Oh jeez, askye, hang in there.

What I like to do is make a pot of something and freeze most of it, vs eating it all week. So then later I have a variety of things to pull out of the freezer. Highlights this week included pumpkin chili and cacio e pepe orzo soup.

What I like to do is make a pot of something and freeze most of it, vs eating it all week. So then later I have a variety of things to pull out of the freezer. Highlights this week included pumpkin chili and cacio e pepe orzo soup.

The only way I can do this is to make myself something with meat in it; that way Tim won't yoink it out from under me for a lunch. (We do generally at least ask the other "Hey, can I eat the last of the shepherd's pie/chili/stir fry," but sometimes it just quietly disappears from the fridge.)

askye, that’s too much. I’m glad you’re working with your doctor to get your bp down. My pcp just upped my bp meds recently and it’s great now! Wish your doctor could prescribe your partner’s Mom not making your home life harder than it need to be.

My medical thing is that I’ve had some exertional chest pain so I got a referral to a cardiologist who ordered a couple of tests, but not a stress test. The echocardiogram and CT scan, plus bloodwork, don’t show any calcium buildup so Yay! But the CT scan shows an aortic anomaly (something I was born with). I’m scheduled for a colonoscopy (no symptoms just about 10 years since my last one) in a couple of months and the anesthesiologist wants me to get a stress test beforehand. Also, my bf the emergency room doctor really thinks I should get a stress test because of the anomaly. But the cardiologist won’t order one for me because he doesn’t think it’s necessary. Argh!! I’m like “is this situation the stress test?!!??”

Argh is right! The anesthesiologist can't order the stress test? I mean, I guess I see where that's outside their lane but if that's who thinks you need it, they should be able to make that happen.

I guess I can ask if the anesthesiologist can order it. I asked my pcp to order one and she said she couldn’t.

Wish your doctor could prescribe your partner’s Mom not making your home life harder than it need to be.

Oh, my god, that kind of doctor would be BRILLIANT. Why isn't that a thing? That should be a thing.

Loving the meal prep talk -- it's inspiring me. I like the big pot/many different frozen options plan, Jesse. I could work up to that, I think.

And the frittata for the week plan, David. I could alternate with my oatmeal so I don't get bored. I have a habit of mono-eating breakfasts, then, suddenly, I don't want to see oatmeal for months.

It's a gorgeous day out there, but/and I am comfortable and happily reading a book in bed. On the one hand, I've been able to focus on reading an actual book for, like, an hour at least, which is great. On the other hand, am I wasting the nice weather? Eh, I'll take the W for the reading and just enjoy the view for now. I'll have to walk the pup a few times no matter what, so...

Oh, yeah, lisah, I meant to say, I would 100% want the person who is putting me under to get any test they wanted.* Also, wishing you the best getting that all sorted out. It's disconcerting.

• ( I have decided it's OK for me -- better, actually -- to use "they" when, historically, I would have said "he or she," but the rigid "but this is how I learned it" part of me still exists. I acknowledge that part of me and also slap it down gently now. Go have a lollipop or something. Grammar hasn't t always been a certain way, and it won't stay a certain way. You're a better human this way. It's OK.)

It's a milestone in a year when getting myself to do that basic thing -- make dinner -- has been a challenge, and I've wasted way too much money failing at that.

Oh, I feel this SO MUCH. We were doing one of the meal plans that sends you ingredients and recipes for awhile, but even that seemed like too much at times, and I hated wasting food when I didn't make one of the meals. I have ALWAYS wanted to be the person who cooks and preps on Sunday for the week and so far failed to be that person.

Sending hugs to all of you struggling right now. Dad has been gone two months as of today, so I've officially hit the point where people have...not forgotten, but are no longer making allowances for me. Not to say anyone is being unreasonable, just that there's more of an expectation that I should be operating normally. And I'm not. I mean, I'm doing okay, and I'm not feeling crushing grief anymore — I am, truly, grateful that Dad died a month after things got really bad rather than linger in dementia and/or a nursing home. But I do miss him, and I am definitely not functioning at full capacity.

I'm still dealing with the estate, of course, and the money I got from his annuity disappeared rapidly since we are existing on a single income right now and I took on so much debt to get through the last three months. It's a lot since I'm still paying for the condo expenses until we can get it sold (hopefully on the market by the end of this month). I hired an estate cleanout service to empty it, make all the repairs, paint it, and get it ready. Worth every penny, but they don't take credit cards, so it's all money up front. They finished the cleanout last week (after I finally told J he had to be out by the 5th...he apparently used the money I gave him to buy a van to live in. Don't get me started about the level of weaponized incompetence I've been dealing with there. But he's out.) Also dealing with all the loose ends of his estate — getting Dad's car paid off so I can get the title so I can transfer it to my name and sell it (another chunk of where the annuity funds went), getting his celebration of life planned this June and paying the deposit on the venue and caterer, etc.

Anyway, this is not in any way a plea for money. I have a plan and am getting through it, and once the condo sells, I'll be able to pay it all off. Just venting.

ND and I are going to Florida March 25-29 to meet with the realtors and get everything in order to list the condo. We are also planning to scatter half of Dad's ashes at sea while we are there. I'm going to mail the other half to my mom for me to scatter in Long Island Sound in June.

So there's my update.

But I do miss him, and I am definitely not functioning at full capacity.

100% get that. And you're dealing with just a ton of stuff on top of that. I hope you guys get some down time somewhere from all of it.

I would be kind of torn about the Lola thing, if she were my friend, because, quite frankly, denial has gotten me through a lot more than clear-eyed realism. (Although I can do both, obviously.) But I've only been responsible for kitties. If I wanted to call myself Princess Aurora they wouldn't care but they'd go along with it.