An Adult Life
I feel like things are going pretty well in my life right now; but when I stop and think about it, there has also been a minor run of unpleasant things lately. I guess that the fact that these things aren't getting me down in any big way is one possible indication of becoming an adult. That said, they are giving me ample procrastination fodder for school, and I am taking the bait.
Things that have been unpleasant lately:
Linden, our rat, began showing serious symptoms of illness, leading to a vet visit and lots of meds and worry. She has had some pretty bad moments, isn't out of the woods yet, and needs to have 5 different doses of medicine forcibly administered every day. We're watching her weight and giving her special food as well, which we have to make and keep away from the other rats. She has also taken up the habit of finding ways to leave the office and wander the house, despite our blockade at the office door. My wonderful husband is thankfully taking point on medicine admin, since I'm often out of the house when meds are due.
I lost a corn snake from work in my car a week and a half ago. My boss was in the Bahamas and it's almost winter, so this was difficult to handle. I kept a feeder mouse in my car for a week as a lure to get the snake to emerge from wherever it was hiding and regularly drove the car around with the heat blasting to try to keep the snake from freezing to death, even thought I often had no other reason to drive at the time. We searched the car car regularly and twice practically took apart everything in the car that didn't require a wrench, but no luck. The car belongs to my dad and it was my boss's favorite corn snake. I probably killed it and my boss has yet to discuss things with me since he got back from vacation. Thankfully, dad wasn't upset.
Yesterday, I passed out for the first time in my life. I crouched down to get my rescue inhaler out of my purse and (thankfully) stayed crouching to use it. I held my breath for a moment, and then came to while rising to my feet from a prone posistion. My head felt really weird in a bad way and I couldn't remember how I had gotten on the floor, or even the first part of standing up. Thankfully, my previously mentioned wonderful husband heard me fall over and asked if I was OK (which I also have no memory of) and came to check on me when I didn't answer, so I know that I was only out for a few seconds at most. This has never happened to me before and it was really unsettling. I called my dad (a doctor) and he took it seriously but said that he wasn't too concerned as long as there weren't any other symptoms and it didn't happen again. I took it easy for the rest of the day, but was able to go to work and dancing later. (No, I'm not pregnant.)
Also yesterday, I discovered that my estimates of my tuition needs for my last semester were inaccurate and I'm actually short several times what I was expecting. (I was expecting to need to ask for some money from John to finish the degree, but this is more than we can comfortably shell out at the moment.) Next ensued a really supportive and serious conversation with said husband about what we are going to do. We have options, and it's going to work out, but that was an unpleasant surprise.
Today during the last few miles of my 2-hour commute, I had sudden car trouble and had to pull over because it sounded so aweful. Fortunately, I was able to limp the last little way to school with my hazards on after checking that the wheels were OK and the engine wasn't smoking or overheating. After my class, I checked out the car more thoroughly and found that a pipe on the underside had become disconnected and was hanging down. I think that it is part of the exhaust/muffler system, which would explain the terrible noise. I was able to get an appointment with a place nearby for this afternoon, but I can only hope that they are competent/honest/not ridiculously expensive. If they can fix it, great! If not, I'll be stuck in NH until I can come up with a plan B.
Anyway, those are the less-than-great things going on in my life (well, that and an overdue essay, but that's not really news). Everything else is pretty great. :)
Things that have been unpleasant lately:
Linden, our rat, began showing serious symptoms of illness, leading to a vet visit and lots of meds and worry. She has had some pretty bad moments, isn't out of the woods yet, and needs to have 5 different doses of medicine forcibly administered every day. We're watching her weight and giving her special food as well, which we have to make and keep away from the other rats. She has also taken up the habit of finding ways to leave the office and wander the house, despite our blockade at the office door. My wonderful husband is thankfully taking point on medicine admin, since I'm often out of the house when meds are due.
I lost a corn snake from work in my car a week and a half ago. My boss was in the Bahamas and it's almost winter, so this was difficult to handle. I kept a feeder mouse in my car for a week as a lure to get the snake to emerge from wherever it was hiding and regularly drove the car around with the heat blasting to try to keep the snake from freezing to death, even thought I often had no other reason to drive at the time. We searched the car car regularly and twice practically took apart everything in the car that didn't require a wrench, but no luck. The car belongs to my dad and it was my boss's favorite corn snake. I probably killed it and my boss has yet to discuss things with me since he got back from vacation. Thankfully, dad wasn't upset.
Yesterday, I passed out for the first time in my life. I crouched down to get my rescue inhaler out of my purse and (thankfully) stayed crouching to use it. I held my breath for a moment, and then came to while rising to my feet from a prone posistion. My head felt really weird in a bad way and I couldn't remember how I had gotten on the floor, or even the first part of standing up. Thankfully, my previously mentioned wonderful husband heard me fall over and asked if I was OK (which I also have no memory of) and came to check on me when I didn't answer, so I know that I was only out for a few seconds at most. This has never happened to me before and it was really unsettling. I called my dad (a doctor) and he took it seriously but said that he wasn't too concerned as long as there weren't any other symptoms and it didn't happen again. I took it easy for the rest of the day, but was able to go to work and dancing later. (No, I'm not pregnant.)
Also yesterday, I discovered that my estimates of my tuition needs for my last semester were inaccurate and I'm actually short several times what I was expecting. (I was expecting to need to ask for some money from John to finish the degree, but this is more than we can comfortably shell out at the moment.) Next ensued a really supportive and serious conversation with said husband about what we are going to do. We have options, and it's going to work out, but that was an unpleasant surprise.
Today during the last few miles of my 2-hour commute, I had sudden car trouble and had to pull over because it sounded so aweful. Fortunately, I was able to limp the last little way to school with my hazards on after checking that the wheels were OK and the engine wasn't smoking or overheating. After my class, I checked out the car more thoroughly and found that a pipe on the underside had become disconnected and was hanging down. I think that it is part of the exhaust/muffler system, which would explain the terrible noise. I was able to get an appointment with a place nearby for this afternoon, but I can only hope that they are competent/honest/not ridiculously expensive. If they can fix it, great! If not, I'll be stuck in NH until I can come up with a plan B.
Anyway, those are the less-than-great things going on in my life (well, that and an overdue essay, but that's not really news). Everything else is pretty great. :)