Of Moose And Men
The Best Laid Plans Of Both Often Go Astray

Made it through the first day. My sister in law is really good at small talk, and remembering who is who in the family. The husband is the youngest of the cousins on that side, so he didn’t really interact with a lot of them growing up, and having moved out of the area right after college has also not kept up with any of them. So it’s been good to have the SIL to tell us who is related to whom.

Trip to Walmart after everything to buy a pillow (I needed to replace one at home anyway). Here’s hoping that helps with sleep tonight. Tomorrow is an early one; have to be at the funeral home at 9:30, then presumably we move to the church at some point.

Mostly lazy day. Some packing, lots of video gaming, more packing, etc. Did a grocery run for snacks/drinks for the car so we’re not buying other (more expensive) stuff on the road. Filled the car with gas, pretty much all set. Dropped off keys with the neighbors to check on the beasties. Just need to pack the car and go at this point.

Have the work laptop with me as a just-in-case, though I don’t anticipate needing it. But given the rest of the craziness of the last three months (can you believe it’s only been three months?) I’m not taking chances. Another friend was told to make sure he’s in the office tomorrow, at a different agency, so who knows what that will entail. I’d appreciate it if we could get a moment or three of peace amidst 47’s dementia, but that appears to be too much to ask.

Had to pick up some dress shirts, and a new suit for the proceedings this upcoming week. Got neighbors to check in on the cats. Then we ran off to see the anniversary re-showing-in-theaters of Star Wars III: Revenge of the Sith. How anyone can watch that, listen to the dialog, and think it is anything other than a children’s movie is beyond me. I had forgotten how cheesy the dialog was, and how badly they made the actors perform it. Oof.

Some more progress on the shawl. Almost done with the second set (of 3.5) of repeat rows in the last bit. Not a had pattern, just longer and longer as it grows toward the end. And almost done with skein #1, probably of 2 total, but I have more just in case. And just in time for the next Maryland Sheep & Wool festival, which is next weekend (3rd & 4th). Will have to see what in the queue I’m dying to get wool for.

Had it thoroughly in my head that I had a doctor’s appointment at 9:30 this morning. Got there around 10 minutes early, was all good. They took me back, I’m in the middle of talking to the doctor when my phone gives me the one-hour-before-your-appointment alert for the appointment which was apparently scheduled for 10:30. D’oh! It worked out, because their 9:30 was running late, so hopefully I allowed them to adjust the schedule. I did apologize to the receptionist and thanked her for handling it so smoothly.

Passport appointment went as scheduled. The woman at the post office was great, pulled it all together, took the requisite unflattering photo, and I’m all set. New one should arrive in 4-6 weeks. Whee. Also managed to snag some of the Betty White and Keith Haring stamps.

The husband was at home today as well, so we picked up comics and Wendy’s for lunch in between appointments. Did a little knitting – I’m halfway through repeat 2 of 3 in the last section of the Hoek shawl I’m working on now. Leftover pizza tonight, and the cats are enjoying the windows being fully open for the first time in ages. Not a bad middle of the week.

Long day reviewing existing things at work so the new group to cancel them. Whee. Kept having to impress upon career people that this was a vibe check, that we’re going to get sued, and so be it, we just needed to get through it and be done with it.

The husband continues to bake, this time a small olive oil cake. Very tasty.

Regular doc checkup tomorrow, and an appointment with the postal service to pay for and turn in my passport renewal. It’s well over due, so I have to go in person, and this way they can do the photo, too. Getting the little card as well as the book, first as a just-in-case it’s useful, and then as an added, more easily carried proof of citizenship. Because yes, I’m that paranoid.

Went to the DC Men’s knitting group today, and the shop had these gorgeous knitting project bags in leather. I’d seen them online before, but they were just as dreamy in person. Despite looking them over multiple times I just couldn’t justify another bag, especially one that would really just be used to haul knitting from floor to floor in the house (the lack of anything other than a single handle makes it unpractical for hauling outside). But man were they pretty (and they had all four shades on display).

Knitting went well. Walking to/from knitting went well, with the brace on. Apparently a possible side effect of cortisone is a flushed face, which I had both today and yesterday. Took my temp several times, all normal, before bothering to google side effects. D’oh. And I made some good progress on this shawl. The current section has me adding 10 stitches every two rows, so it’s really growing. Got to chat with a new member who took up knitting during the pandemic, and has stuck with it. He’s going to attend the Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival for the first time this year, so we were sharing tips, like have a project list so you have an idea what you might want to buy, rather than just picking out every pretty skein you see, as that way lies an impossible yarn stash.

Survived another week working for the chaos machine that is the US government these days. Go me.

Hopefully I’ll be able to catch up on some meaningful sleep this weekend. Because it sure wasn’t happening during the week. The Garmin watch I’ve been wearing since December gives you a “body battery” score based on how you’re recovering, sleep, dealing with stress, etc., and all this week it’s been in the low to mid 20s. Out of 100. Yikes.

Only plan I have for the weekend, other than sleep, is looking for some walking shoes at the local REI. And maybe some knitting.

Forgot I needed to go do emissions testing on my mini until someone at work mentioned the DMV. Zipped up to do that after work, passed, then back home again.

Court orders are stopping some of the payment stuff that 47’s people put in place, but we’re still cranking along on a good chunk of it. The nonsense happening at other agencies isn’t happening at mine (yet?), but that could just be that we’re too small and not in charge of anything this crew cares about. In the meantime his tariff and other dramas have actually given us time to try and catch up to the last two weeks. As one wag put it, January was a long year.

Made leave plans for our annual anniversary trip, and I’m prepping the travel orders for my training at the end of the month. Things aren’t normal, but you can’t stop living.

At least the car is now clean of new england snow removal chemicals, after sitting in the Metro parking lot in the rain all day. That’s one down side of having a garage – fewer chances for natural car washes. That said, I’ll take the garage any day, since it means the car is closer to a comfortable temperature when we get in, regardless of season. And it won’t get broken into out on the street.

Another exhausting day trying to meet deadlines, and trying to keep everything moving. Was just me, the GC and the Deputy GC in our suite today, though others were online. That situation won’t last much longer – another month and we’re all supposed to be back in full time. Oodles of rumors flying about over the supposed early out promises (which look quite fishy), and some good discussions with some of my older colleagues who are thinking of getting out sooner rather than later, reassuring them that they should do what’s right for them, and that the office & work will go on. Projecting calming rays.

Haircut and clothes shopping tomorrow. I’m in this odd in-between size for dress pants where one size is too tight, but the next size up is too loose. Very annoying. So I’m going to try some different brands, and if I can’t find anything that’s truly fits I guess I’m off to a dry cleaner for alterations, because I cannot take the too loose pants if I have to go in every day (and I won’t wear the too tight size). Ob-nox-ious. Joked yesterday that the return-to-office policy must’ve been partially pushed by professional work wear merchants to sell more clothes, because I imagine a lot of us will need new wardrobes after 5 years of work-from-home.

After sort of being in remission the head cold the husband gave me last week came roaring back this morning. That or it’s a new things on top of the other thing from someone at one of the rest areas on the way home. Who knows. Still managed to straighten some things in my office and catch up on a few comics, but otherwise was pretty much a lump for most of the day. Back to the job tomorrow, but I may use the excuse of not wanting to infect my coworkers to telework the rest of this week.

Whole lot of changes coming down the pike at work, as expected. I suspect some of them will end up being pulled back as impossible to implement from a practical standpoint, but others will end up creating a lot of work. Eh, elections have consequences and all that. I don’t anticipate that it’ll be life changing for my little agency, just a lot of busy work changing language around.