The Whine Valley

This has been absolutely one of the toughest weeks I have had in a while, and it is only half over.  My whole system is in turmoil due to the oral surgery last week.  I can't eat, I can't sleep, I either am in pain or in limited function due to pain medication.  It frankly has not been a fun week around these parts.  By the time I got home from work Monday, I was so miserable I did not think I could survive, only to be awake almost the entire night.

The only redeeming thing is catching up on reading when I am awake from 2 AM until 6 AM.  (I mean even with medication, I am not sleeping, so what is the deal with that?)  Part of it is wakening from bizarre dreams that leave me unsettled and thinking, and I have often had to journal in the middle of the night to make sense of what seems to be occurring in my brain during the wee hours.  That usually only happens to me when I am traveling and experiencing new and sometimes unsettling things.  A beneficial side effect has been the process of that deep thinking that only seems to happen with me in the early hours of the morning when all is still and quiet enough for me to calm my inner chaos and listen to what I need to know and understand.

In the process, I have been reading Jimmy Carter's White House Diary, a fascinating read from his personal diary during his Presidency.  He had kept a diary during his time in the White House, and it has occasional notes on some of the entries from his perspective now, about either end results or additional information that sheds light on his thinking at the time.  I am finding it enjoyable for many reasons, probably more so due to my understanding of and interest in political issues these days than when Carter was President.  It has been curious to read about the events from his personal insight and experience, while recalling them as I lived through them and experienced them.  

Libby has been thrilled to have my company so frequently since last Thursday and has been very contented this week. :)

She generally only interrupts her napping to occasionally ask for a belly rub or to snuggle next to me while I am reading or writing and admonish me to keep the noise down and the light out of her eyes.