You'd think I would learn...

The past 10 days have been extremely hectic and stressful. My mom returned from her trip, and I had a flurry of things to do before she came home. (And yes, she said she was "homesick" while she was up in PA. I think she's finally adjusted to living in TX). For some reason she is freaked out by the apartment maintenance man and so doesn't tell her landlady about problems in the apartment. George and I discovered a few and fixed them while she was away.

We also have had contractors working on the outside of our house every day. Part is the backyard retreat project (preps for swim spa/hot tub) and part is replacing all the wood fascia board and trim, painting, and replacing gutters.

Last but certainly not least - Work. Twelve hour days, working over the weekend, and having to give hourly progress reports to Nervous Boss would take a toll on anyone, but it is a guarantee for a Fibro flare for me. It hit me yesterday with full force. Pain and exhaustion like I haven't had in a while. In addition, stress makes my left-over shingles pain activate again, so it's like a party in my nerve endings - a torture party.

I dragged myself to work this morning and took care of the very last item for the upcoming launch. It had to be completed before the L minus 2 Day meeting at noon (L means Launch in my world). And it was completed , but not before I shamed Nervous Boss into apologizing for his harrassment. He actually admitted to being a "busybody" - his own words. He must have had a blinding flash of clarity for a moment - but it quickly passed.

I quickly removed myself from the office and collapsed into my bed at home, after taking the heavy-duty pain meds. After a 3 hour nap, I am feeling a bit better and the pain is manageable.

I plan to make it into a long weekend for the July 4th holiday.

And, we are supposed to launch at 2:48 pm Central time on Saturday afternoon. Say a little prayer, if you are the praying type.

My major job responsibility for this flight is completed before launch, so the duration of the space mission is pretty quiet in my world. Except if there is a problem. I never want to be involved with a Mishap Response Team again. It is still a wound that gets opened whenever we fly.

I'm hoping it gets healed in the next 2 weeks.