced tomatoes.

The food was only just barely warm. My sister-in-law's father-in-law theorized that they put the food onto cold dishes. I think that may have been part of it, but I think they also held the food a little too long.

I do wish that we'd realized that the celebration was for my sister-in-law's mother-in-law's birthday as well. Her birthday was a week ago. If we'd known, we'd have brought her a card and a small gift. She and her husband have been very good to us. She hosted my baby shower, and they treat Cordelia like one of their grandchildren when the whole extended family gathers. She sees more of them than she does of my parents and step-parents.

(no subject)

Cordelia's school is having yet another fundraiser. I forgot about the first one. I put the catalog aside, intending to look at it, and then found it again after the sale was over. This one, I looked at immediately. I can't imagine buying any of what they're selling.

It's a fruit sale. The stuff will arrive in mid-December. The only people I can imagine giving fruit to are the relatives who live too far away to visit, and I'm not going to go through this sale for it as I'd have to get it and then ship it.

Do people actually eat this stuff? It all looks extremely unappealing, especially at those prices. (The prices aren't *in* the catalog or on the order form. They're on a separate sheet.)

Last night at dinner, the niece and nephew were hitting us up for fundraisers. We declined because we still have half of the tin of popcorn we bought last year. When we have internet again, I'll e-mail my sister-in-law for the list of what they're selling. We have some obligation in that direction, but I really would just give their PTO $5 or $10 bucks outright and not be bothered to buy overpriced crap that I wouldn't purchase at normal prices because I don't have a use for it.

Especially given the state of the economy at the moment.

(no subject)

A note for future reference-- 75 mg of Provigil works *extremely* well. I not only feel more alert but also much less anxious. Weird.

My second note-- Taking it at noon may have been a mistake. I'm starting to feel tired and will probably sleep, but that also came on suddenly about twenty minutes ago.

I don't know if 100 mg will be better or too much.