So very very tired

[kimberly_a]

I woke up early this morning (4 hours sleep? something like that) with a very painful jaw, but it hasn't been quite so bad the rest of the day. Sore enough to keep me getting out the ice packs every hour or so, but not enough to make me feel sorry for myself. My head has been less kind to me, but I'm pretty much used to that. And the pain doc had warned me that the gum grafts might make the headaches worse, so I'm not surprised. I've been glad of the Norco, though.

Right now, my head isn't so bad, but I've been on the computer for a while & so am distracted. When I get off the computer, that's when I'll actually know. It's nice, though, that much of the day the headache has been mild enough to be forgotten when I distract myself.

Most of the day, I've been coloring while listening to one of the Harry Dresden Files audiobooks ... and experimenting with the foods I bought for this coming week. Here are some of my initial thoughts on that subject:

1. Berkeley Bowl "mocha fudge" ice cream is really quiet excellent. The fudge swirl is very gooey fudgey, which makes a great contrast with the creaminess of the ice cream. I've already eaten about 1/3 of the gallon. I think it's been my primary food for the day.
2. Cheap pudding cups from Safeway are, though cheap, still filled with pudding. And pudding is pretty good stuff. And it's very easy on my gums. So cheap Safeway pudding cups definitely get my stamp of approval. (And I didn't even request them when Shannon went grocery shopping: he just decided to get them for me. Because he's my hero.)
3. Jook is a bit harder on my gums than I expected. I was able to eat it, but it wasn't as comfortable as some of the other foods. I think I'm going to hold off on eating jook for right now & stick to pudding, ice cream, pureed soups, and that sort of thing.
4. Guacamole is really too rich to eat by itself with a spoon, but will be amazing with refried beans ... when my gums are healed enough to deal with refried beans.
5. Earth's Best organic "spinach and potato" baby food from Berkeley Bowl is pretty disgusting, but I bought a few jars of baby food purely for nutritional purposes (because I wanted a bit more substance than just pudding and instant mashed potatoes all week); I did not buy them for the delight of my taste buds. I think cheap baby food would actually probably taste a lot better, because this snooty organic brand is free of all the "bad" ingredients that make junk food tasty. (This stuff proudly proclaims that it has no added salt, but it was considerably less gross when I salted it.)
6. Speaking of cheap food, instant mashed potatoes from the Dollar Store are surprisingly delicious. Nothing like fresh mashed potatoes, of course, but still delicious. After only one morning, I can tell that they will be a staple in my diet this week. Shannon was-once again-my hero today & spontaneously offered to go to Trader Joe's on his way home from gaming & bought me some frozen mashed potatoes, which I'm sure will be even tastier than the instant variety, though possibly thicker. I'm sure I can thin them with milk if necessary. Mashed potatoes are my ultimate comfort food, so it's fortuitous that they are also comfortable for me to eat right now.
7. I think most of the food I bought will taste best in combinations: stuff like moscarpone with jam, refried beans with guacamole & melted cheese, and mashed potatoes with canned gravy. Easy to prepare, but sort of vaguely meal-like.
8. Maybe I'll experiment with mixing the baby foods in with other stuff (mashed potatoes, soups, hummus, refried beans, etc.), which would allow me to still get the nutrition without the slightly-disgusting experience of just eating cold mushed veggies out of a jar. I predict that these high-falutin' expensive organic baby foods, despite being gross by themselves, might add a bit of nice flavor when mixed into other stuff.

In other news, my friend Mary (my other, long-time friend Donald's wife) came over today & brought me AMAZING art supplies. A huge set of Prismacolor Premier colored pencils & a huge set of Caran d'Ache Neocolor II watercolor pastels! I've never had such wonderful art materials to work with! I was so excited I didn't quite know what to say. I think I thanked her like a dozen times. And I probably bored her to death showing her pages I've colored in the "Secret Garden" coloring book.

But right now I'm feeling extremely tire & want to go lie down on the couch again, maybe doze a bit until Shannon is done working on his current task for Designers & Dragons (which has different volumes at different stages of production right now & is keeping him very busy).

Plans for tomorrow: lying on the couch. Eating pudding and pureed soup. Exciting adventure!

To be honest, I've been feeling a little down, not really enjoying the whole invalid gig. But it won't last forever.