Time is so slippery and real life so intrusive. When am I supposed to find time to update my sad little blog that no one reads anyway? Commencing blog pity party. I’ve been so busy that I just haven’t had time to sit down and write, and so much going on that takes priority over blathering here. And tomorrow is MARCH!
Anders and I finally started actual planning for our anniversary trip to Normandy. We’ve plotted out the routes to take for the week, including charging stations and time needed. It’s a LOT of long driving days, but since we don’t want to fly or take the train, that’s what we have to deal with, as we also only have the one week off. The week before John and family are planning to come and visit, which will be awesome, since they haven’t been here in forever. We’ve also booked all the hotels and apartments for the various places we’ll be staying, and figured out the places and things we want to see. We’ll have 2 days in Saint Malo, a day at Mont Saint Michel, a visit to the WWII beaches (primarily Omaha Beach), and a visit to Etretat cliffs and gardens.
Still to do: book the ferries, book the Abbey tickets on the Mont, find and book a nice place for dinner on our actual anniversary, order the blue or green car stickers for Germany (does France require them too?), book tickets to the WW2 museum and Etretat. Oh! and fix the Tesla windshield which has a huge long crack in it.
I had an appointment with at the eye clinic to follow up on the question I had sent the eye doctor over a month ago asking her what she meant when she told me last fall that even though I have the beginnings of cataracts in both eyes, it “wasn’t urgent” to have the surgery right away. Did she mean I could wait? If so, how long? No answer for weeks, then suddenly, a string of phone messages with bookings for surgery last week of February and first week of March, without even consulting me. I called and finally got a nurse to call me back. When I explained that I had not gotten an answer to the simple question I had asked, and could not do the surgeries for the dates they had booked, she cancelled them, took me off the wait list, and told me I had to see the doctor again to ask her in person. ARGH. So, yesterday, when I got there, the nurse opened with the info that they were going to do all the eye tests, and when I said, “I thought I was just here to talk to the doctor”, she explained that since it had been nearly 6 months, they thought it best to get a new baseline. Okaaay. So I did all the tests again, and then finally saw the doctor…who was someone new. The doctor I saw last fall had quit. Of course. Anyway, he said I had only “minimal” changes in my eyes and that I could wait and did I want to schedule a follow-up for 1 or 2 years from now? *boggle* …so I asked for 1 year from now. At least that answers my question: I can obviously wait with cataract surgery. If I notice any changes or problems, I can simply contact them to move the appointment up and/or schedule surgery.
I also got the results of the sleep apnea test sent to my online medical journal, and none of which is understandable for a layperson. I’ve scheduled a telephone call with the doctor who referred me for the test originally, which is on March 17.
AND I finally got an appointment about the Gabapentin issue with a new (actually, the doctor I had originally when I was first diagnosed with diabetes in 2015), after far too much back and forth with a nurse on chat who kept telling me there was no “scientific evidence” of a link between Gabapentin and dementia, despite the fact that the studies showing it are very new, and wondering why I was worried, and if I have already noticed issues that are causing me concern. LIKE DO I ALREADY FEEL I AM GETTING DEMENTIA? Only from dealing with the damn healthcare clinic, which would make anyone demented at this point. Then she scheduled a telephone call with Dr Jakob, the doctor that I lost completely confidence in during the colitis issues and who I made an official complaint about, and switched from. When I wrote her back again to refuse him, it took another week for me to get the new appointment. It’s for this coming Monday. I hope he’s open to actually helping me find alternatives for the medicine, as I would very much prefer NOT to develop dementia or Alzheimers because of it, regardless of whether there is actual “scientific evidence” or not. ARGH.
It’s been a crazy week, with news of a reorganization at work which I have mixed feelings about, the medical/dental appointments, the AIC board meeting and bowling on Tuesday, and hosting book group here on Thursday. Book group was SUPER nice. We were supposed to be 8 people, but one new guy dropped out same day, and it was all the nicest friends: Carys, Marika, Lisel, Kate, Jennifer, and Sara. I had way too much food: bowls of cherry tomatoes, wasabi nuts, chips, and cucumber sticks, AND I made a huge awesome charcuterie board with 3 kinds of crackers, boursin, brie, cheddar, blue cheese, 3 kinds of sausage/proscuittos, red and green grapes, herb hummus, and fig/apple jam. And for dessert a chocolate almond salt caramel cake! But everyone ate most of it, and raved about it all. SUCCESS!
The weekend is no less busy, though I had a little downtime yesterday evening at least. Today, I am picking up Martin at 12:30 pm and we’re heading to Copenhagen to have lunch at Karin’s, then go to a secondhand market, then to the silversmithing workshop that the kids gave me a gift certificate for (for my birthday last year). Afterwards, I will drop Karin off in Malmö to have dinner with her best friends and Martin and I will meet Theo for sushi. I haven’t even seen Theo since our family Christmas on December 15…how crazy is that?!
And tomorrow, I am going to an AIC event, a new one called “Sip & Admin” where we are going to all sit around with our laptops and do admin things we never have time for (the ones who aren’t driving are bringing wine, haha). I’m planning to do my US taxes, and possibly the prep for my FBAR. It’s for 2 hours, so don’t think I’ll have time for more, though we’ll see. And then I’m going to dinner at Maria and Mikael’s (Anders is joining me there). And poof! There goes the whole weekend! And the whole month!
Mood: busy
Music: Patrick Martin—Dandelion Eyes