DP often experiments with peanut butter - sometimes it works, sometimes not. He did make me something he called "Chocolate Thing for Jen" when I wanted some GF brownies or something. He didn't quite follow a recipe, though he did look one up to get an vague idea, and it turned out really well. Almost like a brownie souffle. He's made it a few times since - I actually asked for it to be my birthday cake this year.

Yay fatty lipoma!

I worry about Mom because she''s not moving around well. she hasn't been exercising at all. I really need to buckle down and Skype her on my days off and see if she wants to do an exercise routine together over skype to motivate both of us.

Can you talk on the phone together while walking in your respective locations? It's generally too windy here but it's maybe something that promotes closeness and exercise while staying COVID-appropriate spaced apart. Which in my family needs to be at least two counties away for me. We have large counties in SoCal.

Does anyone have suggestions for what to use up FSA spending on?

I need to do this also and pulse ox should be on my list. Not really for Covid but because I have eccentric lungs and like to ensure my blood has oxygen.

But my blood looked great today when I let a Navy guy pull it today (he was really good. just one stick and it's the smallest bruise I've had in a while. I also know why phlebotomists go for what seems a weird spot on my arm, it's a junction so better pressure and there's two chances on one stick. I usually feel the little push through but no one ever explained it) so we could work on blood smear slides.

Maybe a little dehydrated (no one else masking makes me less willing to keep sipping on water throughout the day) but no apparent anemia. A couple of neutraphils which are immune response or tissue damage response. These are likely from some recent bruising from awkward furniture wrangling.

I should also get a eye exam because I blew out my 18 month old prescription wearing my glasses while perpetually doomscrolling while sent home in March. Tiny script and I no longer get along and I'm going to have to go bifocal or progressives now. Especially with the edge of my mask near the rim of my glasses. I grew up with 20/15 vision with one eye slightly nearsighted and one slightly farsighted. So I feel betrayed by my eyes now.

Yay, fatty lipoma!

For FSA spending, a little googling has reminded me that sunscreen is a thing. (Also, Amazon has an FSA section of their site, so that's helpful.) (I'm just really determined to spend all of it because I hate leaving money on the table.)

I spent my whole workday up with Misses Ivy & Maple. Miss Maple has only been of the streets since Oct 29& was already weaned. Ivy was taken in at 3 wks with a feral mom, so had more time around humans. And Ivy is fearless, I think partly just by nature, but also just more time. So I hang around Maple, note signs for when she’s had too much. She’s still a purr machine who loves a belly rub, so I think with patience, she won’t be skittish & will be a people cat.

A coworker once had an insane amount of FSA $$ at the end of the year and splurged on a bunch of massages and a new mattress. I'm not sure my FSA would cover a mattress....but gosh I wouldn't mind a new one. Orthopedic pillow?

Like 10 years ago my brother f’d up his fsa withholdings and I was given giants bags of bandaids and anti-bacterial cream and moleskin and pain killers and Imodium and pepto I still have some of it, I threw out a lot for the move because it was expired. The hsa at my last job did not cover otc stuff at all.

I did like msbelle’s brother one year. Everyone in the family got cold meds and painkillers and heat pads. I also got several humidifiers (penguins!) which proved useful over the years.

I would totally get a massage if we weren't in a pandemic. I'm a little too paranoid about that.

Orthopedic pillow?

Heyyyyyyy. That's a good idea!

Yeah, Tim withheld kind of a high amount for his FSA and then didn't use it (I think he was assuming he would use it for some of his heart surgery expenses, and he did on the day of surgery, because he paid a $500 deposit), and some might roll over to next year, but there still might be a large amount just hanging around.