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

Half day working, with official admin time given since we don’t have any political leadership at the small gubm’nt agency. Heh.

Comic run for the weekly haul. I was wearing a DC United (our local soccer team) hoodie, and got to tease some of the football people there about the newish (3 years) name of the DC football franchise (the Washington Commies, aka the Commanders). It was all in fun, but they really should have thought out how the name would be shortened. IHOP for lunch because it was there, we didn’t have any strong feelings on food, and our favorite place next to the comics shop is closed for renovations or reimagining or something, though we did see folks hauling in a lot of food this afternoon, so maybe they rented it out for Thanksgiving? Who knows. I just hope when they reopen that they still have the husband’s hotdog on the menu.

Did pop into the local Giant grocery store. While the lot was full, and there were definitely more people than usual, I parked almost exactly where I normally do, near the edge for a faster drive out, and once I got past the idiots who decided to just stop and stand in the entrance to the store while they hauled out and slowly read their shopping list, it went smoothly. For once they had enough checkers at the regular registers, which was a pleasant surprise. We were only picking up a few things because we’re not doing a huge meal tomorrow. Lots of side dishes, and that’s about it. I was once again grateful that I invested in my own shopping cart, a Clax collapsible cart, because checkout’s a lot easier without bags, and when you know everything will fit. Plus it’s hard to overshop when you’re putting everything in the crate you’re going to bring in from the car. And it’s more maneuverable than most store carts.

Caught the first episode of the last season of Stranger Things with the husband this evening. Still enjoying the show, but worried the answer to shutting it all down will end up killing off another character. Fingers are crossed that I’m wrong, but it’ll be months yet before we know.

The husband and I are big lego collectors – “adult fans of LEGO” in the official parlance. We have sets big and small all over the house; pretty much every room save the bathrooms have lego builds on display. We’ve enjoyed the fandom, our Thanksgiving tradition is to build a large set that day (and typically a couple days after), they’re a part of gift giving, etc. Lots of bricks. But the husband is ridiculously excited because Lego is releasing their first Star Trek themed set this Friday. Like, beyond excited. Because this hits the second of his two big fandoms (the other being X-men, which has already had several Lego sets), and arguably the bigger of the two.

So I’ve also decided to dip my toes into the “MOC” or “my own creation” world of fan designs, and I’ve ordered him two designs and all of the various parts needed to build them. One is a miniature of the giant Star Trek set that comes out on Friday, and one is an advent calendar of miniature Star Trek ships. Most of the bricks have shipped, and supposedly I’ll have all of the parts needed for these two designs (plus extras I, suspect). I’m hopeful the advent calendar bits will all be here before the first so I can start emailing the instructions each morning for him to build the next ship. I’m also hoping the miniature version of the big one gets here before the big one does, to help build his excitement. Fingers are crossed.

The news last night/this morning is all about Congress finally seeming to take a step back from the brink and doing their jobs – talking to one another and coming up with deals that the two parties can agree on. If they’re able to get all of that done this week I’ll finally receive a pay check next week, for the first time since early October, when we got a partial check for the period through September 30th. We’re normally paid on an every-two-weeks basis, so I’ve missed two full paychecks in addition to the partial one already, and that’s beyond ridiculous at this point, especially as I continue to have to work, albeit intermittently.

I get that partisans are pissed that, as expected, the party causing the shutdown got little to nothing out of their efforts, but them’s the breaks. Politics is not for the faint of heart, and ‘you can’t always get what you want’, to quote the Rolling Stones.

In the meantime tomorrow is a Federal holiday, so I’m fully furloughed, which is a nice change (no checking work email). Probably doing some needed grocery shopping, and hunting some more esoteric ingredients for stuff I’d like to try. We have no firm Thanksgiving holiday plans, but the in-laws will be visiting for Xmas as usual, so this is a good time to try out & plan any new things. Especially if I’ll be back to the office next week.

Finally tackled a long-desired task, cleaning out the pantry. Did toss a bunch of overly old things, though nothing from before our move in 2020 this time (we were so ready to get out of the old apartment that we just tossed it all in boxes and dragged it with us, regardless of age). And now we have a better mental map of what’s there and what’s gone, plus we can see everything again. Plus it motivated the husband to use up the bananas on the counter; he’s making banana chocolate chip muffins as I type this. I know what breakfast is going to be the rest of this week.

Men’s knitting group this afternoon. Definitely feeling the need for some social time with knitters today, with all the shutdown stuff leaving me bored out of my mind. The knitting store we’re going to today has been offering free classes to furloughed feds, which is very generous of them. Not that this is the DC area’s first shutdown rodeo, but this one feels very different from previous ones, and not just because I’m directly affected this time (in previous ones my agency had funds so I worked fairly normally).

Done with my Continuing Legal Education credits for the year, as of yesterday. There are more offerings, so I may go ahead and bank credit for next year since I’m not doing anything else. The Virginia bar makes you do twelve hours yearly, but allows you to roll up to a year’s worth of credits from one to the next, so this would save me for next year.

Lazy weekend. Picked up yarn for a small scarf for the house, and to make a gift scarf for a niece who just started college (in the green of her new school’s colors). It’s dangerous having a yarn store in walking distance from home.

At the moment I’m listening to the husband wailing in the bedroom as he tortures his poor calves with our massage gun. And I’m quietly giggling at the drama. He went out dancing Friday with friends and is paying the price for jumping around a lot more than he’s used to. I suggested the massage gun, which he initially balked at, but he relented so I got him started. I know the feeling – that sucker really does work your calves, and if they’re sore, it’s quite the change. But he’ll feel a hell of a lot better after. I know I always do.

Haircuts and a trip to BJ’s warehouse for the morning, then a quiet day at home, mostly catching up on comics for me.

My physical therapist definitely upped the weights in our session today, and my quads are complaining about it. Which is all good, because it means the knee is getting stronger. Also the swelling is going down and I can see the normal dimples coming back, so yay.

I did some minimal shopping for prime days, mostly needed upgrades for stuff that was on its last legs, like the toaster oven that has crossed wires somewhere behind the buttons so sometimes the start button turns it on, sometimes it changes the convection settings. Always an adventure with the current one, so out it goes when the new one arrives.

Teleworking after the last few months of return-to-office mandates has been odd, since I’m typically the only person not there in person, and it always has to start with a recitation of having had knee surgery that I’m recovering from. Not that I regret either the surgery or the telework, it’s just an odd situation.

The husband and I are prepping for our annual get-the-heck-out-of-the-DC-area-and-away-from-national-politics anniversary getaway to the Eastern Shore of Virginia; we take off tomorrow. Cannot wait to get back to the shore. Supposed to be pleasantly cool, and perhaps a little rainy (which will hopefully keep the more obnoxious tourists out).

Saw the orthopedist at the end of last week. Consensus was that the shot didn’t really help this time around, so he’s sending me to another doc in his practice to see about going in to clean up the tendon on the inside of the knee and maybe the meniscus, a repair short of a full knee replacement at this point. Here’s hoping that will help get it all settled down, as I’m very tired of limping and not being able to walk normally, much less do any sort of exercise.

Work has calmed down somewhat, and I managed to empty my inbox of emails before I went out on leave. In a way the past week has been like “convention drop” – where you’re so keyed up during a convention with all the energy that brings that when you get home and all that energy is done you just collapse and try to recover. My little work group has been delving into some of our backlog, as well as prepping for all of the litigation that has begun and is coming. Full employment, for sure, but I could do without the messiness of it all.

But anyway. Books for the weekend are picked out and ready to go. Cat stuff is mostly ready for the neighbors to check in on them. Just need to pack clothes and head out in the morning.

Got going early, but several “let’s close a lane or two for construction/mowing/an accident that’s no longer visible” things delayed us such that we ended up getting home about 11 hours after we left. Yuck.

Cats have sort of paid attention to us, mostly to make sure it was us coming home, and to get food when I filled the bowl. They’ll come back out for treats, but otherwise they seem miffed we left and are letting us know by ignoring us. Silly beasties.

Dishes are washing. Bedsheets are washing/drying. Was well disciplined and put everything away the instant we got in the house, so nothing is hanging over the head for tomorrow, which I also took off to recover from the drive. Well, grocery shopping needs to happen, but that’s not terrible in the middle of the day. I do miss telework for that (well, that and not spending an hour commuting each way).

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.