pain sets the tone
Monday, Feb. 28, 2005, 6:27 PM

pain, oh, pain pain pain...
Woke up at three this morning with the screaming hand pain (right side), and ended up having to ice it down. Sometimes, simply manipulating the wrist and forearm and changing position can relieve it, but this was serious inflammation. I have no idea what I did to set it off; but it was the sobbing and moaning kind of pain--the whole "I can't take it anymore", praying to God to make it stop kind.

After about twenty minutes of icing, it went down enough to manipulate away, and I was able to get back to sleep, but it pretty much negated any rest the night afforded. And when I got up, the whole forearm was still quite swollen, and both hands were seriously numb.

I'm calling my doctor this week. I can't keep ignoring this. I wore my brace today, and will keep it on for a few days, to give my wrist a chance to recover (as much as it is possible to recover). But I've got to get this fixed.

I'm finding myself a slave to it, and finding that I spend less time talking with my friends because I tell everything to my diary, and don't feel up to repeating myself with actual humans.

Yesterday was not a bad day, though...Spouse had to be in to work at seven. He worked the entire weekend, but he says he's okay with that because we need the money.

I had gotten the laundry, housework, and some errands run on Saturday--including my haircut, which came out very well. It is slightly different than I've been wearing, and back to a side-parting. A little softer, and more suited to me, I think. (And after tonight, less gray! Garnier Nutrisse #63 awaits!)

So anyway, I had the prospect of a quiet day. I did get my but in gear and tend to the needs of my vehicle. A wash, an oil-change, and a tankful. Of course, since I washed it, the weather turned to complete and utter crap later that day.

And I went grocery shopping as well. I decided at the store that I wanted to do something more involving in the way of dinner, so I got all the stuff to make chicken pot pie from scratch. Yeah, that's a pretty involving thing to make, all right.

First I had to cook the chicken, and let it cool. Strained the broth, and tore up the cooked chicken into small pieces. Peeled and chopped the potatoes and carrots, and simmered them in some of the broth. I used baby peas and pearl onions from the freezer, so that part was easy. Once the carrots and potatoes were mostly cooked through, I added the peas and onions and chicken to the pot so they would heat through. Then I had the pie crust to deal with. Then, I drained the solid ingredients, made a creamy gravy from the rest of the broth, and mixed it all together. Finally, I assembled the pot pies (I used small, disposable au gratin pans for that) popped the crusts on top, and stuck them into the oven to bubble and bake.

Quite involving, indeed. But the kind of recipe that can be spread out over the afternoon, with opportunities for periodic cleanup, so that by suppertime, pretty much all the mess is gone.

And worth it in the taste department. They came out great, and Spouse was much pleased at the end of a hard day. And it was fun and entertaining to do. Didn't feel at all like a tiresome chore.

Leaving me with only 9,999 loads left on my mind.

I've heard/seen 'Tonio sing "live" before, and do a perfectly lovely job. This was just embarrassing. Plus, he really needed to wash his hair! And when the composer won, and went up and sang it himself instead of a speech, it kinda looked like he thought people ought to hear how it was really supposed to sound.

Most singers sound like crap on regular TV anyway, but still. It was a bit of a letdown. 'Cause I didn't really give a rat's arse what Beyonce did. But she did look nice, for a change.

I didn't bother to leave it on after Spouse hit the sack, because--well, because I don't watch the Oscars. And I've been pretty much "off" movies for this entire judging period, so I haven't seen any of the films.

The Oscars has never been my thing. (Awards shows in general really leave me cold.) It's long, it's on broadcast TV (which I never watch if I can help it), and I always found it to be the entire movie industry in a masturbatory public display. After last night, I realized that they've narrowed it further; moved on to being just the Oscars/Academy in a masturbatory public display.

For Future Reference, the big six:

Best Motion Picture of the Year:
Million Dollar Baby Clint Eastwood, Albert S. Ruddy, Tom Rosenberg

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role:
Jamie Foxx for Ray

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role:
Hilary Swank for Million Dollar Baby

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role:
Morgan Freeman for Million Dollar Baby

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role:
Cate Blanchett for The Aviator

Best Achievement in Directing:
Clint Eastwood for Million Dollar Baby

I'm thinking I won't take it, though. Those were all special, limited-edition Swarovskis, and it's too hard and expensive to get that many more. Plus, its not an interesting project, and I've been down that road already. I don't bead because I want to make money. I bead to entertain myself and try new things. I'm really just not interested. I'll think about it a day or two, but I probably won't change my mind.

30 minutes

1.59 miles

223 calories.

Meh. Don't really care today, I guess. I didn't get any lift or relief of mood from it today. Maybe I'm feeling too blah to be affected by it. I feel really fat and icky--like someone gave me back my 300 pound body to wear for the day.