Today is a much needed work from home day. After having covid the week before, working in the office this week has drained all my energy. By the end of each day this week, I felt like I was a battery that lost its charge. Working from home allows me to be more relaxed, and if needed, I can lay down and possibly take a nap. I need a weekend of nothing to do and nowhere to go. I need to rest and recover. I will probably answer and send some emails today, but I plan to mostly read. I have a presentation to make on Monday, so I will finish up the PowerPoint for that. It will be a short 5-10 minute presentation on a class I will be teaching next semester.
Here’s hoping for a restful and relaxing weekend. Have a great weekend, everyone!
I eat breakfast every day. That has not always been the case, but I often wake up hungry. The change came for one of two reasons. It’s either because I wake up earlier in the mornings and have time to actually eat before getting ready and running out the door for work. I get up earlier because I sleep better with my CPAP and feel more well-rested in the mornings, and also, Isabella is so insistent that she wants to be fed early in the mornings. The other reason I eat breakfast is that once my diabetes was under control, I woke up with lower blood sugar in the mornings and was thus hungry. The problem with eating breakfast every morning is that I don’t have much variety in what I have for breakfast. I do not like sweet breakfast foods except on rare occasions. If I am somewhere that serves good French toast, then I’ll have French toast. So, more often than not, I have a biscuit, cheese toast, or an English muffin. If I have enough time, I will make some grits, biscuits and gravy, or maybe even savory scones, but I usually only have time for that on the weekend and when I have done some preparation the night before. On rare occasions I might make some bacon and eggs, but as a general rule, eggs are not one of my favorite things and can occasionally make me nauseated.
This morning was one of those mornings when I looked in my refrigerator and freezer and thought, “There isn’t anything that looks appetizing this morning.” So, I made a cup of tea. I’m still waking up congested, so a cup of hot tea seems better to break up the congestion than coffee does, especially since I put cream in my coffee. As I write this, I have been thinking of what I want to make for breakfast, or do I want to hold off on eating until after I leave for work? If I hold off, I can go by Dunkin’ Donuts, McDonald’s, or stop at one of the local delis to get a breakfast sandwich. While I did wake up hungry this morning, I think I could easily wait to get breakfast on my way to work. When I finish typing this I will make my decision on what I will be doing for breakfast this morning. Tomorrow, I will be working from home, so I will have a little extra time and will likely either fry up some ham and cook a biscuit or two so I can have a ham and cheese biscuit, or I may make a bowl of cheese grits. This morning, I just don’t have the energy for either of those.
I am still feeling a lot of fatigue from having Covid last week, so I will be glad to when today is over and I can be a little more relaxed for the next few days. Next week is going to be very busy as I am hosting some guests at the museum, which will likely have me working longer days than usual. I need my energy back to get through next week. The week after that, I will be gone for a conference all week. So, there won’t be much rest for the weary over the next couple of weeks.
I wish I could have stayed in bed today. Going back to work these past two days has worn me out. I am constantly exhausted, and even though I was so tired yesterday, I felt like I could barely hold up my head last night, I had trouble falling asleep. Then, I woke up earlier than usual this morning with a migraine and could not fall back to sleep, especially since Isabella realized I was awake and wanted to be fed. I wish I could stay home today and get some rest; however, I have a couple of meetings in scheduled for to today. Plus, I was out four out of five days last week. I also have some phone calls to make and emails to answer. Anyway, as much as I’d like to crawl back into bed, it’s not a luxury I have today.
I wish I had a few more days to stay home, continue to rest, and, finally, get rid of this cough. However, eventually, I had to go back at some point. Luckily, I only have a few things that need to be done today, and, and hopefully, all of them should be wrapped up fairly quickly. I have a tour to give and a few emails to send. I also think I have one phone call that needs to be made. Next week is expected to be a pretty busy week, and I have a few preliminary things to take care of to make next week go smoothly. I should be able to just hide away in my office most of the day, especially this afternoon.
I am feeling much better. There is still some congestion and the previously mentioned cough. Other than some fatigue, I am actually feeling pretty good. So, it’s back to the grind.
I came across this picture the other day, and it brought back wonderful memories from my time teaching in Alabama. Back then, I’d be so tired when I got home that I’d lay down for a nap. It had been a stressful and exhausting job. The cat I had before Isabella, Victoria, was always my cuddle companion for these naps. When I would lay down, she’d lay down with the upper half of her body on my chest, and we would take a nap together.
There are two main differences from the picture above: Victoria was a gray tabby and I’d have been wearing a shirt because Victoria hated naked skin. I don’t know what her issue with naked skin was, but she would not cuddle if I wasn’t wearing a shirt. Otherwise, this picture is the exact way we’d have our after work routine.
Victoria would sit in an upstairs window watching for me to get home. She’d meet me at the top of the stairs where she could see through the window above the front door. She would either rush down the stairs as soon as I got inside or meow and beckon me upstairs. If I did not lay down for a nap fairly soon, she’d get very agitated. Like Isabella, she had her routines, and you’d better follow that routine.
I loved Victoria so much. I love Isabella just as much, but Isabella and I have a different relationship than I had with Victoria. Victoria was a cuddle buddy. Isabella usually just wants to be in the same room I’m in. Isabella will lay on my hip and on occasion stretch out from my abdomen to my chest facing towards me so I can pet her.
I know I often say that I hate Mondays and just want to stay in bed, but it is even more true today. Sadly, I’m the only person at the museum today, and I have an important meeting this morning. However, I started getting a cold Saturday night. My throat was feeling raw, and while I know it’s likely post-nasal drip, it doesn’t mean I don’t feel awful.
I was supposed to go to the Stowe Foliage Arts Festival with a friend of mine yesterday, and I almost canceled going, but I’d started feeling better and decided to go. I should have gone with my first instinct, but decided to go because my friend and I were supposed to go out to eat at a new restaurant I wanted to try. Probably none of y’all have ever tried to drive through Stowe during peak foliage season, but traffic was bumper to bumper. Then, we arrived at the site of the festival only to find out that it had been canceled due to high winds Friday night that caused the main tent containing the festival to collapse. We were able to walk around a bit to see the foliage, but it was a big disappointment.
Stowe, Vermont taken yesterday by me
We went out to eat and by the time I got home, I was completely worn out. I went to bed early hoping to feel better today, but I don’t. So, I really wish I could just stay in bed today. It won’t happen. To add to this, it’s currently 41 degrees here, but the temperature will drop to nearly freezing when I’ll be heading home from work. Most of this week will have highs in the low 50s, but we will have lows below freezing most mornings this week. We might even get our first snow of the season.
I’m glad it’s Friday. It hasn’t been a bad week, though somewhat busy. However, I’ve had a migraine for the past few days. I ended up going home from work early Wednesday and Thursday. I’m working from home today and plan to take it easy. Luckily, there isn’t a lot of must do things today because I still have a migraine.
Yesterday, I went to the ENT to have him evaluate my hearing. The whole visit took less than five minutes. He introduced himself, looked in both ears, declared that there was no damage that could be fixed with surgery, and then said that the hearing loss was due to nerve damage and only hearing aids would help. So, now I’ll be returning to the audiologist to be fitted for hearing aids.
Hopefully, my migraine will improve and I can enjoy this weekend. I’m planning to go with a friend of mine to the Stowe Foliage Arts Festival. We’ve gone to a few arts festivals together and always have a good time. With this one being in Stowe, one of the most expensive places in Vermont, I doubt there will be anything I can afford, but it will be fun to browse through the booths.
I realized last night that I did not post an Isabella pic of the week, so here you go. This is about the closest she ever comes to cuddling, though she most often lays on my hip if I’m on my side. Sometimes, if I’m on my back, she’ll lay down stretched out from my belly to my chest. Mostly, she just prefers to be near me, not on me.
Nine years ago today, I started a new life when I moved to Vermont. I had been a teacher my entire professional career, and I was switching gears to enter the museum field. I’ve never regretted taking a job in Vermont or my career transition to museums. My position has changed at my museum, and I had no idea nine years ago that my career would evolve to be my perfect job. Sometimes people look back on major life decisions and do something differently, but I have no regrets, and I wouldn’t change a thing. Since moving to Vermont, I have become more confident in my sexuality. My job has also allowed me to be more comfortable in my own skin. Nine years ago, my life changed for the better!
It’s a WFH Friday, and boy do I need an easy day. I only had a few things on my work calendar this week, but it turned that I was scrambling to get everything done. I did my best to get as much done as possible so I could take it relatively easy today. I have a few things to follow up on today, but unless something unexpected comes up, which seems to have happened every day this week, I can wrap things up quickly and mostly just monitor emails today. We’ll see how well those plans pan out.
I hope everyone has a great weekend! I have no plans, though maybe I’ll go for a walk/hike and get some nice pictures of the fall foliage.
It’s going to be a long day, and this is going to be a short post. I don’t have to work tonight like I normally do when I say I have a long day ahead. In fact, I’ll be leaving work early today. No, it will be a long day because it starts out with teaching a new class. I’ve taught classes similar to this one, but this has some clear differences. I have my fingers crossed that it goes smoothly. There isn’t as much to do during the middle of the day, but I have to leave work early because I have a dentist appointment. It’s time to get the crown on the tooth I recently had a root canal done. It’s going to be a long day of dreading that appointment.
The Closet Professor 