Routine Days

04.25.08@09:20//p.Ville.Il.

It’s been on of those weeks that just go skating by without very much happening. Everyday feels the same, everyday I do the same basic things;

1. Get the wife and kids up and out the door (wake, breakfast, leave)
   
2. Take my meds (150mg of effexor; 1mg of chanix; 75mg of Lamactile)
3. Make the beds (ours and the futon bed)
4. Feed the pets (both cats and both turtles)
5. Do the dishes and clean up the kitchen (dishes, wipe counters, sweep/mop)
6. Pick-up the front room and sweep the floors (misc shit)
7. Change the litter box and take out the trash (yuk)

That’s my basic morning routine and on some days it demands a little more like;

1. Mop all the floors
2. Scrub the bathroom
3. Do laundry
4. Clean out fridge/pantry
5. Grocery shop
6. Doctor appointment

After I finish the morning routine my afternoons, the time between about 11:30am and 2:00pm, varies greatly. On a very good day I’m able to write or do a lot of errands without getting freaked out. A good day is being able to spend time with the family or relaxing with a book or film. On a poor day, one of the days I call “not feeling well”, I’m a complete mess. I sleep a lot, I have no energy and lay around feeling lethargic, and I get freaked and tweaked when I’m doing errands. I cry sometimes, I hyperventilate on other days and I feel dizzy or sick to my stomach. That’s how the middle of most days are and then, sometime around 2:15 I have the kids coming home from school. I take a walk down to the corner and wait for them there. On nice days, when the weather is lovely and I feel well, we take the long way home and visit the Jewel grocery store, walk through the Kinch Village Florist or just hang out at the park. On days I don’t feel well we come strait home and I flop to the side while the kids unpack their backpacks, do their homework or keep themselves busy with other children activities. My kids are awesome and they seem to understand my illness. I am most fortunate, yes?

Dinner time, which is typical between 6 and 7 and when the wife gets home from work, is almost always prepared by me; I like to cook. We often eat at the kitchen table and enjoy some family time together. After dinner, depending on the night, the kids either take showers or clean up their room. After that, if there’s enough time, they can play quietly, watch TV or read. I’m usually doing the evening routine, another series of things I do every night, night after night;

1. Make dinner and serve the family
2. Clean up the table and do the dishes
3. Motivate the kids and get medicines ready
4. Make sure backpacks are ready to go in the morning

The, if there’s time, I get to relax and watch the television with my wifey in our bed. On a good night we get to spend an hour together, on most nights, it’s brief 15 minutes before it’s lights off for the kids; that’s at 8:30pm. It still takes the kids sometime before they’ll be asleep but on most nights, they’re asleep by 9:00pm. Then the wife and I have another couple of hours together. On some nights we just watch TV, on other nights either one of us or both of us just passes out, and on other nights we’re up to playing. I like those nights, sex is a great tonic for what ails me. I take my meds around 10pm every night and they include;

1. Lamactil (150mgs)
2. Seraquel (100mg)
3. Chanix (1mg)
4. Advil (50mg)

I’m almost always asleep by 11-11:30pm but during the night I’m up and down, awake and not a few times. Most nights I just go potty or simply slip back into sleep. On bad nights I’m up for an hour or two and it sucks. Then, every day, day after day, the next day comes and I do it all over again.

This week has been a series of routine days that contained four shitty days and three good days; today counts as a shitty day. I’m done with that work and I’m trying to force myself to sit here and write, but it’s not really working well. I’m dizzy, my fingers and hands hurt and the gray skies are perfect for napping. I’m fighting the sleepies and really working on staying awake. I feel hungry too but I’m afraid if I eat, I’ll for sure be sleepy and I won’t resist the urge to nap. I must admit, when I do nap during this time of the day, my afternoons and evenings go better. I can enjoy the family more and that feels like the best medicine around. If I have a good night and get a good night’s sleep, my next days go better too. That’s my rationalization for taking a nap now, so there.

Okay, this is not a very entertaining blog, but it is what it is; my first blog on this site and an attempt to nurture my creative abilities awake. It’s not working so I’ll be putting it to rest for both you and me and end this blog now. Thanks for reading, if anyone does and please say hello if you have read this…I promise, my content will improve and we’ll both enjoy this process more.

Good day,

 d’Philip