Hello friends!

It’s been awhile. How are we all doing?

Well, as expected, the election results were terrible. I have no doubt of their veracity. I’m just dismayed that, as a woman and immigrant, so many people in this country were willing to vote for a racist, misogynistic, nativist* felon to run our country. My heart sinks when I see “your body, my choice” trending, but no surprise that the dipshit who coined it never had a girlfriend. WHAT? YOU DON’T SAY. Hey, I was a late bloomer when it came to dating, and some of the coolest people I know aren’t dating or haven’t dated for various reasons. There’s no shame in that. But there IS shame with this idiot. Sometimes I think the internet was a mistake.

Election night left me with a steely resolve to continue being engaged in politics, but not letting the incoming administration affect my life, as much as I possibly can. I mean, it already has – so many of us lost our rights because of the justices he appointed, myself included. But I won’t let myself succumb to apathy. And I’ve gotta say, I’ve learned SO MUCH about civics during the last administration. Like, I never thought I would care so much about the finer details of certifying electoral college votes, the Wisconsin Supreme Court, and Maricopa County, but I DID. WHAT AN EDUCATION. WHAT A TIME TO BE ALIVE.

That’s a nice segue into my next favorite subject – THE HOLIDAYS. YAYYYY. I hope you can read the sarcasm dripping. Holidays are rough on many people for various reasons, myself included, BUT, I’m going to try and embrace them this year. I tried embracing them a couple of years ago, during a bout of deep depression. Did it help? Marginally (hah). I want to create more traditions for my little family to look forward to. Maybe even a Christmas tree this year? I’m pretty sure my gremlins are not going to cooperate with a Christmas tree.

Ok, this is longer than I wanted, so let’s do some rapid-fire updates! Bam!

• Our Christmas concert is going to be a lot of fun. We’re playing the Nutcracker Overture, Dance of the Reed Flutes, and the March. Nine years ago, Husband and I went to the Austin Ballet’s performance of The Nutcracker, which was performed with the Austin Symphony. I remember feeling wistful as I listened to the Symphony, wishing that I hadn’t given up violin. Playing this concert will be my full-circle moment. ❤
• We’re also playing the theme from Harry Potter. EFF JOHN WILLIAMS, WHY DO YOU TORTURE US SO.
• I’m learning fun songs on drums for a really cool project. I’m doing Chop Suey!, Bulls on Parade, and Schism. Bulls on Parade is the easiest (except for the drum rolls at the end, since my rudiments suck). The hardest is Schism (no surprise there). I ALSO MAY OR MAY NOT HAVE A NEW DRUM KIT THAT IS AWESOME. I’m kind of burying the lede there.
• We went camping at the beginning of the month! It was our first camping trip in Texas and since 2020. We had a good time.

• I resurrected the blanket that will never be completed. It’s Mittens’ fault – she loves watching me and playing with yarn while I work on the blanket, so I purchased more yarn for it. I swore I’d be done with it and wasn’t buying any more yarn for it. This kitten is an enabler! I’m not finishing this blanket for another 6 years (I started it in 2018).

• Apollo is using all the warm weather to his advantage. At lunchtime, he gets puppy pot roast time, where he stretches and rolls on his back while basking in the sunshine. Our little sweetheart is 12.5 now. He is perfect.

• Moon Pie girl got a new deluxe tunnel. I mean, the tunnel was supposed to be for both cats, but obviously Queen Moon Pie put dibs on it and it is now Her Tunnel.

• It’s been pretty consistently warm up until this week, when it dropped into the upper 70s. Oh, Texas. I still love Texas fall though. The first three photos are from the park where we played our first orchestra concert (unfiltered – taken during golden hour!) The fourth is from a hike my friends and I did last weekend.

It was great catching up with you all! I need to get up and start getting things ready. I’m mobilizing to the field tomorrow. I’m resurrecting my “field work noooo” tag for old times’ sake, but I’m actually really excited about this upcoming work. I’m doing groundwater injection oversight, so I’ll have a chance to see work that I’ve been planning for the past several months implemented in the field! I’m grateful for this opportunity for many reasons. And the best part is that it’s not local – I get to travel to one of my favorite US destinations to provide oversight! Hint – I’m going to need a jacket 🙂 I’m taking off tomorrow AM so I can get some sight-seeing time in before my assignment starts. The low on Tuesday is supposed to be 19 degrees, and your girl has already lost whatever cold weather edge she had from the Midwest. I’m going to be freezing my ass off, but I’m really looking forward to it.

Have a great weekend!

*True story – I took the AP History test when I was sixteen and had to write an essay on nativism in the US during the 1920s. I had no idea what nativism was. I didn’t study for this test at all. I thought it meant patriotism, so I focused my entire essay on patriotism during that era. WELP, NO SURPRISE THAT I DIDN’T PASS THE AP TEST. But I’ll never forget that word for as long as I live, so I indirectly learned something?