music, therapy, and me

Last week, I did not get any sort of TME production accomplished. If you are a first-time reader then you probably don't know that I am working on writing 5 TMEs per week in an experiment. I ask my interns to do the same thing, so I am examining whether I can do that task. I can, when I bother. I, of course, am navigating all sorts of things including a work-related hand injury which stops me from playing both the guitar and the keyboard for the next month, at least. My TME productivity plummeted last week as I was going through adjusting to my new reality of an awkwardly broken finger on my dominant hand that interferes with my ability to write and type and compose. So, I took a week away from TME development, but I started up again yesterday. I am finished with everything except the actual transcription of the music - again, can't play instruments easily right now... can't even do body percussion with my left hand... That is the part that is the most frustrating right now...

Eesh. It has been a rough couple of days, and I am feeling the stressors piling up on each other. I feel a bit like Luisa in Encanto  - under the pressure of more and more weight while wanting to remove the weight of loved ones. No details here, but there are family considerations going on that are hard to navigate from 1500 miles away. To add to it all, I had a finger injury on Wednesday, caused by a client, which means Worker's Comp and the associated headaches that go along with that type of medical issue. If you're thinking, "oh, so we're doing THIS again," just know that I'm feeling it as well. I find out today if there is any hidden damage to the finger that got wrenched all the way back on Wednesday morning. This is one of the two fingers that got injured back in 2020 - it is NOT the one that had the tendon separation; it is the one that had a small fracture at the distal phalange. The injury is at the proximal phalange and metacarpal this time.  When I...

Well, the doctor did not mention surgery yesterday. I now get to wear a compression glove on my hand pretty much all the time to try to get my left hand to be less swollen. My Occupational Therapist wants me to get the trigger finger going so that surgery will be recommended and accomplished before I am released from care. So, my job is to use my putty as much as possible to activate that trigger finger situation so I can get it fixed. I really wanted to have some conclusion to all of this, but I got more cloudy future. The good news is that I can debate what I want to do with my next break. I am debating a trip home at the end of this month because I have not been home for over a year, and I need to see my Mom and my siblings and get used to home without my Dad. I think I will wait for my July break to go home - that would get me away from having to hurry right now and would also let me do things that I need to get done here without having to stress about driving back to Kansas with a...

Today is Hand Doctor Day - again. I will be going to work, leaving work after two groups, heading to my doctor where I will sit for probably 2-3 hours before seeing him for five minutes, and then heading back to work for the rest of a 12 hour extended day. That's right - I have a 12 hour day this week and next to "finish up progress reports and get ready for ESY (extended school year)." I am not certain if that time is appropriate for "working from home," but since I have an intern, I am going to stay until I am kicked out which will probably not happen since folks often forget that I am around and go to tell everyone else to knock off early but completely forget that I am in my little corner of the world. It happens all the time! It is also Teacher Appreciation week which means that I am going to miss the special lunch truck that is coming down because I have to go see my hand doctor to see if I will have to get Cortisone shots regularly or if I will need surge...