The 101st post.

Post 100 went by without me realizing it. I would have had a big celebration with party hats and balloons, but I'm too late now. I could still have a cupcake, but where can you buy just one cupcake? I would have to get at least three and feel obliged to eat them all, or two of them anyway and give the other one to Tyke who doesn't need one. I'll have to properly celebrate the 200th post and have people over to share in the fun and buy a real cake. That's a good plan and gets me off the hook for now.

I just woke up from a nap on my bed. It was very comforting and beneficial. I was feeling cold and fuzzy brained before I took it and now feel restored back to normal, whatever that is by any measure. I think that when you say you feel 'normal,' everybody knows what that means. It's a universally accepted state of being, as opposed to feeling 'crazy' which is not okay. Taking a nap can make you feel perfectly normal. In my case it always seems to work well. At any rate, I'm full of good cheer now. 

No doubt I'm full of good cheer because it's Friday evening and the weekend has officially started. I feel myself bathed in good vibes. I couldn't feel better if I were going out to the pub tonight with a bevy of my best pals and was going to drink six pale ales. That would be about my limit if I were going to ride my bike home. 

Luckily, I have to do no such thing and I get to stay in the warm apartment and not have to brave the freezing temperatures outside, although a pale ale would taste awfully good right now and I have none in the refrigerator. That is my bad luck and I should plan ahead better. I will ask the Exfactor to pick me up a six-pack the next time he goes grocery shopping. 

The good thing is that it's nice and warm in here. I aired out the apartment earlier today and pretended that the cold air didn't bother me. There was very little sunshine on the windows, because the sun is still so low in the sky that I'm plunged in shade in the afternoon. The apartment was aired out, at least to my sense of smell it was, but it sure was chilly in here. I wore almost enough clothes, but Tyke started shivering. 

I quickly closed the windows and turned up the thermostat. I was ready to knit Tyke a sweater. I think he was grateful as it heated up in here. I sure was glad about it. I'm not much of a hero when it comes to extremes of temperatures, unless I'm dressed like Scott on Antarctica. My nose is not sensitive enough to know how it really smells in here now. I'm so used to nicotine. I'm sure only I can live with it or the occasional visitor who also smokes. 

Since I'm not having a cold glass of beer, I'm having a cup of freshly brewed coffee, which is not bad either, although I would have preferred the beer. What a choice that is on a Friday night. Coffee or beer, really! Come to think of it, though, there's an awful lot of carbonation in beer and no doubt it will make me burp something terrible. That's something you always have to take into consideration when you have a gastric band. It won't be so bad when I burp, I will be here on my own anyway, but there may be some discomfort involved. I don't know if I'm willing to undergo that. Maybe I should let it sit and go flat first.

I'm going to hang up a load of freshly washed laundry before I forget. It will make it smell good in here. At least, that's my fervent hope. 

Ciao,

Nora

A few cups of coffee...

I was getting worried about myself and thought that I was maybe feeling the effects of the reduction of my medication. I felt negative and emotional and couldn't talk myself out of it. Then a brilliant idea hit me and I thought that maybe I was going through caffeine withdrawal. I'd only had two cups today. I quickly made a pot of coffee and now I'm drinking my second cup. I feel a lot better already, so my hunch was right and that problem was easily solved. 

I do have my addictions, but I guess my anti-psychotics aren't one of them. Caffeine and nicotine are, but I had been ready to take another pill and I'm glad I didn't. I'm glad the solution of the coffee presented itself to me first, because I would have lived under a mistaken illusion. I would have thought that I could not reduce my medication any further and that would have been a shame. I'm doing such a good job at reducing them and I'm kind of proud of myself that I've gotten this far already. I would not have thought it was possible. 

It's just below freezing outside, but it's nice and warm in here. I have the blinds drawn and the heater on and I'm warmly dressed. I'm glad it's evening and I'm ready to make the most of it. It's my goal to really enjoy this Friday night. Not that there's anything on television, I'll have to find another way to amuse myself. That shouldn't be too difficult. I do have some imagination and then there's always the radio to listen to. 

I've always been fond of a good political discussion and I'm sure there will be one on tonight now that the university students are protesting against the budget cuts. I don't think the protesters will be taken serious and I think the budget cuts will be made anyway. Not enough students showed up at the rally. The protest signs were too neat and too polite. The students were well behaved. There wasn't enough of an uproar. Nobody knows how to get outraged anymore. The government will do what it wants, regardless of the opposition and in this case, it may possibly be right. 

I've had enough coffee now and I feel great. It's done its job and I can function like a normal person again. That certainly is a difference with how I felt earlier. It's funny that the things that seem the most innocent, are the most addictive. I wonder if people get the same addiction to regular tea? And what did people do in the days before there was coffee or tea? They must have had a drink to get them going in the morning. I can't imagine that they just drank water. There must have been some stimulating beverage. I know that people drank a weak beer when the water in the towns was not potable. Maybe everybody was continually slightly drunk back then. It was said that beer was good for nursing mothers. It can't have been all bad and there used to be a lot of breweries. 

My timing is perfect and I can watch the news in a little while. I think the news ought to last longer and be more comprehensive, but that's just me. Most people probably don't want that. 

Have a good night!

Ciao,

Nora