Category: Domestic Life

Jeff couldn’t go to the family dinner at Caspell Junction because of both press of work and feeling punk, and Keith didn’t make it home from work until two minutes before I called a cab and left. Katie fixed a plate for Jeff though, and he devoured it as soon as I got home.

I got to see Ryker, hold him, rock him while he was fussy and Katie was prepping food.

Paul seems to be doing reasonably well.

That was so fun. I wish all restaurants were like that.

— a one line review of one of my fanfics, posted last night.

I love this spa day adventure!

— a one line review of one of my fanfics, posted last night.

Lake Tahoe had some, er snow. I’m going to take a wild guess and say four way stop procedures are in place.

Arctic outflow continues, the house is like a meat locker and I can feel drafts pouring in from all directions. The repairman swore the furnace was fine, I hope the dude was right.

 

Apart from making steak and eggs for breakfast and mac and two cheeses for elevenses and two buttered rum toddies (a strong one for me, a weak one for Jeff) and shovelling the walkways, I had a very lazy day. My unputaway laundry is glaring at me, and the drawers I have to empty out to accommodate its spread is glaring as well, and two more loads at least await.

It amazes me how fast (now that I’ve learned to stay hydrated, pushing fluids all day until 6 pm whether I feel thirst or not) that I get DEhydrated; I didn’t get up and drink tea yesterday first thing, and in fact had nothing to drink until midmorning, and then spent the rest of the day trying to catch up. What they say in the health articles about not feeling thirst as much as you get older is totally true. I don’t know if Jeff has to remind himself to drink something but I sure do. My problem is that I want to drink tea all day and a) bumping caffeine all day is not healthy and b) it irritates me pipes.

I know things aren’t really much better but I feel much better. And because I’m feeling better, I’m trying to spend some time each day trying to process sadness about Tom and Ville. Two such different circumstances, and so tragic in their own way. I have names to put to two of the biggest public health related tragedies in BC history and the idea that their deaths are enmeshed in this greater social history is making me thoughtful. To me their deaths are tragedies and not statistics, but in the end they’ll just be statistics, and that makes me feel a little blank.

Today, Christmas movies (we didn’t watch them yesterday) and some yummy leftovers, and I’m thinking PUDDING RICE PUDDING but that means I have to make rice, LOL. Wonder what happens when I add butterscotch pudding to rice pudding, will it be a Frankentreat?

Laundry started, dishwasher running, kitchen counter tidied, coffee made and consumed; remembered to take mah meds, stole a picture of Jeff quietly working on Alex’s computer and now I have to find the cables to get it onto my computer gigglesnort. It’s only 6:30 and I’m well into my day.

 

check it out

Snowed about three cm last night. The world is blanketed and quiet, like it should be at 4 in the morning. I will shovel, Jeff will salt.

It’s five in the morning and I can hear a snowplow. At least Burnaby HAS snowplows.

Madison Cawthorn, a recently minted US Representative, who announced to a bug eyed world that women are EARTHEN VESSELS as far as MAKKING BABBIES and GOD is concerned, is getting a divorce after 8 FUCKING MONTHS.  FUCKING CHRISTIANS AND THEIR ETERNAL MARRIAGES AMIRIGHT??? His wife appears like a Fox news twirlybird with an instagram full of 2 hours of makeup and exercise with every photo, and he is a narcissistic misogynistic shitheel/freeform bag of dicks. Anyway the schadenfreude on twitter yesterday was balm for my wounded soul.

Kitchen floor is a glorious symphony of cleanliness, what with the floor swept and the rugs washed. It won’t last, Buster will scoot across one of the rugs within the next couple of hours, but it did exist, however briefly.

All of my clean clothes are put away or on hangars, but I still need to rearrange some things and put more books away and … like that. Denny’s desk is cleared off and ready to go to Alex.

…. and I already need to do more laundry. LOL. Two more loads at least, cleaning rags and regular clothes.

FCKING SQUIRREL came to where I feed the crows and tweety birds. pOp is rolling his eyes, having lived this for decades…. If you put out food, HERE COME THE SQUIRRELS! this one was big, fat and glossily black. Christ, I’m expecting a raccoon and a bear at this rate.

Crows really like pecans. I gave them pecans as a treat and the NOISE THEY MADE it was most entertaining.

I didn’t fetch my Inderal yesterday; I’ve got until 8 pm tonight to get more. I HAS A CHRISTMAS EVE MISSION. Get BP drugs so I don’t blow a hole in mah brain, whoooooeee

The handyman now has pictures of where the railing is loose at the bottom of the stairs at Caspell Junction and he’ll fix it sometime between now and New Years, and then I’ll pay him I guess. I was beating myself up a little for paying for something the landlord should be doing, and somebody else’s landlord at that, but I realized that it’s something that needs doing and if I can make it happen through someone else’s labour, I will. Paul is walking slow (he can keep up with me no problem) and his gait has changed a lot in the last couple of years and I’m just terrified of him falling. I was also thinking about Tom and how he REALLY had a bias for action, for being up and doing, for being productive and ready to help people and it was one of the things I loved about him most (ha ha since I benefited so much over the years) but let me tell you, listening to everyone talk about how he helped them….. that’s how I want to be remembered, as helpful. A little weird, but helpful.

 

Once again, woke at one. I have an endodontist appt at 8 am. Holy Crap cereal with greek yogurt for brekky (then I broke down and had some banana bread too). All washed down with lashings of Yorkshire Gold (thee best) tea.

I’ve got about an hour to put clean clothes away, and I’ll probably need all of it. (It’s now about half done, everything that goes on hangers is put away.)

Suzanne of the monstrum vacuum (monstrous vacuum, or empty monster, depending how you eyeball it) is here today. She is continuing to help with my room, which is tidier but still not squared away. Since all I’m doing with Denny’s desk is using it as a ‘junk bunker’ I’m perfectly happy for Alex to use it for his computer and it means that his darling mama doesn’t have to spend additional money, since Alex’s old desk disassembled during the move last January.  I’ll try to let him understand what the desk means in terms of family history. Hard to believe they’ve been in that place a year, hunh?

Buster does not like the vacuum, but he loves Suzanne and always comes to suck up to her after the vacuum stops.

Then after the endo I have to go to the pharmacy to check on something for me and Jeff.

I’m trying to think if I have any other errands I need to run in the middle of this “North Face” of an omicron variant wave. I sure hope not.

 

 

Is it COVID? Omicron is a sneezy one, they say.

Most COVID infections reported in a single day in BC. There’s only 5 million of us but almost 2000 were diagnosed with COVID yesterday.

All the rest of Alex’s computer came. Jeff is diligently getting it so it will be ready on Christmas morning.

Endodontist appointment tomorrow. Hey, root canals wait for no man.

Ordered on line and picked up yesterday. I AM NEVER BOOKING FOR 4 PM AGAIN FOR PICKUP the traffic was superlatively heinous.

Pushed Ryker up and down New West Quay for a good chunk of yesterday morning, as he and Alex and his mother and I got out of the house for some much needed exercise and air. It was ICY AF and Katie and I and Alex all almost fell down at least once, but almost made no bruises, so that was good.

Called my mother, Paul and Peggy; Peggy’s going to make us some mince tarts and she’s saving the biscotti I gave her until Christmas day. Paul’s supposed to drop by this am for a walk in Fraser Foreshore.

Keith is no longer going to Victoria and we’re all really sad about the necessity but I for one am relieved, very relieved.

Started S2 of Witcher, and am LOVING IT I do so love Geralt the Grunter. Henry Cavill has one of the sweetest frames a man ever draped leather over.

 

So I ate ESSSSEEDINGLY poorly yesterday but it was like a gap day and I’m back on the eating gooder wagon today. Chazerei is Yiddish. It is used for junk, stuff of little value but there’s a word for pig embedded in there so if you’re eating chazerei there’s a hint that it’s swinish badness.

I’m having a tough time remembering to drink enough if I’m not drinking tea, but my ureters start tugging their waistcoats and looking annoyed if I drink too much tea, so that’s a bit of an issue. I think I’ll make peppermint tea first and then take it from there. MUCH laundry today. I can well imagine Jeff saying why bother doing it if you can’t put it away, but one thing at a time dear lawd.

I was supposed to have a doc appointment but she never called me.

Tis time tis time, tis past time

that I should toast almonds

and make biscotti

most of it’s gone today but I still had to shovel the walkways. Jeff will apply salt later this morning if he didn’t last night.

Feeling much perkier… still slept a LOT yesterday.

Antarctic ice sheet about to let go…. any minute or so.