January always brings allergies to Austin in the form of Cedar Fever (the pollen from up in Hill Country). Even people who have never suffered from allergies are bothered by this stuff.

This year, though, I had to take it up a notch. I spent 10 days with a bronchial virus that had me sneezing some, coughing a lot, and to tired from that to do anything else. I missed #CroKnit for two weeks in a row. And I missed both D&D sessions for the week in the “middle” of the virus running its course.

Mid way through all my stuff, E’s mom had a TIA (mini-stroke) and had to make another ER/hospital run. The designated siblings had another medical meeting, changed her doctor to one who is more geriatric specialized, and did some research about services. She’s back in the memory care unit. We saw her today and she’s doing better; she was getting her hair done and had had an afternoon full of visitors.

Part way through my virus, my mom also had an almost break up with the abuser. It didn’t come to fruition and he’s still there, but I feel we are yet another step closer. I’ve made it very clear to her that he will either straighten up or he’ll have to deal with me. Since she /really/ doesn’t want that, I’m able to keep some of the ridiculous out of my head. I’ve also written her will, so we’ll be driving it up there one weekend soon to make her sign it and store it in my grandmothers’ safe deposit box. With all this threatening to break up, I want her real wishes in writing. The most likely scenario is that they will die in a car crash at the same time (since they do so much driving from her place to his and since car wrecks are such a common cause of death). I need to make sure her wishes are protected from anyone who might try to wiggle in. She refuses to acknowledge that she will die some day, so she keeps insisting that a will is not needed. Raising parents is not fun, y’all.

On the upside, while I was fighting the virus, I started and caught up on Orange Is the New Black. And, I started and nearly finished The L Word.

Now that I’m back among the semi living, I’m up against:

• feeling behind on tasks that had not due date
• prepping to shoot several peoples’ headshots in conjunction with a workshop for a local professional/nonprofit group
• figuring out what my next steps in life are
• working on our current projects while prepping for what will come next, especially with little home renovations
• trying not to feel guilty for losing nearly a month of the year, already

Moral of the story. Open doors with your body weight. Wash your hands a lot. Use hand sanitizer several times a day. Use jojoba oil to moisturize after all those skin-drying activities. (Huge thanks to Melody for this tip: the molecules of it are smaller than any other oil so your skin/cuticles can soak it up better than other oils.)

Happy winter, y’all.