just the facts

I have not blogged for a week, which is probably the longest I've gone without blogging since sometime around 2005. I have not been entirely sure what to say, although I suppose the pressure is off since so few people read zee blog regularly anymore. But I should record what's going on for posterity - of the remaining readers, we do often use it to settle disputes about what happened when, and if I'm the paper of record for such happenings, I should really stay on top of it.

So, just the facts:

- on Monday, I woke up early to prep for a meeting. As I was prepping, [censored] and I got a call that Dad was at the ER. He was supposed to have an appointment farther away to check his legs, which aren't looking good, but decided that he should go to the ER instead.

- there, we learned that his sodium is lower than the doctor has ever seen (although we learned that Tuesday night; in the ER they were not alarmist, although they were concerned).

- it became clear that if we wanted to pursue aggressive treatment, he would need to be transferred to a bigger hospital. But, there were no beds anywhere in Des Moines, and so the closest options were Cedar Rapids or Kansas City (note: neither of them are close).

- given all of his many and varied and complicated issues, we decided that it might be time for hospice. Mom, [censored] and I had a really nice conversation with the ER ARNP about this, and also talked to Dad. We didn't exactly make any firm decisions, but we decided to stay local and admit him to the hospital here.

- Tuesday, we talked to the hospice people, who are really quite nice and very supportive. Dad also got a brief visit from Darrell. And then Aunt Kathy came down, followed a bit later by Drewbaby and Sammie. We all spent the afternoon together (except for the brief period when I got allergy shots, which I of course reacted to). They stuck around for an extremely cheap dinner in the cafeteria, and then they all went back to Des Moines since [censored] and I were not up for guests.

- After they left, Mom and [censored] and I had a long conversation with the doctor on call at the hospital, whom I really liked. We agreed that it was definitely time for hospice based on the aforementioned sodium and all the other issues.

- Wednesday, Dad went home. Hospice set us up with a bunch of stuff to keep him comfortable, and luckily so far he's able to drive his scooter around the house, although he's getting weaker again...

- The hospice nurse and social worker came to meet us at home, and it's really quite impressive all the stuff that they can provide. So hopefully he can stay home for the duration, but we'll see. I also grilled some ribeyes because I absolutely had to (I'd thawed it intending to make dinner Tuesday), even though no one had much appetite.

- Thursday, they brought a different mattress to support him better, and some other random equipment. We also met the aide who will come to help with stuff, who happens to be my new neighbor. Darrell came by again, and I made a valiant effort to take some meetings - but I quickly realized I had zero interest in doing any of it.

- Friday, I took one meeting and then decided to call it a day. I hung out with the parents for awhile, and then I decided to go to Centerville to get some groceries. I also picked up Chinese food, since Dad had been craving it. This has mostly been eaten by [censored], but I expected that to happen. While I was gone, my sister came by to see Dad, but I missed her visit. Later, Lee Ann and Clell dropped off cinnamon rolls and soup, and stayed to chat for a bit.

- Saturday, Allie and Chris came down to see Dad. I figured out how to make popcorn in his popcorn popper, which is something no one else knows how to do because only Dad uses the popcorn popper. I made a new-to-me recipe for beef and noodles - I put a chuck roast in the instant pot and pressure cooked it until it fell apart, and then I brought it up to a boil and cooked a bunch of gluten free fettuccine in it. I also made mashed potatoes. We all really liked it, and it's definitely something I would make again. And Joan dropped off some soup, which means Mom and Dad's fridge has stuff in it. We ended the night by watching some Joy of Painting, which really is a joy.

- Today, I got up way too early, but had to do some stuff for the library board, so I spent a couple of quiet hours working on that while [censored] dealt with the early morning stuff at Mom and Dad's. Then I went out to their house since Zane and Allison and also Sammi came down to see Dad. We all talked for awhile, which wore Dad out, so I left shortly after they did, came home and ate a late lunch, and did some more library stuff. Then I went to the grocery store, took groceries to Mom, hung out with Dad for a bit, and then came home to make fresh mashed potatoes for [censored] and I to eat with the leftover noodles.

So that's the update. None of it is pleasant, but Dad is still lucid and able to talk (when he's not sleeping), so I guess there's that. Luckily work has been super understanding and [censored] has also mostly been off, so we can do what we need to do.

But right now what I need to do is go to bed.

rest your eyes and stay in the shade

I slept pretty well last night, except for the hour after the smoke detectors went off at 1am. I was pretty sure there was no actual smoke since only the Google smoke detectors alerted (and they stopped after a minute), and the hard-wired ones did nothing. But still, [censored] and I both got up and checked things out, and I ran next door to make sure the other house wasn't on fire (it wasn't, although if it was, that would have saved me from having to make decisions about what to do with it).

So I eventually went back to sleep and slept until almost nine. Then I was slow to get around, but I spent a few hours engaged in some writing-adjacent activities while drinking my coffee. After I got dressed and ate lunch, I ran into town to buy some broccoli, and then I spent the rest of the afternoon finishing my basement project. I got all of my stuff organized, for the most part; there are some empty boxes to throw away and some empty plastic totes to do something with, but I'm quite pleased with how organized everything looks.

Unfortunately, just as I was wrapping up in the basement and getting ready to make supper, I dropped a bottle of wine and shattered it. Luckily it was one of the cheapest bottles on the rack, and also luckily it was rosé and so didn't stain; unluckily, the glass went everywhere, and it was a bitch to clean up. That took my last bit of energy and willpower, and then I still had to make dinner if [censored] and I wanted something to eat. Luckily again, I had planned to make salmon teriyaki, which is one of the easiest things to throw together, so we ate only ten minutes later than I had intended.

But now I need to go to bed so that I can recoup some energy for a long work slog tomorrow - goodnight!

somebody told me to believe in better times

I was going to write a proper blog post, but my laptop battery is dead and I would rather be in bed than tethered to a power cord. I've been keeping busy the past few days; I started managing a new team at work, and so I'm trying to ramp up on everything they do in addition to continuing with everything I usually do. My workload isn't as insane as it sounds (although it's possible I have Stockholm syndrome from working in tech), but there's always lots to do, so work is a good distraction right now.

On Thursday, the highlight of the day was finding nine morel mushrooms in my front yard, there for the taking. I wasn't planning to cook that night, but I decided to fry them up for me and [censored]. I haven't had fresh fried morels in possibly decades, and even with dredging in gluten free flour, they turned out super tasty. It's too bad they were the perfect appetizer, since then there was no appropriate dinner to accompany it, but c'est la vie.

Yesterday, I slogged until after lunch, and then I ran to Des Moines to take care of some tings. I didn't really have time for the trip, but I was nice to get out of the house for a few hours. And then I came home and talked to [censored], who tolerated my jhokes because I brought him a piece of cheesecake - I know how to bribe him.

Today, I was more productive around the house than I often am on Saturdays - I made some headway on organizing the basement. I spent several hours down there, which went by quickly since I was listening to music and in the zone. When I was ready for a break, I ate girl lunch (some cheese and salami, with some expired but still okay gf crackers and some tasty marmalade). Then I went out to my parents' house; Dad was napping, so I talked to Mom for a bit and we agreed that I would come back and feed them supper.

So I ran to the store to grab a couple of things, came home, lost some steam, and took a nap. I also defrosted a couple of jars of spaghetti sauce - I offered to feed the family, but I didn't commit to putting any effort into the endeavor. Just as I was getting ready to go to their house, I emerged from another basement excursion to find multiple missed calls from [censored]. He was doing a project on a lift, and the lift had died, and so he was stuck fifteen feet in the air.

I decided that I should probably rescue him, so I went to his building and helped him out. The solution ended up being dragging his biggest ladder over, which was very nearly not tall enough, and he was able to climb down. It could have been worse, and I'm glad I wasn't in Des Moines today instead of yesterday.

Then I went out to Mom and Dad's, heated up the sauce and boiled the spaghetti, and threw together a bagged Caesar salad. [Censored] made it out just in time to eat, so we enjoyed dinner and hung out for a bit. Then I came home, showered, hung out a bit, and now need to sleep. I haven't been sleeping enough (or well enough) the last few nights, so it's time to get myself back in the sleep program. Goodnight!

setting the lea of nebraska alight

Let's see, what's going on. Yesterday was all slogging all the time - I didn't have a tremendous amount of meetings, but I had a lot of work that I needed to get done. Luckily I was able to do some of it on my balcony, and I also had some journaling time out there, so it could have been worse. I stayed up too late finishing some stuff, but that's the way it goes when you're in the corporate trenches.

This morning, I woke up and took my time getting ready instead of jumping straight into work. This was probably good for me stress levels, although I felt a little behind all day. Around 5:45 I threw in the towel, ate a quick and early dinner of leftover chicken chile verde, and sped 'downtown' to take a group photo with some of the secret society members. Our usual meeting was tonight anyway, but we met early to take a photo to send to the state office. Then I sped back home and changed my clothes before going to the meeting, since I had to wear something specific tonight and did not want to wear it for the photo.

So I went to the meeting, and a good time was (mostly) had by all, and I got to eat Reese's Pieces that Julie brought as part of her snack offering, which I enjoyed. Then I came home, did a tiny bit of work, and talked to [censored] for awhile. Then I came upstairs and did a tiny bit more work, but now I think it's time to throw in the towel. Goodnight!

baby when I'm yelling at you it's not your fault

Nothing to report today - I was pretty productive all day, which felt good. And I took my last two meetings from my balcony, where it was warm enough to sit outside - and so I continued to sit outside and work/journal until almost dark. Then I ate a v late supper, watched some of the new John Mulaney show on Netflix (did not love as much as I expected), and decided I should go to bed early rather than getting my second wind. Goodnight!

quiet now, will we gather to conjure the rain down

I spent entirely too much time this weekend staring at laptops, but since it rained all day today, that was probably the best thing I could do. I spent the morning doing some desultory writing + messing around with some research into marketing techniques. I also read a bunch of online content in an effort to get inspired, with mostly positive results.

Then I took a break to have a turkey sandwich (thanks to my mom's efforts yesterday), did a couple of loads of laundry, and threw together some chicken chile verde in the instant pot. This was not what was for dinner, since I was pretty sure [censored] wouldn't like it - I had some chicken thighs languishing in the freezer that I never cook since [censored] doesn't like dark meat, and I also had some tomatillos and peppers that I bought on my grocery run last weekend that were about to go bad. So I threw them all in the pressure cooker purely so that I will have food to eat this week without needing to cook on my work nights. It turned out quite well, if I do say so myself, so I can cook some rice tomorrow night and feast as soon as [censored] departs.

After I cooked that and cleaned everything up, I made actual dinner - elmer's chili sounded good on a rainy day like today, so I threw together a batch. [Censored] and I ate it while watching some Big Bang reruns, and then I finished cleaning up the kitchen, came upstairs, procrastinated for a bit, debated going to bed, and instead forced myself to get a second wind so I could work for a couple of hours and take care of a task that I desperately needed to do before tomorrow. There's another task I also need to desperately do tomorrow, but at least I got this one done and it's (almost) feasible to do the other task in the morning.

But if I'm going to do that, I need to sleep - goodnight!

did you notice, did you notice i'm feeling uninspired? i think i'm crossing wires

I had a reasonably good day - I woke up feeling inspired to be productive, and I was moderately successful at that. I mostly messed around on my laptop, but I felt like it was mostly for good endeavors. And I took a couple of breaks, did several loads of laundry, took a shower, and generally enjoyed the afternoon.

Eventually, I went out to Mom and Dad's for dinner - it is Easter but it felt like Thanksgiving because my mom thawed out a turkey that needed used. So we had turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, layered lettuce, and five cup salad, and it was all quite tasty. I had to carve the turkey because my dad wasn't up to doing it, and I did not cut it as nicely as he is capable of doing - but the turkey itself was excellent, so we were all happy about that.

And now, I need to sleep - goodnight!