What did you do this week (and weekend)?

I've read A LOT this week.

But on Wednesday I went into London and visted the National Gallery. I'm not an artsy type, I don't really 'get' art but I wanted to give it a crack.

Turns out I just don't like paintings of rich people, I do really enjoy paintings of landscapes though. I was throughly enjoying Gainsborough's paintings of various points of countryside in the UK, felt very nostalgic for where I come from in the country.

I've started a bit of an article about why men should be less judgemental and more involved in the arts. Since I've picked up a bit of a bug for it (Covid thinkings...) I've been far more articulate about myself, needs and my emotions. It's been quite liberating.

We have been getting a steady rain the entire month but yesterday it was massive. Sewers overflowing in most of the city and many have problems with massive pools of water in their gardens or basements. Compared to others we were lucky, but we still got a few centimeters of water in the crawl space under the house. So I have been having "fun" with pumping water out yesterday only to see it return again today. The ground is just filled with rain water so it can't absorb more and it creeps through the concrete floor in the crawl space basement. Hopefully a few days without rain will allow the water to sink again.

Apparently this is a "once in a century" kind of event, though it does seem we get a lot of those these years...

I helped out my husband by designing and printing some plastic baubles for my husband to put together into art pieces he's going to give out to his friends and coworkers for Christmas.

This week it rained, and I was out quite a bit to the valley. The smell of petrichor was euphoric and nearly overwhelming. At first I thought that it was just different out where I was, but it rained a bit more when I got home and it was largely the same. That's when I realized it was the first big rain I've experienced since I managed to clear up my chronic sinus issues, so I was just getting a big dose out of it. I might just move to England to chase the high. :P

Last night I cut up an onion and two peppers and stir fried them up with some soy curls to make fajitas. It took up my whole pan so it was a lot of food. But it was so good that I ended up eating it all! Thank goodness it was basically all vegetables and no oil, because I shudder to think of how many calories it would have been if it were the regular ones. I had originally planned to eat them together with the homemade corn tortillas I had been making, but I was too tired to make them today and didn't want to clean up the mess.

I also spent entirely too much at Joann's buying fabric that was supposedly on sale. I'm planning on making my own compression shirts to hide away some of my lumpiness; I haven't managed to find one that fits just right, and the ones that fit at all are very expensive. I thought that I was buying white but it turned out to be a very light blue. That's OK, though; I like light blue, and it's going to be an undershirt anyways.

I'm in Las Vegas for the new Formula 1 race. My family and I had some tickets for last night's two practice sessions. I'll just put this here. And for some additional context.

Needless to say, we're all just a bit frustrated. $1000+ for 7 minutes of racing. I will say, hearing the cars in person driving by at 200+ mph is insane.

Other than last night/this morning, the week was pretty good. Got lots accomplished at work before I went on vacation, so I feel pretty caught up. Remotely helped my co-workers at a conference they were running, which I'm typically at. While I can't say all the technology went off without a hitch, there were no major issues that affected attendees. Just minor back-office stuff. With this event over, that's basically it for 2023. We roughly follow the academic calendar, so we're just kinda on the downhill until the new year. Looking forward to the slow period.

Today, I got a notice from a tentative new job that seems like I've passed an important step in the hiring process. Which means I have to work on the next step. Joy. But I'll work on that next week.

I just started the process of divorce as of a week ago. It's mutual and best for both of us, but definitely not easy.

But eclipsing all that is the resurfacing of a lot of shit in regards to my time locked up as a teen.

Yesterday I found a petition to shut down the place that they kept me, and I sent it to all my close friends, and then I sent it to my mom.

I emailed her a link and a note saying that I'm at the place now where I need to be able to open up this conversation with her and actually talk about, and look at what happened. Guess how she reacted?

AMAZINGLY! Full openness and love and willingness and support. It's like opening a door to a whole new and more authentic world. I have the chance to be a full person with my mom again. I know the continuing conversation will be challenging and difficult, but I truly belive my mom and I can face it together with love and understanding.

My mom is also going to be mailing me my guitar soon, and a friend is lending me theirs for the time being....I also wrote a bunch of songs for my next album today. And the weather here is perfection.