Stumbling Through Adulthood

Kinda loving it, there is snow on the ground, whee!

Of course, we're supposed to head to Bellingham tomorrow afternoon for Linnea's end-of-quarter concert so we shall see if this impacts that.

Whee!

I am so ready to get back to standard time! Yeah, there is some light still in the late afternoon, but the mornings are brutal. I already have a hard time getting up in the morning, no light until late makes it even harder.

And of course, all over my twitter feed are the people screaming to stay on DST.

DST has good PR, despite our losing an hour of sleep when we switch to it. It happens at a time of year when the days are getting longer anyhow, so the benefit is amplified. In an opposite manner, the switch back to ST happens when we're losing light already so people blame standard time rather than the axial tilt of the planet.

This is just brilliant.

Never got around to writing yesterday, it was a difficult long day.

1. Not doing well. Maybe it's the letdown from coming back from vacation, maybe it's how Perry is hurting, maybe it's just random, but I'm just feeling very down these past few days, and today is really bad. Linnea forgot her computer charger here last night, and trying to get it to her, or purchase and send on, has stressed me out to the point of tears. Ah well. It'll get better. It also looks like my brother and family can't make it for Christmas, which sucks, and that my sister and BIL don't want to come for Thanksgiving, which leaves me stuck making TDay dinner for my MIL and my crazy-ass SIL.

2. Our old Sonicare toothbrush is slooowly dying and it pauses during brushing from time to time, so we replaced it with the Sonicare DiamondClean. Bought a two pack of handles from Costco, one white and one pink, since Linnea also needed a replacement. Well. That was not a success and I'd return it, only I know Linnea wants hers. The new model? Has, like, four modes, BUT the times are divided into 6, not 4. I mean, who the fuck divides their mouth into 6 zones? Not me. They use 6 20-second intervals for 2 minutes of brushing. Since my mouth isn't hexavalent, I've now reduced my brushing time by 1/3. And I think David is going nuts because it doesn't appear to "reset" and he's been apparently getting 8 intervals. Hate this thing already. I'm going to go back to my 3/4 dead handle until it is 100% dead and not working. Also, an app for my toothbrush? Fuck. Off. I hate it when companies "innovate" and instead make a product less functional than the previous version.

3. Yesterday morning I drove Perry to rowing (he was nervous about driving) and waited for him, damn, I'm a sucker sometimes. Anyhow, on the way in we saw the full moon setting. I have seen orange moons in my life, some of them quite impressive. This? I had never seen a moon that orange, deep pumpkin orange, likely from all the smoke in the air. It was impressive. Alas, driving, so no photos. Linnea saw it too and agreed. By time Perry texted dh to grab the camera and go out to check it out, it had hidden behind the trees.

1. Perry's boats -a double and a quad- placed 1st at Tail of the Lake. Haven't heard about Anne-Chloe's results yet.

2. Linnea, poor bunny, tested positive for Covid this week. Well, + on Thursday, but - by Friday. She'd been snuffly and coughing when she got back but tested - several times. Who knows when/where she got sick? Her rowing carpool buds were both + as well. She's horrified that she may have given it to them, but since Perry, who was also sick, also got - tests, I'd say it's 50/50. She's doing fine btw. School policies are a mess. Isolate for 5 days... and hope your profs are willing to make accommodations for you, but since there is no longer an online modality, who knows? I mean, when you have a quarter system being out for 5 days is pretty major.

3. I cannot believe we are leaving tomorrow. It's been a month, and so much fun! The less fun are the temps back in Seattle: high 70s and 80s. That is waaaaay hotter than we should have in October, and I've been blissfully living in 50s here. Not looking forward to the shock of heat when we get back.

Fiona, who will probably have tropical storm winds at that point, is going to be visiting Iceland at the same time we are!

FML.

Also, my knee is a fucking mess. Something 'popped' today and it hurts, though I haven't lost any stability. It's just painful to walk. UGH.

But!

Awesome visit 3/4 of the way up Mt Snowdon via the cog railway. Just beautiful.

Well. I'll try to do a re-cap on Linnea's birthday camping trip, but there were a few things I wanted to mention, so I guess it's three things for Wednesday.

1. Coming home from a fleece and down camping trip to temps in the 90s was... pretty awful. Out last leg of the trip took us from close to the WA coast to home and getting out of the car, even at 10pm into 80s and humid was like... jarring. Kinda like getting off a plane in Phoenix. Do not like this heat, and am dreading the week or so ahead. We're under an excessive heat warning.

2. Anne-Chloe is taking to rowing like a fish to water. She's loving it, and let me tell you both Perry and Linnea are thrilled. Anne-Chloe has already noted that Perry is "an annoyingly good coach"... annoyingly because, really, he's a little brother, right? Thank goodness he hasn't coached her directly, but he's seen her on the water and this text came to the family chat this morning:

Also keep your outside shoulder up - letting it collapse a bit at the catch, leading to a slight lunge which could eventually lead to some discomfort in the lower back

Details, eh? Anyhow, she'll be racing in a regatta for the first time at Greenlake. We have to be in Portland that afternoon, but I hope to be able to go to see at least one of the races, provided they are early enough. Greenlake usually start early so fingers crossed. So far, it doesn't look too good.

3. My mom, sigh. So difficult. Part of it is the mental stuff, which is always frightening, but part is just flat out physical: she's so very weak. She complains about it, and also about pain in her hips, and she's sometimes unsteady on her feet. Other times, she is much better. She's going to need more help than any of us can provide. I'm not set up at all for having an impaired senior live here (unless dh and I move downstairs and move her into our bedroom) for any length of time. My brother has more room, but he has young kids, and my sister a room but stairs there too. So eh. My mom is very clear that she does not want to go to a facility, but I don't know how we could deal in-home care. I mean, the costs are stupid-prohibitive at all levels. I expect we'll have to figure out my MIL too, but unlike my mom she wants to go to assisted living like now so she can get her meals made for her etc. UGH. This just fucking suuuuuuuucks.

1.I'm avoiding commenting on the SCOTTUS decision, I am still too enraged. Bodily autonomy is pretty fundamental. That said, I found this article telling: The Constitution Is Whatever the Right Wing Says It Is.

2. 25 years ago, _Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone_ was published. My god, it's been a while. I heard about it later that year and spent a lot of time trying to get an indie Seattle bookstore to get it for me. They never did manage to, LOL. I know Rowling's stance on transwomen is problematic (understatement), but I still love the books. Well, 6 of them. Wasn't too fond of the last one. Anyhow.

3. It is So. Fucking. Hot. My kids are at Pride. Despite sunscreen and water, I expect them to come home burnt and dehydrated.

1QQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQQXDSCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC <<- says Auri.

It's supposed to be nice weather this weekend: sunny, with temps in the low 70s. I prefer high 60s, but this sounds pleasant.

We shall see.

We were noticing that the sun is setting very far north. We haven't seen much of it over the past several weeks and I think it's the first time either of us has noticed how close to the summer solstice we really are.

We have to clean the deck off. Temps would be ideal for this weekend (not too hot, not too cold) but I think we need Perry to help move the piano so we can get all the deck furniture inside.

We usually do the deck mid-April.

1. The WWU Women's rowing team won the GNAC (Great Northwest Athletic Conference) championship yesterday, yay for them! Linnea wasn't rowing, of course, but it's her team. She was down there helping the assistant coach with logistics, because the head coach couldn't make the trip. In other rowing news the big red F250 used to haul boats at Lake Union Crew, the boathouse Perry and Linnea row out over the summer was stolen. Ugh. And in yet more rowing news, we went to the men's rowing banquet yesterday. It was nice. Perry leaves for TN on Wednesday morning for their final race of the season.

2. There is a lunar eclipse tonight. It cold and dumping rain. We aren't seeing that lunar eclipse, grrr!

3. I managed to find a few camping spots at a State Park in Oregon near Newport around Linnea's birthday, so her 2022 birthday camping trip is on! My sister will be joining us, my mom will be coming back from Baton Rouge with Linnea (who will be going there for a few days), and she can stay with my sister in the fancy RV and not be forced in a tent. My mom, I mean, not Linnea. It'll be nice for her because Newport has a super aquarium -I love aquariums and last I checked she does too- and lots of little shoppe places that I'm sure Linnea will be thrilled to visit. I'm really looking forward to that. I love camping! And I love Linnea's birthday camping trip, it's been a tradition for many years. (siamese1 Perry is trying to persuade me to take him to the Monterey Bay Aquarium for the isopods and other deep sea creatures exhibit.)