Tiny new things

Sweet Hubby and the kitties and I have been snowbound for almost a week, which has actually been kind of wonderful.  I'm still doing my best to do something new every day, but these have been small, cozy steps.  I've made new cookie recipes, watched new holiday movies (highly recommend "Klaus", an animated Christmas origin story), and have finished reading "David Copperfield", now starting on "The Red Badge of Courage", my first Stephen Crane.

I also tried something I've only done once before, because it is brutal.  I get a lot of migraine headaches, and fortunately have two different pills I can take to get rid of them.  But lately I've been getting more than usual, often several in a row.  Since both pills can cause a rebound effect (meaning cause more frequent headaches), I decided to see if I could break the cycle by not taking any medication, but simply letting the migraine pass in its own time.

It was a bad day, throbbing head, some nausea, no appetite, low spirits.  I was so lucky to have Angel and Bandy to keep me company, and SH to tend to me, fetching water when I was thirsty, bringing me an ice bag when I lay down, and taking care of himself for meals.  I read just a bit, but that was too much strain, so I mostly lay on the sofa and watched movies, often with a kitten in my lap and sometimes with a husband at my side.  If this truly does break the migraine rebound cycle for a while, it will have been worth it, and the timing was good, since the icy streets have discouraged socializing, so a lovely day to be inside.  My Fitbit told me I took only 330 steps the whole day, since walking intensified the throbbing. I'm eager to get back to exercising and to getting together with friends.

Pulling the kitty trigger

We did it.  Last night, we adopted two kitties, 22 week old sisters whom we have named Angel and Bandy.  Sweet Hubby and I are practically melting into puddles of joy and happiness.

Our sweet old girl cat Stachie died in 2018 and her darling brother Flow earlier this year.  We knew we wanted more fur babies, but also knew to wait long enough to get through our grieving.  We wanted to  let enough time pass that we would stop seeing Stachie and Flow around every corner, stop listening for their voices, stop expecting them to wake us up.

Last night we decided to go looking just to see who was available, not with a solid intention of bringing anyone home, although we had readied the house by cleaning the old litter box, washing all the cat beds, stocking up on food and litter and toys.  We were clear we wanted a bonded pair, so that they would have each other for company and comfort and so that we could both have a lapful.  We went to a place where we were allowed to interact with 3 pairs, and although we could probably have made an equally happy home with any of the darlings we played with, it was these two who won our hearts.

Stachie and Flow were 4 years old when we got them, and it was several days before they would let us near them; it took wary Flow a full 4 years before he got into our laps.  But Angel and Bandy, so young and un-traumatized, almost immediately began to frolic and eat and purr and let us pet them when we got home.  SH and I have both each had almost an hour today with them sleeping on our laps.  They're so cuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuute!  We're so in looooooooooooove already!

Our new couch was also delivered today, so we're keeping the kitties in a back room until we've had a chance to scratch-proof the corners (well, we can certainly dream that the kitties won't immediately scratch the hell out of the fabric we chose).  It's going to be different to have young kittens, with their sharp little claws and endless curiosity, in the house.  We all have much to learn about one another.  A new chapter begins, and we just could not be  happier.  

Surrounded by art

All right, I admit it.  Lately I have not been doing something new every day.  A lot of my time, almost all of several days in fact, has been spent writing and addressing holiday cards.  Since I don't give presents, I do like to send cards to the people who matter to me, and there are an awful lot of those.

I have also been working in an intense online training program for an organ donation center in Atlanta.  This program is designed to give Family Care Counselors a chance to experience approaching grieving families, both to help the family members through this most horrible time of their lives and also to broach the subject of organ donation.  That's a delicate kind of conversation which requires tact, confidence, knowledge, compassion, good timing, and the ability to talk about death without squeamishness.  I am playing a woman whose husband is alive but so brain damaged, he will never recover.  My daughter and I are presented with the necessity of choosing whether to place him in long term care, to live the rest of his life as a vegetable, or to "pull the plug" and honor his wishes to be an organ donor.  It has been an emotionally draining role, but so very satisfying.  I love doing this kind of program, using my acting talents in service to people who work in such an important, high stakes profession.

Anyway, today the program is on a break, so I took the day to do something that has been on my Someday list since I heard about months ago.  In an industrial neighborhood of Seattle, near our two sports stadia, is the Van Gogh Immersive Exhibition.  I wasn't even exactly sure what that meant, but I knew it sounded intriguing and unique, so I got two tickets and went with Sweet Hubby to immerse ourselves in art.

It's a wonderful exhibition.  I learned a lot about Van Gogh's short life, and of course there are many prints of his work.  But this installment goes beyond that, using projections and CGI to give visitors a feeling of being surrounded by and inside his works, in some cases seeing images in the paintings (a horse cart in a field, a boat on a river, etc.) moving, in others seeing paintings flow from one into another.  And there is music to add to the all around experience, including Vivaldi's "The Four Seasons".  

I'm not really describing it well enough to get across the sensory feast it is.  I found it inspiring, relaxing, stimulating, beautiful, and - I don't use this word lightly - awesome.  Nothing can truly compete with an in-person viewing of his paintings, but this exhibition does a great job of conveying not just the look but the feel, the emotion, of his works.  If you live here and can see it, or if you hear of it coming to your city, I highly recommend you give it to yourself or someone else as a very special treat.

The world around me

Today I decided to do something that doesn't seem like a big deal, but it struck me as a good challenge, one meant to give me the chance to breathe and be more present.  I went to a coffee house and sat with a cup of my new favorite drink, a hot chai tea latte - and here was the challenge - without reading or looking at my phone or in any way distracting myself.

This coffee house is inside a grocery store, and I sat myself so that I had a good view of the comings and goings of the staff and customers.  I was so tempted to pick up my book; I've been reading David Copperfield and was itching to continue, but instead I just sat and sipped and observed.

The playwright in me spontaneously made up little stories about the people who came into view.  That young Asian man with the glasses and his hair parted in the middle: he's studying to be a doctor but only because his parents urged him to; he'd much rather be a painter.  The brisk woman with the enviable ponytail: she's divorced and is enjoying her new freedom, although she's worried about her kids, who are becoming snarky teenagers.  The bald man with the limp wearing a Seahawks sweatshirt: he has been close to homelessness several time, but each time finds a way to bring himself back from the brink of poverty.  Now that he's getting older, he knows he needs forge a path toward solvency and security, but isn't quite sure how to do that.  His social worker tells him not to be too hard on himself, but he realizes he is paying the price now for his rowdy, self-indulgent youth.

My reward for not disappearing into a book or my phone was that I noticed when a friend passed by.  I called to her and we ended up sitting together having a nice chat.  So I guess I ended up distracted after all, but in a lovely way, and one I might have missed if I hadn't kept myself open to and interested in the world around me.

Squishy

I stopped on impulse at a Fred Meyers (think Target or WalMart, one of those stores that carries basically everything) with the idea of getting one of those coloring books that have intricate designs to fill in.  I looked through the entire store and found exactly one coloring book, one with fanciful, cartoony figures for kids.  But I bought it anyway because I think it might be relaxing sometime to sit and color, with nothing on my mind.

While I was there, I also bought myself a Squishy, which is a very soft stuffed toy about the size of a small pillow.  Mine is a bird in yellow and pale orange and green.  Bill says it's an angry bird based on the game Angry Birds, but I reject that connection.  My Squishy is happy and sweet.  I can imagine sitting on the couch holding it in my arms, sort of an upright cuddle.

I think it's time to get cats again.  I think my lap is feeling empty, and my hands are yearning for something soft to stroke.  Squishy will do in the meantime, and once we have cats again, Squishy will probably become a cat toy. 

What is a Seoul hot dog?

Sweet Hubby took me to a mall today, specifically to REI to buy me waterproof hiking shoes/boots so that next time I walk in slush and snow, my shoes, feet, and socks won't immediately become soaked and icy.  Today is my birthday and this was just one of his gifts.  

He has also hidden 71 cards around the house for me to find.  Each one contains money, anything from 1 cent to 20 dollars.  So far I've found 17 of them, most of them right under my nose.  I'm learning that I'm not terribly observant because, as I move through my day, I usually only see what I'm focused on and miss anything - even a colored envelope - that I'm not looking for.  SH is getting a day of laughs as he watches me, for example, pick up my daypack and completely miss seeing the yellow card under it.

Anyway, back to the mall trip.  As we were leaving, I spotted a shop called Seoul Hot Dog.  It didn't look terribly inviting.  There are boxes stacked up in the front window, and no seats or tables.  But in the spirit of  trying new things, I asked to go there for a small bite for lunch, and, in the spirit of giving me anything I want on my birthday, SH agreed.

These hot dogs are more like what we call corn dogs, meaning wieners or sausages on a stick.  But this place has variations on that theme.  Besides a meat dog, it's possible also to get a mozzarella stick, or a half and half.  Also, they asked if we wanted sugar on the panko crust, to which question, of course, we replied yes.  They offer several different dipping sauces.  I chose honey mustard for my half and half.  They also offer another variation of rolling the dog crust in potatoes bits.  We didn't go for that, mostly because we're going out to dinner tonight and want to be nice and hungry for that.

So that was my little impulse exploration of something new today.  I don't know that I'd go back to Seoul Hot Dogs, but it sure was fun giving it a try.  Happy birthday to me! 

The walk that wasn't

Yesterday I decided to take a long walk along the Interurban Trail.  I had some errands to run, and figured I would walk to and from, get my steps in, be out in the cold, crisp air, enjoy the snow.  This is a walk I've wanted to take for quite for a while, and yesterday was going to be the day.

Sadly, by the time I walked from my car to the trail, my shoes and feet were already soaked through.  The temp had warmed enough that the snow was melting and slushy and too uneven to walk in.  I had to bag the idea of this nice long walk, so I took a shorter walk with my icy feet, then drove to the rest of the errands. 

So the walk was a bust, but even so, it was kind of exciting for this California-born woman to get to be in the snow.  Despite electrical outage, despite cold feet, despite tricky driving, I just love living someplace where there are seasons.  It makes the coming holidays feel more holiday-ish.

A cold day and a hot drink

Sweet Hubby and I lost our electricity night before last, probably something to do with the snowstorm hitting this area, so yesterday was a hunt for warmth.  We went out for breakfast at a new place (stringy corned beef hash filled with fiery peppers), then tunnel flying, which is always fun, and a good workout, too.

We drove home after that, but still no electricity, so we went first to a coffee shop, where we sipped and read, and then to a library for more reading.  After that we met a friend to take him to dinner for his birthday (an excellent wedge salad).  Ever hopeful, we drove home, and although many of the blocks around ours had had their electricity restored, ours was still dark and cold.

We decided to treat ourselves to a night at a nearby hotel.  Not a top-notch place, but the bed was big, the heater worked, and there was hot water for a much-needed shower.  I finished the last half of a book I'd been slowly working my way through for several weeks.  Even with the so-so accommodations, it felt sort of luxurious and indulgent to be in a hotel mid-week and so close to home.  Definitely a new experience.

When we got home this morning, we found that our electricity was back at last, thanks be to the old gods and the new.  I unpacked and then set out on a walk through the snow to meet a friend at a coffee shop.  The Something New there was that I ordered a chai tea latte, which I'd never had before; I wasn't even sure what it was.  Usually I order iced tea, no matter the weather and temperature, but this just sounded really good, and was.

So yesterday was a whole day lived outside our routines, and because of that, was fun and even sort of exciting.  And I'm also very glad to be back home and warm and snug.  Oops, gotta run, meeting another friend at his condo to play Trivial Pursuit.  I love my life!