I think it’s been three weeks, so there’s lots.
Anne Rice and Bob Dole died. I wrote about Rice’s passing, but not Dole’s, for whom I had a grudging respect. After he lost to Bill Clinton, he let his splendid sense of humor show. It’s rare to find actually funny Republicans, and I cherish them when I do.
I tripped a fell over two weeks ago, ending up in the ER instead of my very last class of the term. My chiropractor keeps taking down the swelling, but it’s really bad. I can’t move it in some ways at all–including to shave. I can only get deodorant on with a lot of painful noises, and I sometimes scream when I change tops or put on a coat. I probably have a tear.
The quarter ended–and the grades got in!
I had facet injections in my back for the first time. I wish they’d numbed me more.
Even one-armed, I simply had to make Christmas cookies. They shall comfort us this very cold and rainy week.
We finally got the Christmas tree up, but it only has the lights on. We’re very tired.
Complicating matters this week is my colonoscopy and endoscopy. Unfortunately, they decided to intubate me, which has hurt my throat and my jaw. It’s severely inflamed the TMJ pain and arthritis on my right side, so it hurts to talk, and eat, and also not to do those things. Happily, the abdominal discomfort seems to be over. Most embarrassing, though, was how I found myself after I woke. While I had forgone fluids for a long time, and emptied my bladder three times at the hospital, I guess the IV fluids I got while waiting had time to work themselves through. I woke up from my anesthesia having wet myself (and then still had to pee when I got home–maybe I’m a camel?); additionally, I started a good heavy period while while under, so I woke up literally a bloody mess.
Still: I am very happy to have had these tests; we’re waiting for the biopsies to come back, but so far, there’s no cause for alarm.
The car is acting up, but since I can’t drive with my shoulder like this, figuring it out will just have to wait.
In the meantime, I’m trying to balance the desire to see my beloved California family with the desire to be safe from the new variant, indulging in excellent TV, like Station 11, Seaside Hotel, The Expanse, and the BBC Ghosts, and working on getting the next issue of Margaret Atwood Studies out.
And there may be some good news. Mohela said my loans were decoupled back in August, but the Department of Education wouldn’t verify it–and for the last many months, they’ve said I owe double what I do: the original amount to Mohela and the same amount, consolidated, to FedLoan. Last week, I finally got a letter from FedLoan saying the consolidated loans were “paid in full.” I guess, since loans never get decoupled, this was the closest notification I was going to get. And then this week, the DOE finally listed the correct loan amount.
So I’ve filled out the PSLF paperwork again and mailed it in.
Fingers crossed!
