Monday hits hard

Fell into old bad habits and ran late to work with no make up on. Then stayed out of sorts most of the day. I practically told one patient, MG, that I give up…bloating, dry mouth, neck pain, fatigue, unable to lose weight, very strange things happening in the toilet…and none of us-naturopaths, generalists, surgeons, or other specialists seem to help her in the slightest.  Ironically when she walked in today, my computer was streaming a piece of a news story saying "”…our doctors are being paid to keep us sick…”

The presence of Mt. Rainier

52 degrees according to the subaru and definitely raining. 2 sleeping kids in the back, a clamshell full of skis and a husband who for once is more pessimistic than myself…he hates skiing in the rain.  Nothing’s been easy this week-end. An emergency in the office took me away for nearly 2 hours making me late to my own thanksgiving dinner for 9. The kids and Eric took over well except the kids tried to make their own table leaving the adults to eat alone. I was home in time to fix that.

42 degrees I reported cheerfully as we began the ascent from Enumclaw to Crystal Mtn. Only 10 to go!  Eric looked taciturnly ahead and kept driving. 

“Snow!” Lisa was cheerfully able to report when she woke up. Finally it was there- obediently drifted on either side of the road except where the land fell away to deep depths below.

Fog scampered all around us completely obscuring our surroundings but we weren’t complaining- we could see each other and our skis and it wasn’t raining.  After lunch, douglas firs finally appeared and seemed  lit up by  sunshine on their snowy branches.

“Is that where it’s supposed to be?” Behind a ridge, clouds and fog turned orangy pink but refused to melt away under the tentative sun. Eric was sure. Mt. Rainier was behind the veil. Somehow, knowing the gigantic volcano was right in front of us yet completely invisible made its  power even more impressive.

I followed Summer down for the last run of the day. Her powder blue snow suit, brilliant sky blue hood and silver boots were softened by the wispy remnants of fog.

Music’s not too loud

Yesterday, I started my  blog,  worried that it’s “public”. Since then, my loyal mother and daughter haven’t read it, even with invitations, so I  feel more secure with my anonymity.

Lauren’s going to UW!!! I’m so happy. I must promise myself and others to STOP WORRYING at least about that kid. She’ll write her book, chose her major and make a good living so Carlos can focus on his art.  She’s a superstar. I’m convinced that UW accepts just about nobody as a transfer student…they accepted Lauren and only Lauren. They got a glimpse of her brilliant writing abilities from her SAT scores and her barefoot essay.   She let them peek at her computer science ambitions. Between the year off and the disappointment of a super easy baby college, Lauren is looking for tough hours in the library and real competition from classmates. She wants a challenge and computer science at UW should be perfect.  She wants to be near home and she’s my very best adult girlfriend (Emily’s just a kid) so I’m the luckiest.

Thanks to Novelists Boot Camp, I’ve made progress.  Mitch Cortez is now becoming a person.  Research items are all things I want to investigate- cool neighborhoods in Seattle, places to kayak there, salmon habits, Luxurious mansions in Seattle. 

My favorite Brahms sonata for piano and cello made my week-end yesterday thanks to Emily.  Her tone and vibrato have improved under John Friesen and just a day after my despair over never playing music anymore, I was partners in this emotional interpretation of 1st mvmnt in our cozy living room, useless fire roaring.

We’re debating whether Rafi should drive Lauren’s car here from Florida as he offered. Best pro is he’d VISIT!!  I had the idea of Rina coming with him but Solly said they’d kill each other plus now that she earns a living, that wouldn’t fit her time schedule.

Oh, the loud music bit..I whined to barrista about music being too loud and lack of internet connection, all in my anxiety that I’d be unable to write a thing. Luckily, it didn’t matter at all. Had a great time writing and the music was just perfect- liked it when I listened and mostly forgot all about it enjoying the writing. This writing thing is definitely about process and not the final result!!!

Foiled again

I'm trying to create the protagonist and antagonist for a book. They're started...One is the dogged, fiercely protective stream biologist trying to save his children from a deadly secret- the other is a gloriously wealthy person who keeps her food conglomerate at the top of the global food chain...but I haven't been able to visualize them as real people yet. I need to meld them with real people but keep them more exciting. Or maybe they'll develop a life of their own? Anyway, pickleball-too fun to miss, patients, and 3 hours of admin, plus a crushing grocery load kept me away all day. But thanksgiving is coming...