For the Birds

It’s been raining the last few days, and my back has protested to the point that I’ve spent most of the last 48 hours horizontal with a heating pad. As such, I’m also dictating most of this blog post, so let’s see how it goes.

I will say that as of this morning the rain seems to have finally moved on, and while my back has eased up a little, it still hurts – but at least I can move around without immediately regretting it. 

Beyond that, there have been quite a few noteworthy things over the past couple of weeks.

For example, I got to meet Calypso, a red-tailed hawk. She is magnificent, and being able to have her perch on my arm was one of the coolest things I’ve done in quite a while.

Last month a friend surprised me with a copy of Frog and Toad Are Doing Their Best (a parody of the Frog and Toad books), and I can now confirm (after too long a delay) that it’s absolutely hilarious.

I’ve made a couple trips to the Junkyard Market and acquired a few things: a record of German beer hall songs, a copy of The Divine Comedy illustrated with Gustave Doré engravings and translated by an author I didn’t already own, a Doctor Who companion book, a worn copy of Mother Bird Stories, a candlestick that weighs considerably more than it looks, and a set of little green glass rabbits for holding place cards.

Then there was some good food.

Blackened salmon with roasted Brussels sprouts, mac and cheese, pizza, and a pasta bake from my mother-in-law – and I tried to make cube steaks and gravy, and while the gravy turned out great the cube steaks did not.

I also received a bouquet of flowers a friend gathered from their garden.

I also finally finished designing the tank top for the My Chemical Romance concert next month and ordered a Pusheen planner for work!

Now comes the hard part: waiting for the packages to arrive . . .

Somewhere in the middle of all of this, I finally caught up on writing my D&D session summaries for Leaf and Rustle!

This past Monday, we finally watched Project Hail Mary while a thunderstorm rolled through. At one point the power flickered and went out for just a moment, but oddly enough, the television never did. 

While I’m sure there’s a perfectly reasonable electrical explanation for that, I’d almost rather not know.

I’d originally planned to spend part of the weekend wandering through thrift stores, but as I indicated before, my back has other ideas, so this weekend has turned into a Mystery, Inc marathon.

My back isn’t the only thing messed up this week – my desk drawers refused to open and I had to get Facilities to come came to the rescue. I didn’t expect three of them, but it seems  they’ve dealt with enough desk just like mine over the past month that they brought enough folks to carry it away of need be. Fortunately, mine surrendered after a bit of persuasion. 

More importantly, I regained access to my Pop-Tarts.

Then yesterday morning I had my initial intake appointment as part of an autism assessment, with the clinician recommending moving forward with three in-person evaluations. 

Last weekend Krystal wrapped up her run as stage manager in To Kill a Mockingbird. Three of the six performances sold out, which was wonderful to see after all the work the cast and crew put into the production.

This morning I’ve spent some time journaling, and the oven has been happily dehydrating oranges for my morning teas.

Yesterday’s dinner plans also changed. Instead of marinated hot dogs, we ended up making an afternoon trip to Lowe’s and Dollar Tree, followed by a late lunch from Arby’s, which ended up being enough for me. 

Today’s menu includes grilled cheese and tomato soup for lunch, with the marinated hot dogs for supper.

What about you?

What have you been up to?