BLURGH. I’m days late in posting and there really isn’t much to report, so this is probably going to be a very short post!

Online schooling continues for the girls. They’re approaching the end of their first nine-week grading cycle (!!!) and they’re going to remain online for the foreseeable future. Covid-positive cases have been going up county-wide and just this week there have been six or seven new cases reported at the high school and ninth grade center, including at least one staff member. Meanwhile, Leyna has been invited to TWO birthday parties in the last several weeks, one of which was a sleep-over, and as much as I’d like to allow her to attend, it’s too much of a risk. Honestly, I’m surprised that parents are allowing any sort of parties at all. I certainly understand the desire to reacquire some degree of normal but this type of thing is more than a bit nuts.

My health is in a sort of holding pattern. I’m certainly not feeling too much worse but I will be VERY glad to see the back side of the oral chemo phase of my treatment. The neuropathy in my hands and feet is slowly worsening to the point where I’m having some issues picking up small objects like pins and earring backings. I know that once the chemo stops, the feeling in my extremities will begin to return. Just before starting the oral chemo in July I was feeling pretty darn good so there’s hope that my body will recover fully from its constant bludgeoning by the drugs.

It’s another lovely day in south-central Texas. The days have been warm but not stifling and the nights have been cooling off nicely. The cicadas are quieting down and the crickets are replacing them in the evenings. Our geckos aren’t as vocal as they have been but we also haven’t had any significant rain in weeks. They seem to peep the most when it’s damp. I miss them! The deer have once again checked what little brain matter they had at the door. It’s breeding season and they’re seven kinds of stupid, charging out onto the roads and getting themselves killed, or roving through the neighborhoods in mindless packs, mowing down any new plant material they can find. Stinkin’ pretty goats… GAH.😬

We’re still on the mostly vegetarian-vegan wagon but we’ve begun eating a bit more meat simply because Rory and I have been craving it. We’re still staying away from red meat so for now it’s chicken and fish, and maybe only once a week. I’ve discovered an amazing recipe for fried catfish that I think I wrote about before a few weeks ago and now I’ve found a good source of fresh fish here in town. Our local meat market, Granzin’s, has some incredible, fat catfish filets. I don’t know where they source their fish from but I do know that we’re sitting almost smack-dab in the middle of catfish farming country. The best fish comes from farms in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama, so the fish doesn’t have to travel very far. The stuff I used to buy back in California was truly awful – mealy and strange, but the catfish here is WONDERFUL. Now if I could just find a good source for tilapia, I’d be a truly happy camper!😄

Did I say this would be a short post? Guess I was feeling a bit more chatty than I had originally thought!😊