Rest, Duties, Trips, Writing, and Spiders, among other things

 So yeah, still having trouble getting a full and restful sleep. I keep slipping between six and seven hours and the tiredness makes reading and doing other things a bit too slow. At one point, I couldn’t sleep for three hours and I was so tired of not getting the full eight up, I stayed up until 9 am, doing my usual writing things while I was there. Some vain part thought it might help but nope. I’ve been doing twenty minute walks in the morning, since I’ve heard not walking enough can leave behind excess energy that keeps you awake. But it doesn’t seem to be helping much. I’ve tried sleeping an extra hour, until nine, and that might have helped but not by much. I try go to bed at 9:30 pm but I don’t always meet that target. I hope this isn’t my new status quo, because it’s not fun to take too long to read something. Maybe it’s something to do with how I read things? IDK, but I hope I can take care of it by the time I start classes at Albertus Magnus.

Speaking of that, I’ve been happy to get accepted. Though there was an issue where the acceptance letter and email indicated they wanted meetings at earliest opportunities to book classes. But then for much of July, I got dead air about that and other things that are supposed to be set up. For the latter, it’s apparently a misunderstanding between Mom and I of when they are supposed to happen. For the former, they have a different definition of earliest opportunity than others, since much of staff have taken vacation. So I didn’t have to worry about the issue until they contacted me, which was a relief.

I got a Registration form on Friday and filled it out, more or less. Since I’m unfamiliar with filling out forms, I shot out emails to the MFA professor and a few others, which cleared things up for the most part. The only issue was if the two classes suggested to me, which add up to 5 credits in total, would be enough to get financial aid. My mom told me apparently I need 6 credits, but I want to confirm that with the Albertus Magnus Financial Aid office, or see if there were exception. I shot an email to them two hours before closing time but no response. I’ll have to wait until the beginning of August at least before I get a response and can send in the form. There was no due date mentioned for the form, so I hope I send it in before the classes get snapped up.

While dealing with that issue, I brought my laptop to the kitchen so Mom could see and comment on the issue. She was loading dishes into the dishwasher but that was forgotten by both of us. I got up with my laptop about to return it to where I usually do things but then I felt pain in my shins and tripped on the lowered dishwasher door and fell on the other side. My mom was very apologetic and frightened but other than the shins and maybe some places on my arms, I was pretty alright. I was able to get up and move back into the room with my laptop none the worse for wear. That was the most dramatic physical even that happened in a while. I’ve been fortunate to avoid major falls and injuries for much of my life. I did break my arms while I in elementary school but that was the worst that happened. Hopefully, I’ll better watch where I’m going in the future and not end up really hurting myself.

I’ve also finally started my volunteer job. I went through two of the three once-a-week days I selected and so far, it’s pretty okay. They’re pretty friendly. My first day was about unwrapping tons of pom-pom-like things and centering addresses on envelopes. I talked with some others there and my helper was also present to help but it was a bit boring. Fortunately, they gave permission for me to bring my computer and listen to shows there. My helper got a sickness that vaccines should have eradicated, so she couldn’t come, but Mom was able to drop me off with only a half hour adjustment in when I arrived and left. I mostly by myself stuffing envelopes with pamphlets, so I could listen to things mostly uninterrupted. I did just fine on my own, so my helper needn’t come up if she wants, though as she said, she doesn’t have much to do otherwise, so it might be better she does.

I’ve also been dealing with a bit of intrusive thoughts lately. They’ve worried me some but I know I haven’t thought those things before and I read some assurances that it’s better to accept the intrusive thought and that it doesn’t indicate action than to suppress it. Thinking that way has helped me a bit and apparently that might reduce or even vanish those kinds of thoughts. It might take a while but I’m glad I don’t have something else to really worry about for now.

( writting babble and spoilers for Spiderman Homecoming )

That’s all for now. I’m writing on Monday night as my sleep schedule got out of whack yet again. I couldn’t sleep and stayed up until 9 am and slept until before 7 pm. I hope but don’t expect I’ll fix this sleep thing by the end of August. Until then, see you!