And Wednesday morning

 * Yesterday afternoon, I thought of how if this had not been a pandemic year, I'd already be in Illinois. Probably would have left Sunday afternoon or Monday at the latest. This is a strange and sad year.

* At least it feels seasonal here now - cold, and while it's gray, at least it feels like December instead of that sort of extended-summer weirdness we had. I actually....kind of like cold weather. My favorite it bright sunny but chilly (like, 35-40 F) and dry; that's usually when I feel best. Cold and humid like it's been makes me ache a little.

* I have been having continued issues with bursitis? arthritis? I don't know? in my right hip. I'm wondering if it's arthritis, actually, because  it gets worse with sitting and better with exercise. Which tells me the simplest way to treat it is to keep up with exercise. Also have had a few lower-back twinges, which could be too much sitting, could be "age plus weight catching up to me," could be "probably time soon for a new mattress." Again, it responds to exercise so I am thinking it's probably a combination of aging and arthritis (I have messed up feet - flat feet and I pronate, and while I have orthotics, I know they don't correct it 100%, and so time may just be catching up to me. Again, I feel like the only way I can keep it from progressing is staying active even if dragging myself out of bed at sparrowfart and hopping on the cross-country ski exerciser while I still hurt a little bit - I have taken to doing stretching before and that helps - is not fun)

* At least my teeth are still sound. I had Attempt 2 at a dental checkup today. (Attempt 1 was abortive: they were down a hygienist due to an emergency and needed me to reschedule. The receptionist seemed surprised at how chill I was about it, but really? I have nowhere I have to be and this one was an 8 am appointment, meaning, I figure, the office was newly cleaned and hadn't had too many people in it yet - an important consideration these days). And yes, it's a calculated risk because I would be maskless for a while and breathing air where there would be other maskless people but they take temperatures and make you go through a checklist and while I suppose someone might lie - or might be totally asymptomatic - that seems not that likely. (The hygienist and dentist of course were fully masked and gloved, and I bet they get tested regularly). But I figure the tiny risk to me is better than the more likely risk of if there was a tooth issue, I'd need a root canal or worse by the time I got in AFTER the pandemic.

Good news, though: no cavities, the one remaining filling I have is not failing, the crowns are still sound. I didn't even need to be sonicated this time, which was a relief. So I'm good until June and maybe.....maybe I will even be vaccinated by then? I told the hygienist with a laugh that "if both my mom and I have been vaccinated by then, I may be spending June at her place" and she laughed and said I was welcome to re-make the appointment closer to its time if I needed to. 

She also commented on "wow, your home care is really good" but yeah? I don't want more fillings and I hate sonication enough that I'd rather floss a lot and use a tartar control toothpaste. Saves me money and more importantly, saves on pain.

* Need to get down to work. I did five (of the 14) vials from the last sampling yesterday; plan for today is to do four more and then do the balance on Thursday....and maybe Friday enter data. It's nice to have just ONE thing to work on. I work best like that. I think my brain wiring is derailed badly when I have fifteen different things competing for my attention and I KNOW some of my meltdowns this fall were tied to me trying to do some of the online teaching work AND having student e-mails demanding stuff come in AND have in the back of my head "but when are you going to get to the grocery? Or do the laundry? Or for that matter, get any research done?"

I don't know what that suggests other than that yes, I do better with ONE job at a time and I don't know how to make my life during the regular semester accommodate that but I would very much like it to.