Glad there’s some progress Shir, I hope it continues!!

I had a Friendsgiving last night which was nice but then I hadn’t packed at all. Got up this morning and packed up and cleaned and stuff. Got 30 minutes down the road and realized I left my meds sitting on the table. Ugh. One of a very few things I absolutely had to bring with! So had to turn around and go back. But other than that, not bad traffic at all. Poor dog hates car travel but I finally found the Benadryl, which helps. He’s glad to be in the hotel now though. I’m feeling exhausted even though it’s 7:45 and I slept in this morning. Tomorrow about 5-6 more hours, then a week at our friends’ place, then continuing on to Palm Springs. Already looking forward to the hot tub.

{{{erin}}}

Mood after seven weeks of war: I referred to the cat as the militarized wing of the alarm clock.

Of the many ways I miss Jacqueline, I also miss the fine synchrony we had in the kitchen on Thanksgiving where she'd clean as I went so stuff didn't pile up like this.

Oh dear, I can imagine the resultant cleanup tasks!

I'm perfectly fine with all this (though Emmett is a little bit bristling guard dog). I'm glad she's moving past her ex-BF and if she's finding something that makes her feel alive and happy. At least it's not a kamikaze relationship with Spike.

Sweet and normal that Emmett is in guard dog mode. Kenny is apparently someone she has known a while from school? I hope it soothes her heart after shithead ex-BF.

was looking at flights for Friday morning, but K was very adamant to not show up just yet. Tiny hospital room, no diagnosis, nothing to do. She says it's not time yet. I just....need at least two days to *get* there. Stoopid lack of teleportation.

Have you had any updates? Sending lots of dad~ma. I'm sorry.

Tomorrow about 5-6 more hours, then a week at our friends’ place, then continuing on to Palm Springs. Already looking forward to the hot tub.

Enjoy!

Mood after seven weeks of war: I referred to the cat as the militarized wing of the alarm clock.

7 weeks of war and you can still bring a smile to my face.

At my sister's house. Saw my brother yesterday. Both of them are in very poor health. My oldest sib at 75 is in better shape than these two, although she has a long list of issues too. FL sister is likely going to have spinal surgery if they decide she is well enough. If so I'll come over here and stay with her for a bit. Ideally she would spend a very long time in rehab because she is very close to immobile.

Other than that, just taking it a day at a time here. Less than 3 months until I promised myself I would retire. Working on making that happen.

Cats are absolutely militarized alarm clocks. One of the reasons they are so useful to have around when you are clinically depressed. Gotta get out of bed, even if only to feed the knife-fingered demon nibbling at your eyelids and yowling for noms. Once up and functional enough to open a can of cat food, might as well check messages and make that dreaded phone call. I might be speaking from personal experience.

I cleaned the kitchen yesterday of all the post-thanksgiving prep mess. Then melted four+ pounds of beeswax and stayed up until 2am dipping candles and making a new mess.

Heartened that Hamas is releasing some hostages. That seems like a step in the right direction for human-based co-existence.

I'm very intrigued by Drew's more spooky ACC design. It speaks to my heart. Not enough to fly to SoCal to see it, but enough to consider. My favorite sequence ever to call in a theatre was the opening of Act II of ACC to that Carol of the Bells. It's so....energetic? That's not quite the right word. Def gets the blood pumping.

Timelies all!

Gary and I are going to a concert tonight. Mr. S will be with the nanny for a few hours.

Not sure if I wrote here before about the horrid reality show aspect of the hostages exchanges, but this sums it up pretty accurately: [link]

It's so good to see them back home, it's a torture not to know who will we get and in what state they'll be, and yes, we all feel a bit responsible. There's a collective Israeli "we" here, and I know in my bones that 2-3 other personal life choices and it could've been me in their place, or in a grave. This happened three hours away from me. This cannot happen again, to anyone.

I don't know what the future holds for Israel/Palestine. I don't think a war alone is the answer to anything. But politically things will change here. There is no other way forward. This is the place of political leadership to step in and think of another future, but sadly, we don't really have this at the moment. Until we do it kind of feels like it's between the US, Qatar, and Iran to think for us about that future.

Mood after seven weeks of war: I referred to the cat as the militarized wing of the alarm clock.

Hah! That is a hilarious way to put it! I hope things keep getting tiny bits better.

Laura, retiring in 3 months?? That’s exciting! Would B also retire, or just you?

Erin, I hope the news gets better and you have plenty of time to get there.

I have arrived at friends’ house and the dog is very grateful to not be in the car anymore.

Sorry that the road trip was a drag for the dog, but yay for safe arrival.

Laura, retiring in 3 months?? That’s exciting! Would B also retire, or just you?

Indeed. I turn 70 in February and although I won't stop working I will stop being on the computer all day, for the sake of my eyes. I told Brendon that I would still be happy to go out to practices to train and visit, and of course, will be available if they get stuck on a technical issue. In theory, my son will be able to take over for me on the day-to-day support. Brendon is 11 years younger than me so he plans to continue to work full time. If we could sell the business or something then I'd be delighted for both of us to retire. We'll see how it goes. Frankly, I am just over it. I've worked non-stop since I was a teenager. The last 40 years or so involved being on the computer all day every day. It's taken a toll on my eyes. It's still my business so it isn't like I walk out the door with a watch, but I won't be on the clock anymore, so to speak.

Good to hear from all of you. I had some salmon for Thanksgiving and have a good deal left over (I always expect to eat more salmon than I can). And, this year, I am very thankful for Leslie Jones.