Well, today was my sister’s birthday. I have not contacted her or anything, but it is her birthday.
Also, today my parents got a new microwave. It is huge. They didn’t realize just how big it was until they took it out of the box. Our previous one sparked and made a small flame the night before, so it was no longer of use. Wah…
That reminds me of my computer problems… The day before my computer began to shut down more than usual… Yes, the suddenly “shut down and restart all on its own” thing. Well, eventually it got to the point that it only stayed on for five minutes and repeated the process… thus I turned it off and gave up on it. I did get to see my brother, it being the weekend and all, and asked him for his input. He went to a tech school for a while and almost graduated, but dropped out at the last moment.
So Saturday night he checked my computer, ran it on safe mode to check for any possible viruses and so forth… finally it was determined that it was a hardware problem… he opened it up and saw one of the fans was twirling slower than it should… so… The problem is that my computer has been overheating and while in most cases it should just turn off and stay off, mine turned off and restarted…
Well, I’m able to use my computer again. After giving it another rest over the night – I had done such before but the results were that it only shut down about twice a day. With the side panel off, my computer hasn’t shut down on me at all today. Yay! Still, I think turning my computer off every other night will be necessary.
Also, on Saturday my brother took Smokey – the terror of the house – with him. We have had to keep Smokey separated from all the other cats ever since he came here. Well, now that the cats who had to be locked up in my parents’ room destroyed the place… it was basically the last straw. Hopefully Smokey will do well with my brother… if not… I don’t know…
Hm… In other news, my parents still have little hope in their financial issues. They are going to try to call and set something up though… here’s hoping. The other worrying issue in the family is my uncle. The latest news on him… The doctors are going to put him on experimental medicine… Yes, he’s that sort of case… we can only gamble since his condition is that bad… Sigh…
Other things regard future dental appointments and such… My mom is going full out for crowns to replace the veneers on her teeth and on December the first I am to have my wisdom teeth taken out. Neither of us are looking forward to these things. To my fortune, I’ve never had fear of the dentist or needles… I just wish I could have gotten it done sooner since this is the time of year when food is a big thing. Oh, well… That and from what I know they will likely have to cut some bone and skin… so… that will be painful… and liquid food sounds annoying. Bah…
Hm… Is there anything else? Oh, I also found an old computer game I’d watch my eldest brother play back in the mid 90’s. I played it and won! I got through it in one day! Whoot! It was very nostalgic and fun.
I’ve also started walking a bit again. Despite I hadn’t done such for a few months after that cold and all… I was pretty much in good shape. The orthodics are really great. Walking is very smooth for me now. ‘Makes me happy. Along with that, last Sunday and this Sunday I’ve tried out some vegetarian dishes. My mom is vegetarian – wants to go full vegan someday – and I’ve never really had an interest in vegetables since they were rarely cooked the way I like them.
Well, last week she made a vegetarian lasagna with spinach, artichoke hearts, spinach, feta cheese and whole grain noodles. It was perfect. Tonight she made a rice dish that had wild rice, carrots, sea salt and red, yellow and green bell peppers… It was okay. I liked the taste and ate all of it, but the peppers still were distinct enough to make me grimace ever so slightly… Next time she makes it she intends to replace the green peppers with broccoli and cut the red and yellow peppers smaller… That might work out better.
Along with these added in vegetarian weekend meals I am going to try to convert to soy milk this week. I read an article about US milk… I’m… quite disturbed… I never liked soy milk – I didn’t hate it, it just didn’t suit me. Well, I’m going to try it out… If I get accustomed to it, great! If not… I guess there will be no more cereal for me… Bah.
Other than that… nothing comes to mind. Blah.

Let’s see… Ever since I got my flu shot, I’ve been rather weak so time has been a blur really. Well, on the second I got my flu shot finally. My brother took me to Walgreen’s and all that for it.
Saturday I only had two flu-like symptoms – as some people got those after getting a flu shot. I was very weak and I ached. Therefore, while I did get up to go grocery shopping, the rest of the time I slept due to aching muscles and sheer fatigue.
Sunday… it was normal… I was tired, but not the same way as Saturday. Monday was basically the same. Tuesday I went with my mom to get haircuts.
We got up early, I actually got up at six. I ate breakfast and took a shower. After that we left around seven thirty. Mom dropped my dad off at work, we stopped by the bank and then we left. I wound up sleeping most of the trip there. We then stopped for brunch around ten at IHOP and went on our way to the mall.
It was our last visit there. The mall will be closing down at some point, but is struggling to stay there until the last minute. It opened back in the seventies based on what I know. My mom has talked about it a couple of times in reminisce. Anyway, come November, the hair salon we have gone to since “forever” will be moving. The workers there will go to separate malls nearby. Both are about thirty minutes away in opposite directions.
Well, we entered the mall, Mom shopped some and I just followed as usual. She bought some clothes and then we headed up the stairs to the salon. Her appointment was at eleven. Mine was at twelve. I had an hour to kill.
As I’ve done the past few times before, I walked about the mall to see what stores had left and what ones stayed, what stores were new and all that jazz. The store I get my jeans at was gone. I intended to buy myself a new pair since it is fall… No can do. I continued on and stopped by Earth Bound. I never expected to find anything, but it killed time. I eventually left and headed back to the salon.
Until the time my appointment arrived I read a book comprised of short stories. It was written around the seventies. It is okay… I got it for one story in particular, but of course will read all the others just to see if there is anything else of worth in it.
Well, my appointment came, I got a haircut, found out my stylist is going to the northbound mall; therefore, I likely won’t see her again. My mom and I will be going to the southbound one since it is closer to where we are located. Sigh.
Well, after that I resumed my reading until my mom was finally done. We paid, we left and she shopped a bit more, this time for earrings rather than clothes. We finally left after that, ate a late lunch around three and then headed for home. I slept almost all the way back too.
Wednesday was like the days before… did my chores, slept most of the day do to tiredness. I did learn some things though. My mom was talking to my sister on the phone, so I heard things. Was I listening in? No. I just tend to hear. Well, the IRS has frozen my parents’ bank account and my mom has gotten served over something dealing with debts. All of this happened on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Last night mom asked me about how much money I had in my bank account. I told her. I also did some rounding on how much would be gone once I helped out on mortgage, got groceries and paid for the orthodics.
Mom told me we would reschedule the appointment for the orthodics. I’m not weeping. She also spoke about issues about getting groceries this week. Eventually I came to understand. They would need a lot of my help financially if things go for the worst. This is sad since I don’t tend to have a lot of money to begin with.
To add onto my mother’s misfortune, her car broke down Wednesday afternoon. It had something to do with the batteries. I don’t know how she got home exactly.
Well, it is now Thursday. It is like the days before to me. I do what chores come along and I sleep. Yes, I am still bloody tired for some reason.
I woke up at nine thirty and was getting my breakfast when I saw my brother was home. I saw him again after I finished eating. It seems Mom’s car was still here. He was trying to fix it. Since he was driving the other car and Mom’s is out of order, I have been wondering how my parents got to their respective work places.
Somewhere within all this, I learned about my mother’s cousin – the one my siblings identify as “Aunt”. She and her long since separated husband have been filing for divorce. Well, it ended. They got fifty-fifty. My aunt had been trying to get it at thirty-seventy or at least forty-sixty.
Why? She raised their kids on her own with no financial support. Now her children are grown, married and gone. Basically everyone in the family sides with my Aunt. Sadly, she isn’t rich. She couldn’t afford a lawyer for long, so eventually she had to cave in. They struck the deal outside of court.
Other news… my great aunt is in a nursing home… or perhaps a hospital? She’s in her mid-eighties and still has dementia. So yeah… my Aunt is alone. Her kids are gone and her mother is in a home.
Other than that… nothing much has come up. Well, I have lost about seventy-five dollars so far to that phone thing I’ve mentioned briefly, but I’m not getting into that. As for the future… Well, on October 16 I do have the dental appointment still.
It is one mean year…

Well, last Friday was a bust. I went to get a flu shot, but the vaccine hadn’t gotten in on time and the doctor had a family thing going on. No shot.
The past week so far I have been sleeping much. I’m assuming it has something to do with my body’s chemistry since these sorts of spells happen every month – that and I’m drinking my water up, which also happens for about a week or so each month. Such joy.
Tuesday my mom took off work and only told me the night before that I had an appointment to see the foot doctor. So mid morning, we go to see the doctor. It is raining out. Meh.
Well, we went there, we filled out stuff, we waited and then finally we were taken to a room. We waited some more. Well, I finally meet the doctor who had told my mother about her uneven legs. Well, I have uneven legs too. I also don’t push up on my feet so my calf muscles don’t get a work out apparently. There were questions asked and answered, he studied my ankles and all that junk. It was strange being barefooted. He also had me walk up and down a hall for a while, balance and he touched my sides to see if my hips had any issues. Meh!
Well, it seems my left leg is shorter than my right. I also had my feet cast for orthodics. Then my mom and I left for the other side of town to get my hips x-rayed for further examination purposes. I remembered getting my chest x-rayed once when younger… It wasn’t much different. The guy even told me to take a deep breath and then breathe out for the whole thing.
Well, after that, we got a hard copy. Since we were over there, Mom checked on something else that dealt with our eye doctor. Then we headed back to the foot doctor, dropped off the hard copy, went to the bank, searched for something, then we went to a different bank to do a deposit and finally we got home.
Mom and I ate lunch, I believe I did some chores and I headed to my room after that. The next few hours I have no idea what my mom did other than some point she took a nap. I believe I worked on something via the computer.
Um… well, around three I checked on my Mom… she woke up and had to do another errand regarding her cell phone. She left the home phone with me in case my brother called. Well, she left. I stayed up despite tired by then and sometime around four she calls me.
She got her phone, my brother contacted her and they were off to do some more errands – she wanted to get some gravel for the yard. With all that settled I hung up and went to sleep. I have no idea when I woke up again after that.
Wednesday and Thursday were mainly sleep days for me. I got up to do chores in between, but I did skip some meals without meaning to. To my fortune, it only affected my chest a little.
Friday, I managed to stay up. I hadn’t done a daily walk all week and planned to do such, but my ankle acted up and for some reason my lower back was hurting as though I had lifted something heavy the wrong way. Oi.
Um… Some of the books I ordered earlier in the week or maybe the end of last week arrived. I had ordered four in total. They are for my eldest brother. They are Christmas gifts. Yes, Christmas gifts. I get the things when I know I have enough money and when the idea for a gift comes to mind before I forget all about it. People are hard to get gifts for in my family.
Also in the mail came something for my mom. It dealt with an old case that dealt with my grandmother’s death. Asbestos exposure and thus lung cancer… Now, Mom should have gotten it a month ago, but my stupid eldest brother didn’t send it to her until two days ago. It made me question about actually giving him his Christmas gifts this year.
Anyway, the item sent was very important and my mom was freaking out about it possibly being time sensitive. She looked over it and my other brother looked over it. It seems there is no deadline. Still, there could have been one and if there had, all of us would likely have to hurt my eldest brother in some way or form and I doubt my mother would ever forgive him.
So, tonight, we went out to eat. My dad was tired and said he was still full from eating BBQ at lunch, so he didn’t join us. Well, we went to Chili’s and while there my mother and brother talked about the mail package still and we all spoke about how we should treat the eldest son for his lack of responsibility. We later went onto less stressful topics.
Well, after dinner, we went our ways.
Mom and I eventually settled into the “sewing room” after being home for a while. I was tired, but my mom expects me to watch TV with her, thus I did so. By nine-thirty we were basically done. I brushed my teeth and all that. Mom did whatever and eventually got ready for bed as well.
Tomorrow, Mom must get up early do to a reunion thing being held at her work. No sleeping in for her, poor thing. Since she’ll have the car, Dad will have to call my brother to use the second one. The rest of the day should be the usual though from what I can foresee.
That is it. I am tired.

Picking up from my last entry, I was wrong. It was a cold. As colds go, I do five things if possible.
First, sweat. Sauna, hot shower, light exercise… any of those three are fine. One, you get rid of toxins. Two, it helps the aches and pains. Three, if you get your heart rate up just a little it helps get the blood flowing and thus the white blood cells out and about.
At the side, if you do exercise lightly, you will likely take a shower or bath. Hence it will lead up to steam should you take a bloody hot one. That in turn will relax your muscles more, clear out your nasal passages and begin your resting period.
Second, eat something warm. The nutrients will help your body keep up its energy to fight your cold, the warmth is an extra plus – now you are warm all over, helps with the aches and aids your body in what it does naturally to fight germs anyway. As said, chicken soup is excellent for this case.
Third, take a mild pain killer… Advil, aspirin, Tylenol, whatever brand you use. It helps with the aches and all that good stuff.
Four, drink some water. You lost a lot fluids in sweating and all and you need to keep more hydrated than usual when sick anyway.
Five, hit the bed. Rest is essential and by then you should be less achy, breathing better and freaking tired. Sleep should be easier then. In between, when you wake up, drink water and remember to eat.
So, yeah… minus the warm meal and Advil, I did all that Thursday morning. I woke up, ate breakfast, did my chores half-heartedly, constantly washed my hands… When that was done, rested a bit and then hit the treadmill for twenty-five minutes, going at quite a slow pace. Sweated a bit, got off… my muscles were limbered up nicely and that helped.
Hit the bathroom, ran a freakishly hot bath, soaked, sweated, relaxed my muscles and began to breathe better. I got out, got dressed, had nothing warm to eat around the house, and so I ate the usual peanut butter sandwich.
Felt a heck of a lot better, drank some water, can’t take aspirin, so I went to bed. I think I slept all afternoon then. I woke up around the time my parents were going to bed, or they were in bed. Stayed up, ate dinner, soaked in a freakishly hot bath again and hit the bed once more.
Friday, exercise went out the window. Sleep took the place of it, but everything was the same. Heat, sweat, eat, water and sleep. I was up in the afternoon and decided to watch Good Will Hunting. Good movie. Because of this, I managed to up by the time my parents got home, and feeling better, I went out to eat with them. I only managed half the meal and was in a somewhat apathetic mood, but I was almost over the cold… I was just weak – thus making my breathing troubled – and my throat was still suffering.
I managed to stay up that night, watched a show with my mom… maybe two even? I took another hot soak and I think I went to bed again after that.
Saturday, I woke up very late. Similar to how I was the night before, I was weak, had some trouble breathing and my throat was still healing. I managed to go to the store with my dad. We got the things, paid, left the store, went home, got home, unpacked and after eating half a loaf of warm bread, I collapsed. I woke up again around six. I think by then I was close to being my usual self again.
Sunday, I was basically the same again. My throat no longer hurt, but still a bit hoarse. I was still weakfish, too… but I could breathe and had more energy than I had in a while.
I did a light walk, more than I had on Thursday, but less than I would when back to normal. Dad returned form his own walk and asked if I’d go to the store with him. I took my shower and we went.
Ironically, my dad decided to cook me chicken soup for that night. So we were going to the grocery store again to get the ingredients… I can’t remember what else happened that… I think I probably read all day. Anyway, I certainly smelt the soup cooking and when I tried it… Well, I was surprised. It was a bloody success.
By three, I was hungry, so I screwed waiting and got myself a bowl. My mom cooked herself some sort of soup as well and had the same sentiments. So we ate our dinners in the middle of the afternoon. The rest of the day… I don’t remember, really. I likely was still reading and such.
Monday, things got back to normal, I believe. Basically that time to now if rather a blur… I was reading a lot, so I believe that is the reason. Either way, it was the same old, same old.
Now it is Wednesday. I managed to finish off the rest of the soup tonight. My dad is infamous about making meals too big for this small family. There are only three people in this house and my mom doesn’t eat the same stuff as we do. It also isn’t like my dad will help me much in eating his creations…
So, yeah… big pot of soup all for me… in total from Sunday night to tonight I ate maybe nine bowls of the stuff. Add in what little he ate… that is enough to feed five or six people depending on who decides to have seconds. I like having soup… but it doesn’t keep long and I’m the one stuck living off it a whole week until I am utterly burnt out. Oy.
Well other than that… nothing much comes to mind. I do have to get a flue shot though… that should happen on Friday if everything goes to plan. That’s that!

Let’s see… my eldest brother’s birthday has passed. It was the past weekend. I did nothing though… why? Because I hadn’t seen him at all, I don’t talk on phones and I don’t know his number – not like he ever answers the phone anyway.
Last week I had only been able to walk two days – Wednesday and Friday. As said, my new shoes were giving me issues. This week I’ve been doing better though. I started again on Monday and have carried on to today. My left leg still acts up and cramps a bit once nightfall, but I think I’m getting into the groove again; therefore the shoes must be yielding. Ha, ha!
I’ve picked up drawing a bit as noted somewhere a while ago, I believe, but earlier this week I finally wound up straining my wrist again some. How annoying. So, yesterday I drew naught and today I drew naught. I’ve been doing my best to give it a rest and even tried to keep it from moving much when I was on my walk.
Um… I think I’m getting up on my financials again. Last month really brought me down low, so I am doing my best this month to help it rise some. Hopefully no medical issue will come up again. Still, I wonder about my eyesight a bit, but I could be letting my paranoia get to me.
Also, the weather is finally cooling down a bit here. All summer long, in fact even in early spring, it had been relentless heat… always the 100’s. Oy. Sadly, with this change – like ten degrees – dryness has returned and is plaguing me. I had a nosebleed a while ago and the beginning of this week my nasal passages were dry. Now I’m sniffling and my eyes require drops to keep them from… peeling. >.< Yuck. Ironically, this cool down is due to getting light showers finally – this summer was a freaking drought… no rain.
It rained slightly today actually, but I resorted to hooking up a humidifier anyway. I don’t know how much it is helping me, but here is hoping. I might need to put some more eye drops in though. My eyes ache almost like how they would when one has a cold. Oy, oy…

Well, my sister came by Monday afternoon. Tuesday my mom took off. Tuesday was also my dad’s B-day. Mom took my gift and gave it to him before I even woke up. She is notorious about that. Sigh.
It is when I saw him at lunch did I find he liked it. If my mom hadn’t told him outright, he wouldn’t have known I made it. That alone made me happy. The entire family minus my eldest brother ate lunch together at a small sandwich/coffee shop. It was good and my dad seemed to like it. My sister paid as her gift.
After that we all headed on our own ways. Mom and my sister spent the afternoon together. Their plans were to go kayaking. I was not interested and thus stayed home. I don’t remember much after that, but my sister did stay the night.
Wednesday went back to normal. My sister left back for her home that morning and both parents went to work. I got my new tennis shoes that night. Mom was more excited over them than I was, but then again, I wasn’t excited.
Thursday was another day and Friday was as well. We ate Chinese that night – my brother was unable to join us for dinner.
Saturday my dad and brother left for the big city to help my sister move into a different apartment. Mom and I did out own things until one rolled around. She got ready, I slipped on my new shoes and by two we headed out to get groceries. We hadn’t done such together for ages.
We stopped to get dog food first, then she went in search of a place that could actually replace the batteries to her watch without breaking it and then we headed to the grocery store. Since Mom left the cart in my hands, we went at my pace, which was quick and efficient. It reminded me of how I walked through the halls in school when younger.
Because of my speed we got the errands done by four instead of our prediction of five. With a pit stop for a refreshment we then headed home, unpacked and I had to sit down by then because the shoes were killing my feet. Apparently walking in them for two hours was a bad thing. The rest of the day my body slowly started to ache and I wound up collapsing on my bed because of it. I was out for a long time.
Sunday I woke up rather late. I was worn around the edges from the after effects still and in the end both my parents were pretty much the same. Mom was tired and my dad had moved a lot of my sister’s stuff as well as lugged them up three flights of stairs. Poor dad…
My muscles still ached and when my dad and I dropped by the store to pick up some things for him, my back was sore and bothering me. I wound up taking it easy all day and mainly remained laying down so my back would relax.
Monday was better despite I woke up with my entire left leg cramped up. Therefore I skipped my morning walk that day just like I had Sunday. Other than that it was normal. I did chores and whatnot.
Tuesday my left ankle was still bothering me, so I kept off it still. I didn’t need to strain it and start limping again or something. It was a typical day as well beyond that though.
Now it is Wednesday. I tried taking my walk again, but at a lighter pace. I did well, but I really felt it in my left shoulder close to the spine and when the walk was over my upper hips ached. I know these shoes are for my benefit, but dang this is annoying. Sigh…
Other than that, my eldest brother’s B-day is coming up this Sunday and the Labor Day will arrive and my dad will stay home that day. Mom will likely go to work as usual.