In health news, i now have yet another additional skin diagnosis, autoimmune and well correlated with existing diagnosis. I also have a clear plan. Well, clearish. Will write up and get confirmation, because memory and the instructions on box differ.

Bruno has crystals in his urine which could explain what seems to be increased urination outside the box. Having a barrier pad on the couch paid off this morning. X-ray next to look for kidney stones.

Yesterday dawned with Gulf warmth and humidity and ended with an arctic blast that dropped the temperature 20°F degrees and the dew point 35°F over the afternoon into evening. I dunno, it seemed more abrupt as it was happening, but now doesn't seem that remarkable. The low passed over us at 13:37, with the dew point (an absolute measure of the humidity independent of air temp) at 60°F at 13:12 and 25°F at 19:17 and hitting 16°F at 7:22 this morning.  Temperatures fell, too, with a high of 62.6°F at 13:07,  40.8°F at 19:17,  and a low of 24.9°F also at 7:22 this morning.

Taking today off to go with Christine on a visit to her sister A's in Mayberry/Mount Airy, riding up with sister D. This is fraught for Christine in part with the concern about bathroom stops and anti-trans politics, and her health condition about which she is not wanting to make clear to her sisters. Instead, there is abundant worry about A's health and D's grief. And how A doesn't recognize D's grief. And D's anger over how their brother L's widow is being treated by brother L's kids (which is both objectively problematic treatment, but probably compounded by D by her recent widowhood). And A wanting to ignore that and not talk about it at Christmas.

I had tea with my sister last night when i went to pick up my new scripts, gave her a big hug, and told her how thankful i was for our relationship. I am so very very very lucky in my relationship with L and do not take it for granted. Brother N is on his own planet, which is more intense now that his sons are at college and his wife and daughter have moved back to the states. I feel sad for him on one hand, but on the other -- well, i suspect that his regrets are going to be more of a headache to for L & I to negotiate as Dad gets older and passes, and we have to deal with the "family" home (note N never lived there). But L: i feel lucky we are both honest, open, and compassionate with each other.

Happy cooking things:

Bread pudding in a pumpkin: will do again.

Seared baby bok choi with potatoes and pre-cooked tofu made a nice lunch. (I've learned that pressing and then air frying slabs of tofu really creates a nice chewy texture).

Used hatch chili skins that i'd shoved in the freezer, ground up two very old dried-out okra, and coriander stems and seeds to make a broth. That plus left-over black beans from the freezer and some left over tomato paste made a very satisfying soup. House smelled lovely.

Realized we still had frozen Wellington from Thanksgiving, so not making that today. Caramelized onions and made quasi-duxelles from the fresh mushrooms and shoved in freezer for some other time.

Shallots and beet greens, first cooking the stems and shallots down, then adding the greens. Served over toast that i used to wipe up the caramelized onion pan with slivers of a nice sharp cheese (Sartori Merlot BellaVitano). Bliss.

Happy that that is net-less stuff in freezer, plus got fresh green things eaten or fixed before they went too sad.

I need to eat down the freezer so that when Christine has surgery on Jan 13, we can have comfort food for her in the fridge.

I carefully watched for a low stress time to give Christine more stress: i shared with her some observations about the things listed for her surgery appointment that point to some recovery aspects i knew she would find.... hard. She's coping OK. I am pretty sure the surgeon's description of recovered state was interpreted by Christine to apply to immediately post surgery, so it was a surprise. What is stressing me is the need to go to Ohio and the uncertainty about the recovery needs. I have a hard time believing that we could be scheduling the week of MLK day.

Today both Marlowe and Bruno did inappropriate urination. That stressed Christine lots. I got a laundry line set up in the back porch, under the ceiling fan, so hopefully this will ease some of the appliance demands.

 ( body/weight trigger warning )