Bye, February

That was fast -- February, as usual, whizzed by, even though it contained more than the usual amount of unpleasantness. Now here comes March, a long, usually difficult month. Am I setting myself up for failure by referring to it that way? Or am I being realistic about what's ahead? Or maybe both?

The best thing about this March, in my opinion, is that Rocket Boy will be with us for most of it. He is currently scheduled to arrive on Friday, March 5th and stay about three weeks. March 5th is my daddy's birthday; he would have been 99 this year. Considering he only made it to 67, that's a lot of years to imagine him living. Rocket Boy is 66 and a half. Wow.

I am really really glad that he is coming, because I've just been depressed, plain and simple. I'm also feeling overwhelmed, with the diabetes diagnosis and 9 inches of snow and all the things that have been breaking. Most annoyingly, our oven went out this week. On Sunday night, the temperature (according to our oven thermometer) was around 350 degrees, even though the oven was set to 450. By Tuesday night, the oven wouldn't come on at all. Our stove is roughly 45 years old (all RB could remember was that it was "from the '70s"), so it may just be tired. We still have the owner's manual, called How to get the best from Your Range. It has a lot of tips that I probably should have read when I first moved into this house, in 2002.

I called the appliance repairman to come take a look at it, even though I think after 45 years ovens should be allowed to die. But the repairman didn't call back. I'll have to call again this week. I don't really want to shop for a new one without Rocket Boy's input. Meanwhile, we're having a hard time doing without an oven. I suddenly have a great desire to bake!

Also, at the rental next door, the over-the-stove microwave died, so I have to get them a new one, but first Rocket Boy needs to move the cabinet above the microwave, because a new one won't fit properly. I want to just call Home Depot and have them do everything, but there are all these complications.

Last Sunday, in my plans for the week that is now over, I pledged to make a lot of medical appointments -- and, amazingly, I followed through. Although I hate making phone calls, it seemed easier than housecleaning. So now I'm seeing my podiatrist again on Tuesday, the boys are seeing their orthodontist on Thursday, and I'm scheduled to get my eyes checked in mid-March. At the end of the month I'll have a mammogram. In April, I will see a dermatologist. Also this month there are multiple Zoom calls to discuss the boys' issues, and I'm taking my car in to have the leaking headlights replaced. 

And the boys are turning 13 and I have to somehow put on yet another Covid birthday celebration. Last year, right before the lockdown, Kid A went to a bounce place with one friend, but I was nervous the whole time we were there. Kid B wanted to take his friends to a movie, but then the lockdown happened and movie houses closed. This year they're open, or at least sort of, but I think most of his friends' parents are not letting their kids go anywhere. I'll have to make a fun birthday at home. Without an oven. Hey, store-bought cakes can be delicious, right? It will be just fine. But I do have to get busy and organize things, shop and whatnot. Which I am not in the mood to do.

So it's really good that Rocket Boy is coming home. It calms me down so much to think about that, despite the fact that I need to clean the filthy house first. I think he'll forgive me if it's dirty -- I just want to have it looking good for him. Like maybe NOT have the Christmas bush still up in the living room? I seem to be unable to touch it.

Looking beyond my tiny little life, I just want to note that it is so reassuring having Joe Biden as President. I find myself checking the news only once or twice a day, not constantly. (This is probably why I did very badly on the New York Times News Quiz this week.) It's not that everything is going well, it's just that I trust Biden not to do anything totally dreadful, as Trump was apt to do, nearly every day.

We did hit 500,000 coronavirus deaths this week, on Monday, but the number of deaths is definitely dropping (though I'm wondering whether Texas' numbers are wrong, due to the continuing mess out there). Last week, 498,033 people had died, and as of this afternoon 512,829 had died, for a total of 14,796 this week, an average of 2114 per day -- higher than last week's average of 1916 per day, but less than it was for months and months. That's still such an enormous number of people, though, and so many of them have been Black or Latinx. If we were to stay at this death rate -- which I don't think we will, I think it will keep going down -- we would hit 600,000 around April 10th.

I read in the paper that Colorado will make the vaccine available to people 60 and up (that's me) starting on March 5th, next Friday. I will be getting in line! (I will have to add that to my list of appointments this month.) Rocket Boy is scheduled to get his first dose here on March 8th -- he could have done it in Missouri, but out there it's only available in small red towns where people are refusing to get it, so they have extra. In St. Louis, where everybody wants it, they're "sold out."

OK, it's the start of a new week AND a new month, so I have a lot of goals to review. I think I should make some new resolutions regarding my diabetes diagnosis, but I don't feel ready. My only goal right now is to keep taking the Metformin -- I go up to 3 pills a day starting Wednesday. Once I get to 4 pills a day I will work harder on exercise.

Quarterly goals:

• Read a presidential biography. I am on page 573 of Team of Rivals, out of 754, so that's 76% of the book, just over three quarters, with five chapters left. It's a good book, but the Civil War is so depressing. I just want to get it over with.
  
• Work on a home improvement project. I am making some progress on the taxes. My goal is to finish with Rocket Boy (which means doing most of the work before he gets here). Maybe together we can work on the files too. I can dream!
  

Monthly goals:

• Make contact with at least one friend or family member. In February we had a family Zoom call and I wrote a letter to my friend in Los Angeles. What for March? I don't know, actually. Maybe the twins' birthday could count as the family thing, but what about friends? Must think.
  
• Read the book for the book group. I asked if we could move our meeting, so we'll meet on the 16th and I'll probably start the book (Kindred by Octavia E. Butler) a week before.
  
• Read the book for the Classics Challenge 2021. This week -- if all goes well -- I will finally post my list, and start reading the first book.
  
• Take the twins somewhere fun. We did nothing in February! But Rocket Boy will take them lots of places in March, to make up for it.
  
• Donate $$ to some organization. Last month I gave to a medical organization. For February I wanted to donate to a cultural group, because I've been worrying about what Covid is doing to music and musicians and music education. I finally gave $50 to the Colorado Music Relief Fund. I'll think about what to do for March later in the month.
  
• Do one of the smaller goals on my master list. February was supposed to be my health month, and it was, but I think March needs to be more of the same. I have three medical appointments scheduled so far, I'm trying to get used to the diabetes diagnosis, etc. I think, yeah, don't plan something else, just keep going with this.
  

And my weekly/daily plans:

• Monday: Horrible Day -- do school with the kids all day; take a walk to the park; do some cleaning in the living room/dining room; call the appliance repair guy again, plan the week's meals; get Kid A to plan his; go to Trader Joe's and/or Target; make a pasta dish for dinner.
  
• Tuesday: Podiatrist appointment at 9 am; help kids with school; wash bedding; straighten up our bedroom; lift weights, grocery shop; leftovers for dinner.
  
• Wednesday: Help the kids with school, do the kids' laundry, work on the taxes; vacuum; take a walk; cook dinner with Kid A (stovetop only); raise Metformin dose to 3/day.
  
• Thursday: Take Kid B to CU at 9 for testing; maybe do some shopping while he's there?; pick him up at 12 and take him to school; lift weights; put out trash and compost (try to throw a lot of things out before RB arrives on Friday); vacuum the office and the kids' room; change the milk order; work on taxes; take kids to orthodontist appointments after school (don't forget to bring Kid A's retainer); fix something easy for dinner.
  
• Friday: Pay bills; clean the bathroom and anything else that hasn't been done; take a walk; go shopping for the birthday; work on taxes; RB shows up at some point; leftovers for dinner.
  
• Saturday, Sunday and beyond: Deposit the stimulus check; get RB to move the cabinet above the microwave next door and take a look at our oven (if I haven't gotten the repair guy to come yet); make plans for the visit; watch a movie or play a game with the kids; eat out for dinner.

And a few other things to remember, not on a specific day:

• Read. It would be nice if I could finish Team of Rivals this week. Then I can start the book group book and the first Classics Challenge book and everything else I want to read.
  
• Write. I wanted to try for two days this week, plus blogging, but looking at the schedule -- I don't think so. Remember it if I need a fun thing to make the rest of the day go better.
  
• Sleep. With Daylight Saving Time approaching, I need to go to bed earlier. Aim for 11, not 11:30.

One thing about all these goals that I've been thinking about -- I think I plan too much for each day and that's why things don't get done. And yet, how can I not? How can I not plan to clean and cook -- how can I say, OK, I'm just going to read and write today, forget about the twins and the house and all that. And yet, often when I plan to clean and cook, I don't, and I might as well have spent the day reading and writing. It's a puzzle.