Musings of a marginally sane feline-appreciating female.

Love the weekend. Wish they were 7 days. Probably should sit down and look at my retirement plan again. HAHAHAHAHA.

And I have to venture out later to hunt for milk and stuff and frankly, I don’t wanna. It was 23º when I went out to grab coffee, and about a quarter of the people there didn’t have masks on. I mean, the county posted more than 3700 new cases today, why would you want to take even the smallest of precautions?

Just not excited about going out in the cold with a bunch of plague rats.

Canceled my appointment for next week with the acupuncturist – she wouldn’t let me pay for the missed session (I didn’t want her scrambling to fill the spot) and was very understanding about it. Who knew I’d be longing for the days of a couple hundred cases a day in the county?

What makes me extra bummed is that the last time I started canceling appointments, I didn’t get a haircut for a year and a half.

Obviously, I’ll do what I have to do, but I really hope that this surge/wave/whatever is done soon. It’s just been really nice to be able to do some personal care things.

Yes, I’m vaccinated & boosted and mask up everywhere which is a big risk mitigator. Breakthrough cases are less than 7% of new cases, which is not terrible – but we’re also looking at the law of large numbers and all that. It’s one thing when you’re looking at 200 cases a day in the county, and quite another when it’s 3700… So, semi-hermit mode it is for a while.

But I will say, DAMN, I have gotten good at the high speed grocery run over the last two years – my list is in the same order as the aisles (I can do that without even actively thinking about it these days) and I am in and out in no time at all. (Which is a good thing since I never mastered the art of putting together a good order for curbside pickup.)

I know I am obscenely lucky – I work remotely, I can afford good masks, I have a small stash of quick tests, and I was able to get vaccinated & boosted with no issues beyond waiting to be eligible and a brief argument with a pharmacist over the definition of 6 months. I have the mobility to race through the grocery store. And I want to keep this lucky streak going.

Today in snaps! Oh look, cats!

You made it! And given the past couple weeks, Covid may have hit your household – and that’s OK. It SUCKS, to be sure, but it’s so prevalent now that even the best avoidance tactics may not work, especially with the lack of structural mitigation. No shame in it – just do your best to isolate and take care of yourself. And if you’re still negative – keep doing what you can to stay that way – don’t give in! I know it feels inevitable and you may want to just say “fuck it” but keep trying, for yourself and those around you.

Here in my corner of the world I’m wide awake at 5AM – we had more snow last night and bless VDOT*, they were rolling through the neighborhood and woke me up at 4AM – realized I might as well just get up and get some coffee. And of course, Lily had to go to the basement and tell my brother, “HEY BOY, WE’RE UP EARLY, YOU SHOULD COME UPSTAIRS AND HANG OUT!”

Watching my brother try to do the math to make a pot of hot coffee…well, I’m just glad I made a pitcher of cold brew in the middle of the day when I was 110% conscious.

The upside of being up at the crack of pre-dawn is that I can at least start work early and then start my weekend early. Lily – well, she’s already sacked out again.

You stay safe and have a good weekend.

This day in pics:

* I-95 may have been an utter clusterfuck with the earlier storm, but they were hitting our street straightaway with the first storm and this one as well.

I think the Democrats should make good on every last campaign promise they’ve made. That would do them (and us) more good than just sitting around saying, “Well, you can’t elect those fascists.”

I mean, getting into office and just doing nothing but saying, “Look at us not being authoritarian assholes” just doesn’t cut it.

There’s been a *slight* dip in our county case numbers – maybe we’re passing the peak?

And I thought our community had an agreement that we wouldn’t be panic shopping anymore after Plague Friday, but no, because, snow. I had to get milk yesterday – the only thing there was organic fat free milk, or ultra pasteurized whole milk. So, we have two quarts of milk that don’t expire for 3 months. It’s working in my coffee so far.

And today, but before today!

Didn’t really realize how well I’d been sleeping until I got a night of terrible sleep – of course when I have to be up an hour earlier than usual. Today is gonna hurt. A lot. Come ooooooon, caffeine!

So, what happened January 5th?

And it can stop now, LOL. It’s been going for maybe an hour, and it’s very pretty and it can be done, thank you.

I love, love, love working remotely, but it also means no snow days. I remember starting very early in my career, every October with whatever boss I had, we would have to have a little sit down where I explained that I would not be risking my life/car to get to the office in snow or ice. (Even my first go round with support – I made them put the remote connection software on my home computer.)

It usually was met with raised eyebrows, but acquiescence. “You can’t expect me to wreck my car and possibly get injured for this place.” “Uhh, I guess not.”

Lily has given up on the day already, LOL.

January 3 in snaps!

So cook time is 25 minutes, plus egg wash, then 5-10 minutes more.

I skipped the egg wash and did 35 minutes, forgetting from prior experience that 30 works better.

The inside is VERY tasty! The outside is…VERY crusty, ROFL.

I think I may do another loaf tomorrow with a butter wash for the last 5 minutes as the interwebs tell me that will give a softer crust. (I always forget how easy this is to make – the actual prep time is maybe 15 minutes – all the rest of it is letting dough rise.)

But, hey right now, saw off a slice, peel off the crust (it comes off quite neatly) and slather it in butter and YUM.