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Erikaj, I’ve sort of been doing 2 out of 3 for the past year, what with other commitments, travel, COVID, etc. I could probably get by cutting it to half. I would like to stay in touch with some of them.

{{{{Susan}}}}

Oh, Susan, I hope this resolves quickly and with much less stress.

I spent the day with Phil the Gambler and his ladyfriend which was fun.

I gave them a tour of the house and after Phil spent a goodly chunk of the day looking up random properties on Redfin and yelling, "I need to buy a Victorian in San Francisco!"

Jennifer's in town for two events at Sketchfest which is a big Thing now. I guess it's been a thing for a while now, but it's sort of turning into a stateside Fringe Festival. Except less cutting edge and more nostalgia (lots of Kids in the Hall stuff).

I walked them through the Panhandle, picked up some baked goods at Shlok's Bagels and Hahdough's german bakery. Then we ate brunch at Brenda's Meat and Three: [link]

Oh, it's so fucking good. I had a gumbo which was just the thing for the lingering after effects of my head cold and sampled a shrimp Po Boy (which was ridiculously yummy).

We tromped on back through the rain, and I saw that the elusive Brigadoon hat shop (only open Fri-Sun) was open and knowing she was a serious hat fiend, redirected her into the shop. Where she made the owner very happy by dropping serious coin on a couple hats.

Dropped them off at the house, while I drove to Matilda's school to pick up her ceramics projects from last term. (Truly her best work.)

Then came back, and it being after 4pm, walked them through the rain to Alembic (with pit stops at Borderland Books and Booksmith) where they sampled way too many food stuffs, but sometimes you need the blue cheese plate.

Back at home by 6:15 for a lingering-cold-nap. Day well spent despite the dreary weather.

I gave them a tour of the house and after Phil spent a goodly chunk of the day looking up random properties on Redfin and yelling, "I need to buy a Victorian in San Francisco!"

I don't know why this is so funny to me, but this is hysterically funny to me.

Ooof, Susan. I'm sorry you went through all the extra trouble and stress. Hoping for the best it's-nothing news.

lisah and Pix and ND, continued~ma. You are all in my thoughts and heart.

And in a separate post: you know, I may start to accept did that I live in a crazy place and in crazy times. Here goes the story: on Thursday afternoon I was trying to understand how to get back from work home. Here are the basics: there are three ways for me to commute back back home. There were also two demonstrations on roads next or on my way back home, and I was also trying to understand which of these options is not only avoiding traffic but is also keeping me safe as possible considering that there are still on occasion air raid sirens and if I'm on the bus that's less than ideal. I pretty much came to conclusion on how I should go - while also handling a work crisis that could have been completely avoided if someone would have shared info with me when they had it two weeks ago and that I asked for - but that's another story.

An hour later I heard the news that there was a shooting incident (random crime, not war related) on the way that I thought to take home. At this point it was like, okay, I'll just randomly pick and see what comes up because obviously I cannot plan for every scenario. And at this point I managed to say, okay, maybe getting back home from the office shouldn't be that complicated or to require pen and paper to calculate risks and options.

(The random way I eventually picked back home went smoothly).

Whoa, Shir, that’s way too much brainwork just to try to get home safely. Love to you! And thank you for thinking of me. Dad’s funeral is today and I’m hoping the roads are ok for everyone who’s planning to come. It’s very cold out but sunny so hopefully not icy.

Good thoughts your way, Susan. I’m glad your care providers communicated with you, at least.

Thanks for all the comfort and reassurance, y'all. I'd been beating myself up a bit for not being able to control my anxiety better, because I know I do have anxiety issues, especially around health. But y'all, along with Dylan, the one coworker I confided in, and the nice care navigator nurse from yesterday, managed to convince me that it's perfectly normal to be scared and on edge in this situation, which I needed. I mean, I've got enough stress without adding stress about being stressed!

Anyway, I figure for the next two weeks I'll just do my best to live my normal life, but with chocolate, potato chips, and comfort rereads as needed. I currently have a somewhat above average number of self-improvement projects of one kind or another going--finishing and editing my NaNoWriMo manuscript, seeing a new therapist, training to be a lay Episcopal preacher, etc. And if the biopsy was scheduled for next week, I'd probably take a break from all of those, tbh. But it's two weeks, so I figure if this thing turns out to be benign, I won't have lost the rhythm of all that work. And if it's NOT benign, well, then it will be time to figure out what things I need to set aside, hopefully only temporarily, from a place of knowledge.

Sending you love, lisah. It sucks so much.

Susan, absolutely normal to be anxious. Sounds like you have a good plan for moving through the next two weeks.

Shir, that is a terrible risk assessment to have to make every time you go anywhere. I’m glad you got home safe.

Feeling a lot like s2 Angel these days. I’m up, I’m down, I’m good, I’m bad, I’m a barrel of dead monkeys.