A Sign of How Tired and Overwhelmed I Am

This week has been incredibly busy.  For me, anyway.  I know for many people, it would seem like a light week.

But here's what I've had to do:

Monday - tutoring 1 - 4

Tuesday - vet appointment, then tutoring 5 - 6

Wednesday - tutoring 1 - 4

Thursday - dentist appointment, then tutoring 5 - 6

And tomorrow I have - doctor's appointment (for stomach problems, I'm actually worried I might have an ulcer), then tutoring 1 - 4

Add in working on a few articles, preparing for tutoring sessions (which has been a fair amount of work, actually), doing enough laundry to have clean clothes to wear, doing enough dishes to have clean glasses to drink out of, running a few necessary errands like picking up prescriptions.

That totally doesn't seem like that much, does it?  But it's so much more than I usually have on my plate.  Add in the fact that I haven't been sleeping well.  I've had an increase in fibro pain recently, although it's still not as bad as it was last winter and spring, so I am thankful for that. 

I've had a fair number of nightmares lately, too.  I actually woke up screaming one night this week, which I haven't done in quite a while.  I was sleeping on the couch and woke myself up screaming and then I heard Isaac, who had been sleeping in my bed, hit the floor.  He came out to the living room, came over to the couch to check on me.  I asked him to turn on the light, which he did.  I petted him for a couple minutes, then told him he could go back to bed, and he did.  It was nice that he came out to check on me, though.

I'm not quite sure what's causing the increase in pain and the trouble sleeping and the nightmares and everything.  I think it all feeds into each other.  I feel tired from being extra busy, then I have more pain, then it's harder to sleep, then I get more tired, which causes more pain.  Then I am anxious and in pain and have nightmares, which make it even harder to sleep and make me more tired, which causes more anxiety and more pain, and on and on and on.

Last night I met a friend at Pizza Hut for dinner.  We eat there about twice a month.  I got there first so I went on inside, got a table and ordered.  When my friend arrived, Isaac came out from under the table to greet him.  He said hi to Isaac, then asked me, "Where is Isaac's vest?"

I looked at Isaac and realized for the first time that I'd forgotten to put his vest on before we went into the restaurant.  I never, ever take him into a business without his vest on.  But somehow I just totally forgot.  And I didn't even notice he wasn't wearing it.

No one said anything, maybe because we eat at that Pizza Hut often enough that the employees all know us and recognize Isaac and know he is a service dog.  Of course, legally service dogs aren't required to wear vests but I would expect someone to ask questions about a dog that isn't wearing one. 

I think I was just so tired and feeling overwhelmed by all the stuff I had to do that I totally forgot about his vest.