Friday the 13th

I am having a very painful day so far, which does not please me. I have much to do to get ready for the weekend, which involves a trip to Vegas and a 24 hour race. I'm sure not everyone would consider that a romantic Valentine's getaway but it works for my hubby and I. Shortly after midnight tonight will mark 17 years since he got done on one knee in the misty moonlight of Redondo Beach and asked me to be his wife. I've never regretted saying yes.

I need this getaway, this escape from reality, for a few days. Work has been exceedingly stressful this week. Evidently my boss contacted HR, "concerned" about how my condition is impacting my ability to do my job.  Which puzzles the hell out of me because, to my knowledge, I'm still doing my job just fine.  The only thing that I have done, as a result of my diagnosis, is to step down from a committee I was serving as chair of. I did a lot of soul searching and it wasn't an easy decision to come to but I felt, and still feel, that it was the best decision, both for the college and for myself. Reducing stress and things that cause you to feel overwhelmed is highly recommended for minimizing fibro pain and flares and this position was very stressful and it had gotten to the point where thinking of everything that needed to be done and coordinated, not to mention fast approaching deadlines, was causing feelings of being overwhelmed, bordering on panic attacks.

I explained this during my meeting with HR yesterday, saying that other than that, which was NOT part of my assigned duties, I felt I was performing my job just fine. So now we will be scheduling another meeting, this time with both my boss and my union president in attendance, to make sure "everyone is on the same page." Although I would not have initiated this on my own, I'm going to use the opportunity to request a couple of accommodations to help me be better able to do my job.  These are fairly simple and basic, such as a better chair for my desk, one which offers better back and neck support than the one I have now. I'm also requesting the ability to flex my hours during the week, if I need to, as long as it doesn't interfere with scheduled desk shifts or workshops.

But I'm not going to deal with that until after the weekend. I'm going to go and enjoy the company of good friends, doing some leisurely miles while soaking up sunshine and vitamin D. I have no goal in mind for the race so I'll be happy with whatever miles I get. I'm going to use it as an attempt to destress and just enjoy myself. And on that note, I'm going to go and take a nice hot shower and figure out what to pack. I wish a pain free and love filled Valentine's weekend for all.