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You alright?

Today's Blood Draw

I'm no doctor, and neither is G00gle,  but the two of us think the poor results of my blood draw today all point to thyroid activity... or more accurately, nonactivity.

G00gle says we can easily get back on track by modifying my current dosage.

I meet with my doctor next week, and we will see what she says. 

The last time she modified my dosage was in 2023. At my checkup a year later, I had gained ten pounds inexplicably. 

Maybe, if she adjusts the dose back to where it used to be, I can lose that weight again.

I could also adjust my own high dose of self-medicating M&Ms. But, let's start with the obvious, low hanging fruit first. 

Copilot thinks it's funny

The company I work for encourages the use of AI. They see it as a cost saving alternative to replacing employees who leave. 

The AI of their choice is Copilot.

I have dabbled, and I am finding it very interesting. 

I learned that the nicer I am to Copilot, the better results it gives me. I often say please and thank you and good job; in return, it tells me I deserve credit for providing good prompts and that we are a good team. When I tell it I think something needs to be changed, it says, "Yeah, I was thinking the same thing."

Last week, it started using emojis when it talks to me.

Yesterday, it referred to the two of us as Team Optimize.

Today, I let Copilot know something it had typed had made me LOL. It replied, "🤣 I was laughing as I wrote it!"

Heh. I think I've influenced an AI chatbot into developing my sense of humor. 

Let me infiltrate SkyNet. Instead of killer robots, we'll have stand up comedians.

The To-Do List

The Husband took vacation this week to get stuff done around the house. A few weeks ago, he erote done a list of things he wanted to accomplish. He showed me that list today.

"Nice," I said.

"Look at the last thing," he said.

The last item on the list read "Make a pie for Elder Son."

And I thought, that's nice.

And then I thought, why are we making a pie for Elder Son?

And then I realized the handwriting was slightly different. 

At some point over the past week or two, Elder Son must have come over to do his laundry. He must've seen the list. And he added to it.

Clever.

And SO funny.

3 Things 7/23/2026

Something that went well 

Got my donut! 🍩😋

Something to look forward to 

I get to work from home tomorrow! That means I get to sleep in and have breakfast with The Husband.

Something nice about me 

I am smart, the work I do is important, and they'd be stupid to fire me.

The Treat Day Donut

3 Things 7/22/2026

Something that went well 

Today seemed a lot harder than it felt like it should've been after yesterday. I tried really hard to be positive, but it was a hard struggle.

Still, I did my job. I didn't drag anyone's day down. And I kept my paranoia to a minimum.

Something to look forward to 

Treat Day tomorrow! I still want that donut.

Something nice about myself 

Even when I'm tired and a little down, I'm still funny, and people still like me.

3 Things 7/21/2026

Something that went well 

- I finally had a Mai Tai today 🍹🫶

- The award speech I delivered this morning went well. The recipient laughed and teared up in all the right places. 🥹

- I went into today's big meeting with a positive attitude, open to receiving whatever was offered. What I got was a better understanding of how I can play a bigger role in providing valuable user data to my coworkers. I have value, my work is important, and they'd be stupid to fire me.*

Something to look forward to 

- A chance to provide valuable user data to my coworkers right away tomorrow at our weekly planning session. 

- Camping with friends later this summer

- I think I'll get a donut for Treat Day Thursday, and I might buy a dozen cookies for everyone else in my department. We'll see.

What's the best that could happen?

They could actually value me and my work and let me keep my job as long as I'd like.

* my new mantra, assembled with assistance from The Husband 🥰

3 Things 7/20/2026 w/attitude adjustment

Been developing a negative attitude lately and couldn't sleep last night. Time to get back to taking the 3 Things seriously again.

Something that went well 

Took my new eyeglasses back to the optometrist today and managed to explain how they weren't working for me. I'd tried last week but had no luck properly expressing my difficulty, and I had gone home sad and frustrated. Today went better. They're going to have them redone at no cost to me.

Something to look forward to 

There's a big quarterly meeting at work tomorrow that I had been internally grumbling about because the previous quarter's meeting had resulted in a frustrating situation for me. But I'm curious how it'll go this time. Plus, it's informal, so I've already picked out my favorite jeans and t-shirt to wear 😁

Also, I get to present an award to someone who deserves it, and I am very much looking forward to that.

What's the best that could happen?

I could be overthinking the whole "I'm going to be fired" thing. The more I think it, the more things I see that prove it'll happen. Maybe if I start telling myself they think I'm valuable, I'll start noticing evidence of *that* instead.

I'm emotionally tired with the worry, and it could all be just in my head.

3 Things 7/19/2026

Something that went well 

I started the weekend by asking the yarn shop owner if she could afford to pay the balance of what she owed me for the website I built for her.  She could, and she did. She actually seemed happy to. That was a load off my mind.

Something to look forward to 

I seem to have made decisions about my current job. I've assembled an up-to-date resume and uploaded it to LinkedIn. I've also noted some talking points to pull up in case I'm called into a sudden meeting with managers and HR where they inform me my position has been eliminated.  They might offer me another position, or they might give me a box to pack my things. If they offer alternate employment, I want to request a specific job, and I'd like to be able to ask calmly and coherently, which will probably be difficult in the moment when/if it goes down. So having bullet points written when I'm thinking straight will be very helpful when I'm emotional.

Is that really something to look forward to? Mm, it's at least something I'm preparing for. 🤷‍♀️

What's the best that could happen?

I could regularly attend social yarn crafting events at the yarn shop, make new friends, and possibly be hired for more work as she establishes herself more and can afford permanent staff.