one thing after another

First things first: here is a handsome boy to look at.

I've been sick, and so tired, and the Professor has been so good to me. He lets me stay in bed for awhile, and brings me tea, and makes food for us and does all the yard work. He also watches reruns of the Cosby Show with me, which is good of him. I know we shouldn't be watching them, but there is something so comforting about old shows like that when you're not feeling well, and when you're so worried and anxious about everything. It does help me escape reality for a little while.

The gutter cleaners came. And Miss Utility sprayed where all the lines are. The weeds look pretty dead.

dead.

The Wizards traded Gortat for Austin Rivers, in the most useless trade in the history of ever. I'm so angry.

Also angry-making: Justice Kennedy announced his retirement, opening the door for another whackjob Trump appointee.

We made our first home chef meal and the Professor ate all his zucchini! It's a Christmas miracle!

Speaking of miracles, Kai does not have cancer! It's a huge relief but her lungs are "mineralizing" which is not good. Apparently it's a thing that can happen with older dogs. It's not good, but it's not cancer, and we're thankful for that.

Today, I was in the laundry room, just doing some laundry, as one does, and I happened to notice that the dryer vent hose is ripped. Actually it's torn almost all the way off.

this probably makes no sense, but trust me: it's a ripped dryer hose vent.

So of course the first thing I thought was that we are all going to die of carbon monoxide poisoning, and for some reason, deciding not to use the dryer until it's fixed didn't really do anything to lessen my panic.

We took our stuff to Mom's to use her dryer, and we took Lil Sis to Lucia's for dinner and then to Cold Spoon for froyo. We hung out on the deck with the fam while we waited for the dryer to finish, and RLD dug a bunch of tools out of the shed for us.

Later, we went to home depot and bought a new dryer vent hose. Hopefully we can install it properly so that we don't all die. Fingers crossed. Very skeptical.

Watched Drunk History with the seesters, then Mystery Science Theater 3000, and it was funny but I fell asleep.

a date

I felt a little better today.

But, I believe this thing in my backyard is privet:

So that will have to come out eventually. I guess it's pretty low on the priority list for right now tho - first we have to keep our jobs so we can keep the house long enough to worry about it.

We got an estimate on redoing the insulation in the laundry room today. It's $1k, but I think we have to do it. It's all fiberglass insulation in there now, and it's dirty and gross, and coming off the walls. Every time anyone brushes up against it, little fibers get stuck in their skin and are super irritating. And I don't want the cats anywhere near it, obviously. I think if we have to sell the house, the new insulation may not be a selling point, but the old insulation would definitely be a non-selling point.

Anyway, in the evening, we went to a place called Copperwood Tavern for dinner. Here are some pictures that the Professor took while playing with the food photography setting on his phone. I like them.

fun drinks!

MEAT.

all the things.

After dinner, we went to see Dead Pool 2, which I liked.  Nothing like ignoring your problems to make them go away!

the state of things

You remember the day last month when I found out my project is ending? I've been dealing with that quite badly as it turns out. My anxiety is really doing a number on me, and I have to admit to being filled with fear and dread most days, which is making me miserable. I hate to say that. I try so hard to find positives in every day. But I'm so bad at coping with uncertainty, and I know that I really do have to take action, but I'm afraid. I don't think I'm good enough to make the amount of money that I need. I don't think I can find a job that will let me telecommute.

I talked to a coworker - someone who is still at my old company, who I still contract for. I asked her what she thought about me trying to come back, with the stipulation that they let me telecommute. I'm not sure if it would work, but I have been working (slowly) on my resume.

The cats are also having a hard time. They've gotten into so many territorial disputes, and Kitty peed on the back of the couch and tried to use a blanket to cover it up. It took days of steam cleaning to get the smell out. And Mowgli is having a lot of hairballs. So I'm just...so worried about them. I'm so worried about everything, all the time, and I feel like a nervous wreck. I can't sleep. I just am so unhappy, truthfully.

I watched the Royal Wedding the other day, which was kind of a bright spot. I like learning about the royal family, for whatever reason. I just DO. And Meghan put such an American spin on that wedding - it was fun to see! Plus, she's so beautiful.

Wednesday was a good day. My best friend and favorite person, The Professor, came home for the summer! Plus my parents sent me this cute selfie from the Nats game:

they look so happy!

And, here are some pretty cute cat pictures:

Kitty just hanging out with a puffy round toy. She really likes puffy round toys,
and she likes to sing the song of her people when she has one.

And here is Buffy, cleaning Rolly.

Yesterday, The Professor and I went to see Infinity Wars. It was...emotionally exhausting. I couldn't believe it. I know it can't be true, but it just was so shocking and I'm so mad at them for doing this to us! We sat outside listlessly for awhile, processing what we'd just seen, and then we went for dinner. I had another Impossible Burger, which I just...don't prefer. Over beef. It's just kind of weird. I will keep trying to like it!

Today we went to the mall to look for some tops for me, and we happened to notice this random, tiny "park" in between the mall parking lot and the street.

As it turns out, it's the Vestal's Gap Road Historic Park. 

It's...a bit bizarre, and pretty difficult to imagine anyone visiting the park. What would you do there? Sit on the benches and breathe in the exhaust? I guess they built the mall on top of the old road, which is sad, because it really was a historically important route. But they've preserved a good chunk of it over at Claude Moore Park, so at least there's that.

Later, Lil Sis came over and we went to Cava with her for dinner. It was nice out, so we walked around that shopping center and stopped to get frozen custard. Lil Sis, in true Lil Sis-form, got a gigantic waffle cone, which immediately began melting all over everywhere. Lil Sis was always a half-step in front of it though, and managed to finish every last bit of it.

We came home and watched Guardians of the Galaxy 2. It was fine, whatever.

mostly blaaaaaaaaeeeeeh

The Professor went back to CA on the 2nd and I miss him very much.

The cats and I are doing better with meal times and eating wet food, but the poops are a big problem. I called the vet, and they recommended that I add pumpkin and and entire packet of FortiFlora to their food every day, but if it's helping at all, it's hard to tell. I'll spare you the details, but things are really gross around here.

Also, Fluffy needs me to sit with her and tell her what a good girl she is for eating, which I feel is not a good use of my time. But she won't eat otherwise. I need to figure out a way to get her to eat without me being there, otherwise we're in real trouble when I leave again.

The plumber came to fix the pipe in the master bathroom. So that was exciting.

If it isn't clear, but I'm not enjoying my life very much right now.

But! Spring is on the way. Friday was warm, and I opened the windows and mowed the lawn.

Today I went for a walk with Mama and Lil Sis and we saw some really pretty flowers that I should have taken a picture of. I stayed at Mom's for dinner, which was yummy and healthy.

I stayed afterwards to observe some adorable snuggles and watch SNL.

a birthday and a homecoming

Today the kittens turned 7! Remember when they were just lil squirmy nuggets?? Man. Little did I know that day what was about to happen to my life.

The vet informs me that they are now considered "senior." Which means Mowgli has been "senior" for a couple of years, and Kitty is somewhere between "senior" and "deceased."

Also today, The Professor came home for spring break!!  Yaaaaaaaaay! 💗💗💗

last day in CA, first day in VA

Yesterday morning I had such an intense feeling of dread and anxiety that I almost couldn't function. So, to fix it, we spent most of the day outside playing. It really did fix it.

We started at a place called White Point Park, which is just a small little place to hang out by the ocean. There were a fair number of people there, parked in their cars, facing the ocean, some of them playing music. I am pretty sure every single one of them was high. What is it with smoking pot in beach parking lots around here?

Anyway, here are some pictures:

a humming bird!

There were lots of squirrels hanging around.

Do you see this thing that Bugs Bunny is using to blow up the moon? (is there a word for that thing?)

The Professor would like it if someone could please photoshop that thing into the picture of the squirrel. He definitely looks like he just blew something up and is a bit stunned by his own handiwork. 

Anyway, we walked around on the beach for awhile, which we had all to ourselves, since everyone there was just hanging out in the parking lot. There were these two crows drifting along together, flying in circles, making little gurgling noises to each other. It was very sweet, and I loved them.

After that, we went to one of our favorite spots, the Point Vicente Lighthouse. We just stood there looking out at the ocean, and all the birds, and I thought about how lucky we are, how lucky I am, for so many reasons.

Several flocks of pelicans kept flying back and forth along the cliff edge, almost right at eye level. We waited for them to pass and tried to get pictures, but they didn't come out great. Most of them are blurry, and the ones that aren't too blurry are backlit, like this one:

Zoom in. I think the one in the front is pooping.

And there were lots of these little guys running around in the dirt. I do not have a single picture where both his head and his tail are in focus.

Anyway, we needed to get going because we had to get to Progressive before they closed and get the insurance payout on the Professor's old car. The lady there directed us to a conference room to wait for her to finish up something, and there was a pad of paper and a pen on the table. The Professor drew this self portrait, which made me laaaaaugh and laaaaugh:

I asked him why he gave himself such beady eyes, so he "fixed" it:

Which also made me laugh. He's the best. He's also very handsome, in case you were worried that his drawing skills are accurate. 

So after we got our payout, we went to lunch at some sports bar where they were playing classic rock, but only dudes. No ladies! Which is so dumb! We tried to guess who they all were. I got a pretty good BLT with tater tots and a piece of lemon cake. The Professor had a bite of my cake and was not offended. Miracles happen every day.

Today I woke up at 4:30. We woke up at 4:30. The Professor, who is the best person, took me to the airport for my 7am flight. It was thankfully uneventful, without even a crying baby. I watched Goodbye Christopher Robin and Kingsman: The Golden Circle. I'm home now, and tired. The kitties were so happy to see me, it was terribly cute. I have so much to do, but I'm going to veg out for now.

rising from the ashes

The Professor bought a new car today.

He likes it, and it's an upgrade over the ol' Mazda 3. He's thinking of naming it Fawkes, after Dumbledore's phoenix.

It's been an exhausting couple of days, and we are looking forward to getting back to normal. We've been neglecting everything, so the apartment kind of looks like a bomb went off in it. Maybe tomorrow we'll do some dishes and some laundry and stuff. For now, it's bed time.

close call

Well. We spent the long weekend in Santa Cruz with Uncle Joe and Mary, but we were way too busy to blog about it while we were there so I was planning to post some pictures yesterday and do some blog posts.

But then The Professor got into a car accident on his way to work. He's ok! He's perfectly fine, except for a bit of muscle strain in his neck/shoulder/back, but he's otherwise completely unhurt and ok.

His car isn't though.

not looking great

airbag :-(

So, since the car is 14 years old, and the airbag deployed, and the engine is kind of...dislodged, we are guessing the insurance company will call it a total loss. We weren't ready to buy a new car, but I think we can maybe do it? We'll see this weekend I guess. 

For what it's worth, it wasn't the Professor's fault. The accident was caused by someone trying to be nice and waving another driver (who couldn't see around a truck) through an intersection. Unfortunately, that "nice" person wasn't paying attention to his surroundings, or the fact that the other lanes had people driving in them. The other driver trusted him, and turned left into traffic, and the Professor didn't have time to stop. Thankfully, no one was seriously injured. Thank God.

The takeaway: don't trust people who wave you through intersections if you can't see what's going on in the other lanes. This same thing also happened to Lil Sis.

Also the takeaway: don't be "nice" and wave people through intersections when there are other lanes of traffic that you're not in control of.

So the car was towed away, and the Professor went to the doctor and got some muscle relaxants and a clean bill of spinal health, and then had a long conversation with the insurance assessor on the phone. Afterwards, we went to drop off his prescription, and while we waited for it to be filled, we picked up some stuff at the Tuesday night farmer's market and then went to a diner for dinner and had ALL THE FOOD and then pie to celebrate life and love and togetherness.

It's just another reminder to hold your loved ones close and be thankful for the time we have together.

getting better

The Professor's fever was a bit lower yesterday, but still not gone. He stayed in the room again all day. He's been so good and patient, and he's doing such a great job of resting and drinking fluids.

His fever is gone today! So if you count Tuesday as a flu day, even though he didn't have a fever yet, he was sick for 5 days, which is shorter than the flu normally is, and I totally credit the flu shot. I also credit it with his lack of debilitating pain. GET A FLU SHOT PEOPLE.

Anyway. I backed up a bunch of old files today and I found this picture of me and the Professor sitting together at Meana's wedding 14 years ago!

In other news, Fluffy is helping us with laundry day.

she is not a very good sorter.

flu.

The Professor went to the doc today because the fever got higher over the past couple of days and was 103 last night. And I just wanted them to listen to his lungs and make sure they're ok and not filling up with stuff. They tested him, and he definitely has the flu. He did get a shot, and I think that's why he doesn't feel as bad as people with flu usually do. He hasn't had any of that terrible aching.

Stripey is doing a good job keeping him company

I launched a campaign to convince the rest of the fam to promise to get flu shots. None of them got it this year except for RLD! They are all very bad.

On the bright side, today was a glorious warm day. The Professor wanted Cava Grill for lunch because he thought we could use some nutrients, so I went and grabbed it and it was delicious.

I also transferred all our money out of Wells Fargo, and we are now officially divested from them! I feel good about that because they are a terrible, unethical company. 

Speaking of unethical, and also just plain evil and racist, Trump.

flu?

The Professor wasn't feeling great yesterday, but he kept me company while I ran all my errands anyway. We dropped off the apple bread at the neighbor's, mailed Meana's Christmas gifts to her finally, picked up the dry cleaning, and got a few groceries. The Professor mostly stayed in the car, and I should have realized that something wasn't right. Usually he's so full of energy.

He woke up with a fever this morning. He had to cancel his dentist appointment, and we went ahead and canceled our museum trip and dinner plans with KC and MS tomorrow. I'm worried he might be getting the flu, although his fever isn't super high and he doesn't have terrible body aches. Still, he didn't leave the bedroom today.

We watched the Wizards game on my phone in the bed next to each other and in hindsight, I feel like  that may have been a bad idea.

I'm sleeping in the guest room tonight, just in case.

f milo

Milo Yiannopoulos came to The Professor's campus today, to spew his bigotry and hate at people. Whatever, I guess he has that right.

The more reasonable people on campus had a "unity day" event, which was important to me and The Professor to attend and support. Unfortunately for me, I was very tired from the night before, I wasn't feeling well enough to make myself look even halfway decent, and I was cold. It was kind of a chilly day! So I couldn't show off my protest t-shirt - I had to wear a hoodie over it. And I was constantly self conscious about meeting people and having them think The Professor married some frumpy old cat lady who couldn't even be bothered to wash her hair or cover up the circles under her eyes.

So it wasn't a great day for me, but I was glad that we went, and glad to see that so many others showed up to make their voices heard.

I was starving and grumpy afterwards, so The Professor took me to a nearby burger place that serves actually kind of incredible burgers. We also got milkshakes and fries. I felt better as soon as I took my first bite.

Sometimes I'm not sure how The Professor manages to put up with me. He is so good-natured and patient. 💗

broken social scene

Last night, we went to LA to see a band that The Professor really likes called Broken Social Scene. Maybe everybody has heard of these people except for me.

I had never heard their music, and so I actually have spent the past month binge listening to their new album so that I wouldn't be bored at the show.

We got there, and the venue had a big area right in front of the stage where people were standing, and then a narrow row in the back with tables and chairs. As we ordered our drinks, we asked the bar tender if we could sit at one of the tables, and she said we could but we had to order a minimum of $50 worth of food and drinks, and the drinks we just ordered didn't count.

People, I am too old to stand around at concerts anymore. We felt it was worth $50 to be able to sit down and have drinks and be away from the jostling throng and avoid the throbbing feet.

So we ordered some pizza. Keep in mind, they had just opened the doors to this place. Like literally 10 minutes ago. The pizza came out with that hardened, greasy, brown look that says "I have been sitting under hot lights for upwards of 15 hours." I got through about half of mine and gave up.

Next, we ordered champagne because it was the most expensive thing on the menu and we were desperate to reach our $50 quota without ordering any more pizza.

We also ordered churros, which were not quite as bad as the pizza, but maybe almost.

Bottles of water are always reliably overpriced, so we got a couple of those, and then our waitress came by at the end with two more, just to put us over the edge. We appreciated it. Really, we would have just given them $50 for the table and nothing else. That would have been fine too.

The guy at the table next to us was wearing half a bottle of cologne, and talking as if he wanted to be heard 50 yards away during a rocket launch. He was basically his own broken social scene.

But we had fun, we really did. It was a fun show, and the Professor was so happy. And it makes me so happy to see him so happy, and so we had a good time.

yum

The highlight of today was going to happy hour at this place called Restauration. They are hipsters.

Exhibit A: a wall o' succulents

Hipsters tend to offer pretty tasty food tho.

Exhibit B: pork belly tacos

And fun drinks.

Exhibit C: some sort of strawberry basil concoction

They also had two guys with Elvis hair playing the saxophone and the guitar, and it was really super nice. I loved it. I loved the food, I loved the atmosphere, I loved the wall of succulents. I will go there again.

bon voyage, professor

I took the Professor for his ritual pre-flight Honeybaked Ham sandwich and grocery store run. He likes to have a ham sandwich for his flight, Swedish Fish, and gum. I dropped him at the airport and came home to a quiet and lonely house.

Kitty would like to go outside so that she can murder squirrels

Mowgli assures me that everything will be ok.
But he would also like to know where the Professor is.

happy anniversary to US

Thursday was our first anniversary!  We went to Reston Town Center to get cake that the Professor likes, and had lunch at a restaurant that may or may not have left him feeling a bit nauseous. He recovered quickly, thankfully. We wanted to do a picnic like we did on our wedding day, but it was too hot. So we waited for the sun to go down and then walked up to Cold Stone for some ice cream.

Big Sis was kind enough to drive up there and get us and drive home, because there's a section of that walk where you have to walk in grass, and it's hard to see, and you might break your ankle, and that would suck if that happened on one's first anniversary.

Yesterday we had makeup charcuterie. We gave up on the idea of having a picnic outside because it was still too hot, so we had it inside on the coffee table.

Today we found out that Jim Vance died, which is so sad.

Sean and Sabrina had a book party, where they invited friends over to come and look at all their books and take whatever they wanted, so they could get ready for their move to Colorado. We took a few. I'm still sad about this.

Fluffy doesn't like whatever she thinks I'm writing about her in my journal.

adventures with the Professor

The Professor is home! He came home last Tuesday and we have been living happily ever after.

Also last week, some representatives from Audubon at Home came to look at my yard and give me advice. They offered ideas on what additional native plants I can put in, and where, and they showed me some things that I need to get rid of - most especially Japanese stiltgrass.

The Professor's birthday was on Saturday and we had a little get together at Mama's with cake and ice cream and presents. I don't have any pictures of the Professor opening gifts, but I do have this blurry-yet-adorable picture of Kai with her new squeaky Lambchop:

she is the best girl

Today we went to Claude Moore park, which is a pretty special place. It's a park that was preserved around the mid-point of Vestal's Gap road, which has some pretty cool history. Unfortunately, I forgot my phone, so we only had the Professor's phone to take pictures with, and the lens is broken so everything is super blurry and terrible. But here they are anyway!

little house with filter for maximum creepiness

log cabin of some sort

rusty old farming equipment

old closed-off well