Today was nothing special. I worked for 2 hours extra; I like the work so far, but I know it is only a temporary thing. I sat by an open sunny window for 40 minutes, getting some air and trying to appreciate the beauty of the day while on my lunch break. I made a therapist appointment for next month, because there is no day I can go this month. I really like Paul, and I would like to see him more often; I need to see if I can pick up extra hours to pay for weekly visits.

I stir-fried some vegetables and grilled some round steak tonight for supper. I had it ready when Captain Husband walked in the door. I am always happy when I can just hand him a plate and let him sit down as soon as he gets home. We talked a little about our days. His wasn't anything special either, except that his schedule will change next week to 7am-3pm. That will put our going-to-bed and getting-up times much closer together.

I am going to try an experiment for a month of going to bed at 9pm. Not necessarily going to sleep, but just going to bed, to see if it has any effect on my energy level. I honestly have no idea what my optimum amount of sleep would be. To tell the truth, there are nights when I would happily go off to bed at 7pm, but I never do because I fear disrupting the sleep schedule that I'm on. Since I have to be at work at 7am now, I'm going to give 9pm a try, just to see.

I've tended my online garden today. I planted entries on facebook and in my Happiness Project toolbox. I sowed comments in the blogs and journals of others. I weeded my bookmarks. I stopped to sniff some webcomics. I harvested some interesting facts and opinions.

On Instapundit I read that the Tea Party movement is actually being successful in creating change in Congressional spending, as evidenced by low interest among incoming freshmen in the Appropriations committee; supposedly the ear-marking power and pork possibilities have become "radioactive" and a liability back home. We shall see. I don't know if it is possible for anyone to make any difference at all, but it would be heartening to see that it did. I don't agree with all of what the Tea Party says, but there is a lot that sounds correct to me. I also read that the economy is slowly recovering, with all but 2 out of 15 indicators showing improvement, and the 2 that didn't had to do with housing. I still ferverently hope that there might be a job for me that isn't seasonal, and I hope that Maverick's house sells. Being on disability has made me keenly aware of my delicate position politically and economically. I don't want to be a hypocrite and say, "Cut all benefits but mine!" The truth is that the benefits I receive are not that much, and I am deeply grateful for the chance to work a little each day in order to supplement them. If there were a job that I could do, consistently, with no fear of what would happen due to bipolar swings and OCD, I would gladly do it. It may be that there is such a job, and if there is, I will eventually find it. Until then, I have my temporary seasonal telecommuting gig.

Aside from politics and the economy, I read about the way technologies developed for entertainment are now the drivers of progress, rather than technology developed for the military. The online archives of Popular Science are fascinating. And I am trying very hard to care about fashion, but I am not getting anything useful out of the sites I've been looking at, so I'm going to try some others. I want to know what people are wearing now, what they're likely to be wearing soon, and what is a mistake to wear. I am not especially worried about which stars are wearing what designers. I like designers, I was actually sad when Alexander McQueen died, but I am aware that only a few of the design elements of the shown collections will filter down to what people on the street are wearing.

I've got about another hour before bedtime, so now I'm going to go participate in an online community chat. It will give me the chance to touch base with a group of people who have come to mean a lot to me. They are positive, funny, and kind. We all have our quirks, strengths, and weaknesses, but there is always someone who will have something positive to bring to the table. I feel lucky to be part of such a group.