The Ides of December - Beware of Things Blowing and Smoke from Two Hundred Miles Away

Last night was just strange in all senses of the word.

As many of us in the central part of the country experienced, there was a long line of thunderstorms that blew through almost every state in the center of the country. This may have been the storm that pounded my family in California the day before. It was an interesting evening.

I drove home a bit slower than usual due to the gusty winds. We had gusts up to 80 miles per hour out here. My little car is lighter than some and just dances all over the road, so I slow down, keep off the cruise control, and then take my sweet time. On the way home, hearing about tornado warnings getting closer and closer to my church job and my town, I decided to err on the side of caution and cancel choir for the night. When I got to my house, I went to the bathroom and found that my shower curtain had fallen from the wall. I think the force of the wind hitting my outside wall shook it loose. I took that as a sign to replace the shower curtain and fix the leaky shower head this morning. I took my first shower with a non-leaking shower head this morning after fixing what needed to be fixed! Home owner badge complete!

The other thing that was really strange with last night was the smoke that was blown from a wildfire significantly far away from my town. The gusts of wind and moving storm system kicked up a bunch of dust and smoke and dragged it miles and miles until it permeated all sorts of places! 

So, last night was a smoky, windy, rainy type of night. It was warmer than usual - 75 degrees Fahrenheit in the middle of DECEMBER! - and was just strange. My lights flickered all evening. I finally gave up and put my flashlight by my bed (just in case) and went to sleep. I woke up early (of course) to a safe home area and power. That was good. I want to check the road conditions before I head out, so I will be later than usual to work. I don't want to run into tree branches or other debris in the road before dawn. 

Yesterday went well. Our first assembly in a very long time went off pretty well. The teacher who brought the students to perform used to work at my facility, so she knew what to expect from our students. My students did a pretty good job of navigating the new situation, but there were issues after the fun was over - this always happens after the fun!  We made it through.

Tomorrow is a non-therapy day. I will be helping with the Holiday Dinner at work, our one fundraiser for Job Olympics every year. I get to help cook and then wash dishes for the rest of the day. I anticipate that I will be exhausted and in lots of pain tomorrow evening which is not the best thing to be right before new beds get delivered and family comes to visit, but I will try to muddle through anyway. I have little to no choice in the matter.

So, this is the last therapy day for the week and the last Thursday before break. I have two groups and two individuals today. That's it. Thursdays are generally a slow day. I need to figure out what I am going to focus on during the times when I am not involved with clients. There is plenty to do, but I have to make myself motivated. That is usually the problem. I get to my office and just want to sit - no actual doing anything at all!

The Ides of December are over.

Oh, did I mention that I saw five meteorites in the pre-dawn sky on Monday? I bet I didn't! It was wonderful to see so many meteors in the dark skies above Kansas on that morning. They were part of the Geminids which are correlated with one of my two astrological signs (I have two depending on who does the calculations!!). Pretty neat. I wonder if the other commuters were able to see them as well.

Next week's sessions will be easy because I will see some of the groups that I missed yesterday and that I will miss tomorrow on Monday and Tuesday. We will do the things that the other groups are doing today next week. I have to come up with one original session plan for my groups that have already done all the electronic stuff. We may just play games. We may watch a music video. We may make a music video...hm.

My brain is fried and all thoughts are mushy. It is that time in my hormonal cycle when things just get strange and where my emotional brain tends to take over, pushing my rational brain over into the corner. This will coincide with family time - lucky family! They always tend to show up when I am at my most hormonal - or...do I get hormonal BECAUSE my family shows up?? Something to ponder. 

I started to update my budget for this next year. I want to make sure that I know how much money I have every month so I can live within my means. Since I do not get paid for my church job during the summer, I want to make sure that I can pay all my bills without that salary coming in. It should be fine, but I haven't had the entire cycle of utility bills yet, so I am not sure what I can plan for in the future.

It is time to get going into the world. I have to take my trash cans out this morning and I hope I put them in the right places... Okay, world. It is time to go!