What Could Possibly Go Wrong?

The EEG says that a different part of my brain is overactive now. I'm not surprised that this whole thing requires a bit of fine tuning. I'm fixing it with a totally ridiculous method. I _am_ surprised that it worked so well, as it seems to have turned down the volume on some of the other areas that are having trouble. At this point, I'm not convinced that I'm going to magically become better due to this treatment, but I do think I might stop getting worse. That is a huge improvement, anyway.

In somewhat unrelated news, I sewed the rickrack on the pin and needle wallet, which I'm totally happy with. Also, (in less unrelated news) I told the neurofeedback place that I would start next week, not this week, as it is too stressful to go there twice in a week. Often, I just give in, but I didn't this time. Yay!

I have a pile of handkerchiefs next to me on my desk, as I'm now in the constant nose-blowing phase of being sick. I had to get a bunch of scrap fabric that we use around the house to blow my nose on last night, as I had used up all the clean handkerchiefs. And then this morning, I did a special load of laundry so that hopefully I'll have enough of them for this evening.

My throat has been hurting, and I'm not feeling super enthusiastic about things. Probably, it is just allergies and hormones (I always feel this way after my period). Also, I get kind of grumpy when I try to listen to a book that doesn't work for me. I've had to boot out three books recently, and I'm annoyed. The one I'm listening to is okay, although not my favorite series. (The books I'm more excited about are all on hold.) Really, it is fine, as I'll get through these books and have great ones again soon. It is just annoying after having done pretty well with a bunch of books. One of them did teach me something useful, though. When I give the AI book reviews to help it determine if I'll like a book, I need to give it a screenshot of the section of the page on The Storygraph (https://app.thestorygraph.com/), because one of the questions it has you answer about every fiction book is "Loveable characters?". That is super important to me, and for this book that I didn't like, most people said no. I could have saved myself some trouble with that.

Well, I decreased my calcium again, since I'm still not sleeping well. Fingers crossed that this will work. I have been tired and kind of blah, so I was concerned that I needed that calcium to keep me going. However, it could be that these are two separate problems: 1) too much calcium, so I don't sleep 2) me feeling less than awesome due to dieting. We'll see how I feel tonight. I am very very slowly losing the weight that I gained after starting neurofeedback and having to eat more to keep myself functional. The good news is that I'm not completely insane from the dieting, which has always been the problem. I'm okay with eating less (and really all I did was stop eating nuts and putting as much olive oil on my dinner salad), but I have had problems with getting super depressed or unstable when I diet. If I'm just a bit meh, that would be okay. (I'm still eating more whole grains, which is probably what is helping me function.) So, we'll see. If all goes well and according to plan (not that it will), I should be able to lose the neurofeedback weight in a couple more weeks, and the weight my doctor wants me to lose in 3 to 6 months. I doubt it will be that easy, but we'll see. I could probably eat less greasy canned fish if I had to (I love greasy canned fish). Easier than that is trying to walk faster and for longer. I'm already trying to pick up my speed a bit. And, I am finally at my computer when I remember that I need to try out the electric bike, so I've set reminders for myself on Sunday and Tuesday. Even if I just ride for a few minutes a day, it would help get me used to it again. I'm sure it is obvious that being able to bike rather than taking an Uber, even on the most extreme assistance mode that the bike will do (which I think isn't all that much), would be a really nice additional bit of exercise. And when I feel comfortable, going on bike trips with Joel would be delightful! So, anyway, we'll see how this all goes.

I got the budget for the stone wall and bathroom repair, and it is reasonable. Phew! People always talk about how expensive bathroom remodels are, and I was worried it would be as much as a new roof. Luckily, it won't be. I'm so relieved. Also, the tree guy had to postpone to help deal with all the downed or half fallen trees here from the huge wind storms. Reasonable.

Also, yesterday, I went to the new dentist. She was very nice and read the notes that the previous dentist left about how exactly to give me anaesthesia, so it wasn't painful. Thank goodness! Of course, I stressed the whole time beforehand, so my stomach is really sensitive right now. She did choose to fix one of the teeth that the previous dentist thought wasn't the hugest deal, but that is fine, as it was the easiest of all my old fillings to fix, since it was a small filling. The next three are all going to be partial crowns. The two on the top in the back will be more work, so I'm fine if she wants to start with the easier ones. Also, this way I could get a feel for her before I had to deal with something even more traumatic. In other good news, they don't have any openings for the next filling replacement until the end of May, which is fine with me. Unfortunately, today, I feel sick from the anaesthesia. Not a surprise, though.

I'm trying to get my magnesium and calcium levels under control. Ugh. They were both too high, now too low. The weather was getting more sunny (more vitamin d means more absorption of calcium), but now we are supposed to have ten days of rain.... I'm making small adjustments. We'll see if they end up being enough.

My left shoulder is screwed up, probably from the mouse, so I'm switching back to my right hand. My physical therapist has be doing some exercises that should help too. Not too much else going on. I'm making progress with writing and still chugging along with painting.

I did it! I got my flu shot. Once again, I managed to do something without having to spend a ton of time agonizing over it. I'm so glad. We had to get prescriptions for them, which is why we didn't do it sooner.

Also, unfortunately, my sleep pants have finally torn themselves to shreds, so I need to make another pair. I may drag out one of my pairs of summer sleep shorts to avoid sewing for a bit longer, since I have _so much to do_. Today, I'm going to try and process all my worker's comp paperwork and finish the last little thing that I need to draw up for the contractor, so that I can send in all of the drawings of exactly what we would like.

I'm working on adding a few more grains to my diet to see if that helps my brain cope with neurofeedback. I've been eating rice with my breakfast, and today, I had millet with my lunch. It tasted just fine, but I might be more phlemy now. I'm not sure. I also didn't wash the grain before cooking, so I may need to do that in case there is some wheat dust or something.

Anyway, I'm exhausted, so I'm going to take a nap.

Well, I gleefully organized my reading plan for February. I was a bit hampered by Hoopla only allowing a certain number of checkouts, but eventually figured out solutions. So, now I have a really nice collection of books to read. I also changed my organizing structure a little. As I may have said previously, I cut back to only 3 mysteries, as they tend to be pretty similar. I also added a "comfort reads" category and a "from a series" category based on the AI's recommendation, which makes sense. (And then I added a category for AI recommendations, since I am always interested to see what it thinks I will like.) I've got a lot of energy right now, so I'm going to hang up the laundry and then go for a walk. We'll see how long this lasts.

Here are my February 2024 books. My categories are:
Thriller/Historical Fiction/Fiction/Western/Horror (Group 1 Fiction)
History/Biography/Science/Philosophy (Nonfiction)
Mystery
Science Fiction/Fantasy (SF&F)
Romance

My plan is for:
4 audiobooks from Group 1 Fiction
2 audiobooks from Mystery
4 audiobooks from SF&F:
1 old sff (I didn't manage one this time, although I did look)
1 new sff
1 series
2 audiobooks from Nonfiction
1 book from nonfiction
1 book from Group 1 Fiction
1 book from Mystery
1 book from SF&F
1 book by HP Lovecraft
2 books from Romance
1 audiobook Comfort Read
1 audiobook AI Recommendation
2 audiobook Series Continuation

Here are my choices:
4 audiobooks from Group 1 Fiction:
* The Pale Horseman by Bernard Cornwell
* Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri
* The Ides of March: A Novel by Thornton Wilder
* The 39 Steps by John Buchan

3 audiobooks from Mystery:
* Ordinary Grace by William Kent Krueger
* Trent's Last Case by E.C. Bentley
* All Shall Be Well by Deborah Crombie

4 audiobooks from SF&F:
* Use of Weapons by Iain M. Banks
* Halting State by Charles Stross
* Record of a Spaceborn Few by Becky Chambers
* The Last Animal by Ramona Ausubel

2 audiobook from Nonfiction:
* Mathematica: A Secret World of Intuition and Curiosity by David Bessis
* Working Stiff: Two Years, 262 Bodies, and the Making of a Medical Examiner by Judy Melinek

1 book from nonfiction:
* Kon-Tiki by Thor Heyerdahl

1 book from Group 1 Fiction:
* A Hero Born by Jin Yong (Wuxia, which is martial arts. I'm so excited!!!!)

1 book from Mystery:
* Black Orchids by Rex Stout

1 book from SF&F:
* The Door in the Wall by H.G. Wells

1 book by HP Lovecraft:
* Dreams in the Witch-House by H.P. Lovecraft

2 books from Romance:
* "The Spymaster's Lady" by Joanna Bourne
* Gentleman Jim by Mimi Matthews

1 Comfort read
* Undeath and Taxes by Drew Hayes

1 AI recommendation
* "The House in the Cerulean Sea" by TJ Klune

2 Series continuation
* Summer Knight by Jim Butcher
* Kindness of Strangers by Marina Pacheco