Our driveway is still half-buried in snow and the weather’s remained below freezing for this week (even dipping below 0F a few times). We dug out my spouse’s car but not mine, which meant a lot less work. If we’d been smarter we might have parked at least one of the cars at the back of the driveway so we’d have a lot less to shovel. We’ll see some above-freezing weather this week, hopefully enough to melt a significant amount of snow… but there’s also some chance of thaw/freeze cycles that turn the snow to treacherous ice.
On Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday we went out to watch the Lord of the Rings trilogy (extended editions with rambling pre-show commentary by Peter Jackson) on the 25th anniversary of Fellowship. The theater Monday was almost empty except for us (no doubt due to the weather) and it was chilly in there. Tuesday, in the exact same theater, there were more people, it felt like 80 degrees and the volume was extremely loud — it was overstimulating and uncomfortable. (I noted that as an anxiety experience; I felt a tightness in the throat and chest.) Wednesday was at a different location, and it was perfectly comfortable and the theater was about half full.
This is the first time we’ve seen the extended, or say rather full-length, versions of the movies in theaters. We’ve seen them many times at home on the small screen, but we picked up more details. It’s an absolutely gorgeous set of films, super detailed… and an enormous effort by hundreds of artists and craftspeople. It makes me like AI even less!
Despite that one not so great moment, the unusually nasty weather, all kinds of gross news about the Chump administration and ICE and the Epstein files and so forth, and facing having to interview some potential new hires at work in the near future, the anxiety has calmed way down. I’ve found some internal peace. I’ve even risked regular coffee a couple of times with no ill effects. I feel like I’m already doing better than I’ve been since before the big panic in late October, or the fear through September that built up to it. But I plan to continue therapy at least for a few sessions to see where it goes.
I mentioned the tVNS device. I didn’t mention I ordered a barely-used bread machine, inspired by the bread my sister-in-law served us on our New Year visit. I used to have a cheap simple bread machine back in the day and kind of enjoyed it, though I had a few spectacular failures with it. (Like… completely forgetting the yeast when I wanted to make jalapeño cheese bread for a Christmas party at work.) Machines have improved since then, and there’s advice online for getting perfect loaves, as well as more interesting recipes.
I also have an unusual pillow on the way. I’m a combination sleeper, picky about pillows, prone to doing things to my neck, back, and arms if I don’t find the right position. My buckwheat hull pillow is okay but there’s probably something better, and it tends to hold heat. PillowCube, which makes side-sleeper pillows with a rectangular profile, recently introduced one with a channel in the middle for combination sleepers, and it’s cooling too, and you can open it up and adjust the thickness. So I’m eager to try that.
All these things have had their shipping delayed by the weather. I’m crossing my fingers they’ll show up soon.