Not much today

 Hurting again, with what feels like arthritic pains in the joint. It's worst after walking on the tile-over-concrete floors and it's worst at the end of the day. I did see a little improvement after getting home and taking off my shoes and walking on the hardwood floor (which has more give than concrete, despite being "hard.")

I don't know. I'm discouraged. I suspect this means I will have to get the knee surgery and so many times I've heard about how it goes wrong that I'm scared. And I'm scared and sad I'll never be able to do the things I used to do - like hiking and gardening and even *freaking kneeling down* again. 

It's been two months. I've seen some improvement but not enough. And it's hard to have to keep walking on it on TERRIBLE surfaced, and getting home just destroyed. I went to the grocery store at the end of the day (was almost out of milk) and wound up almost crying, I hurt so much and was just so tired of that little pinch in my knee with some steps. 

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I also had to hurry up and prep an alternate lab for Systematics; it's supposed to storm Thursday and I was going to take folks out to look at the little lawn weeds (we have a surprising diversity; I know there's Capsella bursa-pastoris and mouse-eared chickweed and spring beauties and probably violets and that's four different families right there, even absent things I'm not currently thinking of.) But if it's storming it's not safe, if it's pouring it would be miserable, and I don't want to try to walk on slippery wet grass. 

So I took one of the end of the semester labs from last year - it was Rosidae and Asteridae combined - and separated them, and added a few more families to Rosidae, and we'll do that. I've already pulled the herbarium sheets which may have been unnecessary effort if it doesn't storm, but I'll need those specimens if it does. 

I had been planning on doing more research reading (in the vain hope I'll be well enough to get out and do some fieldwork, which I don't have a lot of faith in right now - I'll probably have to have the dumb surgery and then spend a month recovering, and there goes my summer. )

I do probably need to try to arrange for PT but I'm also fearful any doctor I might ask for orders would go "you probably should have the surgery first). 

Anyway. I did make myself do an hour of reading at the end of the day, which I guess was good, but it was 6 pm when I got home - after arriving on campus shortly after 7 am (and oh, oh, oh how I hate DST when I have to be up there at 7, or at least the beginning. It wasn't light until well after 8, partway through my first class).

So I don't get to change the sheets on the bed; the set I wanted to use are in the dryer and won't be done. 

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I'm trying to do a bit more on Orchard and Vine tonight but I'm tired and also it looks like I forgot an increase somewhere (which I guess could be fixed) but I'm also worried of running short on yarn for it.

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Another thing I need to do is start the Shingles series, apparently the two shots are months rather than weeks apart? Which means I should maybe do the first one during spring break with an eye to doing the second one in the summer. I've been warned they absolutely flatten you, and I admit I am NOT enthusiastic. I was more in gear for the COVID shots, in part because it was literally deadly, and also in part that I didn't want to wind up exposing someone to is (despite the shots being imperfect, they do considerably cut transmission). But unless I was around someone who hadn't been vaccinated against/had chicken pox, I'd be the only one suffering. 

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I still need to figure out something "fun" for spring break (other than just sticking around at home) when I can't hike and walking very far on the typical store floor gets uncomfortable. I don't know.