Greetings, blerg. Tis I, blogging from my boudoir, possibly re-infected with Covid. But more about that later. Now, where was I in reviewing things I did a month ago, hmmmmm? Joshy and I went to the Van Gogh “Immersive Experience” downtown, THAT was pretty cool.

I follow lots of artsy-fartsy people on IG and they all said it was worth it, and it was! My favorite part was the “Immersion”, where you enter a big warehouse-sized room covered with projection screens, sit or lay down, and watch Van Gogh’s art project all over the room while you listen to soothing music. Who even needs hallucinogens?

And then on the very same December weekend, my savvy SIL bought us tickets to a drag show! Ginger Minge and friends. It was excellent–surrounded by a sea of well-dressed gays in my aqua wig, I felt very much In My Element.

I have to say, summarizing the very tiny amount of art I created in 2021 lit a fire under my ass. Only four paintings?! I can do better! As of writing this I’ve already painted one painting in 2022 and I’m halfway through a second. It CAN BE DONE. Thanks, physical therapy for my back! Phewwwww.

I’ve even discovered something new and exciting–I can paint in the basement (briefly) while the boys work on their own projects! It doesn’t last long, but it gives me hope for the future. Especially now that they have new painting aprons (thanks to Fleeta) and fresh washable paints and brushes (from mama).

This certainly was THE wig of 2021. I never get tired of that bob silhouette…

…and the color aqua. I’ve incorporated a little purple into my wardrobe. But still.

Ho ho ho! Josh finally made our dreams come true and bought oversized glittery ornaments to hang outside on the monkey puzzle tree.

Wisely, we decorated gingerbread men this year instead of a whole house (recalling the collapsed house of 2020, the perfect end to a real shitfest of a year).

On December 17th, my brother and his wife had their first child, a beautiful baby girl! Mom and I were supposed to be in Idaho this weekend celebrating, but Stephanie called me earlier this week to tell me that the shower was moved to April due to a low number of RSVPs. Which is fine, incidentally, because mom has been sick for two weeks straight and now I am too.

My first born is now this great big stretched-out dude who just turned five. It is mind boggling how fast time goes.

Our entire family had a prolonged cold for two weeks out of December, but with the new Covid variant just starting to rip through communities, we felt pretty fortunate it was just a cold.

Don’t dream it, beeeeeeee it.

We drove to Spokane for Christmas! It was a looooong drive, over 6 hours there and something like 6.5 hours back, and my pelvic floor had been tight again after Bear Cub’s passing, but at least the boys were good. They were great.

This was our Christmas card for 2021. The boys’ striped jammies were from Fleeta. I’m generally opposed to matchy-matchy but when I saw the “Christmas Story” jammies at the store and went to buy a pair for Josh I realized I would be borrowing them constantly so I bought myself a pair too. Oh, Fudge!

Christmas in Spokane was lovely. It was snowy, but nobody forced me to stay outside, I didn’t have to cook a thing, and I could wear my Fat Pants until dinnertime. Perfect!

I even got a little dog cuddle in. Unfortunately the baby now is scared of dogs because of the nip he got from Lucy…he’ll get over it. Sigh.

Christmas dinner outfit! Josh had told me repeatedly that it was a “casual” dinner and I said “THAT’S GREAT FOR YOU” and proceeded to wear my 1950’s fit and flare red dress with the green petticoat underneath, with some of my grandmother’s jewelry. Sweetie. Darling. Would you believe I forgot to bring red lipstick? I had to wear pink. The horror, the horror.

Oops well now technically I guess I completed six paintings in 2021 because I made these little guys for Brenna’s family! I started the dog painting right after Bear Cub died. It was bittersweet.

Me and my sweetie and his disgusting pervert mustache that I did not approve of and also had no control over. The last night in Spokane we all watched “What About Bob?”, which Jerry had somehow never seen, and howled. I was sorry my mom hadn’t gone with us. She would have enjoyed it.

What did we come home to after snowy Spokane? Why, a shitload of unseasonable snow at home! After two weeks of Goo’s school were canceled for snow days, plus the days he was sick in December, plus the threat of Omicron looming over the New Year, Josh and I made the decision to take Goo out of school again. We’ll save 800 dollars a month and probably won’t get as many colds.

It’s no small thing that my back pain is pretty much gone, after about two years of bullshit, all thanks to two months of physical therapy. I really cannot stress how life-changing physical therapy can be. I have my life back! Being able to take walks, dance, paint, lift my children up…all without pain, and just a maintenance 3 times a week session at home.

Some of my favorite moments from 2021: dying my hair fun colors (NOT RED), whale watching, camping, hiking, the cabin, Halloween, Maui, and going out with Joshy to actual Events at Night. Not too shabby, 2021!

On New Year’s Eve we had our longest glow stick party ever: it lasted from 6:30 pm to about 8:15 pm. For a two year old and a four year old, this was pretty impressive. I wore one of my old, re-worked polyester neon paisley party dresses, with the little tiny vest I made for Burning Man a million years ago that still fits.

And the very next morning, I was there at my new gym, which follows a strict mask mandate and everyone stays far away from each other. Still debating on whether it would even be worth it to write a scathing review of my old gym. Probably not.

Oh we’re gonna have some Good Times together, lovely new paint markers with fine tips!

I have to say the best movie I watched in 2021. in fact one of the best science fiction/horror movies I have EVER watched, was “Aniara”, which was enthusiastically recommended to me (more than once) by Jerry, and I finally got to it. WOW. That’s all I can say. Don’t watch the preview and dive right in. It’s amazing…and it will stay with you.

Ohhhh I have more to say but it’s settling in–the boredom. Inevitable when you have ADD. Suffice it to say, I have had funky symptoms for the past three days, like a never-ending headache and nausea, which has shown up as negative on my rapid Covid tests at work. That’s the sneaky thing about Covid–sometimes it doesn’t show up on rapid tests! So I’ll be doing the real test tomorrow morning. In the meantime I am staying away from the three mens in my life and hoping for the best. And reading a lot, and watching a lot of movies and old SNL videos. If this is Covid again it’s not that bad…but I still don’t want my kids to get it. Ta ta for now!