Blooming trees are all GORGEOUS right now.

Same here. Cherry Blossom Trees exuberant. Jasmine abundant.

I did, too, right up until I got Covid. Well, until I recovered from it.

Yeah - aside from, you know, not wanting you to have Covid, I was also, "But... but... she did everything right! What does this mean for MEEEEEE??!?!" Ahem. Not proud of it. Just saying.

My heart swells a little bit more with every single person who reports getting jabbed.

askye, vibes and prayers and ~ma to Jay and his son and GF and all your family.

I don't really have much of anything to report, except that I'm reading again after a weirdly long zero-attention-span hiatus, and have plowed through some Octavia Butler and NK Jemisin and am currently juggling another Butler and two nonfiction books by Ijeoma Oluo plus a graphic-novel biography of Calamity Jane.

Also, I got through the anniversary of my dad's death with only one keening total collapse. At one point, decades ago, our relationship was so frayed that I would have anxiety attacks over the thought that when he died the whole family would be on display and I'd be unable to engage in even purely theatrical, performative grief, that I'd just be shrugging and indifferent and everyone would be able to tell and be disgusted. So, I guess, yay for all the crying? Well-done, self?

Anyhow, I'd rather focus on all the EFFING AWESOME VACCINATIONS EVERYONE ELSE HAS GOTTEN. Except for the stubborn fools in Matt's and msbelle's orbits, who are super damn lucky that Matt and msbelle and most other people are doing their best to help herd immunity instead of thwarting it.

and I'd be unable to engage in even purely theatrical, performative grief, that I'd just be shrugging and indifferent and everyone would be able to tell and be disgusted.

I can vouch that there was keening in the grief stricken Celtic fashion.

{{hugs}} JZ.

I know it's weird, but I'm pretty grateful I lost my parents at a time when I could be there for them and we could celebrate their lives properly. (And that I didn't try to manage a demented parent through Covid protocols.)

I'm six weeks into being the boss, and ... it's hard, y'all. My inbox is insane, I'm still trying to do my old job, HR has shat the bed and we're months away from hiring my replacement, and one of the other supervisors is apparently trying to cut me off at the knees. (He told me yesterday that he thinks it can't possibly be as complicated and expensive to do the work my team does, and he could do it better and cheaper.)

However! Tomorrow my niece and her fiance (both also vaccinated) are coming over for dinner and I will have fresh bread and a big salad, and S will have ribs from Horn BBQ, which is the new hot spot in Oakland -- S had to wait in line 2 hours! I am excite!

So glad for everyone who is getting vaccinated, and hopeful we will soon see the end of this strange isolated time.

Oh, and I had to have a physical in December or else my doctor wouldn't keep prescribing my BP meds. Kinda bullshit, but whatever.

Because why would you want to remotely continue the medications that have been working so far during a WORLDWIDE PANDEMIC that just so happens to have high blood pressure as one of the major risk factors for serious complications, right?

I have to go soon too, or I can’t get my antidepressant

Maria’s mom passed away early this morning. I think she may have been somehow waiting for the dress, because she was asking about it, and yesterday she opened the package and approved. Thanks fir all your help

Also, how fast do things work? I am scheduled for my COVID vaccination Monday and I am wondering if I should reschedule. They generally do calling hours (which they call a wake which confuses me because I think of a wake as more of an after party with food and drink and joyous remembrance ) and a mass. If I drove I would be less worried.

So sorry for your and Maria's loss, Sophia. What a lovely service you were able to provide for Maria's mom.

That's what we (Irish Catholic) call the wake, or viewing--where the person is laid out and people come pay their respects in the couple days prior to the funeral.

My vaccine was super efficient. My appointment was at 10 am and I got my shot at 950 and was out of there by 1010.

I know it's weird, but I'm pretty grateful I lost my parents at a time when I could be there for them and we could celebrate their lives properly. (And that I didn't try to manage a demented parent through Covid protocols.)

I've thought this often over the past year when friends had to be apart from their loved ones. I was able to be with both my parents when they passed. It is always awful, but I know it would have been worse to be kept away.

My heart swells a little bit more with every single person who reports getting jabbed.

So much this! Every single time it sends a spark of joy.

I'm sorry work is so fubar'd, Consuela. I hope your dinner with niece and fiancé is a delightful distraction.

In happier news, Jeni's ice cream has created a flavor, Strawberry Pretzel Pie, to honor Dolly Parton.