Since I last wrote I finally got over the aftermath of the virus — it’s only been five days since I finally cleared out the last of the lingering phlegm in my chest.

We spent a week in Olympia visiting Clare and helping her celebrate her book being published. We stayed in a lovely Airbnb and hopefully we can return when I’m feeling better.

Clare’s book launch party was a success. It was good to see that she has a solid support group, both within her neighborhood and throughout the PNW.

Since we returned on March 9th, I have not done much. I didn’t get my energy back until a few days ago.

Dean got sick babysitting Lassen, so he missed her birthday party on Friday and neither of us felt up to going to the equinox party yesterday — him because he was sick, me because my energy was drained on Friday and I hate to drive in DC.

Today it is supposed to get to 83 degrees. I’m planning on walking to the little library and dropping of a few books. I’m also going to make a pineapple upside-down cake for dessert.

Finally, here’s something I posted on Threads today. I’ve been thinking a lot about how fear (of change, of differences) is such a huge factor in how we act as humans. Then I thought about how I was raised and wondered why I wasn’t racist like my dad. Here’s what I wrote:

I was raised by a racist father and closet liberal mother in the late 1950s through 60s and into the 1970s. I could have followed in my dad’s footsteps but I didn’t. My mom was kind. When my dad said the racist things he said, my mom would either tell him to not talk like that, or simply model different behavior for me. In my teens she gave me a copy of a book she loved about an interracial marriage. That book completely changed who I was.

My mom cried when JFK was assassinated, when Hubert Humphrey gave his concession speech, when MLK was assassinated, When Bobby Kennedy was assassinated. I don’t remember what my father was saying because I was listening to my mom. I feel lucky to have had my mother as an influence in my life. I can’t imagine what life on the other side would have been like.

We had plans to go to a book talk but I bowed out. Dean went with Sally instead. I’ll be interested in hearing about the talk.

I read the first chapter of Clare’s book. Very good. She’s so talented.

I’m going to bed soon. Starting my new Panda Planner. Let’s see if I can last longer in this one than the last. That one was huge. This is small and only for 3 months.

That’s all for now, goodnight!

Dean got home before noon. We didn’t really interact much.

I am so tired of being sick.

Watched some shows on my phone.

Andrew, Alex, and Dean conspired to send me soup and a sandwich from Parkway Deli today which was sweet of them. I’d planned on getting the oil changed in the car but didn’t want to inflict my germs on other people. I did order food from Amazon Fresh though. Naughty, I know, but I really wanted oranges.

I have very little appetite. I mean, I get hungry and I eat, but I don’t look forward to it like I usually do. And anything remotely greasy or spicy is a big no right now.

I feel guilty that I cannot watch Lassen. Hopefully she gets better soon.

Finished the movie version of The ‘Burbs and finished the series too. I like the series better, but I am sure that if I thought the movie was great and had seen it earlier, I might feel differently.

That’s about it for today — I did some more chores, but not many.

That’s all for now, goodnight

We were planning on going to the cabin but I told Dean that since the weekend had been busy and I didn’t get anything done and I was probably coming down with RSV (he didn’t get the vaccine yet, but I did) that he should go alone and leave me here with my germs and cats.

While I was not feeling terrible — low-grade fever, scratchy throat, runny nose — I also didn’t feel like doing much. I made a list and crossed off a few pressing things, but otherwise just chilled.

I watched a few things on my phone:

• Christopher Robin — don’t get me started on this. If I knew nothing about Christopher Milne, then I might have enjoyed it, but the only factual parts of the film were the names of the stuffed animals. In the film the main character’s last name was Robin. There was nothing about A.A. Milne, Christopher Robin was not the bookseller he was in real life. I could go on and on.
• The ‘Burbs film (part of) — I’m surprised I never saw this. It was not good, but it had a young Tom Hanks. I’ll probably watch the rest tomorrow.
• The ‘Burbs series — I watched a couple episodes of this and enjoyed it enough to keep on going. I’ll probably watch the film before seeing more of the series.

That’s all for now, good night!

Lassen had a few rough moments today. I was carrying her and she started screaming as though she was in pain. I thought she may have bit her tongue, but perhaps it was the ear infection. The other rough time was after waking from her nap. She wanted her mama big time and screamed for her. Even Andrew couldn’t comfort her. She finally calmed down.

At one point during the day she asked for Andrew to take our picture. Through a series of questions Andrew deducted that she wanted to sit on my lap on the couch for the photo. It was one of those newfangled instant cameras — like the old-fashioned polaroids. The photo came out perfectly.

In other good news, I found my lost glove. I’d bought a pair of gloves at Red Orchard at Wildwood just after Christmas. They were on sale and I’d forgotten to bring my gloves. I was going to have to pump gas on the way home, so I thought I needed some protection from the cold. Also I am an impulse buyer.

I wore them that day and maybe one other day. One day I went to the car and found one of the gloves on my windshield. A kind neighbor must have found it in the street and put it on the windshield for me to find. I assumed the other glove was also outside and when I could not find it assumed that it was gone forever. After the big snow, I knew it would never be found. I held on the one glove, just in case.

Today just in case happened! I looked in front of the passenger’s seat and there was the other glove!

We watched another 30 minutes of Frankenstein. Maybe more.

We did our normal Lassen and Nana things — tea party, reading books, cuddling. I also showed her a silly interactive monkey toy I bought on Woot. She was afraid of it at first, but became attached to in no time. I don’t think Andrew was impressed.

It looks like I’ll be going to their house tomorrow because she’ll likely still be sick and they have a doctor’s appointment for her. Dean has an appointment in the morning so it will be just me with Lassen. At least I will be able to sleep in because they won’t be back from the doctor’s office until at least 10:30.

Doug came for our haircuts today. Mine really didn’t need a trim, but Dean’s did. Doug cut too much off, but he was probably thinking it would be a while before he came back, so he was liberal with the scissors. It’s okay. I can use clips to pull the sides back. Only a few more months and all the color will be gone!

We ate leftover stew for dinner and started watching Frankenstein. We only saw 30 minutes before Dean fell asleep. This is a long film, so at 30 minutes a night it will take us at least 5 days to watch it.

That’s all for now, goodnight!

Lassen is sick again, so if Alex goes to work tomorrow Andrew will come up here and I’ll watch her. Apparently Lassen’s had a rough day.

I helped Clare with her website — mostly just cleaning it up.

We had a nice dinner while talking to Clare on the phone and watching the snow fall.

Dean and I finished Sinners. It was fun seeing Buddy Guy at the end. I saw him in concert several years ago.

That’s all for now, goodnight!

While they worked, Alex, Lassen, and I walked to a local coffee shop. I had a matcha latte and got my first froth heart!

The walk back was slower (yay) because Lassen walked instead of sat in the stroller. She reminds me of Clare at her age — always finding treasures.

Alex left for her pottery studio when we returned to her house so I put Lassen down for her nap. She must have been exhausted from the walk that she wanted to go to bed before the last story was finished.

While she slept I rested in Andrew and Alex’s room and as soon as I was horizontal, Dizzy climbed on top of me. We both napped for about a half hour.

When it was obvious that we’d be spending dinner there, Alex found a recipe based on what she had in the fridge and I helped cook. It’s always a joy spending time with them.

We didn’t get home until around 8, so we didn’t finish watching Sinners. Tomorrow night for sure!

That’s all for now, good night!

The cats happily joined me in the attic because it was warm and their cat tree was where they like it, in front of the window.

We watched the first half of Sinners tonight. Wow. It’s an interesting film to go into knowing nothing about it. Hopefully we can finish watching it tomorrow night — but we’re spending much of the day at Andrew and Alex’s so Dean can help Andrew with the new backdoor.

Alex asked me if I wanted to see Wuthering Heights with her and Katie tomorrow evening and I declined. I don’t think I will like it plus I don’t want to drive at night.

That’s all for now, good night!