Lurking With HoCo Bloggers

I jumped way out of my comfort zone tonight, then jumped right back into it, after deciding to join in on the Howard County Bloggers party at the Second Chance Saloon in Oakland Mills.  Shortly after arriving, with my daughter, Melody, in tow, I went right back to being the lurker that I am and stayed out of the bar area.  We had a very nice meal, watched the guys playing darts, then made a hasty retreat.

I should probably take a step back and mention that this is the first time I've been out of the house except to pick up my daughter from school in the last two days.  I was laid low by a stress-born illness that has been keeping me bed- and couch-ridden, within close vicinity of a bathroom at all times.  I have to stress the "stress" word because I'm dealing with it in spades lately, mostly due to work, particularly new work functions, that have me really struggling to deal with day-to-day stuff.  The stress I'm feeling is evident to most of the people I'm around regularly, and even my father is urging me to consider another job.  At the age of 44, and in a very well-paying position, it's not that easy to just move to something else.  Much of this stress is going to disappear within a year, though, and if I can just hold out until then, I'll be better for it.  But when it has me feeling ill and staying home, it's pretty serious.  I need to figure it out.

I had an appointment with my doctor about a week-and-a-half ago and the gave me a few new prescriptions and directed me to get an endoscopy to figure out why I have elevated liver enzymes, plus I need to get a sleep test to find out if I have sleep apnea (and that's pretty likely...I've had the symptoms for it way back when my wife was still alive, and she wanted me to get tested then).  Since I'm already dealing with type 2 diabetes, hypertension, and high blood pressure, among other things, I really need to get these under control.  Steve Namie's death and Pastor Mark's double bypass surgery (scheduled tomorrow!), both of which have hit our church, Grace Community, in the past few weeks, have hit me a little too close to home, and I feel as if I need to make sure my health is good for my daughter's sake.

So after reading about the blog party yesterday, I was thinking, if I'm up to it, I'd like to go out and meet a bunch of really good writers and influences on my own writing.  However, being the introvert that I am, I really didn't have it in me to be social.  So, my apologies to all of the other bloggers present.  Maybe at the next one I'll feel better about meeting everyone.

As it is, I've got to get myself back to feeling normal and back to work.  I'm glad to be on the downside of the week, with a three-day weekend coming up.  The past two days were hardly relaxing, and a few days off will feel pretty great.

Have a great evening, everyone!