February 21, 2014

I had the best sleep of my life last night. Until just before 4:30AM when I was rudely brought out of it by kidney pain. It last for about forty-five minutes and I did all same old tricks. Running, bouncing, dancing, contorting. All really for my own peace of mind rather than my physical health I imagine. The pain eventually subsided but never fully went away so I didn't go back to sleep. There really wasn't a point even if it had gone away.

Like every other morning this week and went through the motions of making my lunch, taking a shower, and getting dressed. Unlike every other morning this week, right after putting on my coat and picking up my things to head out the door, my kidney started hurting again. I texted the principal to let her know I was going to be late and emailed the second grade teacher who sends some of her kids down to the lab for a smelling test to let her know I wouldn't be able to do it this morning. I then commence the rubbing of my kidney in a hunched over position while pacing back and forth.

After awhile it quieted down but not to the point where I would feel comfortable going to work so I sat down at my computer with my left hand on my kidney and my right alternating between my mouse and keyboard. I wanted to be productive so I decided to get on and cancel my XM subscription because my highly discounted sixth months was up and I wasn't going to pay full price for radio when I'm really not in my car that much. I tracked down my account information, registered on the website, and as soon as I logged in I saw that my outstanding balance was over $100. Apparently the auto-renewing feature kicked in today, and it didn't just renew my account for next month, it renewed it for the next six months. Yikes.

In order to cancel I had to call a number, which I did, and began the process of canceling so I wouldn't get stuck paying all that money. I told the guy I wanted to cancel and when he asked why I told him it just wasn't worth the price considering how little time I spend in my car. And I've heard about this stuff happening, never really believing it, but after I said that, the guy said he understood and went into a big speech that eventually ended with an offer of a full year subscription for half the cost. So it would be the same price I was currently being stuck with but for a whole year. I actually sounded pretty good and I did consider it for a bit of time before deciding it still really wasn't worth it. Then he said he realized that was a lot of money so he offered half price for six months instead. That one wasn't as tempting because six months sounds really short compared to a year, and $50 is still a decent amount of money. So I said no, I still wanted to cancel, and he came back with an offer of $4 dollars a month for five months. I'm not entirely sure about the math but I think that is almost 75% off the regular price. So I bit. I still like XM but it definitely isn't a need and I was fully expecting to get rid of it today. Five extra months will be nice, and if when I call to cancel before I get a huge bill again, they offer me a big discount, I might go for it again. But if they don't, I'll survive. In the end though, a positive came out of my kidney pain. I think that's a first.

I ended up getting to work an hour late. Which isn't too bad. I'm just glad that when the pain comes with this one it has been predictably short-lived. Relatively speaking. An hour of pain is still an hour of pain but I have experienced a lot more pain for a much greater period of time. That was definitely awful but at least when it was over the stone had completed that part of the journey and it wasn't holding me captive like this one.

At work I scanned another sixth grade picture, downloaded several others, and then continued work on storybooks. I think I have finished the last incredibly involved page for the current book I'm working on so the rest should be relatively smooth sailing. Fingers crossed. I also had second grade reading groups and classes in the lab. One of those classes was first grade, and one of the first graders gave me a hug, for the first time. You get used to random hugs when you work with kids. Unfortunately, this little girl was sent home an hour later with lice. Upon hearing this I immediately felt itchy. She had put her head again the side of my jacket and I immediately started thinking about if it was enough. I washed my clothes when I got home just in case, even though I feel that effort was in vain if I actually did come in contact wit lice. Other than being mildly freaked out, I really feel sorry for the little girl because she has had lice at least once before this year. There was another girl who has moved, but she seemed to always have lice. It just seems like it would be a terrible nuisance.

On my way home from work I stopped at the gas station to get some Gatorade so I can change up my liquid intake (not that I don't enjoy plain water and water with half a lemon in it). I also bought a couple more Powerball tickets with my winnings from the last drawing. Of all the vices I could choose, gambling probably isn't the best, but I could do a lot worse. And it doesn't really feel like gambling. If that counts for anything. I don't have an addictive personality so there is no risk there, it is definitely safer than drinking or drugs or extreme sports, and it is pretty inexpensive compared to those things as well. I'm happy with my choice. And I'll keep it up for as long as I find it fun. All the potential uses for lottery winnings are endlessly entertaining.

I went to the effort of taking a sample of dark blue yarn with me to Hobby Lobby when I was looking to buy more for my blanket. But for some reason I didn't think to do that with the yellow. I checked it out tonight and it is nowhere close to the yellow currently in my blanket. It is much more pale and there is no way I can use it. Which means my blanket has once again been halted. Well, I still have part of a row left of the blue I'm working on now but then it will be halted. This is frustrating. And a really good example of why I should have planned ahead and figured out how much yarn I was going to need at the beginning. Although, to be fair to myself a little bit, I bought all the yellow yarn they had at the time I was starting my blanket, so there probably wasn't much I could do. Now I guess it is just a waiting game to see if they ever end up with a darker yellow again. It is a bit frustrating.

Tonight at work I read books. And near the end of the night I watched about a half hour of 3 Days To Kill. The last half hour. It was kind of slow. But it was better than sitting upstairs with my heating pad because I kept almost falling asleep. I imagine the first part of the movie is a little more exciting so maybe I'll watch that tomorrow night.