Settling for Reasonable in Everyday Ramblings

Love the cream color of this camelia I captured from a walk a few days ago. Right before the sleet/ice/snow extravaganza that kept me housebound for a couple of days. There were spots all over town where folks lost power but not here, thank goodness. It was about as cold as I ever remember it being.

Mrs. Sherlock and I did a weightlifting session together on Zoom instead of walking. She has graduated from Physical Therapy for her broken upper arm, and this is aftercare.

Christmas was quiet and calm and a nice break. Kes and Most Honorable and I hung out on Zoom. I watched the last of the winter specials from Gardeners’ World and took a bath and read. Lots of texts and emails with students and friends.

I am taking the whole week off from teaching, which I have not done in a year. The cats are a bit confused but only mildly.

Thursday I am taking the train up to Seattle. I am anxious about the whole trip, and also excited. It will be complicated emotionally for me. Seeing family, I haven’t seen in a long time and finding new ways to be with them with my sister gone.

I really don’t want to get sick. I have so much to do in early January. I will wear a mask on the train but not with them. If I do get sick, I will make do but I do not want to reschedule this last dental surgery after having it canceled in November. Where I want it, is over!

Diego is doing well. He has more good days than bad days now and that is such a gift.

Wednesday, I start my speech therapy appointments. I know it is going to be a challenge to relearn how to breathe when I talk. Lately I have been thinking about artificial intelligence. I was thinking maybe I could pre-record the audio for my recorded classes and run it through a vocal avatar that would sound like me only better. Lots of people record their audio separate from the video.

I may buy a lav microphone though. A number of the teachers I know use them. I think part of the problem with my vocal quality is that I may be unconsciously trying to project my voice for the laptop mic. With a mic I could talk quietly and be picked up easily and relax my throat a bit. I was talking to a teacher in San Francisco who is about my age, and he is concerned about the same thing. He is getting a mic.

I plan on keeping up with the daily five fruits and vegetables and texting
my weight once a week thing into next year. I have made a little progress. Not enough yet to affect my skin so I am still managing that. At least the acute flare up is over.

There are strength goals for the new year. And my teacher is doing Handstand Club again in the late spring. I learned a lot from that last year. We have the mobility class starting next week.

As we get towards spring, I am going to find a space to teach an in-person class. And who knows, I might actually get the website operational. Once the dental stuff is done, I will know if I can splurge on a web designer. I need to do some low-key marketing.

And then there is the garden plot to plan for.

That is then, this is now. Kes is staying overnight with the cats on Thursday, and I am cleaning and tidying for that. Of course, I could have started this, oh, two weeks ago but the thing is, it will never be clean and tidy enough so settling for reasonable is the ticket.

There is always going to be stuff to do.