Now we're ordering Mexican for dinner.

Samesies!

I spent almost as much on fancy chocolate for the families for Christmas as I did getting my hair cut and colored (not a cheap salon; lots of people in the family). But it's a local chocolatier, so I feel good giving them my money vs Godiva. And it really is excellent chocolate. I also bought Christmas gifts at the bookstore in our neighborhood, so I'm trying hard to shop local as much as I can. I also hit Trader Joe's, so I'm thinking I cumulatively spent about a billion dollars today. I hope the economy appreciates it.

Now we're ordering Mexican for dinner.

Samesies!

We got burritos after Emmett came down to get the Christmas tree with us.

Though it's dark out, I'm going for a walk because the temperature has finally dropped (albeit briefly) towards the 40s for the first time all fall. I've been very resentful of the warm weather.

Our Christmas picture is taken. We are totally leaning into Mr. & Mrs. Claus.

Timelies all!

Ugh, Mr. S had a nightmare and woke us up around 2:30 am. He never did settle back down, and was disruptive several more times that night. So today has not been a good day for any of us.

Walking the beach at sunrise is the very best way to start the day and I haven't done it in too long.

That sounds wonderful.

and they basically told him that if he wasn't in immediate danger of dying, they would not be able to see him. His husband ended up driving him to a hospital over an hour away (where they put in a stent, so it was actually a serious issue).

I was released from the hospital last January with no instructions, follow-up, nothing. And no neurologist on staff to even see me while I was admitted. So family drove me to Loma Linda which both had a neurology dept and open beds. They wouldn't admit me because of Covid (and I had antibodies already).

I just happened upon a retweet of Jen Senko promoting her book and documentary, The Brainwashing of My Dad, which "examines the rise of right-wing media through the lens of her father, whose immersion in its daily propaganda had radicalized him." [ film website ]

Senko retweeted someone who (in a discussion about the Oxford High School shooter and his parents) had asked if the book also talked about how Democrats abandoned the working class in favor of corporatism — citing Bill Clinton and NAFTA.

As I reached for my cup, I said to no one in particular, "Um, I think you mean NAFDA."

I was fully serious. It took me a minute to realize that no, they did mean NAFTA. Thank goodness I didn't tweet it.

In other news, I think my coffee is broken.

Not enough coffee for a Monday for sure. That said, there are so many millions of us that have had to watch loved ones fall down the right-wing rabbit hole. I don't know if truth will ever be valued again. It is seriously depressing.

Lol Cindy! Sounds like a depressing but useful book but glad you didn’t tweet!!

I am five minutes into my work day and already want a break. Ugh.

My office is moving and next week is designated "unpacking day". Only we can't really work in the office, since there's no internet connection - just unpack paper files and such. And Monday through Tuesday morning is the time I have to pull together the content for our weekly electronic newsletter. Luckily for me, because of my age and infirmities, I'm not on one of the teams unpacking common areas, so I'll be tied up with unpacking my stuff, but won't be with unpacking and arranging common areas.

In better news, it seems that Peeps are a year 'round thing - Bethlehem, Pa., has Peepsfest for New Year's Eve - at midnight a giant Peeps (Peep?) will descend to mark the new year. The story I read wasn't clear on whether that Peep is edible, but said that people went home with marshmallow goodies.

Tim is home sick today with a bad cold (and he never takes sick time -- the last 3 times I can remember are [1] collapsed lung, [2] heart surgery, and [3] Covid). He got a Covid test just to be sure, so cross your fingers that it's just a cold. (I think there's virtually no chance it could be Covid, but "virtually no" does mean nonzero.) (Plus when he got Covid, at first we thought the symptoms were just a cold, so at this point it's kind of like: allergies? sinus infection? cold? Covid? Black Plague? NO ONE KNOWS.)