Just A Little "Shop Talk" (Sort Of)

Getting from zero-to-a-zillion-different-blogs (over about ten years' time) has meant starting any number of author-focused and/or "sister-site type of thing" blogs/sites, and that has involved either similar blog titles or else just my not wanting to be bothered thinking up a title for a site/page that isn't theme-focused.  It hasn't helped that I've also confused myself (sometimes, anyway) by giving some pages a matching appearance to a "sister page", only to later decide to do something different with the appearance.

In the sidebar on this page there a few similar-seeming (maybe even actually very similar).  I may delete some or may add some.  I don't imagine that too many people will be looking at this page or those links.  Even so, I may as well mention that if one is looking for where my most current attention is focused go the "ME Whelan Online Writing And Notes" one.  The others do have a mix of stuff on them, but they aren't well organized (and I'm not sure they ever will be even if I don't delete them).

My main purpose for this blog these days is so that I have a place TO reorganize, so I can't worry about how this one is presented.  At some point I may clean this one up and return to its original purpose, which was to be linked to my "WordCrafter09" HubPages material.

Just About Finished With The Name-Transitioning Thing

Although,  with the record-breaking heat/humidity we've had this first half of September, it's been very tempting to write yet another "foundation post" about how all those super hot and humid days (not all just in September, of course) have posed their own challenges with the walking/carrying weight thing, I decided that just mentioning the heat would be a good way to end the "foundation" posts on this particular page.

The "Writing by ME Whelan" blog is the one I'll be using at this point (at least for any "whatever-blah-blah-blah"-I-feel-like-writing" type of posting).  There's still a little changing-around of the other two links that has to be done.  I figure, though, on this particular blog I don't have to be a stickler for professionalism.   :/



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Pretty Much The Same Kind Of Approach Applies To This Blog As To The Pen-Name One

Although there are some differences, the post I just copied from the pen-name blog pretty much applies to this one:  For now I'm leaving it up.  I need to double-check to make sure I took it out of "the search-engine thing" AND the directory.  (I think those settings have been in place for ages now, but I'll double-check.)

In the meantime, while I'm not yet certain I won't have reason to make some new post here, I'm certain that it will most likely relate to the HubPages account associated with my real name IF I see reason to even link the profile with this blog at all.

A Copy Of A Post From My Pen-Name Blog

 As the title of this post suggests, the following is a copy of a post I just made on my pen-name blog.  I decided to copy it, rather than link to it, because one of these days I may delete any number of blogs.  I don't want a big, "all-connected chain" of SOME of the things I have online.

While I continue to move farther away from pages associated with the pen name, my HubPages account associated with it remains up and running.   I have my reasons for not closing that account.  The main ones are 1) that HubPages remains the only site for writing anywhere near the type of writing that I want to do on someone else's site; and 2) I'm approaching eight years of using that site, and I think - if all goes well for them - the site remains a good one for writers.  In the case of the pen-name account, while I have plans to "phase away" from it for the most part there's still some thinking about what I want to do with what's left on there before I figure out what to fix up, what to remove, etc.

There's also some waiting to see if the site takes a clearer direction than appears as of this writing.

In any case, between still having that account up and running and having some other pen-name associated stuff out there here-or-there, my plan is to leave up this blog (again, at least for the time-being) - not because I plan to do more with it than I already have (to the contrary), but because it makes sense to have a place for posting the occasional thing about some pen-name-related matter.

There will probably come a time when I have no reason to want to post any pen-name-stuff-related thoughts.  This just is not that time yet.  I've got the "WordCrafter09" blog that's been acting as "the intersection" of the pen-name stuff and real-name stuff.  With my five-year-old "WordCrafter09" account on HubPages (associated with my real name), I figure I'll do the same thing with that blog as I'm doing with this one - wait and see what happens on/with HubPages before deciding any next steps.  (The difference between the two different accounts/names, however, is that the "WordCrafter09" is associated with my real name.  So, once (in the midst of making some major changes with different blogs in different stages of development) I decide what, if anything, I'm doing with future material on that account on HubPages; I'll "phase out" the  "WordCrafter" blog and use one that's in my own name.

My "project" these days is to figure out how to leave any number of blogs/sites/accounts in some version of "reasonable state", which ones to close, which ones to keep in/return to being "searchable", and build one "monster" of a blog on which I can post whatever I feel like writing without regard for whether there appears to be any "system", rhyme or reason, or specific purpose to it.

What I do with with whatever I have already put together that does have some rhyme/reason will be a case-by-case-basis thing. 

For now, this is my update to this particular blog.

Also "Closing Out" The Subject Of Last Winter

Twenty days into August, and in spite of the heat/humidity "wave" of recent days, I finally feel like I've gotten back to where I was before the record snow and cold of Winter meant I wouldn't be able to get out and get what I needed in order to feel like I could function for more than a day or day-and-a-half at a time.  What I needed wasn't "regular" food.  I had plenty of that.  And, between sharing the house with another adult (but single) family member who has plenty of his own kind of food AND making sure I have plenty of "regular" (healthy) food not only for myself but in case any of my other family members come by to visit AND the fact that I have other family members who wouldn't have me being without food in the house even if I were living alone; the Winter to which I refer was never about lack of food at all.

I won't go more into the food/other-stuff thing right now.  I've already included the subject on my "notes to self"/ideas for writing post.  The real point here, in this post, is that I finally feel well beyond where I was with the "exhaustion thing" at the end of the Winter and during Spring.  What I discovered however, is that when one is facing such a mix of complicated issues, it can be particularly difficult to sort them all out and improve the overall picture "in a straight and orderly line".  My own tendency to need things in life to be "all neat", and my own tendency to aim for getting things "as perfect as possible", didn't particularly slow me down.  They did, however, make me feel a little more frazzled at what appeared to be almost "willy-nilly" progress.  Ity wasn't, of course, "willy-nilly".   It's just that I'm an impatient person "in the body of a patient-appearing/seeming one"; and while I have no problem acting patient when it comes to other people not being as quick or "whatever else" I wish they would/could be, I have more trouble being at peace with my own impatience toward myself.  (This particular thing is something I've heard very elderly people say long before I was anywhere even near the "edge" of being considered "elderly".  This is a subject I'll probably add to the next "things to write about" list.)

As far as the exhaustion thing goes, I feel much better as well.  I'm fairly certain that, at least for now, it's still there.  Also, however, I know, at t his point, I need to look into things like whether I have a vitamin deficiency or that type of thing.  (I'm pretty much certain I probably do after the Winter of poor eating, no exercise, and no sun exposure; but I've been working on some of those issues since Spring.)  For now, I'm seeing/feeling a major improvement since Winter.  In fact (and I think I mentioned this in one of the other posts), having overcome "the legs thing" has made a giant dent in some of what was contributing to "the exhaustion thing" earlier in the year.  I'm noticing, too, a gradual but natural move toward my "real" eating habits which have always been reasonably healthy.

I've been writing all night, mainly because the heat and humidity have been uncomfortable; and things get very cool and comfortable (at least in the house) overnight.  It was a particularly busy and hot weekend that involved being out "in the weather" most of Saturday and then having a little get-together for a family member's birthday.  That was all very nice, but hot for all involved.  I discovered that my being out and around and/or doing different things than are part of my day-to-day routine meant that, once again, I used leg muscles that aren't used to being used.  So, as usual, I spent Monday and Tuesday getting over being "crippled" with "stupid" muscle stuff that happened just from doing things I don't do every day.  Then, too, because I got some of the leg muscles "going" that meant I started to "walk funny" around the house and get yet other muscles going for a day or two.

In any case, it's now Thursday morning.  By yesterday whatever "funny stuff" I did to leg muscles was cleared up.  It was particularly hot, and I did absolutely nothing for the whole day.  Finally, once things cooled down and the late-night air kicked in (such as it was), I felt like myself (or at least as much like myself as I can expect right at this time.

Somewhere between starting to walk in Spring and now, I've started to at least feel as if improving "the exhaustion thing" dramatically is, at least to a large degree, something I may be able to do myself. I see and feel a dramatic improvement.

I'm not fooling myself into thinking that "dramatic improvement" in the exhaustion thing does, or will soon, mean that everything in my life that has contributed to it will magically no longer be factors.  It's just that the whole "straw-that-broke-the-camel's-back" thing of being trapped in the house in Winter and unable to get that "completed Rubik's Cube mix" of what I needed is something I've been able to start to overcome as Spring came around.  Of course, with factors brought on with Spring there has also been less and less need for as much of some of those things that I needed more and more of as the Winter ran on.  What I did figure out (at least for me) was that having at least x number of days (even if only one or two) of having that "completed Rubik's Cube" was/is better than having none.  Getting to "OK" at least for a day or two meant being able to replenish "mental energy" enough to be better able to deal with doing without on those other days.  I plan to write more about this (but from a less personal angle) at some other time.

For now, I've needed to "close out" not only the leg-injury thing as a subject, but also the whole Winter thing, and getting-used-to-walking thing, as well.  As I said with regard to the leg-injuries thing, I may in the future refer, in some limited way, to that subject; or else I may write something that's better organized and less personal.  For now, I've just had to get the whole big mix of the whole Winter/Walking/Exhaustion Thing down in writing before being able to "close out" that whole "era" and clear my head for other writing.

"Notes To Self" (A)

NOTES TO SELF - Things To Write About Later



The Shoulder Bag - Evolution Away From A Regular Handbag (From pre-Smart-phone days to post-last-Winter walking).  It would seem like there shouldn't be much to write about on the subject of "the challenges of the shoulder bag" (or handbag"); but I have a whole, big, thing that I want to get down in writing - if, for now other reason, just to get it out of my head.    There are any number of spin-off subjects I want to write about as well, though.  The one thing I've kept thinking as my "shoulder-bag needs" have changed after the leg injuries (but, to some extent even before) has been how not having a license (and still trying to live a normal life, particularly as a mother/family-person and/or someone with some version of an online business) has involved a whole, complicated thing about what I have to keep with me (but also, how to keep it all organized).  I've often thought about the disadvantage that some elderly people are at, particularly if the rest of their life is generally the same as always - but without having their own car. 

Much of last Winter had me thinking about some of the things that very elderly and mostly home-bound people must have to live with. 

This won't make much sense to anyone else, but I'm adding in my "note to self" the matter of the refrigerator (particularly for someone who is a mother of even grown kids).



Last Winter - plenty of food but not being able to eat any of it

Last Winter - Working my way up from lack of appetite first with seemingly "pure-salt" junk food, then a small, bland, starch like bread or crackers, then with a high-sugar item like basic candy bar, "eventually" something "normal" llike toast and peanut-butter or canned soup or higher-fat food (like a grilled cheese sandwich) and
 then - finally - starting to crave healthy foods like, for example, a tomato sandwich on rye bread, orange juice, and/or apple slices.


"Of tobacco (No, I'm NOT promoting it), light cream, salty junk food, sugary food, and the concept of the Rubik's Cube

Eating - Girls/Boys, Women, Frames, and Six-Yeare-Olds.

Eating - Small Frames, Increasing Age, and A Tendency Not To Eat Much in The First Place

Eating - Not Being Someone Who Snacks (Or Who Can Eat When Not Suffi
ciently Hungry)

Eating -  Being a Vegetarian and/or "Borderline" or "Part-Time" Vegetarian

The "sugar shakes" - forgetting to eat?  Or, increased need for sugar?

Room-temperature water or no water at all

Very Elderly People Under Extreme Stress And/Or On Medication - My Personal Concerns On Their Behalf With Regard To The Downward Spiral Toward Complete Inability To Eat Or Drink

Adrenal Fatigue - A Subject For Another Time

A Sampling Of How it Must Be For Very Elderly/In firmed Individuals - Why Keeping To Oneself And Not Bothering To Even Try To Communicate Can Be So Appealing

"Don't Worry.  i'm Every Bit As Sharp, Naturally Efficient, And Generally On Top Of Things As Ever.  It's Just That A) I Don't Have A Car And/Or B) Have A 'Mobility Issue' And/Or C) Am At A Place In A Stage Of Motherhood Where You Will/Can Never Be; Or Else Have Not Yet Reached; And/Or D) Living In A Situation That You Have Not Had To."  (If it's THAT bad when one is, say, a fifty-eight/fifty-nine-year-old person without a license and with a couple of leg injuries, how bad must it be for the person who doesn't get to "close out the subject" of his/her mobility problem?


That's about it for my "notes to self" for now.  I'm just trying to remind myself about some subjects to write about before i move on to a whole other set of them.  Also, however, I'm hoping that just writing a few words related to each subject that maybe anyone who actually reads here will pretty much get the idea.

More On "The Post-Winter Walking Thing"

Having "closed out" the subject of the leg injuries (as far as writing about them goes), I want to just comment on the aspect of having to get generally get used to walking long distances again.  Really, it was last Autumn/early Winter when I had gotten a) mostly over the leg injuries, and b) pretty used to walking good distances (as long as the only weight involved was my own and whatever reasonable weight I may have had in a shoulder bag.  Winter through everything (me) all off, however, because of how bad the Winter was.

The "exhaustion thing" is something I'll write about separately.  For now, I'll just say that I don't exhaust easily.  Also, while the different contributing factors to the "exhaustion thing" have changed, or at least changed in degrees/extent; the fact is that I went into "the leg injury thing" already dealing with/managing "the exhaustion thing"  that I'd been living with for quite some time.   In some ways, maybe the first leg injury was a weird kind of blessing in disguise; but, believe me, those first several months sure didn't feel like any form of blessing at all. Before then I had gotten to where I felt like I'd reached a saturation point with "the walking thing" (combined with whatever else had gone on, was going on, or I was worried about) in my life.  So, while the saturation point with regard to walking long distances was traded in for the long sage of the the leg injury thing; many of the other contributing factors to "the exhaustion thing" were still there (and in some instances, were getting worse for one reason or another).

In any case, I went into "the leg injury thing" with "the exhaustion thing" but came out of last Winter with a whole new level/type of "exhaustion thing".  So, once I got "the injuries thing" i ironed out (after mainly having been ironed out at the end of Fall/early Winter); I had to not only once again get the injury-related/associated muscles back used to walking long distances but all the unrelated ones back in shape, and used to longer distance walking again  (I know I've said this before on this blog, but since trying (if only for just myself) to get my head around the whole picture of what I was dealing with, and what I need to sort out in order to be able to "close out" the variety of subjects involved in the whole "Winter saga" requires a certain amount of repeating some things - there you have it.)

I've covered the thing about having to get used to different shoes because of the cooler temperatures of Spring, as well as any number of other things, in other posts.  The problem was that I came out last Winter with the exhaustion thing having reached a whole new level of "challenging", which meant that anything that at all resembled a large-muscle work-out was more demanding on my system than it otherwise would have been.  Then, too, once the heat of June and July kicked in they turned my efforts into more of a "thing" than they would have been under cooler and less demanding circumstances.  As it was, even when it was only fifty degree out (as in April or May) there were times when I would start out kind of chilly, walk down the street, and find myself working up a sweat.  That "phase" passed, but then the temperatures turned to hot and/or humid ones.  (We've been in a humid/ninety kind of range in recent days, but seventies and humid isn't all that comfortable for walking either.)

Long story made a little less long, before the leg injuries I could carry huge loads of groceries (and things like umbrellas) in my shoulder bag) without any issues that weren't related directly to the what I was carrying (rather than which muscles were used to carrying which types of weight for how long, etc. - even with "the exhaustion thing" as it was at the time.  As of about the third week in July, and even with the injury-related muscles (and whatever) all ironed out; the combination of still not being used to carrying pre-injury loads in the heat (with regard to the leg/back muscles required) wasn't ironed out.

The increased heat/humidity, combined with that fact, made me realize that what I needed was to forget about even trying to get used to walking "pre-injuries" and "pre-Winter" for a few days.  instead, I figured what I needed to do was to take some time (particularly since I knew the progress I'd made) to just try to stay home, make sure I had what I needed to deal with "the exhaustion thing", and - for once and for all (after the Winter) just rest.

What I'd noticed was that the combination of increased heat and humidity with the fact that the demands being made on things like back and leg muscles WITH, as well, whatever weight I had to carry in my bag; just felt like I was putting too many demands on my system.   Of course, there was only so much staying in and resting that I wanted to do.  I didn't need to get "whatever" not used to walking long distances again.  I just thought that as long as I was satisfied to have reached the point I had, it might be time to stay in for x number of consecutive days in order to just rest.  I did that, and I did get to where I felt as if I'd made a big improvement over the exhaustion thing.  It was (and remains) clear to me, however, that it was/is still a factor.

Once I'd done my little "rest thing" (around the end of July)  I decided to try walking again.  Not only did I not want to stay in on nice days, but there were days when I needed things from the store.  By then, however, the temperatures were pretty hot and humid.  Today is August 20.  There has only been one day when I felt "safe" enough not to carry one of my umbrellas in my bag.  I figured out that if I was going to walk I should take out my standard "ladies' wallet, which meant carrying money and any debit cards somewhere "loose-ish" in my bag (first in a little palstic bag in one of the lighter weight cases I have; more recently, in a nylon eyeglass case that bought just for carrying money/cards when I walk).  I also took out most make-up from my make-up case.  Then, too, I took out of my bag all kinds of things that I really do need when I go walking, but I decided they weigh too much.

What removing so much stuff has meant, however, has been that when I'm out and on foot and hot and/or otherwise frazzled by the walk, it doesn't help that I do without things I need and have my otherwise well organized bag turned into something that has no system.

Changing my bag from "walking mode" to "going in someone else's car mode" is, in itself, frazzling to someone like me, for whom "a system" is important.

I'm going to take a break from the whole subject of post-Winter walking here.   As I've said, I'm not only trying to lay foundations and sort things out for myself and for any future writing; but I'm trying to work my way toward writing posts that are better organized.