I have about had it with hooples and their firecrackers. Tonight will be the worst yet, too.

Oh god I forgot about fireworks.

lisah, I'm so sorry about Magellan. That kind of unexpected loss is so hard.

Matt, I hope 2024 brings health for your mom. Cancer, we see you there. ::shakes fist::

JenP, good vibes for Birdie! It might just be a senior thing, though. At that age some dogs start to lose control.

Teppy, a new car! With buttwarmers! That's a wonderful way to ring out the year (less so with the stomach bug, of course).

Pix, I'm so sorry about what your dad and you are going through. Have they checked to see if he might have had another stroke? And traveling cross-country all the time must be exhausting. I don't have any practical advice to give, but I do have love and hugs.

Such an awful rollercoaster, Pix. You are doing so much work to take care of your dad.

Our fireworks started days ago and will continue for a few more days. Heard some at 2 pm today.

Managed to snag a simple bed frame from a curb alert, so that’s good. I let the momentum carry me to Costco, but just the parking lot was too much. So now I’m waiting for a quesadilla and pondering my next move. I was going to stop by my favorite bookstore but they are closed. I should probably visit some kind of grocery since my cupboard and fridge are pretty bare right now. I’m thinking about making borscht tomorrow, so I’d have to go back to the house first to check my recipe. Haven’t made it in years.

Dreading the return to work, as is traditional.

Have they checked to see if he might have had another stroke

Yes. No evidence of a major one, but I think it has to have been at least a mini stroke given the severity of his decline and current symptoms. He's had so many that there no way to tell if the MRI is showing anything new.

I said goodbye, reminded him I will be back later this week, and am having some tacos before I go to the airport. I know I have done so much for him, but I can't help feeling like I'm abandoning him. But I also know I'm hitting a point of breaking down if I don't have at least a few semi-normal days, and I've put a bunch of safeguards in place. He won't remember why I'm gone, though, and the doom-talker in my brain is telling me he's going to die suddenly before I get back.

So tacos, I guess.

Pix, I think that he would want you to do what you need to do. You can't push yourself forever.

You can't push yourself forever.

I would also echo that this pace is not tenable.

You can't push yourself forever.

This. Thiiiiiiiiiiiisssss.

(Remember when I tried to do that and skirted the edge of a nervous breakdown? And all of you gently ganged up on me and told me I needed to rest? Back at you, my love.)

Thanks, everyone.

Pix, you have done everything you could do, and more. He would be in more trouble if you push yourself to collapse. Sleep well in your own bed and reenergize.

Matilda took off to spend NYE at a friend's house (with sleepover). So I'm all alone with a blossoming cold.

A sneezing and snizzling head cold. Rundown and snotty.

I just took a NyQuil and made myself a hot cider with cognac. So that should knock me out.

It's entirely appropriate that I'm entering 2024 sliding backwards down the coal chute.

It would be a good night to have a dog.