Football Polygamy?

My niece coined a term, "baseball polygamy" because throughout the course of her life, she as collected baseball teams that she likes, roots for, follows, or otherwise supports.  I think that is perfectly acceptable, and I have long been a fan of the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees which is generally unheard of, but is what it is.  I also now follow the Arizona Diamondback, and because they are in the playoffs, the Houston Astros. 

So when it comes to football, I am generally a New England Patriots fan, although I like the New York Giants New York Giants, too.  However, this year, a former Texas Tech Red Raiders quarterback, Patrick Mahomes is the starting quarterback for The Kansas City Chiefs and like many people in Texas Tech Raiderland, I have been following his performance and record. It is amazing. It is exciting. It is wild. So, that gives me another NFL team to follow. And, tonight, the New England Patriots are playing the Kansas City Chiefs.  We shall see how this resolves, and New England won.

But now, I am guilty of football polygamy.

Conflicting Games

The MLB, due to the requirements of records, home field advantage, and opposition teams had to schedule the Houston Astros vs. the Boston Red Sox on October 14, 2018, a Sunday, at Fenway Park in Boston.  Due to television scheduling, it was a Sunday evening game. 

The NFL had the Kansas City Chief playing the New England Patriots in Foxborough the same day, the same night.  

Can New England sustain fan support for two major league events occurring at the same time on the same day. Sure it can, and it has in the past and will in the future.

It is a little frustrating for fans of both sports, because we want to follow both games.  Tonight was no exception for me.  So, I watched the Red Sox game, until its successful end, and flipped back and forth to the Patriots game, until the baseball game was done. That allowed me to watch the Patriots game to its end, which they won.

Sleeping In

I do not know what is wrong with me, but this morning, I slept in until 10 AM. If the cats tried to rouse me, I missed it.  They did not seem frantic for breakfast when I got up, but really, late last night they asked for snacks, and received them.

But even after I awoke I was not really energetic. I did a few things, then hunkered down on the sofa and read for several hours. I did do some laundry and my regular Saturday housework, late in the day.

I am thankful that I have the luxury of taking a day off, totally off, if I need. to. 

Out of Step

You have been there, I am sure.  You have a day that just does not feel right.  You can't quite put your finger on it.  You can't quite remember the date, because it feels wrong. Or the day feels wrong. Or things are just out of sorts.  And you forget what you did early in the morning because too much happened all day.

I had a day like that today.  Work was not especially busy. But I had a meeting after work, and I forgot to send out the reminder earlier this week, so I sent it out at the last minute this morning before I went to work. By the time I got home from work, I forgot all about the meeting until I opened my email.  I did not even remember sending out the reminder this morning.  More to the point, what possessed me to remember this morning that the meeting was going to happen.  

Well, I sort of remember my train of thought.  Next week is book club, and I remembered that I had this meeting this month, and it did not conflict with book club, so I was thinking it was next week, some other day.  Just by luck, I checked this morning.  And  sadly, of 6 people who were supposed to be at the meeting, only one remembered before the reminder.  Is that bad?  Yes it is. 

The meeting went okay.  

I think the reason I feel so out of step is because we had a Wednesday holiday, and while having time off was wonderful, today felt more like a Monday than a Thursday, yet we were following Thursday's schedule. 

My Mask

I woke up this morning with a dry, scratchy throat, and some nasal congestion as well as a bit of a cough.  I did not feel particularly bad, but I knew I needed to do something. Before I left the house, I drank a couple of glasses of orange juice, and took some vitamin C.  I did not have any cold medicine in the house, so on my way to work, I purchased some, as well as some chicken soup and more orange juice for later in the day.  

I go to work late on Monday morning for scheduling reasons, and the sun was bright, so I put on my subscription sunglasses.  For administrative reasons, I was not going to have to stay late as I normally do on Monday, and because I did not feel well, I decided to truncate my schedule, and leave after the early afternoon staff meeting. I have the sick leave.

I work in a psychiatric prison hospital.  When I got to work, I went to a treatment pod and asked for a mask, since I was feeling poorly.  I did not realize that I did not carry my eyeglass case into the building, and did not feel like going back outside to get my clear lens glasses.  (Going out side involved going through 6 locked doors that are controlled by someone else. And then, there is the walk to the car.) So, I walked around with dark glasses and a surgical mask on.  I know I looked like an alien, but my co-workers were cool about it.  

Our staff meeting included a couple of administrators who do not know me well, but they did not react too badly. In fact, one was exhibiting upper respiratory symptoms, also. 

And, earlier in the day, one of the charge nurses told me not to worry, the crud was going around.  

I left work after the staff meeting, and went home to hot chicken soup, lots of liquids, more medications and vitamin C.  

I cannot say I am feeling great, but I am holding my own.  

Conflict: Baseball

Tonight I am watching a play-off significant game between the Baltimore Orioles and the Boston Red Sox (go Red Sox!) on ESPN http://mlb.mlb.com/home TV  http://mlb.mlb.com/home. The post-season play-off races are very tight this year, and ESPN announced tonight that they will televise the New York Yankees vs. Toronto Blue Jays game on Friday night, September 23,2016.  It will air at 6 PM CDT.  I can watch it!  Yeah.

Conflict.  Sometimes, Yankee games last longer than 3 hours, and at 9 PM Friday night, the season premier of Blue Bloods http://www.cbs.com/shows/blue_bloods/ will air. Well, that is okay.  I will watch baseball, and then if need be, view Blue Bloods on demand on Suddenlink. http://home.suddenlink.net/?inc=1.

A New Life Style

I will soon, after 39 years as a salaried social worker, be an "hourly" employee due to the change in the Federal Fair Labor Standards Act regulations https://www.dol.gov/compliance/laws/comp-flsa.htm?.  Because the base pay for my position is below the Federal guidelines for overtime pay upgrades, I am subject to the new overtime laws.  My employer saw fit to warn the 900 or so employees affected.  I have been "practicing" at working only 40 hours a week, and doing pretty good, except the week of Labor Day.  It was a 32 hour week, and I had an inordinate number of family calls. So I did work over 32 hours.  If it had been later in the year, and I had been under the 40 hour work limitation, I would have had to ask my supervisor for help with family calls.  But, as it was, I did not, although I did tell my boss about the influx of calls, and she agreed in the future I should have help in that circumstance.

So, I am now having to adjust to going home earlier than I have ever done before. I do not mind, but I am having to "find myself" in terms of what I want to do with that extra hour plus every day.  I find I am running errands during the week that I would normally defer to the weekend.  I like that. It frees up my weekend. I am not satisfied with my transition, and think I want to be more active outside, rather than hibernate to the house.

My cats have also had to adjust. They have been used to being fed when I get home from work, but getting home more than an hour earlier than I used to, it is not dinner time for them.  I often give them treats when I get home, but not dinner. They are getting used to me getting home and NOT feeding them.  This is good.

In many ways this is a very good adjustment in my life.  I just need to be more pro-active at taking advantage of it. 

The Cats and My New Schedule

So, in my prior post, I explained why I am required to change my work schedule.  I am only going to be allowed to work 40 hours a week, in the near future.  And I am practicing doing this now.  So, it means that I am arriving home from work an hour or more earlier than I have been accustomed to do for the last I don't know how many years.  This has the cats befuddled, worries, confused.  Because they are in the habit of being fed when I get home from work, I give them treats if they ask for them.  But the cats and I are having to learn how to adjust to this new schedule. 

The plus is, I feel like doing more chores around the house. The negative is, I feel at loose ends sometimes.  And I am at a loss how to help the cats adjust.  And, although it is just an hour, it makes the nights seem really, really long.

Well.  I can adjust. I have before, I will again.  And then, I will wonder why I spent so many years working overtime when I could have been on my own time!

Time Warp

I am on vacation this week.  Yesterday, I did several chores and errands that were on my "to do" list for this week. I think I over did something physically yesterday. I could not rest comfortably last night, and I woke up hurting this morning. 

I had several more errands to do today. But early morning, I found myself thinking it was already Wednesday.  It took me a few minutes to realize that the chores that I was planning to do today were the Tuesday chores. And that all the chores I did on Monday were just done the day before.  It felt like those chores had been done several days ago! 

I am not sure why this feeling of distance from the activities of the day before, but it was there.

And, it seems that as I do one thing, another chore arises, and another, and another.  I could schedule more chores per day than I am, and in the past I would have done that. But, my new schedule reflects my efforts not to rush or stress myself.  So, sometimes I feel I am wasting time, but generally, I can fill in the time with other things that have been on my list.

So, time is good.

Return to Work

I returned to work today, after a week off.  My coworkers took good care of me while I was out.  But immediately upon checking my mail box, the birthday card I had set out before I went on vacation was sitting there, mostly unsigned.  Coincidentally, the birthday celebrant will be off work until Wednesday, so that gave us some time to get more signatures, and a coworker volunteered to help.

I had little waiting for me, considering.  A pile of requests to discuss therapy materials.  And many treatment team plans to finalize.  I knocked back the biggest number of those today, and will, hopefully, finalize the rest tomorrow. These have a "soft deadline" so while I want to finalize them as soon as possible, I have some lee way. I also need to set up the June list of treatment team plans needed.

There were some other things I needed to tend to. But nothing overwhelming. But by 1600, I was pretty well wiped out.  It was a long day. It was not a stressful day.

The hardest parts of my returning to work was leaving the house in the morning, and feeling that I had not done everything I needed to do to leave the house secure, the windows closed, with cat food put out, and  the air conditioner set.  Hmmm.  I got it right the first time, although I was unsettled. 

I was too tired to do too much tonight.  Sake and I spent some time in the yard. I read, Had dinner. Read the mail, but was too tired to reconcile my credit card bill or print up envelopes for the NASW mailing. Partly the reason I was too tired was that I was content to read, and eager to finish Invisible City by Julia Dahl.  Tomorrow, I can do some of these other tasks.

Sleeping In, Holidays, and Time Off From Work

So, I have 5 days off in a row from work: starting Christmas Eve, December 24, and not returning to work until Monday, December 29.  That has been so nice so far.  I have done some leisurely things, including reading, going to the library and not rushing to find a book, eating out, cooking in, playing on the computer and watching TV.

The girls have let me sleep in, which has been nice. I set my schedule according to what activities I want to do and when.

I have accomplished several chores around the house, although I basically took off Christmas.  I can tell, though, because it has aggravated my back and sciatica.  Even though I have rested a lot and limited my activity in the process of doing chores.

We are coming up on the weekend. It will be a typical weekend for me, filled with chores, exercise sessions, housework and some errands.   All doable.  Intertwined with some reading, watching TV and puzzle solving.

This should be a good few days off, as it has been already.  We return to work for 2 days, then have two days off and return to work again for one day, and then have a weekend off. This is a nice time of year, and I appreciate the extra time off.

The Closet Cave

Sake has stayed in her closet cave a lot.  She has come out for meals, but sometimes does not wait to be fed.  At least, I know where to put her food dish so she can eat some. She has let me do some grooming.  And she races around some. She has lost some weight, but is not too thin.

Late this afternoon, I was reading in the living room. It was early for cat dinner, but I had just got home from running errands, about an hour earlier than I would get home from work, which is feeding time.   Taki and Haiku were sitting with me.  Sake came into the living room and sat with us for a while, but she was looking for dinner. So, I fed early. But because I did not get the food out quickly enough, Sake went back to her closet cave. I fed Sake in the cave. I hate to feed early, and set a precedent, because one precedent becomes a habit, but I am so wanting to cater to Sake for her well being, so if she says it is time to eat, I think it is time to feed.

Losing Track of Days

During this holiday season, we have had a lot of days off.  They have been interspersed with work days:  Work December 23, off December 24-26, work December 27, weekend, work December 30, off December 31 and January 1.

This has resulted in my not really being able to keep up with what day it is.  This morning, when I woke up, I thought I knew it was Sunday, but I had to review my Saturday activities, and double check, to make sure I did not have to go to work today.  I figured it out. 

I do not do well with change and lack of structure.  I feel lost, out of place and unsure of myself.  I do better with routine and structure.  I try to be flexible, but still like the routine and structure better.