We haven't decorated. Well M's Mom has put up a tree in her room, but there isn't room in the living room and honestly I just... I'm once again trying to get into the holiday spirit and feeling like I probably won't until actually after Xmas and then I'll be feeling like it's the holidays.

M's mom is going to have to have surgery on her back, she was supposed to have dr's appointment today but it was telehealth and it never clicked with M or I that she wouldn't know how to navigate a telehealth appointment so she ended up missing it. She then asked me "does this mean I'mnot having my surgery?" And I told her it meant she needs to call the dr's office back and reschedule and tell them it has to be in person. Because of who she is and the fact she's on pain medicine she's now convinced herself someone is going to steal her medicine. Like just now she was upset and yelling at M to come help her right now! She'd hidden her pain medication and couldn't find it. I ended up going in there to help. And it was where she always puts it on her side table. I guess she thought about hiding it but didn't. When I asked who she thought was going to steal it she told me "people are in and out of here all the time." The only people who have been in and out have been her niece and her granddaughter and us. That's it. She tells me " Pain medicine makes people crazy. Makes them do crazy things." All I could say was "yes it apparently does"

Mom came down and took me and M to lunch so that was nice. She didn't stay long. She said her landlady and someone from Habitat for Humanity came and looked at the house and said they can put in a ramp for her and when reassess about the bathroom accessibility if that becomes an issue. So that's good.

Hit my 3 month anniversary at work. It's been slow and they cut hours. Full time is only asked if they want to go home and not cut. But my shoulders and back were killing me on Friday so I left early. I'm going to regret it when I see my pay check because I'll finally have health insurance deducted from it. When I was trying to figure out how much I'd take home here vs what I as making before I went on leave at Belk I thought I would come out about even but I forgot to tally in 401K contribution.

And then for some reason I thought I had Chewy set up to auto ship flea treatment every 2 months but I had it set up for every month. And M kept telling me we didn't need any more but I hadn't been paying attention to when the autoship payment happened or when we were getting the packages. So we have a stockpile of flea treatment now and I can cancel that for the time being.

I had a meds check and annual doctor's visit combined. Had some blood work done and everything looked really good. My triglyceride levels took a nose dive and everything else had modest improvements. The only thing I've done different between now and last December was increase my exercise level because of work.

Holy shit, I completely forgot that Ben McKenzie of the OC and Morena Baccarin are a couple with two kids.

ita would have loved that. Or at least found it very intriguing.

Our neighbor's DoorDash delivery ended up on our doorstep, so I took it over to them and got to pet their dog! Good deed: rewarded!

Holy shit, I completely forgot that Ben McKenzie of the OC and Morena Baccarin are a couple with two kids.

They were in Gotham together, IIRC.

That sounds right

So I make it a point to look for these little lights, these acts of grace and compassion and kindness. I feel that they're so deeply needed, so I try to actively look for them (oh, and if at all possible, I wish and hope that I can also actually do a tiny bit of that myself, for others). And that's what this Hanukkah is, for me.

It’s definitely a time where finding little bits of light seems increasingly urgent and also more difficult. Well said.

Thanks, Laura. I’m sure I’ll find somewhere to go and people to be with, if I decide to do anything. I really want to work towards some kind of truce with my sister, not only for my dad’s sake but ours as well. But this conflict goes back decades, so I don’t know. She’s back in therapy now, at least.

I think I’m getting sick. Somewhere in the last two decades, I have this thing where I get sick very quickly. I go from “huh, I feel a little off” to “red alert must lie down now” in a matter of hours, and that is happening today.

I don’t think it’s COVID, but there’s nothing to back that up except it just “feels like a cold”. Now I’m wondering if I should go home and skip Spravato. Ugh. ETA yep. Came home, cancelled Spravato.

Get some good rest and feel better, smonster. Stress lowers our immunity to everything. Take care of yourself.

DH fell down the stairs at the condo about a week ago, maybe. He seemed okay the next day, but his legs are still very painful. And one of them feels too warm to me. He can't seem to manage to see anyone because between work and basketball his hours from 5AM to 10PM are booked. I'll try again tomorrow. The office where we are working is actually in the parking lot of the hospital, so I may have to drag him over to the ER if it persists. At least he had the presence of mind when he knew he was going down to protect his head and not put his hands out to try and stop himself because we would be dealing with a head injury or broken wrists then. Still, his shins are pretty beat up.

He can't seem to manage to see anyone because between work and basketball his hours from 5AM to 10PM are booked.

An injury that needs to be treated in the ER is going to un-book his hours pretty dang fast. If his legs are still very painful after a week, it should definitely get checked out. Stupid gravity, acting the way it does around stairs.

but his legs are still very painful. And one of them feels too warm to me.

It's been a week. He needs to unbook some time and keep himself moving well in the future.

I get the No Wanna, but He Gotta.

Timelies all!

I managed to hurt my back putting on my socks yesterday. (I usually do that standing up, and I lost my balance) I am just so talented.