Self-care Saturday
It occurred to me as I was leaving work yesterday afternoon (after David had just texted me that Mom cancelled her physical therapy yet again) that I have 2 other siblings. So I texted Rian and Jamie about what's been going on with Mom, telling them that if she winds up in the hospital I don't want to hear that I kept things from them. Her birthday is today--I gave her the cross stitch after breakfast--so they're going to get on her when they call to wish her a happy birthday. They also suggested roping in some of her friends to nag her about it. Lori and Jeremy are in New Orleans this week, but so far I haven't wanted to bother them with it. They came to look for a house to rent, or possibly buy if they find something they like enough, so I don't really want to put another thing on their plates.
I got pizza on the way home from work, and then I took half a delta 11 gummy and decided I wasn't going to worry about it for a few hours. I watched The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar, which I really liked. Wes Anderson doesn't always work for me, I sometimes find his dollhouse sets/set dressing distracts from cold and unpleasant characters. But when he works for me he really works, and his aesthetic is a great fit with Roald Dahl's stories.
I also finished the Virgin of Czestochowa beaded cross stitch design I've been working on:
This is one of my favorite Marian icons, partly because it's so mysterious; other than "Byzantine, probably?" its origins are unclear, as is why she has two slashes on her face. Black Madonnas are interesting, because they seem to harken back to pre-Christian goddesses, like Kali or Cybele, who were depicted with dark skin to emphasize their connection with death and/or the earth.
Czestochowa is also important in Haitian Vodou, because she's been syncretized with Ezili Dantor, the Petro lwa that represents maternal love.
Today was the first day that actually felt like fall, as opposed to the Diet Summer days we've been having here and there. It never got above the mid-70s, which hasn't happened since April. And it was dry and breezy. Even the clouds looked autumnal, with high wisps of cirrus instead of the glowering towers of cumulonimbus that we usually have.
I celebrated with a carwash, something I haven't done in several weeks because it was just too hot to crawl around the inside of my car with a vacuum hose. The wipes I had in my trunk all dried up, but the carwash has a little kiosk of vending machines where you can buy a few for $1, so I got both cleaning wipes and protective wipes, then vacuumed the front and back, and finally splurged on the $12 wash. It was extremely satisfying.
I got pizza on the way home from work, and then I took half a delta 11 gummy and decided I wasn't going to worry about it for a few hours. I watched The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar, which I really liked. Wes Anderson doesn't always work for me, I sometimes find his dollhouse sets/set dressing distracts from cold and unpleasant characters. But when he works for me he really works, and his aesthetic is a great fit with Roald Dahl's stories.
I also finished the Virgin of Czestochowa beaded cross stitch design I've been working on:
This is one of my favorite Marian icons, partly because it's so mysterious; other than "Byzantine, probably?" its origins are unclear, as is why she has two slashes on her face. Black Madonnas are interesting, because they seem to harken back to pre-Christian goddesses, like Kali or Cybele, who were depicted with dark skin to emphasize their connection with death and/or the earth.
Czestochowa is also important in Haitian Vodou, because she's been syncretized with Ezili Dantor, the Petro lwa that represents maternal love.
Today was the first day that actually felt like fall, as opposed to the Diet Summer days we've been having here and there. It never got above the mid-70s, which hasn't happened since April. And it was dry and breezy. Even the clouds looked autumnal, with high wisps of cirrus instead of the glowering towers of cumulonimbus that we usually have.
I celebrated with a carwash, something I haven't done in several weeks because it was just too hot to crawl around the inside of my car with a vacuum hose. The wipes I had in my trunk all dried up, but the carwash has a little kiosk of vending machines where you can buy a few for $1, so I got both cleaning wipes and protective wipes, then vacuumed the front and back, and finally splurged on the $12 wash. It was extremely satisfying.