Of Illness and Headaches by Bonnie Le Hamilton

 

I’d like to say that Konnie and I never miss a week, but obviously that isn’t the case, last week being the worst example of it.

To start with, Konnie was sick.

Illness happens, and Konnie getting sick is common for her. Let’s face it, she doesn’t live alone, and the members of her family frequently interact with the outside world, which increases her risk of catching something.

I can’t tell you how many times she’s called me all stuffed up and coughing to say she was in no shape to write a post. Life happens. But last week was the worst. For one thing, her timing was horrible.

She called me less than half an hour before our self-imposed deadline to inform me she couldn’t manage her post. She sounded horrible, so I did understand. The problem was that my head was splitting, and I’d just taken pain relievers.

Now, anyone who knows me knows that I’m sensitive to that sort of medication and tend to fall asleep after taking them.

This is well known. I can remember more than once making plans with my sister-in-law, then calling on the day of those plans to let her know I just took my headache medicine.

A lot of drugs have warning labels about operating vehicles while under their influence, but, well, the drugs I have to watch out for don’t always have that label. Few people get drowsy taking Tylenol. I pass out with anything stronger.

At least once in the past, Konnie called and I answered, informing her I had just taken Tylenol. She responded by telling me she’d call back in a couple of hours and hung up.

Konnie knows this because I have always been this way, and some years ago, she commented on her youngest being the same way. (This was before I learned I was on the spectrum too.) At the time, we contemplated one of her kids being so much like me, without realizing that what we have in common is the spectrum, as well as DNA.

At any rate, in those conditions, I was in no shape to even think logically, let alone type, so there was no way I could have produced even a short post.

Had she informed me she was ill Tuesday night, it would have been a different story. I didn’t have a headache Tuesday night and had plenty of time to write something. Wednesday morning, I was out of it.

And I really should consider having a character who is that sensitive to pain medications in one of my stories. I do have a character who suffers from migraines, but I don’t show her sensitive to pain meds.

I guess I should also point out that Konnie getting sick happens more than me getting sick. I think the last time I was too sick to post was while I experienced an adverse reaction to a change in my medications; generally, when Konnie can’t post, she’s sick. She lives with too many people to be able to avoid catching something.

I, on the other hand, rarely get sick these days. I interact with the outside world, but not as much as Konnie’s family. I just don’t have as many opportunities to catch something, but I have plenty of things wrong with me to keep me away from the keyboard.

I also have a cat who likes to rest on top of my laptop, which was what kept me away from my keyboard a couple of weeks ago.

Of course, my cat also likes to snuggle with me, which would be the problem, adding to my having trouble getting my post done on time this week; it’s hard to type when you have a cat napping on your chest. And he isn’t exactly a kitten either. He’s six years old and on the large side for a cat, so when he snuggles, I have to stop what I’m doing and pay attention to him until he moves.

I really should have a cat character in one of my stories. I do have dog characters, which is strange since I am very much a cat person. Konnie has way more experience with dogs than I do. Though I don’t recall any pets in any of her stories at all.

And, considering the axiom about writing what we know, I’d say the pet thing should be the other way around. Konnie has way more experience with pets, especially dogs, than I do. You would think she’d have loads of dogs and cats in her stories, but again, she doesn’t.

Though there are exceptions to every rule and writing only what you know is rather limiting, it is better to write what you know intellectually rather than from personal experience.

Anyway, happy writing, everyone!

Of Interuptions and Pets by Bonnie Le Hamilton

 

Last night I was staring at my screen, trying to decide what to write, when I decided I would think better if I got something to eat. Now, around my place, it isn’t a good idea to leave your laptop sitting open.

Leaving it open will result in a certain someone pictured above walking all over or lying on the keyboard. I learned this the hard way, one too many times, when I returned to a messed-up manuscript because of Patches. The worst time was the one where he managed to step on the enter key several times, dividing a single-syllable word in two and adding about ten pages to my WIP. And that was just the beginning of the mess he made. I long since learned it takes less time to “wake up” my “sleeping” computer than it does to fix the errors he so carelessly added to my open project.

Hence, the reason I closed my laptop as I stepped away, it led me to taking the picture above.

Not a problem, except just minutes before, Konnie had called me for her biweekly reminder of my post deadline. I answered, “I’m working on it, promise.”

Since that was why she was calling, she said goodbye and hung up.

Anyway, I took the above picture and sent it to her, saying, “Well, I was working!”

So now you know the story behind today’s picture.

I might add that one of his favorite resting spots is on top of my laptop. Another one is the footstool in front of my seat on the couch. He particularly likes that spot when I remove the table that can hook over the arm of the couch from the footstool. That is, until I make him move so I can put the table back on the footstool and get up from the couch.

The last time I was working in the living room with my laptop, he actually growled at me about the sixth or seventh time I made him move so I could get up from the couch.

Well, I did keep interrupting his nap, but I did try to tell him he should know better, since I can’t get up with that table in front of me on the couch, and the table is always on the footstool when not in use.

He was majorly not pleased with me for several days after that, so last night, I didn’t try to move him. He could have his nap; I could work later.

I’m not sure Konnie has to deal with problems like that, since she has dogs and only one of them is small enough to be considered in the same size range as a cat. (Please do not ask me how to spell breed of Ivan, Konnie calls him a little yappy dog, because she can’t spell it!)

At any rate, only one other dog in that house could even remotely be considered a lapdog, but I doubt he could get up on Konnie’s bed where her laptop is. That, and I’ve never heard her complain about pets on her keyboard, while I’ve had to fight Patches off while I’m trying to work. And occasionally I have to delay work because of, well, see picture above.

That isn’t the first time I’ve returned to my laptop to find him snoozing, it’s just the first time that it happened when I had a deadline to meet! Though honestly, that isn’t hard since my only deadline is this post every other Wednesday.

I wish I had other deadlines, but the only one I’ve ever managed to stick to is the one for my post every other Wednesday, and let me refer back to the point where I said Konnie called, and I told her I was working instead of saying hello.

Yeah, I make that deadline because of Konnie. I haven’t had anyone enforcing any other deadlines on me, unless you count the annual NANO, but that’s where I get the most experience with fighting Patches for my keyboard.

Of course, the only time Konnie ever came close to doing NANO, she had her entire family fuming at her by the end of November, and Konnie wasn’t officially enrolled; she was just on a major roll.

She still needs to finish editing that story, but it seems like every time she does work on it, she makes major upgrades to the storyline. That epic may take a while for her to polish up.

If you don’t know already, I am talking about her epic sci-fi, which is a fantastic series, even with all the editing it still needs.

Now I haven’t even gotten to the end of writing my sci-fi, and I really need to work on that!

Anyway, happy writing, everyone!

Of Colds and Lethargy by Konnie Enos

Okay, I’m sick. Not horribly sick. I have some congestion but can still breath. I’ve had a cough but it’s mild. I have a headache that seems to be associated with sinus pressure so I’m taking some cold medicine to combat it but it’s nothing I can’t deal with.

Even though the headache is annoying, I think the worst part is the lethargy. That absolutely achy feeling, like walking through water. A feeling that’s deep in your muscles that just makes everything harder to do.

I feel it most when I’m walking around. Trying to get to the kitchen to get some food zaps me of all energy and then I can’t even figure out what I want to eat.

Under normal circumstances I’ll cook something for breakfast. Often eggs, toast and sausage (chicken) and perhaps some sautéed vegetables (often zucchini). Other times I’ll have more of a brunch and heat up some leftovers. I very rarely eat cereal. But the last few days that’s exactly what I’ve been having every morning.

So far my choices have been Cheerios with blueberries, which I can eat at the kitchen table since my daughter isn’t allergic to them. Or granola, which has nuts in it and I have to eat in my bedroom with the door closed. I’ve actually had more granola than Cheerios because it’s far easier, especially when I can get my husband to bring me a bowl, spoon, and milk. We keep the granola in our room since our kids can’t have it due to the nuts.

Of course, now I’ve eaten all the blueberries and the only other berries in the house are strawberries which I’m obviously not eating. My headache is bad enough without that reaction. We have had bananas in the house, but I’ve tried those before with cereal and I didn’t like the flavor, texture combination.

I will be adding blueberries to the next shopping list. I’ll probably have to add granola too. I’ll have to add the oat milk too since I prefer the taste of that on my cereal over regular milk.

Evening meals are even harder because I know I need to eat but have little or no appetite. So, if there isn’t many leftovers, and we didn’t cook something that night, I’m stuck. My suppers have been yogurt and turkey jerky, or a bowl of popcorn if there wasn’t any leftovers to heat up.

Of course, this lethargy also affects my writing. I’m sure my typing speed is down to about 20 words per minute because it’s just too much effort to go any faster than that. Also, my inability to use my brainpower to decide on what to eat also means that I’m unable to figure out what to write.

Wouldn’t you know it. I’ve been attempting to work on one of my stories recently and this week is my turn to write a post. So, I’ll type a sentence then rest my hands, and eyes for a few before I attempt another one. Which of course, makes the whole process that much longer.

I also haven’t been able to read anything either. Okay, that isn’t a new development. I haven’t been doing much reading lately. I’ve got a couple of books that I got partway through and have just never finished. One I’ve read multiple times, but this is the first time I got distracted from finishing it. I’ve also gotten several new books in the last few years that I haven’t even cracked open yet. I’m going to have to work on that since I’ve bought myself some more books recently.

I actually went though Thriftbooks and most of them are books I’ve read in the past and simply wanted a copy of, or to replace one I lost somehow over the years. So, even now, most of the books I own are ones I’ve read before and loved.

Another thing I’ve been attempting to do, which I haven’t had the energy for this week, is more handcrafts. Then again, I’m pretty much out of yarn. I have a couple of projects in mind, but I’ll have to get some more yarn. A trip to Micheal’s is in the works so I can pick up what I’d like.

As for the rest of my family, the most excitement we’ve had this week is finally the getting tub in our hall bathroom functional. We hadn’t been able to get any water to it for years and thought we’d have to pay thousand of dollars for a plumber to come tear down the wall behind it to fix the clogged pipe.

No. We did have to replace a part, but we didn’t have to tear down the wall to get at it. So, now we have two fully functional bathrooms.

Smile. Make the day a brighter day.