What a frustrating day! We went to the lab and sure enough, they told us they couldn’t draw blood until after the first. Then she said something about calling the doctor to see if she’d okay it for tomorrow since I can’t make it on the first. So we’re going to go back tomorrow afternoon even though there is no guarantee that they’ll draw blood. The thing is that we made the appointment online and I don’t understand why they couldn’t tell us then that it was too soon. My schedule, my number one curse in life, is at the point where I need to be sleeping later in the afternoon in order to make my appointment on my birthday. There’s no reason I can’t go to the appointment if I don’t get to the lab beforehand, though. They’re going to call and let me know what the numbers are either way, even though I’ve told them a million times to leave them on the portal as that’s what it’s there for. While I’m thrilled that I was finally able to go six months without having to see Dr. A, I do want to ask her about my water retention and rash.

When we got home I sent her a message telling her that while I didn’t expect her to get the message before tomorrow afternoon, if she does, the lab may call and ask if it’s okay to draw blood tomorrow since I can’t make it on the first.

Sometimes I wish I could wash my hands totally clean of all labs, appointments, and medication, but the hypo symptoms would be very hard to tolerate at this point.

Yesterday we attached the beautiful tray with the cloudy sky over grassy hills to the treadmill and I ended up getting a total of 1.5 hours of exercise from 4 different sources… The treadmill, the Bowflex, the skier, and outdoors. It makes it so easy! I walk at a fairly normal pace. Nothing too heart-pounding. Besides, it would be hard for me to use the laptop if I was moving that fast so I usually keep it at 2.5 MPH. The time passes so much faster if I do work I normally do as the treadmill is otherwise boring as hell. The only negative is that I can’t use speech-to-text because the treadmill is too loud. Right now I’m on the skier as I talk this entry out because the skier is quiet.

Even though I’m not a holiday person, especially religious-based ones, I really like all the beautiful Christmas lights I see when out walking after dark.

As for the new sound machine, it seems like I might have hit the memory button which may be why it didn’t play long. Tom is testing it tonight by leaving it on while he sleeps. He says he had it going for many hours the other day. I put the old sound machine on the bed by the pillow and slept better than the night before. I have that going in addition to the white noise played through the stereo speakers. When I’m sleeping at night all I need is the stereo. It’s probably a long shot but I’m still hoping that someday the net will get more reliable and I can just use Alexa if we ever live on a quieter street.

Kim and I are a bit worried about Aly’s latest cryptic tweet saying that the health issue she had 4+ years ago is back and that she’ll be in a hospital in Lincoln for a day or two. We’re suspecting she could be referring to cancer. I know she’s had skin issues but I can’t believe they would put her in the hospital for that. But then she was once in the hospital for a month due to a skin-related issue, come to think of it. Herpes, I think it was. She emailed me about it because she was embarrassed to mention it in public. Maybe that’s what it is. I’m not going to mention it to Kim, though. It’s up to Aly to tell her what she wants to. I’m not here to gossip. I was under the impression they spoke every day and that she always kept Kim up to date but I guess not. Unless she really did tell her and she just doesn’t want to admit it. Whatever the case is and despite being less-than-perfect, I feel bad for all the suffering she continues to go through.

Last night I dreamed I was riding a bike over some grass which was kind of bumpy and then I pulled out onto a hilly road somewhere.

Then I was talking on the phone with a woman who headed the aerobics class here or wherever I lived in the dream. On my way to answer her call, one of the rats was out loose and it annoyed me that when walking toward him to get the phone he ran and hid as if I was coming to kill him.

The aerobics woman confirmed that the classes were still being held and I said something about them having considered canceling them but was glad they didn’t. Then I asked why they had considered canceling and the woman said, “To help Alex.”

“I would have been pissed,” I said. “If they had chosen to help just one person instead of helping all those who could really benefit from aerobics, I would have been pissed.”

I had 22 minutes of exercise by the time I finished speaking. I did some editing on and off and brought my total time to 55 minutes. The problem is that my calves are a little stiff because they’re not used to the extra activity yet.