Day 3737: Here comes trouble.

Last week, when the social workers at my hospital gathered together in person for the first time in three years for a team-building event, I didn’t think “here comes trouble” because I have a high level of immunity to COVID (completely boosted, with a recent bout of the virus in February).

When the social workers were asked to briefly introduce ourselves and perhaps include our favorite ice cream flavor, I said my name, where I worked in the hospital, “Rocky Road, and I’m wearing socks that say ‘here comes trouble.’”

Here comes trouble: since then, I’ve wondered if saying I was wearing “here comes trouble” socks was too

• weird,
• off-putting,
• age inappropriate, or
• awkward.

Here comes trouble — human minds usually search for the negatives to try to keep ourselves safe, but that can cause useless and troubling thoughts. There’s enough real trouble in the world without wasting time on “here comes trouble” cognitive distortions, like mind-reading.

Here comes some personal, health-related trouble. Before I test my INR with my home device every other Sunday morning, I’m feeling “here comes trouble” feelings and thinking “here comes trouble” thoughts. Here comes the explanation: if the number that appears on my measuring device is not between the small range of 3.0 – 3.5, here comes trouble for me. Since I had a mini-stroke in September when my INR was 2.4, I have the trouble of needing to give myself an injection if the number is below 2.7. Also, if the INR number is too low, my mechanical heart valve could get clogged and need replacement with another very troubling open heart surgery. And if the number is above 3.5, that could cause troubling bleeding.

Whenever I test my INR, I always have to wait what feels like a troublingly long time (probably only about 10 seconds) to find out if here comes trouble. Here comes my INR result for today from here-comes-trouble me …

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Here comes relief! Now I’ll wait another two weeks to see if here comes trouble again.

Let’s see if here comes trouble in my other images for today.

Because I do my best to keep my INR in the no-trouble range by eating the right amount of spinach — which contains anti-coagulating vitamin K — every single day, here comes my celebration of National Spinach and Spinach Festival Day!

Let’s see what I find when I search for “here comes trouble” on YouTube.

Here comes gratitude from me for all who helped me write this here-comes-trouble post, including YOU!

Day 3690: Self talk

In my therapy groups, we often talk to each other about self talk. In general, people in my groups talk more kindly to each other than they talk to themselves.

I don’t know why so many good people have such harsh inner critics, resulting in negative self talk. I do know we can learn to talk to ourselves differently — with respect, kindness, and love.

And if we practice positive self talk, we’re more likely to talk more positively to others.

Do you see self talk in any of my images for today?

My self talk — like the Daily Bitch’s — also has to do with accepting exactly where I am right now: awake, not angry, blogging, and still recovering from COVID.

Here’s what I find on YouTube when I search for “self talk.”

Thanks to all those who help me turn my self talk into these daily blog posts, including YOU.

Day 3689: Roles

Like anyone else, I fulfill many roles. In my role of blogger, I publish a post every day which, I hope, includes entertainment and information.

What roles do you see in today’s post?

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Because I am still in the role of COVID patient (my fever came back yesterday), I am fulfilling my roles as group and individual therapist safely from home today.

Here’s what I find when I search for “roles” on YouTube:

I love Michelle Yeoh and Jackie Chan for all the wonderful roles they’ve played, and I’m really glad the filmmakers of Everything, Everywhere, All At Once rethought the lead roles.

Thanks to those who helped me create this “roles” blog post, including YOU!

Day 3684: Cool

My COVID fever has come down, which is cool.

Also, I resolved the ticket problem I described in yesterday’s post, which is cool, and it’s VERY cool that my cool husband, Michael, is going to see the cool production of Frankenstein by the extraordinarily cool Manual Cinema with me in February, which is a really cool month in New England for several reasons.

I’m turning 70 tomorrow on what I think is a very cool birthday to have, Groundhog Day. Today is my last day to be in my 60s and I’m completely cool with that.

Do you see anything cool in today’s images?

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On National Baked Alaska Day, I think it’s cool to share that Baked Alaska was my favorite dessert when I was a kid and I had that for the first time in decades this past weekend.

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I thought it would be cool to compare the two versions of “Cool” from the 1961 and 2021 West Side Story films.

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What are your thoughts and feelings about this “Cool” post?

Thanks to all who help me keep my cool every day, including YOU!

Day 3683: Stupid shit

When I try to do things when I’m running a high fever, I inevitably do some stupid shit. For example, last night I noticed that the incredible Manual Cinema, whose breath-taking productions I’ve seen at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, was coming to Boston soon with a short run of Frankenstein (which I missed when I was last in Edinburgh in 2019) and when I tried to buy a ticket in the middle of the night, I did this stupid shit: I bought it for the wrong performance. Rather than beat myself up about that (which is REALLY some stupid shit), I got another ticket for the performance I wanted and let go of any judgment about my mistake.

I assume I’ll be able to get rid of the other ticket and that I’m be over COVID by then because, yes, I have that stupid shit again and during my birthday week, no less, which is really some stupid shit.

Do you see any stupid shit in my images for today?

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This is what I find on YouTube when I search for “stupid shit.”

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Thanks to all who are reading this “stupid shit” post, here and now, including YOU.