Fog and Goals

Gestern Morgen war viel Grauschlier, und war es sehr kalt. Here is a foggy image of the old 522, Lake City Way, facing North. I mean, REALLY. I wanted to get some shots of campus as well, but I got distracted and by the time I remembered it was all burned off.

So I'm on about day 8 of some rather nasty version of the Bubonic Plague that's going around, and I must say that this soupy fog resembles what it feels like inside my head/brain.

I have been thinking about my goal setting. I got stuck, for some reason, but I think I'm back on track. Really my main goal is to take better care of myself, in a conscious, caring way, and all the rest of the things fall under that. Individual steps, I guess. So today I came up with

• Get more sleep - I have been accomplishing this, with physician approval, by taking OTC sleep aids so that I fall asleep at a reasonable hour instead of midnight or 1, and then being completely exhausted the next day. I have made a point the past few nights of taking them by 10:15 or 10:30, even if I feel panicky about homework. This way, I have no choice but to go to bed by 11:30. NONE. :) I'm hoping that as I continue and my body adjusts to this, my little circadian rhythm will be reset to "normal" bedtime instead of "oh shit, is it really that late????" bedtime.
  results so far: despite being sick as a dirty dog, I have more of a sense of well-being in general, feel more rested (although I'm tired from leukocyte wars), and am fighting a little less against getting up in the morning.
  
• Take my vitamins and medicine every day - I have been pretty lackadaisical about this lately. In fact I didn't take vitamins at all for many months, and it was hit or miss with my BP medicine. So I recently acquired a little pill-keeper like little old people use. I got it included in a "freebies" water bottle from Walgreens (of which Bonetti got one too). So it is very very red, with white letters on top, and every Sunday I load it up and leave it in a conspicuous place. So far I have missed one day since 1/10. Incidentally it was the day that I bragged to Bonetti "I took my vitamins EVERY DAY THIS WEEK!" ha ha!
  results so far: well, I am having success, but I can't say that I feel any different. I guess the knowledge that I'm doing something positive for my body will have to do.
• Volunteer! - Something that has always been a big part of my life is volunteering. It started back in 1985 when my mom had me go with her and volunteer at a Seattle Urban League event. It's been in my blood ever since! It's a great way to get outside or involved with something you really enjoy, a great way to meet new people, and sometimes you get free shit. And you never feel badly about volunteering. So with that, I am going to check out Sakya Monastery (I don't know why but I feel inexplicably drawn to that place) Seattle Works and WTA, and my goal is to find a volunteer project for February, and I will find and select my project no later than 1/31.
  results so far: I feel good that I've made this decision, and didn't really realize how much I miss volunteering. I figure that if I plan it right, I can make volunteering a regular part of my life again; at least that is the goal.

And those are my goal-setting attempts for today. I feel very good about them.