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Third ep of third season of Succession tonight. Omg it was magnificent. I watched it again right away.

Funny how all the actors look five years older… 2020 was hard on everyone!

But not worse! Just resting and recovering. It’s nice to be only a little bit sick, just enough that I have an excuse to do absolutely nothing.

Just resting today. I caught a little cold from Jayla, who thought she had allergies. Definitely not covid, just a little runny nose, and the post nasal drip is irritating my throat and stomach a bit. So I’m drinking broth and hot lemonade and playing Animal Crossing.

Home! Omg I loathe, despise, and abhor flying. If the get the train tracks fixed I’ll take the train next time and meet Dave there.

I am using an Apple Pencil and Scribble to write this post by hand! So incredibly cool. This morning Dave did paperwork and we went to the Apple store to exchange his bad Apple Pencil for a good one, and then we got some adequate sandwiches for lunch. Came back to hotel for a little rest, and then he went out to browse a couple of electronic junk stores while I rested some more. Then Henry and company came to visit me for a while, and now I’m resting again till dinnertime. Tired today.

I love Portland!

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Y”know, there’s a tiny chance that things could still fall through, but our offer was accepted! YAY! *happy dance*

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Fun trip to Apple store and ramen for dinner with the kids, too. Excellent day :D

Let me think, what happened this weekend… Friday I just rested while Dave looked at some houses. Saturday he looked at more houses while I went out with Henry and Lulu for a couple hours — we went to their favorite thrift store, Village Merchants, which they call “Favorite Place”. Wonderful store! I found somewhere to sit while they browsed. Then we went to the Edelweiss German Deli — oh lord. All the imported German groceries and a huge selection of meats, potato salads, etc. Henry bought some bake-at-home pretzels and some bratwurst. I was quite tired by then so didn’t buy anything to take home but hoping to stop by again before we leave. Then back to Henry’s for a little visit and then he took me back to hotel.

Sunday Dave took me back to see a house he saw with Tess the day before. Nice house but wayyyyy too far out of town for my taste, kinda dull and boxy, and the nearest community is just cardboard condos and all the usual boring shops — Ross, Big Lots, DSW, Ulta, Chili’s, etc. Sterile and horrible.

So then we went back to another house he liked when he saw it with Tess, to see if I liked it too. The owners happened to be there, let us in, and showed us all around. They’re so kind and friendly! I adore the house and adore the location — 5 minutes to the community of Milwaukie, which is charming, 11 minutes to the closest emergency department, 20 minutes to the University hospital for my specialists, 15 minutes to downtown Portland. Charming little 1930 cottage on a quiet dead-end street with a great kitchen, lots of windows, pretty yard, and a huge workshop. All the main rooms are on one level so we won’t have stairs to contend with all the time. Two beds, two baths (one unfinished so Dave has a Project!) on main level, and then the basement level has big clean dry basement plus two more little bedrooms and two more little bathrooms, so plenty of space for guests and Dave’s music studio! Jim the owner took Dave all around and showed him all the improvements and remodeling he’d done and they totally bonded.

We decided that that’s the house for us, came back to hotel, and got the ball rolling on an Offer!! So exciting! Now we wait and see……. arghhhh waiting!

Oops, missed a couple days, there. Wednesday we flew to Portland to go house-hunting and visit my beloved Henry and his family. The flight was, you know, air travel (eyeroll) but it went fine. Got airline employees to push us everywhere in wheelchairs, to baggage claim and rental cars even. Rented nice toyota camry, found hotel (Marriott! Swanky!), then went to Trader Joe’s for Room Food; the Rose and Thistle Pub for dinner (BLAT for me, fish and chips for Dave); then to weed dispensary for our sleep, pain, and nausea gummies (illegal to fly with them so we couldn’t bring our own); then back to hotel to collapse.

Yesterday (Thursday) we met our realtor Tess at a beautiful solid old 1910 farmhouse on a half-acre lot with a workshop — but surrounded by apartments and trailer parks on a busy street, and with just too many stairs, so it was a nope.

Then I took the car to Henry’s and Dave saw another “nope” with Tess. Henry and I picked up Lulu from her Nature Pre-School, which is AMAZING. It’s in the “Children’s Arboretum”, a mini-forest in the city, lush and green and beautiful. She gets to play outside with five little friends for four hours three mornings a week. 100% outside, sun, rain, or snow! Teacher Nick is soft-spoken, takes them on nature walks, and lets the kids resolve conflicts on their own as much as possible. They get to climb trees, rake leaves, play with mud and sticks, pee behind the trees, jump off of bark piles, etc. it’s wonderful!

Then Dave met us back at Henry’s apartment and we went up for a visit and, wouldn’t you know it, my heart went into an episode of SVT again. Oxygen 83%, heart BPM 145. Took my Diltiazem (which I carry every in case this happens) but it wasn’t clearing up and I got all sweaty, weak, and confused (brain and limbs starved of oxygen) so Henry carried me to his car and drove me to the hospital. Absolutely terrifying when this happens.

By the time we got to hospital the Diltiazem had kicked in (exactly one hour from when I took it), my heart was behaving, I was no longer confused and sweating, and oxygen was back to 90%, which isn’t great but not life-threatening, so we found Dave, who had driven the rental to meet us there, and I hopped in with him and we went back to hotel. *Whew* hospital averted.

Chilled in hotel for a couple hours and then Henry and his girls came to visit us! So I got lots of Lulu and Freyja time and Dave got better acquainted with Henry and Jayla. And Lulu gave me a checkup to be sure I was ok *heart eyes*

Today (Friday) I am staying in our room to recover (these episodes leave me extremely fatigued for a few days) while Dave sees a few more houses — one of my favorites is on the agenda today so cross your fingers!

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Isn’t that great? I love watching Horrible Histories with Em!

And here’s a little “Simon and Garfunkel”-esque ditty about Viking England. One of the main actors in Horrible Histories (Simon Farnaby, seen dancing with yellow flowers behind Garfunkel towards the end) is the one who plays “Garfunkel” on “Detectorists”, but not in this sketch. In this sketch the “Garfunkel” is played by Matthew Baynton, whom I know from “The Wrong Mans” and other UK shows. (Em has a little crush on him, I think, and so do I. He played Shakespeare in the video I posted a while back.)

If you’re a Peep Show fan, you might recognize “Simon” as Gerard, Mark’s rival for Dobby’s affections, the man with the tube up his nose, played by Jim Howick.

Woke up in Union City, hopped in the car, and zipped home to my wonderful Dave. Very tired today. Played a lot of Animal Crossing, watched Strictly Come Dancing. Bed now.

Kirsten and Marcos have concert tickets tonight so I’m here to take care of Em. Lovely girl. She spent hours crafting a veggie stand for her dolls using cardboard and tape while we watched endless episodes of Horrible Histories. They did a really great sketch about how Richard III was a victim of Tudor propaganda.

At bedtime she was worried that she might feel lonely upstairs by herself, so I suggested I could make her a little bed on my floor and we‘d have a sleepover. That cheered her right up, and she got her bunny, pillow, little pink sleeping bag, and nightlight. I was so tired I meant to fall asleep at 8pm too but of course as soon as the lights were out I felt wakeful — so I watched the brand-new episode of Succession! (S03E01)

SO GOOD!

Dave’s Portland realtor took him on a video walkthrough of our current favorite house (we call it the DNP (Damn Near Perfect) house) and she says it’s great in real life, so it looks like we‘re gonna put in an offer! I say “we”… Dave doesn’t mind at all that I’m as poor as a churchmouse, and he’s including me in everything. He calls it “our” house so I do too. *heart eyes*

The sellers are accepting offers till Monday night and will decide by Tuesday night, so we’ll know soon. We’re going up to Portland next week regardless, so besides visiting Henry and his brood we’ll either admire our DNP house or, if we don’t get it, we’ll have fun looking at others!

Spent last night in Union City so I could get to Suzanne the Therapist at 9 this morning. It has been maybe a month since our last session — I only have 2 appointments a month and she had to cancel our last session — but it’s ok, I’m so sane now that I can survive a whole month between appointments :D Still, it is EXTREMELY helpful to have her to talk to about anything and everything that’s going on with me.

Let’s see, after Suzanne I went back to UC to do some sewing and hang out with Em. Marcos popped into my room and told me all about their Italian adventures and gave me a book they brough home for me, about the art treasures of Florence — written in German! Such a thoughtful gift.

In the afternoon I drove home, watched new Bake Off and Extra Slice with Dave, and now I’m gonna crash early cause I’m exhausted.

Season 3 of Succession will start on Sunday and I am beyond excited to find out what happens next to the Roys (and Greg the Egg). Can’t hardly WAIT!

In Union City tonight, watching a few eps of Season 2 while I play a little Animal Crossing before bed.

After my booster shot yesterday, I woke up achy and fatigued, so I simply stayed in bed all day. Watched some more Hollington Drive on ITV, rewatched some Bake Off, played a lot of Animal Crossing. By evening I perked up a lot so I think that was the worst of it, hooray!

The deliverymen are here to deliver the furniture we bought forever ago, so the lawn furniture can go back on the balcony tomorrow!

That 1935 yellow Craftsman turned out to be a hideous money pit that needs to be gutted, so we gave up on that one. Now we’re drooling over an absolutely beautiful 1963 split-level on a tree-lined dead-end street. Beautiful kitchen, garage AND workshop, vegetable garden! Fingers crossed that it is as nice as it seems…

Drove up to Union City today to get my Pfizer booster shot and spend time with Em while her parents were out. Lovely Em. We watched several hours of Horrible Histories together and I kept her company while she played with her dolls.

When I got home I found that Dave had installed his new toilet and fancy Japanese toilet seat — it squirts lovely warm water to clean your butt and blows warm air to dry you afterwards :D

Mild headache all day — side effect of my ever-increasing dose of remodulin. No big deal, but by the end of the day I feel frayed.

This afternoon we booked our hotel and rental car for our Portland trip next week! Very exciting. House shopping and visiting Henry and family. Can’t wait. I ordered some CDC-recommended N95 masks to wear on the journey, and I scheduled my booster shot for tomorrow.

Dave and I have spent hours and hours looking at Portland houses on Zillow, so that we can move there in a couple of years when he retires. We both like the sturdy old Craftsmans and have our eyes on a big lovely one from 1935 that needs a little work (carpets ripped out, kitchen remodeled out of the 70s and back to the 30s, paint, etc.) so cross your fingers… we’re gonna travel up to Portland next week to look in person! Very exciting!

I like boys :D

I do not know why I know this 1918 song, but it popped into my head today so I hunted it down on YouTube. It can also be sung, “K-k-k-Kayray…” :D