Feb. 14, 2025 Diary
Woke up early, around 5. Felt tired and got back in bed after using the bathroom. Had a few short sleeps this week so I definitely needed more sleep. Put a book on tape on headphones to distract me and let me fall back to sleep. It worked after a while and I slept until 8, when B’s alarm went off. Got up a few minutes later.
Feeling a little sick. I felt something last night—cough, a little post-nasal drip. It’s still there this morning, plus a headache, some aches and fatigue. It’s not too intense, so I’ll still work today but probably from home.
B and I chat about various things over breakfast (oatmeal and a piece of toast with jam, plus a clementine). She’s doing some genealogy work and expressed her frustration at how slowly a couple of places—and a couple of family members—are at supplying documents. She wants to apply for Irish citizenship, something she has always been interested in, but now seems especially attractive because of the political situation. We spend a little time lamenting the latest political news, which I’m reading intermittently on my iPad while we talk. We rarely watch any TV in the morning because the political news is so disheartening and television coverage is so bad. The idea is to still pay attention to what is going on but try not to marinate in it. We also say Happy Valentine’s Day, which will be about the extent of our celebration of the holiday. We’ve been married a long time and it’s what B calls “a Hallmark holiday.”
Around 9:30, I settle on the couch to work, including on this diary, plus some writing. I ordinarily work in a room above our garage, but it is very cold (12 degrees my phone says) this morning and the heater we have in there would take an hour to warm up, and never really get there. Even if I bundle up my fingers would get numb. Maybe I’ll go up there this afternoon, after it warms up a bit.
Writing stuff til 11:30, with modest progress. Feel a little groggy so it’s slow going. Got on a Zoom call with H at 11:30 to go over his latest research—good stuff! I was pleased with what he’s found. We talked through a few ideas about how to use it and figured out next steps in the work. Finished 12:15. Caught up with diary, lunch: chicken wrap with veggies, crackers, diet pepsi. Read around online while eating. Took my time, put on a soccer game for 5 minutes or so. Was tired after, so made a cup of tea. Back to writing. Contemplating a walk but it’s still chilly (tho very sunny) and I lack energy. Not feeling super sick but not great either. Frustrating. I do finally go on a walk around the neighborhood, hoping the fresh air will wake me. Listen to a sports podcast on the walk.
[This waking-up strategy didn’t work. I sat/laid on the couch fell asleep for a while when I got back and when I woke up I forgot to continue the diary. The remainder is a reconstruction written the next day.]
Woke up on the couch late afternoon. 4:30? I spent a little time noodling on the laptop and writing a bit of a proposal for work. Still feeling blah. B. came in around 5 and said she was going to go out with a couple of neighborhood friends to get something to eat at the local Mexican place. I vegged out on the couch some more, did a little more proposal writing. Around 7 I got up and heated up some leftover stir fry. Settled on couch to watch TV, alternating between an IU basketball game (they lost) and a series on Apple TV called Prime Target. It’s slow and a bit meh but I’m tired and don’t really mind. B came back around 8. The restaurant was full and they had to wait for a table so she was later than expected. She went upstairs pretty much straight away. There wasn’t a ton of stir fry so I was still hungry had some pretzels and hummus. I probably dozed a little along the way in between channel surfing. Still feeling poorly, same symptoms.
Around 10:30 I went up to bed. I read for a while and was slow falling asleep but I did.
Not my most interesting day. Fairly low energy, hated feeling sick.