gas

Bellyache

Well, it seemed a bit easier to eat today than yesterday, and definitely easier than the previous week. I missed lunch, due to the schedule at school and the fact that the one location didn’t have anything I could eat (and not be massively ill), and so couldn’t get to the other location in time before class even to get salad and quinoa. But, since that made me very hungry by the end of the school day, I went ahead and went to one of the Chinese places to get a dish I had kind of been wanting for several days already.

So, I arrived at home with a bunch of food for us both. I kept gluten out of it, and the only grains was a box of steamed rice that we barely even touched. (Genuinely had a single bite with the rest of the food, then a few bites after we got home later from shopping.) I overate, but we went for a digestion walk, so that helped.

However, as we headed out to pick up a few things from the grocery store and to look at a shelving unit at IKEA, we discovered that the food had hit us a bit. Walking through IKEA, my husband kept saying things like, “Don’t follow me,” as he casually walked away from me… to pass gas. And no, it was not even silent gas most of the time. It was a good thing the store was almost empty, because people would have been 1) shocked and 2) on the floor. They were bad. At one point, I was running away from one, and I hid my face so the approaching woman wouldn’t see that I was holding my nose. However, a few seconds later, she was covering her own nose with her jacket as she rushed down the main aisle. ::face palm

But, before all the gas started – yes, I had gas, too, but it was silent and meager compared to what was going on chez my husband – we had gotten some cake and coffee at the cafe, since the thing downstairs was closed and we couldn’t get any soft serve. It was a nice little date that cost us only the price of the cakes, since we’re IKEA Family members.

Oh! And we got our pillow and mat for the back door for a total of a dollar, seven, because I had a $10 discount birthday reward. So, yay to that, too! Double yay!

Anyway, I’m lying in bed now, clearly with gas still in my belly. Hopefully, it can release at least a bit more before I go to sleep, or it will be a tough night for sleep. I’m glad it was easier for me to eat and to stomach food today, but this gas… yikes. Haha

Yes, I’m sure you were delighted to hear all about that part of our evening. 😛 But imagine how surprised someone would have been if I’d allowed my husband to leave one of his noxious gas deposits in one of the drawers that have the “Look inside!” sticker on them… that would have been a terrible experience for the poor soul who opened it to look inside, to be sure. (Totally hilarious, of course, but also very uncool and not appropriate or loving to our fellow humans.)

Post-a-day 2024

Guess wha-at…!

Have

Gas Again!!!!!

So, now we can have hot water and cook and bake and have heat in the house and run the dishwasher and wash and dry clothes and just hand wash greasy dishes period(!). Oh, goodness… the difference it makes. We are incredibly grateful this is finally handled.

Turns out that we likely didn’t need to dig the ditch ourselves at all, but I think it was still good in that it gave my man a somewhat cathartic thing to do, as well as a thing to do while we waited for all the rest of the pieces of big company nonsense to sort themselves out.

See? The contracted company brought their own machinery to handle the rest of it all. AND they put all of the dirt neatly back on top of the ditch after they replaced all the piping. No extra work for my man or us. Woohoo!

The big energy company, when we did what we were supposed to do, then told us that we would have to wait until Tuesday for them to come and do the simple re-installation of the gas meter and to turn on the gas… a very different message from what they had told us two days beforehand, when they’d said same-day installation would be no problem whatsoever. They now wanted us to spend over five days in our home in freezing temperatures, and then they would come do a twenty-minute stop-in.

No way, Jose.

Fortunately, after much intending on my part and multiple phone calls on the part of my man, Centerpoint showed up, and a very nice man named Lee hooked up everything easily and quickly, and turned on the gas and cleared up our gas lines in the house (because air is in the line at first, after installation). And now we have heat!

We actually both reveled in taking hot showers before going to the Christmas gathering we had this evening at my brothers’ dad’s house. That shower, though not the actual best I’ve had, was, within the context, the best shower ever. Uh…

I just thank you, God. Thank you. Keep us safe, please, that we pursue and fulfill your will, being our best selves. In your name, I pray. Amen.

Post-a-day 2022

Exhausted, but good

I am absolutely exhausted.

And that’s totally okay.

Work went well today, for the most part, and then we took my brother to the aerial gym for his birthday surprise. I think he had a really good time, though it might have been a bit of a surprise for him that he may have been doing a bit less exercise than he’d thought. I think the difficulty surprised him, for sure, as well as some of his limits. His lack of grace, however, was no surprise to any of us. 😂

Thank you, God for this day and all of its immense blessings. Especially the gas construction company coming by and potentially scheduling doing their work this week(!!!!!!). Please, help us to resolve all that needs resolution. Also, thank you for my friend Chelsea. Please, continue to bless her. In your name, we pray. Amen.

Post-a-day 2022

So much to do, but too cold to do it

We both have lots to do before Monday afternoon, when everyone is coming over for family dinner. But it is just so cold now. He is outside, building the fence – brave soul. Fortunately, he actually likes the really cold weather. As a matter of fact, I really like the cold weather. Just not when it follows me indoors. And so, it is also really cold indoors here, since we still have no gas. We received the other two space heaters today, which I’d ordered on Amazon the day before yesterday. They help, but have to be on different breakers, since they pull such high ampules. So, it takes time to warm the big open space of the living room and entry and dining room and kitchen that we have. Great for openness, terrible for heating and cooling quickly.

I also just showered, and that was miserable, because the water is terribly cold now. I still have the few kettles of hot water to pour on myself throughout and to finish, but the cold in between is really cold, and that just tired me out.

Not to mention that I’m already exhausted from only five-ish hours of sleep last night and six-ish hours of sleep the night before. flying this morning was great, and was only terrifying a few times for a short time. I’m filled with pride for my man and what he has accomplished so far with flying. Next stop: a boatload of ratings (and, thereby, hours upon hours of practicing by flying) so that he might be able to fly commercially, professionally(!). Woohoo!

Anyway, I’ve been sitting on the floor in front of the heater a while now, and really need either to get to work or to get to bed. Just have to go get my socks and sweatshirt from the other room, put them on, and hop to it all.

Goodnight!

P.S. Want to see our to-do lists????

Before Monday afternoon: – [ ] tidy desk – [ ] tidy clothes in spare room – [ ] sort out dish towels – [ ] put away RenFest costumes etc. – [ ] clear out apartment stuff in dining room – [ ] finish washing and putting away dishes – [ ] handle drinks in garage and in garage fridge – [ ] tidy inside fridge – [ ] clean down countertops and kitchen surfaces – [ ] change bulb in dining chandelier – [ ] tidy shoe rack – put away some in bedroom – [ ] tidy pillows – [ ] see what consolidation I can do in the garage Setup stuff: – [ ] put out coasters – [ ] red/green Christmas bathroom linens – [ ] Christmas decorations set up – [ ] display german cookies etc.

Before Monday afternoon: – [ ] Put stove away – [ ] pick up all dirty clothes in house and garage – put in laundry – [ ] gather spare parts and tools left around house and garage – put away – [ ] Gather packages/boxes/bags and empty and put away – [ ] return emptied Christmas bins to upper shelf in garage – [ ] tidy back porch table – [ ] tidy back porch and prep for use by many – [ ] ***Can we use the fire pit Monday night?*** If so, what’s needed for that? – [ ] finish fence – [ ] Christmas lights up on house

Post-a-day 2022

Well, looks like the gas’s being out will be another few days at the least, and will cost use a minimum of a thousand dollars. Ugh. God, please, give us the strength to handle all of this with grace and ease. Thank you for my successful adapted shower tonight. Help us to eat healthily, even without our normal means of cooking. Help me to find fulfilling and paying work. In your name, I pray. Amen.

Post-a-day 2022

Thanksgiving Day, right?

1. The Turkey Trot was awesome. It was cool and misting the whole time to varying degrees, I ran my second-fastest 5k despite the crazy elevation changes throughout the trail run, I got fifth in my age group (25-50!) and tenth in women and 38th overall, my man got fourth in his age group and 20th in men and 24th overall, and my mom got eighth in her age group (50+) and 72nd in women and 157th overall (she did a walk-run for the whole thing, whereas we ran for times).

Oddly, at the finish, they had bananas and granola bars and waters… and homemade spring rolls. 😛

2. My mom made us a tasty ad warm brunch afterward.

3. We had a good time saying bye to my Grandma. She was very good at charming the dog this week, as you can see…

4. We finally get home tonight, and I’ve been waiting for a nice and hot shower before bed in my comfy and cozy bed with my awesome new pillow… and the gas line has a leak in the backyard… meaning we have no heat in the house, no hot water, and no stove to make hot water. Fortunately, I had an electric kettle, so I pulled it out and heated two pitchers, poured them into a big pot, and took the pot and a coffee mug to the shower with me. I cried most of the shower, but scooping out some hot water with the mug, then adding cold water from the shower to it and pouring it over parts of my body helped me wash myself better. And I filled the whole pot with extra cold water at the end, and I dumped the whole thing over my head (and, therefore, body) after turning off the freezing shower head. So, it was rough, in a ridiculous way, but it ended decently. My feet have almost stopped hurting from all the cold.

Anyway, bedtime has long since passed. Goodnight!

Post-a-day 2022

Seriously?? :P

She exits the bathroom refreshed from her nighttime shower and teeth cleaning, ready to do some stretching and reading and get to sleep… and she freezes. A wall of… What on Earth???? Uuggghh!… potent gas hits her in the face. Not the kind that is dangerous to one’s health, of course, but the kind dangerous for one’s constitution, for one’s keeping down cookies.

“Golly,” she says, “Sometimes one can be too comfortable spending the night at a friend’s house!” And she promptly turns on all the fans and lights a match and candle to disperse and destroy the smell as fast as possible, before she gags or passes out from the dense, noxious gas… and not for the first time…

Post-a-day 2022

Ouch

Okay, but why??? Butt, why???

I’m about to go to bed, a touch late, and I have an early start tomorrow, despite its being a Saturday. Suddenly, my lower, lower guts begin to ache. My belly is swollen, 99% likely with gas. And then, even more suddenly, the area just upward/inside of my anus begins to hurt. The kind of hurt that make sitting sound near impossible. I’m moving slowly, now, and still have to all my stretches, and then lie down in bed… will I be able I handle it? Gosh, I hope so, because I am exhausted. And this whole situation is practically the epitome of my body telling me that it is exhausted. Naturally, that means it prevents me from helping it with more sleep…

Sometimes, nature seems like it dropped a few brain cells somewhere along the way… 😛

Post-a-day 2021