Itchy Feet

Acting on a hunch, I started taking my B12 supplements again, even though I'm not vegetarian any more. Imagine my surprise when I realised today that I'm not dead tired, starving despite eating and not in as crappy a mood as I've been in. In fact, I was quite hyper and cheerful earlier, something I remember from the first time I went on the supplement.

So, despite the fact I am eating meat again and it's been a good six years (possibly more) since I stopped with the vegetarianism, my body still has issues with B12, especially during stress.

Stupid body. But at least it helps with the depression and I don't need to change my meds again. That would have sucked. I'll have to try and squeeze more Vegemite into my daily diet again as well as the supplement (I have plenty, care of my darling daddy, but I need to make toast more regularly to put it on!).

Oh for the love of gods, please stop running, nose, it's been going on for three weeks and I'm running out of bodily fluid for you to dribble...

Yeah, still got a runny nose from the cold/flu/whatever of a couple of weeks ago. The rest of me is fine, except I'm tired of wiping my nose. And my nose is tired of being wiped, too - it's red raw and I think I'm brewing the third or fourth coldsore since it began. :(

Otherwise, I'm good. School's good, work's busy and spring is slowly creeping in.

I know I haven't been posting much lately and I will be updating with the Life of Jo soon, but for now, you get a tale of woe and weirdness.

It has, my friends, been a Day.

Things started this morning, with an email from one of my lawyers who was en route to Ottawa for court at 1:30. Turns out that he is actually in hospital in Cobourg, having become unwell on the way, and they're keeping him in for tests. Cue frantic scramble to inform defence counsel and arrange for someone local to speak to things and adjourn them, as well as making sure the lawyer is okay and that my manager and _his_ manager know what's up.

Second was a last minute adjournment motion for Lawyer A. Not really unusual, since he has a habit of leaving things until last minute, but this one wasn't actually his fault - defence counsel got double-booked for a trial next week. Still, mostly a scramble for an hour and then shooing A. out the door and anticipating lunch.

This is where things get woeful. And weird.

I have a problem with drinking sufficient water during the day and as a result, my lips are often cracked and/or peeling. Being me, I have a tendency to remove that dead skin by picking at it. Normally, this is a rather gross, but harmless habit. Except for today, when my peeling opened up a crack in my bottom lip that proceeded to gush blood. For half an hour.

It was a bit like the nosebleeds I used to get as a kid. Blood steadily flowing, refusing to actually clot, despite the ice and pressure I applied. I had blood down the front of my shirt, where the paper towel failed, and a pile of bloody napkins, tissues and paper towels amassing on my desk at a scary rate. And still with the bleeding.

I wound up being taken down to the nearest walk-in medical clinic. Of course, by the time I actually saw a doctor, the bleeding had stopped by and large (it started briefly again when I stood up to go into the doctor's office), but still we went with blood tests at the pathology lab upstairs. I sent Sonia back to the office at that point, since I'm a wuss with blood tests, and she bought me a bottle of juice to counter the general wooziness I was getting from lack of lunch (hard to eat with a paper towel pressed to your face) and the fact I'd swallowed way too much blood (again, shades of childhood, ew).

The juice proved to be a bad idea, as I managed to open the crack again on the edge of the bottle and spent most of the time while they were taking blood out of my arm with a chunk of gauze pressed to my mouth. Fortunately, it stopped quicker than before and I took advantage of the taxi chit Sonia gave me to get home, since there was no way I was going to use the subway on my own. I have to go back next week for the test results, whee.

Silver lining, at least - I got home in time for the middle of the Jays' first game of the year on the radio. Of course, they're still playing (15 innings of extra innings due to a 4-4 tie). I'm kind of miffed I didn't get to join the roomie and the pretty girl down at the Waterfront, tho'. Would've been nice.

After three days of ow, I bought some Tiger Blam last night and applied liberally to my neck. It worked well enough that the muscles relaxed enough to unpinch the nerve - I felt it pop last night - and while it's still sore, I can actually turn my head again. Huzzah!

I've got to say, constant pain is really tiring. And a pain in the butt. Apologies for whining - we worked out at therapy I get extra needy when I'm sick or in pain, for various reasons.

I'm so tired I hurt. My back is completely shot and my shoulders aren't much better. And instead of home and couch and sleep, I have 45 minutes left of work and then an hour of therapy. Meh.

Work's just been brutal this week. Expenses, trial prep, more expenses, Jane in tomorrow... oy vey.

Ever have one of those days where you wish you could give yourself a brain enema? I'm so sick to death of Captain Paranoia's Depression Carosel right now.

I had my flu shot today.

My arm hurts. Wah.

Now I've addressed the immediate problem, I can tell you all about it. I'm sitting here, surrounded by buckets and bowls and an esky, all happily collecting the water that is dripping from our living room ceiling in about six places.

Whee.

I've called our building manager, she's got someone (possibly) coming tonight who will sweep the excess water that's built up on the roof above our living room which will address the immediate problem, I've moved furniture out of harm's way, I've dried off what did get wet and I've mopped the floor. Because of course, this would happen on the night that the roomie is out with his work folks. :P

However, before I start cursing Murphy, I will acknowledge I have been fortunate. My laptop was sitting on the coffee table, closed, and was directly under one of the drips. Yet somehow it's emerged unscathed (probably because it was closed). Which is a relief, I can tell you, since there's no way in hell I can afford a replacement atm and I have no idea if we have any kind of insurance.

The cats are completely weirded out. They're being good and not going near the drip collectors, and when I got home and found the floor awash, they were hiding in my room with very clear "we didn't do it!" looks on their faces.

Aaannd I've just been told to poke holes in the ceiling where the plaster is bulging to try and drain the water that's collected. Bonus. I can add "ceiling milker" to my resume.

All in all, not the evening I was planning for tonight. I was going to possibly wander downstairs to 17 Steps with the laptop, do some writing, eat something nice for dinner since it's payday, maybe have a Cracked Canoe. Instead, I'm babysitting a bunch of buckets and mopping up the water draining out of half of the couch.

Pray it doesn't rain any more in Toronto tonight, okay?

Edit: And the guy can't come until tomorrow. Bah. At least my poking holes helped drain most of it?

Oh, you're one of those viruses. The ones whose symptoms come and go and make me look like a total hypochondriac, but which manages to make me feel cruddy any way.

Random bouts of fever/hot flashes, chronic tiredness, bouts of wooziness and emotional instability exhibiting as a tendency to feel like I'm about to burst into tears any time I get stressed. Fantastic. I haven't had one of these since summer camp in Iowa and they wound up testing me for mono/glandular fever (which it wasn't, btw).

On the positive side, I'm having sushi tonight with Mindy and Johnny. So let's see you stand up to wasabi and lots of tea.

Since 1:15 p.m. I have done the following:

* Transcribed, signed and mailed/faxed three letters for three separate matters, including one that had to be done before the mail service went out this afternoon, which I had to take down twice since I managed to delete the first version like a prize moron;

* Scanned and emailed signed letters to all those CC'ed;

* Called the Appeals Court at Old City Hall twice, establishing the existence of an appeal hearing we didn't get served with due to appellant incompetence;

* Emailed another Court to ensure we have a particular justice available for a case that's been ongoing since 2006;

* Photocopied a brief to provide disclosure to a lawyer in one of Jane's matters;

* Snarfed down a frozen microwave lasagne and an instant miso soup mix.


Things seem to be easing off now - I think A is on his way to Belleville, hence the lack of phone calls/emails. But yeah, not a good afternoon by any means. And me with PMS, which is always worse combined with my meds - I never used to be this damn mood-swingy before, damnit!

I'm also supposed to swim tonight, but the jellyfish sting I picked up in Italy seems to be infected - I knocked the scab off this morning in the shower and it's been oozing clear fluid all day and won't stop. So I'm a bit worried about prolonged soaking, especially when it's taking forever to heal up. It feels like a really lame excuse, though.

Edit: 5:28 p.m. and I still have work. One more letter to write and then I'm done. Too tired and too hungry to swim - tomorrow, definitely.