Review

I was again listening to the rain falling this morning around 6am — I didn’t sleep well last night.  No real idea why, just that I couldn’t fall into sleep for any length of time.  I was in that half-awake state for most of the night; I know that I must have slept from time to time, but not deeply or restfully.  I did doze off a few times during the day, while I was trying to read or do other things, but I nodded off.  Jerry, as usual, spent the night on my legs, then was attached to me for most of the day.  The workmen who’d been working on the building were dismantling some of the scaffolding and that unsettled him — we had a few arguments as he was trying to climb onto my shoulder (and therefore hurt my arm) and was scratching at my arm — then he jumped into my lap and settled in to be cuddled and reassured that he was safe from all the banging and clanging in the fire escape.  Don also had difficulty sleeping last night, but is better this afternoon.  It’s (thankfully) cool and not humid, making it easier for both of us to breathe comfortably.  He was glued to the news today, while talking heads babbled endlessly and breathlessly trying to maintain interest in nothing happening onscreen for literally hours!  Sports continues, and I’m just relieved that he isn’t a basketball fan too!

I forgot (shame!) to wish my baby sister Helga a happy birthday yesterday.  We did chat, and my niece repeated her request to “come to your house, Auntie Sonja” please.  I promised that I’d be back to visit soon, but I’m not sure exactly when.  I’m happy that my sister had a good day — my niece listed off all the presents that were received — and any time spent talking with the small people is good.  My nephew seems to be a naturally quiet little guy who loves cars, construction and having books read to him; he came to the phone to say “Hi, Auntie Sonja,” several times, and then would run off to bring me a car or truck…  A huge thank you to my friend A and his mother, who delivered some curry chicken and roti for today’s lunch.  I’m happy to report that I was able to eat some, and I feel delightfully full.  My arm is less painful today also, so I think that’s all great news.  In “irritants that can be annoying” news, I hadn’t had a home care nurse visit in 2 weeks.  Yesterday, I went to the app to check when I was next scheduled and there was nothing.  I can’t request or schedule an appointment on the app, just check what’s there, so I called the agency and left a voicemail.  The coordinator called me back late in the day to apologize, but for some unknown reason I’ve had all my future appointments cancelled.  She assigned me a temporary nurse and promised to fix the error to restart regular visits next week.  It’s not yet in the app, but the nurse came today; she’s one I’d had earlier when I was on IV chemo, and she commented that I’ve lost weight but I look healthier than I used to when she first attended to me!  Isn’t it ironic?  It’s nice, though, to reconnect with my earlier nurses and see how they’ve been doing.

I was working on the grant applications again today; I’ve got to finish them this week and I’m trying not to have to scramble at the last minute as I feel that I’d shortchanged myself and the panel because I don’t have anything meaningful to contribute.  Besides, I’d like to have enough time to take a look at the ones that aren’t assigned to me so I can see what else is being proposed.  The last time I didn’t do that, and I felt really embarrassed in the discussion since I was skimming applications as they were being discussed, so it felt like I was shortchanging the review.  Anyway, to get away from the applications, I was reviewing the transcripts provided by the applicants.  I was somewhat surprised that none of them were straight-A students at the baccalaureate level!  There are a number of B’s and C’s scattered throughout the grades, which just goes to show that getting all A’s isn’t absolutely necessary to go on to do PhDs, at least at the undergraduate level.  Their grades improved substantially from the first semester to the end of their bachelor’s, and were consistently above B+ at the Master’s level.  That’s not too surprising, as those levels require independent thought and creativity so you’re better able to express your ideas.   I’m also fairly certain that once you get to the graduate level you’re less likely to be one of the people who denigrate learning and say silly things like, “they didn’t teach me that in school,” or “another day when I don’t have to use <topic>.”  It’s silly to me to mock people for wanting to learn, and worse, to pride yourself on not having learnt anything useful.  I’m not saying that you should puff yourself up and brag that you’re a know it all, but learning is fun, useful and definitely worth engaging in.  If nothing else, it helps you to weed out nonsense so you don’t share misinformation.  (See where I’m going with this? 😝)

The curry was a good meal, and I’m definitely looking forward to having more tomorrow.  I’ll freeze the rest so I can have more later on, hopefully when my tastebuds return.  We’re catching up on some PVR recorded shows and the tiny dictator is dozing on Don’s lap, so I’ll just enjoy an empty lap for a few minutes.  Good night!