Very proud of you. Parents!

Good job, Atropa.

Mine always has trouble with -t.

Ha! I transcend dictionaries! Or something. I added “meara” to mine a while back but, I dunno, updates or something - autocorrect is back to suggesting “meats”. It’s happened often enough that I can usually head it off at the pass. I’m better at watching out for and catching that with names than just ordinary words which I only notice after I’ve sent the email/text/post

One of the many downsides of this whole getting older thing is definitely watching other people get older, and how it seems like you look away just for a moment and they go from hale to frail.

This morning I did altar guild and led the prayers at the 8 AM service, and then went and walked/ran around Green Lake (~ 3 miles) despite it being 39 degrees with a raw wind, an accomplishment I'm ridiculously proud of.

I’m in massive cleaning house mode in prep for the parents visiting in April. Today I sold a bookcase and I got some coat hooks hung. Hanging things in this house is so hit and miss. Today I hit nothing and the hooks were pulling out when I put the coats on, so I ended up shoving toothpicks in the holes for the screws to grab onto.

Brava, Susan!

I think if we don't throw sand in the gears every step of the way to slow them down there won't be (real) elections at that point.

Yeah. Among other things, Chuck Schumer watched Mitch McConnell for decades and apparently learned nothing. It's so fucking disheartening.

Hec, I'm looking at microblading myself: my brows are basically gone, and I look so washed out without them. And now I have to be in the office every fucking day, so I have to draw them on every day and it's annoying as hell.

In other news, I am still employed but the agency is "pivoting" to the border and I'm worried about the inevitable re-org that will involved. And I can't retire in dudgeon if Trump tanks the stock market, where my retirement funds live.

I'm processing my stress by buying too much wine and work clothes. Quince is pretty great, y'all. Gotta say.

In better news, I made this tonight and it's really tasty: [link]

but apparently he's had a few more and ... just didn't tell me?!

Dad!

And yay you on asking calm questions. Because that is hard in this situation.

I'm looking at microblading myself: my brows are basically gone, and I look so washed out without them.

I don't regret mine a bit and I have stupid sensitive reactive skin so they are randomly flaky. It's still been 100% worth it. I don't exfoliate them, as the acids also hurt the tinting. I just get the flakes away and apply something like a face or an eye cream .

It's not just the color, tweezing my brows is like having a permanent template. That is worth half the cost. Well, a quarter of the cost.

Totally a convert.

Hec, I'm looking at microblading myself: my brows are basically gone, and I look so washed out without them. And now I have to be in the office every fucking day, so I have to draw them on every day and it's annoying as hell.

I say go for it! Nanita has done it too.

It's not particularly painful (I only found it uncomfortable at worst), and while it seems dauntingly PERMANENT the ink does fade over time, and you need to get it touched up. (Which is a good thing, I've found.)

Just make sure you communicate exactly what shape you want, and don't freak out because the initial result is going to be darker because it settles down after a week. Just wearing glasses mitigates the initial effect somewhat.

If you're drawing them on every day this would probably be worth it for you.

Suela, I was reminded last May that your eyes are just utterly lovely. I hope you find something that isn't too much hassle and makes you feel good about highlighting them.

Go, Susan!

Yesterday I went to a robotics tournament, and it was so much fun! My nephew was in robotics all through high school and now he is mentoring a team, so I got to go cheer them on with my sister. The robots had to remove a bunch of big balls from a rack of tubes, accept wider tubes from a feeder chute, then manipulate the latter into the right angle and put them on the rack, over the narrower tubes. Then they had to grasp a dangly thing and raise themselves off the floor. It was surprisingly engaging, with balls and tubes flying everywhere and people cheering on their teams. My nephew’s team ended up in the top third, which is pretty good for a rebuilding year in a competitive region.