Moving on Up

So, the move is complete. In that all our junk is in the new apartment.

Also, we have an ice maker:

Two Roman tubs:

And this is the view from the patio and the bedroom windows:

Tom's parents bought us a new mattress in addition to helping us move in and his sister and brother-in-law and niece helping with the move and passing on a queen bed frame for the guest bedroom.

New mattresses are huge. Our bed was already high. It hits just under my boobs now and I'm 5'6 or 5'7 depending on how scolio'd my spine is on a given day.

Oreo on the mattresses before we put them on the bed frame

We got new driver's licenses. I think all the weight Tom lost from the last time he had a MS license I gained since the last time I had one.

Friday while I was in the bathroom I got another call about teaching. Apparently they needed to know right that minute if I could teach in the spring. So I said "um, yeah." I have a job with virtually no effort on my part to acquire it. This is still blowing my mind.

Yesterday we bought a washer and dryer to be delivered on Wednesday. o.O Single largest expenditure we've ever made. There will be photos. Possibly video.

Today I drove Tom to work and drove home all by myself for the first time since 2008. It went very smoothly. Then I spent the rest of the day waiting for the gas company tech to show up, which still hasn't happened. 

And I unpacked exactly nothing. My excuse is that we need bookcases before we can unpack most of the boxes which are full of books.

Current view of the living room.

What the...I don't even...

Thought I'd look at my blog stats because, um, I was bored or maybe hit the wrong button. Anyway, what the hell?

"Bobcat pooping?" Really?

I think I know why, but I don't remember mentioning pooping.

The Real Secret of the Holy Grail

The Indiana Jones movies were on TV today. Susan shut it off before it got to the Crystal Skull so I wouldn't throw things at her TV.

I realized something, though. The true power of the Holy Grail is that it turns everything into hydrogen peroxide.
See?

Indy pours Grail juice onto his dad's wound, foaming ensues

Random dude on the internet pours hydrogen peroxide on a scrape, foaming ensues.

Thus endeth your archaeology lesson for the day.

Today is weird

Image via WikipediaToday has been weird even for me.

I decided to browse Craigslist for possible jobs. Wow, scary.
Apparently there are some locally made "adult" films.
And there was one job posting that just said "Pregnant Lady."

Someone said something about "penny wise" and I made a crack about Pennywise from It. Then a few minutes later, the Bad Astronomer tweeted this scary ass t-shirt. Serendipity is disturbing. I'm avoiding drains for the rest of the day.

Fast forward a bit and Oreo and Brownie were sharing the couch peacefully.

Then I decided I needed a nap.

My phone rang and it was someone who had heard we moved down here wanting to know if I'd be interested in teaching in the spring.
o.O

I managed to babble something comprehensible that was not "Hells yes, woman!" but conveyed that general sentiment. After we move into the apartment I'll go actually chat about it.

Then I got up to see Tom had tweeted about D'Iberville telling the early French colonists to breed buffalo, only I thought it said "breed with the buffalo" and I was truly impressed by the ignorance of basic biology back then.

So, now I have things to figure out:
- How do I teach sitting down (this will be weird for me)?
- Better management of dry mouth while lecturing because, seriously, the croaking is not cool
- Can I wear my Vibram Five-Fingers with business casual clothing because I really, really love them.
- Which eccentric professor do I emulate?

• Doc Brown
• Professor Trelawney
• Dumbledore
• Professor Farnsworth

I imagine that at some point I should figure out what I'm teaching...

This also nixes the idea I had floating in my head of dyeing the white parts of my hair purple...

And as I get ready to post this, Oreo and Brownie are sharing the couch again and sound asleep.

I haz a monster under my bed, killin all my du5t Bunnehs

Big Changes for a Little Dog

I was just talking to Oreo (yes, of course I talk to him - anyone who thinks that's super weird has obviously not known me long) and realized he's still got a lot of big changes coming up. He's already gotten used to sharing (mostly) a house with 2 dogs who are much bigger. And he loves having a yard to trot around in and an extra person to wiggle for.

In a couple weeks we'll be moving into our own apartment though and we were talking about the changes to come.
There will be a whole new big apartment to explore. With two bedrooms and two bathrooms. Tom and I are wondering what he'll do with two bathrooms. Oreo prefers to be in the bathroom with us - there is much scrabbling and whining and head-thunking if he's outside, but until now, we've only had the one bathroom. I have no idea what he's going to do if we are occupying both bathrooms at the same time. It will be a major Oreo conundrum. Will he run back and forth between them? Sit in the middle and cry?

He'll be going back to walkies on a leash, but we'll have a whole complex to explore. Should be fascinating. So many new smells!

There will be a patio. Mmmm, sleeping in the sunshine is a favorite Oreo activity. He'll have container gardening to supervise too.

We'll eventually have a washer and dryer and I suspect there will be lots of head-tilting and inquiry grumbles at the noise.

We will also have a gas fireplace (the hilarity of having a gas fireplace AFTER moving from Chicago is epic). He's sort of been around them before, but I wonder how he'll react.

30 Things About My Invisible Illness You May Not Know

Image via Wikipedia

1. The illness I live with is: Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Migraine, Undifferentiated Connective Tissue Disease, Functional Movement Disorder, Hashimoto's Thyroidits, Reynaud's Disease, Scoliosis, Depression, possibly Fibromyalgia
2. I was diagnosed with it in the year: 2008-2010
3. But I had symptoms since: the mid 1990s
4. The biggest adjustment I’ve had to make is: Recognizing that pushing myself to work harder or do more is counterproductive.
5. Most people assume: If I just tried harder I could do more. That my fatigue is the same as having missed a few hours of sleep a night.
6. The hardest part about mornings are: Deciding what needs to be done and can be done for the day.
7. My favorite medical TV show is: House
8. A gadget I couldn’t live without is: My cane, with my rubber gloves a close second.
9. The hardest part about nights are: Insomnia, pain so severe that I can't sleep
10. Each day I take __ pills & vitamins. (No comments, please) 14
11. Regarding alternative treatments I: Am cautiously aware of and willing to try some
12. If I had to choose between an invisible illness or visible I would choose: I honestly don't know.
13. Regarding working and career: I enjoy working and I sometimes regret that my chosen career as a field archaeologist in Egypt and Sudan are not really possible right now. I've come to realize though that my own physical and emotional well-being are more important.
14. People would be surprised to know: I still have times I think I'm just not trying hard enough or think I'm just lazy.
15. The hardest thing to accept about my new reality has been: I really can't just push past my limits even for something I really want to do and would enjoy.
16. Something I never thought I could do with my illness that I did was: Drive again. I've been cautiously driving short distances with my husband now that we're no longer in the crazy busy environment of Chicago.
17. The commercials about my illness: Annoy the crap out of me and suggest that medications will be a miraculous cure when it's more likely that they will be an incremental improvement.
18. Something I really miss doing since I was diagnosed is: Riding a bike.
19. It was really hard to have to give up: My career plans.
20. A new hobby I have taken up since my diagnosis is: Spinning with a drop spindle.
21. If I could have one day of feeling normal again I would: Dance
22. My illness has taught me: What is really important in life; that contentment is based on your own desires and needs and not on meeting the expectations of other people.
23. Want to know a secret? One thing people say that gets under my skin is: "oh, I'm tired/hurt too, it's just the weather or allergies."
24. But I love it when people: Try to keep in mind my limitations when planning things or ask for my input instead of assuming I can or can't do something.
25. My favorite motto, scripture, quote that gets me through tough times is: I just have to get through this minute, hour, day.
26. When someone is diagnosed I’d like to tell them: It will be hard. There will be people - friends, doctors, random strangers who disbelieve you or dismiss you. But what you feel is real, your need to be treated is real. You don't have to prove yourself to anyone.
27. Something that has surprised me about living with an illness is: How judgmental some people can be even when the illness has nothing to do with them.
28. The nicest thing someone did for me when I wasn’t feeling well was: Listen to me, believe me, help me.
29. I’m involved with Invisible Illness Week because: The way chronic illness, visible and invisible, is regarded in our society needs to change from an expectation that anything can be overcome if you just try hard enough or take the right medication, that accepting one's limitations is regarded by some people as defeat, that people with invisible illness are malingering or overly dramatic.
30. The fact that you read this list makes me feel: Hopeful.

Small Things

This week is Invisible Illness Awareness Week. My invisible illness has been smacking me around a bit, so I'm only today getting around to writing a post for it.

Oreo enjoying some sunshine and grass

Oreo (for new comers, Oreo is my 15 pound Shih Tzu/Lhasa Apso caretaker, companion, comforter, comedian, and partner in crime) was the inspiration for this post. At the moment we're staying with a friend until we move into our new place. Oreo is in the living room peering out the window and barking randomly while I'm in the bedroom nursing a migraine. Having a window he can see out of is a novelty for him, thus the barking. Usually he snuggles with me when I have headaches. He's a small thing and got me thinking about small things in a broader sense.

One of the popular tools to explain invisible, chronic illness is the Spoon Theory by Christine Miserandino. I encourage people to read the essay when they have a chance but in summary, it's a way of demonstrating how little things add up over the course of a day, a week, a month to sap the energy and wellness of many people with chronic illness, especially illness that causes fatigue. Another analogy I like is lightweight backpacking. Individual items may not seem like they take up a lot of space or weigh a lot, but the full combination can be a lot to deal with.

The small things that so many "normal" people take for granted can have big effects on us. Here are some of the small things that I used to take for granted:
- Showering. It's now something that requires me to rest for at least 15 or 20 minutes afterwards even though I use a shower chair, have very short hair, and use 2-in-1 shampoo/conditioner all in an effort to make it as efficient as possible.
- Washing dishes. Standing for extended periods often makes my lower back spasm and my neck knot up and seems to drain me of energy pretty quickly. Reynaud's disease interferes with the blood flow to my hands, fingers, feet and toes making water that is too hot or too cold physically painful. It can also make holding a cup with hot or cold beverage in it painful. Cup cozies are my new best friends.
- Doing laundry. Picking up and carrying a hamper makes my head pound and my back grumpy. Not being able to see the floor messes with my balance in a big way. Folding clothes is sometimes painful if my arthritis is flaring or I have migraine-related pain and stiffness in my neck.
- Shopping. The long walk around the store is tiring. The lighting and noise and motion is almost too much to deal with sometimes. Trying to remember what I need, even with a list is a challenge. Making a decision on which item to purchase can sometimes seem overwhelming.
- Watching TV. A migraine can sometimes make TV absolute torture. Days when my brain is foggy just makes it surreal and confusing.

But in the same way that little things can add up to make me feel worse, they can also add up to make me feel a bit better.
- Oreo is a little thing who can almost always make me smile, if only for a little bit.
- Hugs or commiseration or understanding from friends and family.
- A good book.
- Silly things on the internet
- Sweet, thoughtful things from my husband like a candy I particularly like or special snuggles.
- Meditation.
- Gentle stretching or yoga that helps keep me moving and helps with some pain.
- Satisfaction with small victories like showering or doing the dishes.
- Creature comfort things like a favorite body oil or a comfy hoody or a nice skein of yarn or wonderful fiber to spin.

Hanging Out

I've been trying to take it easy this week.  I've been pretty tired and arthritic, so I've been hanging out with the doggies and Susan during the day and trying to do a few little chores like laundry or looking in to renter's insurance (which is making me stabby).

Oreo is liking the yard.

Ferret Dance!

Image via WikipediaTom begins his new job today.  Oreo and I got up early to see him off along with Susan and Brownie and Blue.
It's hard to believe we've only been here a little over a week.
Oreo is getting along pretty well with Brownie and Blue - Susan's two doggies that Tom and I actually rescued as dumped puppies waaaay back in 2002 just before (like just weeks) before I moved to Chicago.  Susan took Brownie and eventually wound up with Blue as well.
Last time all three dogs were together was right after Katrina and they did not get on well.  They're doing much, much better this time.  Oreo follows Blue around like an obnoxious little brother.
Susan has a big front window that goes almost to the floor.  The dogs like to peek out of it and bark as needed.  At first Oreo just barked because they were barking.  Then he figured out he should go to the window.  Then he was barking face first into the sheers.  He seems to have mostly figured out the window concept.
He also does a 360 bark routine when the others are barking and he doesn't know why.  Silly doggie.

Tom and I have found an apartment.  We're hoping to get the application, etc. done today.  Two bedrooms, two full baths, a full kitchen including a dishwasher, patio, washer/dryer hookups, central AC and, hilariously, a gas fireplace.  I will be sending photos of the gas fireplace to our Chicago friends in January because I'm a terrible person.  There is a pool.  A hot-tub.  A workout center.  It's set back from the beach, but the property in front is still vacant (very common around here).  Our patio looks onto a little patch of woodsy area in the complex.  I'm looking forward to restarting an herb garden.

I am already browsing inspiration on line for the second bedroom.  We want it to be a guest room.  I also want an office and crafting space.  And I want a quiet meditation spot.  I think we may go with a closet workspace in the guest room - there are some really cool ideas.  We are getting a queen bed from Tom's sister and I am wondering about pushing it against a corner to create a day-bed most of the time that can be centered in the room for guests.

For a quiet/meditation/retreat place, I think I may try part of our bedroom with a folding screen or maybe another closet.  I'm most likely to feel the need for a brief retreat when guests are visiting (nothing against guests, I just get over stimulated sometimes), so having the retreat in the guest room is probably not the best of ideas.

I experimented with driving last week and managed fairly well.  Hopefully that will continue and we can get another vehicle so I can run errands during the day.

I also found a great fitness bathing suit on clearance and a quarter-zip UPF 50 shirt.  I'm really looking forward to the pool.

We've done a bit of walking on the beach too.  Lots of jellyfish so I've been hesitant to go out far or actually swim. I have bad luck with things that sting.

Sweet

Hero of the Day?

We moved so neither of us would become this guy

Also, I prefer Cocoa Pebbles.

John Belushi would be proud.

Nesting

I'm still recovering from the move.  Swelling has gone down but I've been running a low grade fever and the eczema on my hands has flared up.  I did manage a short grocery trip today.  Migraine responded to meds.  I've been able to sit up a bit longer without getting zombified.

It's cooled off wonderfully here and will be nice the rest of the week.

Hoping to start home-hunting tomorrow.  We have lots of decisions to make - apartment or house?  Where?  Can I drive or not and how will that affect our choice?

We want at least 2 bedrooms so we can have a guest room and I can have an office/studio space of some kind.  At least 1.5 baths or more.  Doggie friendly.  No or very few (like no more than three) stairs.  Fairly quiet and low-key.  A porch or sunroom or patio of some kind.

Arrived

We're here.  The stupid-ass storm is still here.  I am exhausted.  We noticed my ankles had swollen up ridiculously huge last night, but they seem to have gotten a bit better with sleep.  Hoping that was just from so much time sitting in the truck.
Had a bit of a return on the involuntary trunk movements too, but again, probably just fatigue and truck.
My hands are swollen and hot and the skin hurts there too.  Sigh.

Oreo is being a bit of a punk with Brownie and Blue, but everyone is mostly okay.

We had fabulous dinner last night.  Restaurant on the Gulf.  Fried dill pickles the proper way - in chips instead of spears and omnomnomnom fried shrimp.   I loved watching the storm on the water.

Thunder only started up last night and it doesn't seem too bad today.

Justine and Tom Rebooted

After a few hours getting the wiring for towing fixed we are finally on our way. 
So expect Cylons that look human and random religious hallucinations and dark, tortured characters.
No, wait that's Battlestar Galactica and Batman.

Um, randomness, torture, and hallucinations then.

Veal

I discovered this morning that my phone autocorrects "crap" to "veal."  As in I meant to tweet  "holy crap, the hospital elevator is working" and instead sent "holy veal, the hospital elevator is working."

We have been having entirely too much fun with this on Twitter.  And I had time to be on Twitter because it took me at least an hour to cancel my phone and internet service today.

In other news, we got the moving truck today and pretty much all the furniture and other stuff is on it courtesy of Tom and our friends Eric and Brian.  Yay!

For some reason though, our apartment still looks to be full of veal.

My stupid brain has decided getting dizzy when I bend over is super fun, which makes packing boxes way more entertaining.  If I see double, I should get a double to help out.  Or something.

Oreo is thoroughly traumatized and curled up next to me on my yoga mat (hard floor is hard).

Original plan had been to leave tomorrow but we're rethinking that and may leave on the 1st after all so we aren't quite so frantic.

Who Arted?

Tom packed several framed photos and labelled the box appropriately.

 He also packed a box containing Oreo's worst nightmare.

So, yeah.  Packing continues.
I have a ton of course notes and articles from grad school that I can't bring myself to toss.  All of it thoroughly disorganized.  I really need to go through that stuff at some point and scan and organize.  If I had started grad school just a few years later I might not have quite so many handwritten notes.  But much of it is likely to be very useful if I start teaching again.
And then there are the papers I wrote.  Shudder.

Zoologically Improbable and/or Terrifying to Small Children

Zoologically Improbable and/or Terrifying to Small Children : funny

This was the inspiration for my latest online avatar thingie.

Haaaayyyy, y'all

Well, one of the photos in this line-up.

I think "taxiderpy" is my new favorite word. And should possibly become a category on Regretsy.

Saying Goodbye to the Galleries

I took some time today to go through the galleries to say goodbye.  Snapped quite a few photos too.


I threw together a slide show of some of the sillier things.

Hero of the Day

Whoever added their commentary to this poster in my old department.  (I swear it wasn't me, because I would TOTALLY take credit for it)

Leaving

Image via WikipediaWhen I moved to Chicago for graduate school almost exactly 9 years ago, I thought I'd be leaving with a PhD and heading off to a junior professorship or a post-doc position.  I had wanted to come here to study Egyptology from about age 8 onward.  (Yes, I was a very nerdy child.  Shocking.)  I moved here alone - Tom was finishing his MA coursework in Mississippi and I adopted Oreo after I'd been in the city a few weeks.  I knew absolutely no one.  I was still pretty shy and awkward.  I think I spent a good portion of the first year wondering when they would figure out I wasn't nearly smart enough to be here and send me packing.

Fate intervened and so instead of the PhD and a job I'm leaving with my MA, my cane, a bunch of medication, and a pile of medical records.  And eleventy-zillion books.  I survived my first adviser melting down and leaving (and having to play a part in that by being honest about what was happening and not wanting to see it continue), giving up my first dissertation idea, spinning my wheels for a year or so getting ready for comps but having no idea what to do for a dissertation, finding a new topic, having an awesome job, going through the field season from hell, plagiarism, family issues, my health slowly declining, and then finally collapsing physically and mentally and never quite getting back to "normal."

I regret a bit not writing the dissertation, but not so much that I would jump at the chance to do so now.  I'm still not convinced the trade-off in stress would be worth it.
But I am also leaving with a wonderful husband, a much-loved dog, and some wonderful friendships and memories.  And some truly hilarious stories.  And a few horrifying ones.

This is truly weird.  I haven't been out of academia in 11 years.  o.O It will be very interesting to be mostly out of academia if only for a little while.  And to be somewhere where very few people knew me before I got so sick.

I'm hoping maybe this will make it easier for me to make a fresh start and really, really work on creating and crafting in a way that might turn into a business.  I'll have a better chance at adjunct positions too in a place that isn't super-saturated with colleges and universities.

It's still really strange to realize that I won't be within a short bus trip to one of the best research libraries in the US.  Or to a glorious museum collection from Egypt and Sudan and the ancient Middle East.  That we'll be somewhere we can see most of the stars and the sky isn't orange at night when it's cloudy.  No more parallel parking.  Air conditioning nearly everywhere.  Being back in a "car culture" instead of a "walking/biking/public transit culture."

In a week or so, I'll be off for my next big adventure.  And this time Tom and Oreo will be there from the start.  One of my best friends lives right where we'll be moving (and we will in fact be staying with her while we find our own place).  I think that will make it much better.  I'm older, possibly crabbier, and maybe slightly wiser.  I'm no longer frantically evaluating everything I do and say in fear one wrong step could be career ending.  I no longer think 16 or 18 or 20 hour days are normal or justified. I am less inclined to tolerate bullying directed at me or others. I've learned to knit and crochet and sew and spin.  I meditate.  I do yoga.  I have an even wider group of friends both "real" and "online."

I still can't believe it's been almost 9 years since I showed up late for my very first class (misjudged the time to walk) and wound up sitting in a window frame (there were no seats left) frantically taking notes on Middle Egyptian and hoping I wouldn't fall out of the window.

Driving

Image via WikipediaOne of the things we're excited about with the move to Mississippi is that I might be able to drive again. I quit driving about 3 years ago when my health had taken a pretty significant downturn. I was having major problems with balance and depth perception.  I felt foggy and sort of disconnected a lot of the time. I was having pretty significant involuntary movements that would probably be really bad to have while driving. I also was having major issues with sensory overload - lots of motion and noise tended to be really, really disorienting.  So, because I didn't feel safe and I didn't think it was a good idea to risk injuring or killing someone, I quit driving.

Now, I think I can safely experiment with driving short distances with someone else in the car to see how I do.  I still have days where I'm foggy and slightly out of it. Sensory overload is still a problem - it's one of the major reasons I now HATE malls and grocery stores during busy times.  And my migraines can create or enhance depth perception problems. Pain and fatigue are also a distraction.  Medication is also a major concern.  I can't take anything that might be impairing if I'm going to drive.

But, my depth perception has improved.  My balance has improved.  I don't have nearly as significant an issue with involuntary movements.  Traffic patterns in Mississippi will be far less intense.  There isn't quite so much noise and motion with traffic, bikers, pedestrians, trains, buses, and skyscrapers all at the same time.  It's easier to pull off most roads.  I won't have to parallel park. 

So, the strategy I'm developing is to drive slowly (and stay in the slow lane while doing so) and try to give myself a little more reaction time.  Avoid driving in bad weather.  Try to drive only during quiet times.  Make sure I know where I'm going. Make sure I have pain meds that aren't impairing with me.  Keep a snack of some kind  and water with me as both low blood sugar and dehydration can be major contributors to migraines and CFS symptoms.  Make sure I always have my phone with me in case I get somewhere but don't feel well enough to drive back home.  Don't force myself to drive if I feel like I shouldn't. 

I have also discovered recently that lying flat on my back on a bench or something similar helps a lot with the sort of brain foggy-floatiness that I sometimes get if I've been sitting up or standing too long.  

All of the possibly impairing daily meds I have I take at night before bed which should help immensely with that particular issue.  Everything else is to be taken as needed and I'll just need to be sure I don't take it when I'm planning to drive.

I think we'll start out with very short drives and increase distance over time to see how I do. I'm really hoping I can drive again at least a little bit.  I would make things so much easier.  I could run errands during the day so Tom wouldn't have to try to fit them in to his workday or weekend.  I'd be able to get out a bit more and possibly have a wider range of potential employment. 

Tough Gals: Do They Still Exist?

Perhaps you could enlighten us, Ms Aloi, as to how you view orchards as you have an entire blog devoted to apple orchards. Seems kind of girly to me, but what the hell do I know? I mean I knit, crochet, sew, and enjoy a good cupcake, and like to be "pretty" now and then. And clearly those activities mean that I am insufficie­ntly "tough" especially when compared to the paragons of toughness one can view on the television once a week.

Never mind that I've been on 3 archaeolog­ical expedition­s to Sudan and Egypt. Or that I have faced disabling chronic illness that completely changed my life and work over the past few years. Never mind that I stump around with a cane to get where I need to go on days when I'd rather curl up in bed with whatever pain relievers I can find. Never mind that I have worked hard to keep my marriage happy and healthy for over 8 years.

I knit and that makes me girly.



You toss around ill conceived definition­s of what a woman should be and what constitute­s "toughness­."



Frankly, I think I'll happily stick with "girly." I'm not sure I want to be someone who fits your expectatio­ns or your definition of "awesomene­ss."
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost

Oliver the Puffer fish

Oliver the Puffer fish
Originally uploaded by DesaBoneka

I haven't featured nifty stuff from Flickr on my blog recently, but this is adorable.

Dammit, George RR Martin

Image via WikipediaI finished A Dance with Dragons two nights ago.  Mr. Martin needs to cut it the hell out with the cliff hanger endings, especially if he is going to take brazillions of years between installments.  This is not good for my patience.

Otherwise, um, we're fiddling with my thyroid dose again trying to find the sweet spot.  I'll have to get the lab work done after we've moved to see if we got it right or need to fiddle more.
I have had another round of Botox shots for migraine.  Took a bit longer to feel (or not feel?) the numbness and paralysis in my forehead.  Still getting migraines, but not quite so many.
I am in an ongoing odyssey of trying to get replacement CPAP supplies and possibly repair before we move.  I have been trying for a month actually, but referrals keep getting lost or not sent and it is seriously starting to piss me off.  I am sensitive enough to stress and extra activity even with the CPAP but sleeping without it (or without it operating properly) will make everything WAAAAYYYYY worse.  And increase the time for my recovery to baseline functionality.  So, weeks or months to recover from the move, etc., instead of days or weeks.

I am still tired and shaky and hurty and having sleep problems after overdoing the packing last week.  Grumble.  The whole moderation and pacing thing with CFS is a pain in the ass sometimes all the time.

Still packing.  I have a lot of yarn.  Way more than I thought.  Mostly single skeins of acrylic or acrylic blend intended for amigurumi.  So I should, like, make more amigurumi and stuff.  Derp.

I have set aside my emergency travel projects and stash and a pile of actual paper books in addition to my Kindle.  I may have done that even before setting aside the important papers that should be easily available.

Oreo has had a bath and is grumpily curled up on my lap in a blanket to keep warm.  He finds the packing deeply confusing and a bit frightening and so has been even more of my furry shadow than usual.

It's Not the Flight Suit, Dude

Image via WikipediaPacking and watching Star Trek.  Tomorrow is Yesterday is on at the moment.  That's the one when they get flung back to the 1960s and beam an Air Force pilot aboard after the mess up his jet.

Anyway, Kirk shows the guy around and eventually says "that flight suit must be uncomfortable, why don't we get you a change of clothes..."

Pretty sure that was a come-on.

Awkward!

Progress

I packed a bunch of boxes today.  Nearly all my fiction and all my fabric.

ZOMG They Have Tribbles Glued to Their Boobies

If you hadn't already guessed, I did some knitting and watching of Star Trek this evening when I wasn't being creeped out by IKEA catalogs.

The colors are even more garish in the remastered episode.  I think I may have gotten sympathetic hives. 

Shore Leave is another one of those "really, WTF?" episodes in terms of dialogue and interaction between members of the opposite sex.

Most painfully creepy moment:  McCoy telling the yeoman she should try on the princess dress because he'd like to see her in it.  While they're both on duty.  On a mission. 

Also, people must have really damn short attention spans in the 23rd Century.  Kirk sees a guy he was at Starfleet Academy with and just takes the time to get in a fistfight with him because, um, the other dude was Irish and kind of a dick.

Then he runs into an old girlfriend and is all googly eyed and mushy while at the same time he's loosing communications with the ship and the rest of the shore party. 

Sulu finds a handgun and is all "pow pow pow" (what the hell is the gun version of "pew pew pew"?)  Because that is ALWAYS what you want to do when you find a random weapon under a rock for no apparent reason. 

Serial Killers Shop at IKEA

You may commence betting on when I'll receive a take-down order in the comments.

But seriously, I like fabric painting and printing, especially on hand towels or tea towels or whatever, but this?  This is kind of creepy

All hex wrenches and no screws make Jack a dull boy.

It's on page 40 of the most recent catalog.

Also, Zemanta seems to think that multiple photos of menstrual pads are appropriate to this posting.  o.O

Moving

Image via WikipediaSo, we should be up for grand adventure soon.  Tom has gotten a job in Biloxi, MS as an archaeologist which is, you know, what he's trained for.  More money, equal or greater benefits and more opportunity for advancement.  So, YAY!!!!!

I know very little about local history and archaeology, but am really looking forward to hearing about stuff from Tom and exploring stuff myself.  I'm especially interested in colonial/cultural contact archaeology and history topics and there is a lot of history with various European powers and local tribes interacting, playing off each other, etc.  Very cool.  

I actually lived in Biloxi for a few years in my early teens - my family moved from Nevada when gaming was legalized.   We have friends in the area and before I got sick I was an adjunct instructor there for a summer.  So we already have a bit of a support system in place which will make the move easier, I think.

We're very happy but still a little in disbelief that we're actually moving.  We've been in Chicago a really long time.

Anyway, we will be moving at the end of the month.  Tom starts work the second week of September. 

We are hoping to find a rental close to Tom's office so there won't be a huge issue of commuting. 

Moving will be awesome - we should be able to get a place with central air and heating, a dishwasher, and washer/dryer hookups.  All of those things will make a lot of household chores much easier and climate control will probably help with some of my symptoms.

Depending on where we wind up we will probably have regular access to a pool and I'm really looking forward to that as another way to exercise and relieve pain.  

Tom will be able to get back into diving and be closer to some interesting dive locations. 

It will all be very exciting I'm sure.  I'm hoping after we get settled to get in touch with some of my contacts and see if I can get another part-time teaching position or something similar.  I'm also hoping that I'll be able to start driving again at least short distances in an environment that isn't nearly as challenging and hectic as Chicago traffic and parking, etc. 

Current plan is to pack up what we're taking either into a rental truck or one of the movable storage box thingies, move it down, stay with a friend for a while and look for a place to live longer term. 

We've already been sorting through things like clothes and books for things to donate or sell, so that process is already started.  I'm going to start boxing books and craft supplies soon.

Poor Oreo is going to have a stressful month, though.  He gets a bit nervous when we pack things either in boxes or suitcases.  "The den, the den is changing, OMG change!  Are you going to leave me behind?!?!?"  So, there will be extra doggy cuddling going on.  He's a good little traveler by ground or air though, so the actual moving won't be too bad. 

Given the return of the heatwave to Chicago I'm really not able to to think much past AIR CONDITIONING!!!!!  at the moment. 

Obviously, it gets super hot and humid on the coast too, but it somehow doesn't seem as bad there as in Chicago. 

Also, I have a smartphone now, so I can live blog things like "wow, we're driving past yet more soy bean fields!"  I know you will all be at the edge of your seats for that.

And Tom and I tend to manage to have surreal adventures during things like moving, so that should be entertaining. 

Smartphone

I has one.  I have already taken several pics of my fingers and taught it that I use the word ass a lot