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July 30, 2007
Wild Climate Gyrations
That phrase has nothing to do with either me or CR... it's just a random thing I heard on NPR while I was making breakfast. The piece was about climate change, but thinking of wild climate gyrations made me imagine storm clouds dirty dancing in the sky.
Thank you all so much for your comments, thoughts and prayers. I'm doing a little better. I know the deceased wouldn't want me to miss out on life because I was busy crying about her for too long, and I've made a donation to Big Cat Rescue in her memory. I think she would have really liked that... in fact, I'm sure she would.
Saturday was a nice enough day... Aubrey de Grey was in town meeting with MR, and it's always fun to have Aubrey around. He's the perfect guest: he doesn't care what the house looks like, he loves whatever you feed him, he'll sleep on anything, including a floor (though we do provide him with a bed or at least a futon mattress), he likes cats, and all he needs to be happy is an internet connection and a beer. He sets a new standard it what it means to be a good guest. Even though I woke up Saturday morning looking like I had been crying for twelve hours (because I had) with huge circles under my eyes, and my eyes so swollen I could barely see, and I never got out of my Hello Kitty pajamas, Aubrey didn't bat an eye. How many world famous visionary scientists can you say that about? I suppose we'd have to do the experiment to find out. Since I don't want to spend too many more days crying my eyes out in my Hello Kitty pajamas, I probably will leave this as a one mouse experiment.
I did manage to clean out a closet, vacuum the floors, cook lunch and dinner, and keep my calories to 1200. It's not hard at home. With two dinners out coming up whilst my father and step-mother are in town for my birthday, I'm sticking to a lower calorie number. Sunday morning we had a lovely Sunday breakfast with our traditional vegetable eggwhite omlette and some Big Train low carb buttermilk pancakes, which I adore. I start makeing chu-chu train noises on Saturday night in anticipation of the Big Train. I actually like them more than I ever liked "regular" pancakes.
I cooked some nice food: various combinations of artichokes, squash, brussels sprouts, broccoli. I ate my quotidian salads for lunch, but I did eat the other half of the soup I made for Aubrey, split up between dinners Sat and Sun. The soup was:
can of fire roasted crushed tomatoes
175 g Quorn tenders
can of black beans
bag of Trader Joe's organic frozen mixed veggies: broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, snap peas
cumin, chili powder, paprika, jalepeno Tabasco
topped with teaspoon of flax oil at the table
Today a friend is coming over to help me organize and decorate the house. I'm not much of a house person, so I need consultation from those who are better with such things. I thought about cancelling but just sitting around feeling sad and watching Big Cat Rescue videos doesn't make much sense for the indefinite future.
Meanwhile, it's so hot here that Philomena the calico cat has taken to sleeping in the bathtub, most likely because it's the coolest place in the house. She's so cute. A 21 year old cat sleeping in a tub is adoreable, if you're a cat person.
Hey, good news everybody: Chris is back!
Posted by april at July 30, 2007 5:30 AM
Comments
48 hours?! When you posted on the 28th about such a tragic death and said you'd be out a while, we had no idea "awile" meant 48 hours!!!! Wish I could get over things that fast and be decorating, cleaning, and cooking in just 48 hours. It's great to not let things affect you. You're my hero April!!!!!
Posted by: Nancy at July 30, 2007 7:43 AM
April,
there's a website called www.catsinsinks.com - which has a collection of pictures of cats in sinks ..
artifex
Posted by: artifex at July 30, 2007 8:06 AM
Nancy,
I wish things didn't affect me... I'm still feeling pretty awful. Last night's dinner was spent crying instead of eating. But I seem to feel better if I force myself to do things, even minor things like vacuuming.
I once read this really great book called _Feeling Good_ by David Burns about Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. One of the many wise suggestions he made in dealing with depression is to do something, anything, because people almost invariably feel better upon doing something. So while I got some rest and cried a lot, I also am trying to do something. It seems to work. I really do feel better when I keep a little bit busy, but not dealing with people much. My friend who was going to help with the house cancelled and i'm just as glad... I still feel like I need to be alone.
Artifex: I love catsinsinks! So cute!!!
a
Posted by: april at July 30, 2007 8:13 AM