Dear body

Dear body,

I know you have a mind of your own, but I need to get to sleep. You see, you and I have not been getting along well lately. How can I count the ways? There was the chipped tooth in my sleep. Yesterday it was weird pain in both of my shoulders when I woke up. Pray tell, what were we doing in the night? Never mind, I probably don’t want to know. Then there’s always the intermittent painful right leg that hampers me upon waking just about once a week. I think I know what that one is about, but, really, didn’t we already suffer enough when that actually took place live and in person?

So, how about we go to sleep, just normal boring sleep like a well-adjusted person? I know we’re not well-adjusted, but we can pretend for the night, can we? You see, here’s the thing, I like to be employed. It’s nice paying my bills, making rent, putting gas in my car, eating … I know, I can be so high maintenance. What can I say? I like the good life. But, in order to do these things I need to sleep RIGHT NOW. The bonus is that you get to do these awesome things with me. So, how about we turn out the lights, snuggle up with my stuffed Grinchy (I’m already in the holiday spirit!) and try to get some sleep? I’m game if you are.

In appreciation,

Beatriz (the inhabitant of said body)

In the midst of chaos, there’s hope

It wasn’t all bad news yesterday.

I went to my favorite place for brunch after church. (By the way, church was fine. None of the peeps got upset.) I don’t go to my favorite brunch place as much as I would like because it gets mad packed. But I wanted to eat there so I told myself I would persevere. It paid off. The hostess recognized me, and asked me if I would like a counter seat if one came up before a table. I said yes, then this bratty young woman next to me started trying to get the attention of the hostess because she wanted her to know that she and her boyfriend also wanted to eat at the counter if that came up first. She made a complete ninny menace of herself. I think because of that they ignored her. The staff knows me, and treats me well even though a good bit of time may pass between my visits. They ushered me over quickly to a counter seat, and, for some reason, they gave me my tea for free. I had the brunch special:

General’s Benedict (never heard of it, but it was tasty) – two biscuits with poached eggs, braised chicken, sauteed mushrooms, caramelized onions, and white sausage gravy (the Texan in me was thrilled that white gravy was on the menu!)

The  bratty girl and her boyfriend were still waiting for a table when I left. Ha!

When I finally was able to go to the laundromat to drop off my laundry the cashier gave me a wink-wink and charged me a lot less for my laundry than the scale read. She smiled, winked, and said something about taking care of regular customers.

Yesterday while I was flat on my back in bed trying not to feel so heavy, and trying to find the strength to get it together, a friend of mine texted me and helped me get out of my fog so that I could get things done. Vicki, if you’re out there, I freakin’ love you. I love you for being such an awesome friend, but, yesterday, I especially loved you for texting me helping me get out of the bad neighborhood that’s also known as my HEAD.

Even when the chips are down, the universe can still cut a person a break or two. Yesterday was proof of that.

Fogged down

The fogginess has kicked me.

I am struggling to remain grounded. The dissociation is persistent and exhausting. All I had to do in order to make dinner was reheat some meat in order to make a pot roast sandwich with leftovers. Even that was too daunting. I would up eating cheese and crackers and an apple for dinner. I must have had the nightmare about the director attacking me again because I woke up yet again with that same leg in pain.

This fog is relentless. I’m trying not to let my brain go to the dark place. It’s like I’m crawling in sand to get home. The effort is that excruciating. All my energy goes to trying to keep it together so that I can work. The rest of the time I am trying to put myself back together again so that I can go back to work with some functionality.

And to think that someone told me today that I “dabble in mental illness.” Hah. They have no idea.