According to Their Needs

Inspirational song: Songbird (Fleetwood Mac)

After a chilly dawn trip to the airport, I stayed home and napped, and completely ignored the outside world. TV stayed off, Twitter stayed closed. My only media were plant care videos. When Mr S-P came home, I asked whether I missed anything important. At first he told me incorrect news, that Stevie Nicks had died. After I cried "What?" he corrected himself and said it was actually Christine McVie. That wasn't any better, in my opinion. I have spent most of my music-loving life grooving on Fleetwood Mac, so this is a sad day for me. In Wayne's World (the first movie, probably), Mike Myers said that if you lived in the suburbs in 1978, you were basically issued a copy of Rumours. Well, we were in a small town, not suburb, but that album was injected directly into my veins back then. Will go to bed listening to it tonight.

I do believe I'm stepping up my plant game. This past summer, I did significantly better at keeping my front flowers and herbs alive and healthy than ever before. After a short autumn break, I'm back at it, but this time, giving some love to my neglected houseplants. It really started months ago, when I chopped up my spindly, overgrown schefflera, and rooted every viable bit of it, eventually planting it back in the same pot, with fresh soil. I've taken some plants into the shower to spray off their dusty leaves and give them a burst of humidity. Today I carted all the plants from behind the couch to the kitchen, and one by one cleaned the leaves with a damp microfiber cloth. I trimmed dead leaves, and then rearranged how they sat in relation to the front window. I googled how much light each one needs, and am hoping that moving the snake plant into the prime light position will make it grow taller.

I even learned how to use Google lens this evening, to identify a plant I've had since my grandfather's funeral (I think). It appears to be a Philippines evergreen, or Aglaonemia commutatum. All these years, I never knew. I've also come to realize that what I thought for decades were philodendrons were actually pothos, or Epipremnum aureus. So I have been watching videos of actual philodendrons all afternoon, and now I need some. Hoo boy, do I need them. And while I'm learning about correct names of my plants, I need to retrain myself not to use "wandering jew." Apparently some have started calling it a wandering dude, but I would rather learn to call it Tradescantia zebrina. More importantly, I need to pay attention to it more. Over the last two weeks, I've chopped the entire thing up and set it in water to restart the whole process. It was not happy before. I'm prepared to do better now.

The Look

Inspirational song: Here I Go Again (Whitesnake)

There are very few things in the world cuter than a cat studying a target that they are preparing to murder. Something about how their eyes get big and their face gets rounder makes me giggle every time. It's even cute enough to overlook it a few times when the object of their murderous desires is something I'm trying to work on in my lap. I wasn't fast enough with the camera to capture Athena's big eyes, but Alfred was fixated enough not to notice and look disinterested when I pulled out the camera.

It seems that the extra whining yesterday, and maybe the extra eye-rubbing, was an indicator that the kids weren't feeling a hundred percent. Val was definitely down this morning, and Dmitri might have been as well. Whether there was an actual bug, I have no idea, but I spent the afternoon and evening thinking I had a little of whatever they had too. The worst part for me has been a headache, followed by grumpiness. 

Everyone needs a friend who will look at them and ask baldly, "are you tired or sad," like mine did today. While I explained that I was just so tired that it was stressing me out, knowing that my face betrayed how bad I felt convinced me that it was probably worse than usual. I gave myself the rest of the day off after that, and I'm about to go to bed early. I have to be at the airport stupid early, so I can't have a late night. Not tonight.

Narrow

Inspirational song: Hot Stuff (Donna Summer)

Recon mission number one was a disappointment. I had to run to Lowe's for a couple tiny objects, and while there, I was instructed to peek at wall ovens so we can get an idea what we are looking at for a replacement. I barely noticed prices or features, because I only looked at widths. Our cute 1959 house has a very narrow space for the wall oven, so we have been working with a 24 inch wide unit that probably replaced the original oven that came with the house. Every single oven on display at Lowe's was 30 inches wide. I barely allowed myself a dramatic sigh before I wandered away to the danger zone (I needed saucers for plants, so I had to go there). Perhaps the next research step will be online, so I can identify who actually sells dinky ovens for mid-century houses. I really wish I could upsize, but that would involve a full remodel, which is not in the cards right now.

I took a few pictures of the kids today. It was yet another tag-team nap experience. When one would go down, the other would get loud and active. Boy is getting some skill at holding on to things and successfully getting them to his mouth. Maybe soon he will be able to hold his own bottle himself, thus freeing up my arms for other actions more often. I think things will get a little easier when he gains a hint of independence. I can't wait to see him rolling around in his sister's flying car walker.

I intended to rest my elbows on my window sill and watch it snow for a few minutes before settling down to write. Instead I was startled to see two police cruisers stopped in the road in front of our house, pointed opposite directions, with the collected officers standing in the road chatting, in my direct line of sight. I didn't hear anything out of the ordinary. I didn't see anything either. But one cop was parked just past the bed of Mr S-P's farm truck, and the back of his Explorer was open. I can't imagine what the deal was. I assume if he had found something amiss with one of our cars, he would knock on the door? Before I could identify the situation, he drove off, and the other cop sat in her cruiser parked across the street, head down like she was writing a report. I wish I had seen the beginning of this event, so I could know whether to be concerned. I will choose to let it go. 

Rolling

Inspirational song: Traveling Man (Ricky Nelson)

Holy heck! When did it get to be almost midnight? I put my feet up once the kids left, and chilled out for a while. I made a late dinner, and then have been watching YouTube videos ever since. Suddenly the Mr is putting Murray out for the last peepees of the night, and the lamps on timers are going out. That seemed fast. Or maybe I was just that enthralled with my cooking, sewing, and houseplant videos. Probably that last part.

I intended to get the Christmas tree inside and lit today. There is a tall specimen brought back from the claim waiting in my backyard for Mr S-P to trim it and bring it in. But we have run up against a dilemma. We have too many chairs in the living room, and we are out of places to stash one for the holiday season. I either need to get very creative or follow through on my 2021 vow to donate the old swivel rocker. There are not a lot of good options yet.

Kids were cute if somewhat needy today. The boy can roll over from his tummy to his back, and he can get from his back to his side. He is a travelin' little man. Val is going through all of the expected two year old phases, repeating them kind of at random. At her house, she nearly pulled her own Christmas tree over on herself by the light cord, and she cried hysterically when I jumped up and ran over to stop her from getting squished. She thought I was mad, not recognizing protective panic. That's one phase I hope she grows out of soon. I don't like it when a gentle "Oh, be careful," from me turns into tears from her. She's so smart, but oh, so sensitive right now.

No Theme

Inspirational song: I Sing the Body Electric (Fame)

Okay, from now on, my daughter is banned from luring me out shopping before I have to babysit all afternoon. I totally forgot she needed me to pick up the kids today while one of their cars is on the fritz. So when she said hey, I need to go to the grocery store, I was super slow recognizing that she was telling me to drive her. As always happens with us, we went to two stores, and walked around for hours. She wears me out when I'm supposed to hold her son for hours on end. Well, this isn't working. We need to shop on her days off.

I'm already working on macrame plant hanger number two. I discovered the hard way that Jackie was not done snacking on the recently acquired house plants. Now the aloe vera has been chewed up too. Dammit, Jack. Leave these things alone! I picked a different pattern for the second macrame, but it is not going as well as the first. I think my cotton cord is too thick for this pattern. I need to make some alterations.

 Some days I just don't have it in me to tie everything together in a theme. This is one of those days. My brain has thrown up that "please stand by, we are experiencing technical difficulties" card from old TV. All I can do is show these impossibly cute children and call it a day.

In the Blink of an Eye

Inspirational song: Jack and Diane (John Mellencamp)

Oops, I appear to have blown off the entire day. It's not like I would have gone black Friday shopping or anything, but I did intend to tidy up the mess in the dining room and prepare to decorate for Christmas. I did nothing of the sort. First thing this morning I settled down with a cup of coffee and a freshly-washed fuzzy blanket that smelled divine, and suddenly it was late afternoon, and the Mr was feeding the animals dinner while daylight faded. I seriously don't know how the entire day vanished. I ought to feel chagrined or something, but honestly, I don't. I'm kind of relaxed and feeling pleasant over the whole thing. Now I'm cuddled with my two floofy girls, as usual, and I regret nothing. I'll worry about decorating tomorrow, when Valerie is here to make it go slowly.

Nourishment

Inspirational song: Alice's Restaurant (Arlo Guthrie)

There are some traditions that are absolutely sacred around here. Just as most Americans eat turkey and way too many carbs on this particular Thursday in November, it is also a given that we will be listening to Alice's Restaurant at some point during the day. These are just the rules. On this occasion, I brought it up on Spotify just as we were setting out to leave for dinner with the family, and the whole song got us most of the way to my brother-in-law's house. It set the mood perfectly.

Turnout was a little smaller than we anticipated. Several family members were sick this year and thus stayed home, and some went to be with other relatives. Still, enough of the family was there to make it the emotionally nourishing event it always is. There were five children aged 5 and below present--Valerie and four boys. Obviously Dmitri stayed where people put him, but the others ran and ran and ran the entire day. I have never seen Val as happily active as today, going in circles around the house with her cousins. It gave me so many flashbacks to holidays with my own cousins when we were little kids, and I have had warm fuzzy feelings all day from it.

My niece made a comment about Thanksgiving being so much more fun as an adult, and I can see what she was getting at. It is so comforting to just be with family, eating and catching up and letting the kids do their own thing. But there are ways it is less fun too. I used to be able to pack away food. I've learned over the years not to overload my plate, to get just a little of everything that I'm going to want on the first pass. Gone are the days of getting up and refilling a plate. This year, it wasn't even possible to do the some-of-every-pie trick. I had one piece of blueberry pie and that was that. Now it is time for loose pajamas and lethargy.

Once we made it home, we put our feet up and covered up in blankets, and enjoyed the stillness. The Mr went off to watch one of the Star Wars series while I snoozed in my chair. This is another Thanksgiving that couldn't be beat in the books.

Hang It

Inspirational song: Cat's in the Cradle (Harry Chapin)

Back in the 1970s, when Grandma Lois was teaching me the basics of macrame, it never would have occurred to her to mention how hard it would be to do this craft in the middle of a roomful of cats. I mean really. These little jerks won't leave well enough alone. I'm most of the way through making a plant hanger, the first time I've tried this since I was a kid, and three of the four cats have thoroughly killed the snakes around mom's chair. 

The fourth cat is keeping her distance, which is fine. She is the reason I am doing this project on short notice. A few days ago, I potted up the little spider plant babies that my buddy sent me home with from South Dakota. This morning I noticed the three plantlings were pulled out of the soil, laying on top of it. I put them back in place, and went about my day, cleaning and prepping for Thanksgiving. This evening, as I sat in my chair, absolutely exhausted from cleaning, I heard a super loud smacking sound from behind me. I turned and saw Jackie chowing down on the baby spider plant yet again. She was so in the zone, that she didn't even run off as I jumped up and ran at her, waving my arms and making ridiculous noises of outrage. I plopped them back in water and put them on the kitchen window sill. Then I set about figuring out how to make a good old fashioned macrame hanger.

I have been unwinding the fringe on the bottom of the hanger for close to an hour, while I watch houseplant care videos for fun. If I finish it by a decent hour, I'll post a picture. Just in case I get tired and give up for the night, I have some fabulous pictures of the kids to share as well.

Cumulative Effect

Inspirational song: Take It to the Limit (The Eagles)

I appear to have found the line, the maximum I can do in a week and still have a few synapses firing in my brain. I found it, and I crossed it. You saw the pictures I posted over the last few days, with the visible fatigue on my face from babysitting and everything else. I thought going to bed early last night with a painkiller would reset me. It sort of did, for as long as it took me to drive L to the airport early this morning. I stopped at the giant King Soopers in Reunion to get a little breakfast for the trip back, and from that moment on, I was a zombie on wheels. I'm not quite sure how I managed to get back to town. My whole body was vibrating from the drive.

I didn't have time to go back to the house before Rotary, so I went straight to the meeting from the highway. I was still in the sweatpants I threw on for the airport run, and I had no discernable makeup on. There was no doubt how tired I was. I ate lunch, and tried to pay attention to the early part of the meeting. I couldn't do it. I left early and went home. I got here right around 1 o'clock, and by 1:05 I was in bed, cuddled between Saoirse and Alfred. I fell asleep on my right side, and slept hard for almost 2 hours, staying in the exact same spot and position the whole time. 

I'll try for a more exciting day tomorrow. This was what I needed today. I'll stop here, with a picture of utter betrayal: Saoirse horrified to see me eat an entire ice cream cone and not put a single crumb in her mouth. I'm such a bad mom.

Cranks

Inspirational song: Sir Duke (Stevie Wonder)

Aw, do I really have to write tonight? I'm sore and tired and so, so cranky. It was a long day, and maintaining an even temperament has been the biggest challenge. I just want to take a tramadol and try to sleep. Every inch of me hurts.

We had things we needed at Walmart, my kid and I, so I picked everyone up early. We lied to ourselves and said the crowds wouldn't be so bad on a Monday morning. That was not true. We spent almost two hours there, and I still had to go to a separate craft store to get the right color for my dragon embroidery. I dropped my daughter off, and brought the kids here for babysitting. That's when things really went off the rails.

We used up all the concurrent sleeping luck yesterday. Could not align schedules today. And there was so much crying. So. Much. Crying. I had to just turn Valerie loose with crayons, and hope that she stayed off the walls this time, while I held the little man who could not find his chill. He needed to be next to a human at all times, no sleeping on the bed allowed. These guys are cute, but man, they are a lot of work.

No Drama

Inspirational song: Sometimes It's Easy (Hoyt Axton)

There has been too much angst and woe around here lately. Finally today Grandma and Grandpa caught a break. The kids arrived in good moods, and went down early for a nap. Mr S-P put on one of those black screen rain videos, and they stayed asleep at the same time for over an hour and a half. I feel like we cheated somehow. It was too easy.

I found a way to get my sewing fix without setting up a big messy cutting and machine stitching station, or going out and spending money I don't have right now on a cotton summer dress with yards and yards of bias tape. I have been craving needlework, and today I thought of a design I want to embroider. I sketched out a design, and tomorrow I will transfer it to cloth and set to it. I originally intended to do it on a white cloth I found in my fabric dresser, but as I type, I realize how dumb that is. Remember me obsessing about that children's book The Dragon Who Liked to Spit Fire? I'm going to embroider Darius the dragon, spitting fire at night. Why would I use a white background? So now I need to dig through my fabric stores again, and find a plain black cloth not being used for anything else. I have one in mind already, if it would do the trick.

I guess tomorrow I need to figure out how to transfer the design with a chalk, and maybe get the perfect blue-violet floss to make my dragon.

Take and Make

Inspirational song: Lunatic Fringe (Red Rider)

Pretty sure I ended up in this place last Saturday night. The kids used me up and I had no brain cells left to string together a few sentences. Wait, was that Saturday? That seems like a long time ago. Time has no meaning. I don't know when it was.

I touched up my roots first thing this morning, so that I wasn't heading into holidays with mousey pewter growing out of my scalp while the rest of my red faded into obscurity. I didn't style it at all, figuring it would be kinder to just use a great conditioner and let it air-dry. It was still damp when my friend texted to say hey, send me a picture of your hair for color reference so I can tell my stylist what I want. I felt so bad, having just used a darker shade and wrecked what she said two weeks ago that she wanted to copy. Still, I sent a picture, and I hope her colorist can extrapolate what she actually wants from there.

Since the babies went home, I have been elbow deep in YouTube videos, mostly watching a recent sewing challenge someone issued. A seamstress with a wide following found a vintage Butterick pattern, of the once immensely-popular "walkaway dress," and she challenged all the folks with sewing channels to make it, and time how long it takes to complete. The origin of the name walkaway was that a woman supposedly could start the dress after breakfast, and walk away wearing it to lunch. Looks like production times averaged around 4.5 hours, from the videos I watched. I can guarantee it would take me much longer these days. My fingers are not so nimble anymore and my back rejects long sewing days. But it is a really cute dress. I am sorely tempted to try this. Do I dare?

All Day

Inspirational song: I Fall to Pieces (Patsy Cline)

Turns out, seven and a half hours of intense grandma-work is a bit more than I had in me today. I tried to hang in there, but man, by the time the crew went home, I was wiped out. I stumbled back to my room, plugged in my dead-battery devices, changed into jammies, and called it a night. I think I essentially gave up at 8:30. Some Friday, huh?

During his more cheerful moments, Dmitri displayed some improved hand-eye coordination. I've been trying to get him interested in toys for a week or two. Today he grabbed a lightweight rattle by its plastic cage end, and pulled it successfully to his mouth. He did it more than once, so I know it was intentional. Plus, he self-soothed with hard-core thumb sucking. When he was fussing about being tired and needed to be rocked to sleep, I was thrilled he found his own groove.

Now if only his big sister would consistently nap when she is supposed to. I feel bad for the exhausted toddler we must have unleashed on her parents.

Near the End

Inspirational song: Cold (Annie Lennox)

Have I always liked cold climates this much? I've been mulling that over for a couple of hours now. I can recall being miserable in heat pretty much all of my life, but I can't come up with a time that cold disturbed me, more than needing an extra blanket or warm body to snuggle with. I know I used to complain that the house in Oklahoma was a drafty old barn, but other than enjoying the thrill of standing over a floor furnace while wearing a nightgown or bathrobe a little more than was socially acceptable, I don't remember being upset that it was hard to keep warm. Flash forward to now, as I have spent a good deal of the day quietly watching it snow, and I find myself getting more excited about a nicely cold, snowy winter than someone like me should be. It's odd that a chick with fibromyalgia and joint issues should prefer bitter cold, isn't it? I even keep my thermostat at 68, and periodically check it to make sure someone hasn't bumped it up when that feels warm to me. No lie, I keep thinking I should crack open a window in the bedroom at night, and yes, it is supposed to get into the single digits tonight.

I spent some time watching the babies over at their house this afternoon. Val was napping when I arrived, so I got quality time with Dmitri for an hour and a half. He was super charming and chatty for the first hour, and then he flipped like a switch to pure rage. I tried every position I could think of to make him comfortable. I patted. I bounced. I rubbed his back. I tried to feed him. Finally, I felt like a bad grandma and set him in the swing. Within a minute, he was out cold. Lesson learned, try that sooner. He only had a twenty minute nap before Val was tromping around with toddler exuberance, waking him back up. We tried to give her a second dose of Christmas movies (moving on to Rudolph this time), but while we were glued to it, she had too much important playing to do. When it was time for me to leave, she wanted to escort me to the car, even though she was wearing neither pants nor shoes. Her mommy wrapped her in a light blanket and carried her out to say goodbye to me in the snow. That is a kid after my own cold heart.

There is gloom and doom over on Twitter tonight. Most of the folks I follow are convinced that it won't last the weekend. I went and logged in to my long-dormant Instagram account, that I hadn't opened in at least two years. I was amazed I still knew the password. I spent over an hour flipping back and forth between the two apps, searching for some of my favorite accounts to also follow on IG. If Twitter dies suddenly, it will be like breaking up a family for me and lots of folks like me. I'm trying to minimize the losses. I haven't made a new post yet because I was so busy finding and following others. But I guess I will start coming up with content over there. I'll be easy to find at scenesfromsmithpark. Not sure whether I'll be posting blog links there. Maybe?

Play It

Inspirational song: The Sound of Silence (Simon and Garfunkel)

What I really wanted was company. I wanted my daughter and the kids to come over and just hang out, so I had someone to talk to, to inspire me to keep cleaning. Unfortunately for me, my daughter had housework of her own to do, so I had a choice. I could clean in a silent house, which most assuredly would lead to me sitting down with the iPad and completely losing track of time. Or I could turn on loud music, sing, and carry on both sides of the conversation with the cats. I chose the latter. A couple of times, L came back home to take care of stuff, and I felt busted, and turned down the racket. But once I was alone again, sound went up, and more work got done. It's not quite to the presentable-to-parents level it was at in September, but I'm starting to be able to breathe around here again.

Game night went weird this week. We had one guy out completely with flu. We had two others who made alternate plans (gasp!) The neighbors are getting too close to their due date to want to be exposed to all of us and our stray viruses (looking at you, Mr S-P, with your hacking and coughing). So we all stayed in our respective houses, and those who felt sociable connected on Jackbox. We convinced L to join in, which was awesome, but we have discovered a huge gap in their pop culture education, from growing up very sheltered. So now we have a whole lot of books and movies to share with them too. We will be getting our value out of all our streaming services over the next few months.

Doodling

Inspirational song: Colour My World (Chicago)

There was a lot of activity at Smith Park today. Starting early this morning, we were dog-sitting our old friend's dog TR. He has stayed with us before, and our dogs like his company. But he has a bit of separation anxiety, and when his daddy left him here it was like a toddler's first time at day care. Lots of barking, lots of whining. I felt terrible that I had to leave TR and Saoirse outside while I was at Rotary. Our poor neighbors, having to listen to both knuckleheads for hours.

I had the kids here today too. In between lots of cooing and proto-syllables, Dmitri had some rage. Lots of holding his body rigid and flopping backwards. I can't guess whether it was a tummy and or gas issue, or something else. For sure that kid hates nothing more than an empty stomach or a full diaper. He chewed on his fingers a lot, and I have begun to wonder whether he is already feeling the pain of teething. So I stuck a finger in his mouth. I need to keep an eye on that boy. I thought I felt a tooth. Already! I'm trying to talk myself out of it, but I really felt something.

Val wanted to do her own thing today. For the most part, I was fine with that. When it was watching Toy Story or playing with musical instruments, that was great. Unfortunately, what she really wanted to do was use crayons on everything. That included my furniture and walls. It included a rebate check, that thankfully was laughably small. I kept asking her what she was doing, and from the other room, I would hear crayons being dropped. I wanted to jump up and stop her, but as I said, Cranky Boy was cranky. I'm putting the Power Paste to the test now.

First Exposure

Inspirational song: Santa Claus Is Coming to Town (Fred Astaire)

We have learned the proper way to introduce Valerie to new movies. You just play something in the background, and she kind of checks it out briefly, glancing over her shoulder when she feels like it. Then the next time she is offered a choice, she will ask for it like it's her favorite. I felt bad when she asked for Toy Story this afternoon, knowing she is just learning how much fun it is. But I had an agenda.

Valerie already knows about Christmas lights and some decorations. Best I can tell, that is all she knows about the whole holiday so far. She doesn't have any idea about the pageantry, customs, history, or more salient to a small child, the presents. I so want her to fully grok on the idea of Santa Claus. I want to see magic in her eyes. Today, my six-week long campaign kicked off. Today I dug through some of the old DVDs. We started with Santa Claus Is Coming to Town. She mostly colored with her back to the TV, but a few times she looked at it. "Hey, look, Valerie, Kris Kringle brought those kids toys." "Oh, he was stopped by the Winter Warlock. Is he scary?" She comes back tomorrow. Will she ask for it again, or allow me to introduce Rudolph next?

A couple clothing notes. As I was heading to the grocery store, I sent a selfie to my daughter, pulling a face over my new Kirkland sweatshirt. I'm not the best judge, but I thought it was cute enough to share. And then there is the boy. He had a short notice costume change after he had an accident in his unicorn onesie. I went digging for anything weather appropriate that would fit that big boy. Ended up with a lot of pink, but also a chance to put my favorite baby sweater on one of the kids. I bought it for Val, and I am not sure she had it on more than an hour. It looked super cute on Dmitri. What is even cuter is how much he is a little clone of his grandpa.

The Undoing

Inspirational song: What'd I Miss? (Hamilton)

Not that I expected anyone to notice, but I took yesterday off to avoid another one of those "not much occurred" posts. I had to sleep most of the day to allow my immune system to successfully defend against the nasty virus that man brought into this house. (He had yet another coughing fit as I typed that.) He is still miserable, and has been since Thursday night. Me, I'm reasonably well-rested now, and trying to get one or two things back on track. Pretty sure I lucked out in this equation.

The other day, before a big cold front came through, I started tearing down the front porch container garden. I hauled bunches of pots and baskets to the side of the house, leaving just a few that still had live green plants in them. There were two hanging baskets I couldn't reach, and a few pots that can still go, but I got tired and stopped. It will be cold this week, but I will still go toss a lot of the debris in the city compost bin. Then I'll stack up the pots in the shed, and start thinking about Christmas decorations to come. Even if it takes a while to complete the tasks up front, I have it snow shovel ready, should Thursday's anticipated dusting turn out to be actual snowfall.

Since Athena had her inexpert shave at the vet, she has stayed glued to me at all times. I can't tell whether she is more comfortable, cold, or both. She purrs a lot more now. I was watching YouTube this evening, not paying close attention to what was happening, when I realized she was curled up in my lap, and I was gently scritching her belly. I froze and I felt the blood drain from my face. I carefully picked up my phone with my off-hand and took a picture. Only then did she notice what was happening, and after a twitch, she made a half-assed attempt to bite, or make me think she would. She will deny it happened, but I have proof!

Quiet Night

Inspirational song: Look Me Up (BR5-49)

Plans do change, don't they? This was supposed to be a very busy day. Babysitting all afternoon, then headed up to have dinner with friends in the mountains overlooking Boulder. I was just hoping I'd have recovered my giddyup by the time it all kicked off. 

Instead, I sent a message to my daughter mid-morning, warning her that her dad has a huge cold, and although he was still going to one appointment at 11, she had to make the call whether the babies could be in the same house as him, while he was masked. He did an at-home test and was clearly negative for the Rona, but with other viruses rampaging now (she was particularly concerned about RSV), we came to the conclusion that babysitting was off today. Might be off tomorrow too. We shall soon learn.

He came back from his appointment congested and weary, taking the very last set of DayQuil gelcaps and asking for a blanket to be handed to him. Between those startling details (IYKYK) and his persistent hacking cough, I asked him to text our friends above Boulder for permission to back out of that commitment too. So instead we had hot toddys (I tried one for the first time in years) and watched the first Enola Holmes movie so that we can watch the second sometime soon. Pity. I had put a little extra effort into hair and makeup and everything, but there I was, sitting in my messy bedroom, watching a movie on Netflix, from underneath two cats and a giant dog. 

I wonder whether tomorrow will be equally hopping.