Nolo’s with Suheily, blood draw problems

September 25, 2023:

Ok, got the photos in this at like 5pm today, and now I’m writing it at almost 10pm. I took my morning meds at 6:45am with an 11g fat apricot mango yogurt. Then I talked to Papa a bit and made some plans for explaining why I was still staying at his house, which was because I had been recovering from a surgery, and for a week or so I couldn’t drive and I needed help with some pain meds. Then, I had a therapy appointment with Jessica. We talked about my need to find something to keep myself engaged and active. In the past, that’s always been work, but it could be something else now. Then, Papa and I played some of our country guessing games and I went over some notes from Jessica, and then I made sure I was ready to see Suheily. Then, we decided to leave, and I suggested that I drive to it. He said he hadn’t thought of that but that it was a really good idea. It was also a good idea to have him come with me, because when I got there I got a text from Suheily that said she was having a hard time finding parking. Then we went in, and tragically neither Hannah nor Ruby were working this morning. I did tell our server, whose name I failed to get, that I knew them though.

As far as what we ate and drank, I got the BLAT (bacon, lettuce, avocado, tomato) sandwich with the soup of the day. I think Suheily got some sliders, and also an espresso martini, while I got the mai tai. We also talked about the fact that a TON of the old Fogo people were working at Billy’s Sushi now, where Suheily works part time. Sounds like it’s her, Connor, Uma, Nancy, Dorian and Kuri, who just came back from New York. When I told Suheily that I was looking for part time work, she suggested some diner that a girl’s from Fogo’s mom either owns or works at. I've texted her to ask more about that now. She also told me that she’s living in a condo in Woodbury right now, and we talked about our plan to have me buy a condo in the future too. When I said that, she mentioned that she might literally be able to sell us one, since she’s becoming a realtor. I think she said she’s sold condos in the past. She also suggested a place that she used to work at that took a lot of volunteers, a community action place. She sent me a link and I’ve looked at it, but it doesn’t seem quite right for me. When my lunch was done, I drove us over to the Mayo Clinic Sports Medicine Center, for my blood test. They had an awful time getting my blood. The first guy stabbed me twice, once in each arm, and couldn’t get it. He called in another woman, and she was able to do it, after I was sitting there with the warm blankets over my arms for a few minutes, which I have a BeReal of. Then, I finally drove us home.

Once I was there, I texted a bunch of people who Suheily had made me think about, and I also started working on the diamond painting project. On Papa’s recommendation, I also watched a few YouTube videos about it. And I had a kombucha, right around the time when I took my night meds. What I did for the meds, since I wasn’t really hungry at all, was I had a piece of 7g cheese melted over some rice, and also a section of a very fatty cracker thing he’d just bought. I had my meds at 7:30pm, which wasn’t too bad, considering I hadn’t set an alarm for them all day. I also talked to Papa a bit more, and we decided that what I have to do is focus more heavily on what I have, not what I’ve lost. Now, what I’m thinking is that rather than trying to “accept” the brain injury, what I have to do is focus on having other things in my life that are more important than the brain injury, which also goes along with what Jessica was telling me today. I’ve also realized that I absolutely can’t go into any situation thinking “I’m only here to make friends,” because that’s a good way to guarantee I’ll never be able to do that. I do need to fill my life with a bit more stuff though.

Grateful things: Grateful that I still know people like Suheily, even though today I forgot to ask her to plan another time we’d hang out.