February 28: It was a month of waiting
Pulled an inner thigh muscle on my right leg, and paused the biking workouts to let it heal. It's rather annoying, as the last couple weeks I'd managed to taken only one rest day a week from biking, and have been s-l-o-w-l-y increasing resistance to strengthen the bad knee. It was probably from doing cobbler's pose with forward fold, when I'd rather have been doing seated forward fold. I've done some upper body workouts instead and, ugh.
I keep forgetting who's the sidekick in these shows, because it can't be the annoying male title character.
Made a second batch of doughnuts and may have cracked the perfect texture. They were frozen, and I let them defrost for two or three hours. By the time the frying started, they'd risen to be pillowy, but not big (about a 50% increase in size?) and they came out thick and soft. Even over-browning the outside didn't ruin them; in fact, the crunch was a nice contrast.
February 26: 5 p.m.
We are in the den. Jorj is fighting to get some code working. I am on the couch, drinking my second small glass of Riesling, reading and writing. It's very cozy, very old-fashioned, with two people in the same room both together and distinct.
Jakob is now sixteen, and over six feet tall. The big question is: when will driving begin? And the answer is: when they figure out what they need to do to get a permit, which should give us some breathing room. Jakob likes biking and walking with friends to Rita's and the White Horse Cafe and Seventh Dimension Games, or playing games on line. Perhaps when Friday Night Magic restarts, when there are things to do in the evening and at night again, and it's not safe to walk without sidewalks.
I like the person Jakob is becoming. School has returned to hybrid, and we joke and talk and tease during the ride from school back home. Jakob cares about people in general and in the specific. The school has made an effort to teach the issues facing American society; they'll have a practical foundation for their ideals.
My Tante Heidi and her twin brother turned 70 two days ago. Twenty years ago, Jorj and I were surprising her with a visit. Now we hope that we can spend December with Tobi, Maggie, Sarah, Javier, and Oberensingen. The kids assembled a video collage from friends and family; it's really well done. The kids (who are in their 30s and 40s) sang a birthday song to the tune of "Here Comes the Sun," and everyone videoed themselves singing the chorus. Other people sent videos and pictures of themselves toasting. It was lovely and very, very German.
You can't be anxious if you aren't conscious.
— thoughts on Zoloft's side effects
I started Zoloft two weeks ago, and feel a difference already, but am still stressed out beyond all belief. After two days, I noticed that I didn't need a drink to relax at the end of the day. After nine days, my mind could focus on my breathing (mostly) while practicing mindfulness, rather than my brain running every where. My shoulders still hunch up to my ears — perhaps they enjoy protecting my ears from potential bad news? — but I can easily relax them. Jorj noticed I sigh often while working; it's an unconscious try to relax the body.
PennMed put all of its staff into the 1b category for vaccines, even us non-patient-facing workers. You can do that when you are the 600-pound healthcare-gorrilla in and underfunded and often mismanaged American city. I was unblinded (control group), and have gotten both doses of the Pfizer vaccine. It felt like getting punched in the arm. It was nice to be briefly back on campus. The best part was getting grilled chicken and veg over rice from Miss Lee's truck at 38th and Woodland Walk, in fron of the Vet School. The worst part was the freaking driving, with all the construction around the hospitals, and MLK closed. I've got a lot of anger still.
We celebrated Fasching in the manner of my childhood. The weekend before I idly wondered when Ash Wednesday fell this year, and found myself with an altered menu for the week.