Back together again

So, the four of us are back together again! For how long, I don't know. The future is uncertain. But in the present -- yes! We are all here together again, and we are going to stay like this for at least a little while. And it is so strange.

Rocket Boy arrived Tuesday night, after a harrowing journey which involved things flying off the roof of his car and the need to stop and mail some of the contents of the car to Boulder, so that he could see out the rear window. Eight large boxes arrived a day or two after he did, and more followed. It's been almost a week and he still hasn't emptied enough of his car to be able to drive it safely. (Fortunately we have two other functional cars.) His belongings are strewn all over everywhere. I have no idea how we're going to fit everything into the house. I've been throwing things away, and/or telling RB we need to give this or that to Goodwill.

But he's here, he's home, and we are starting to learn how to live together again.

I didn't post yesterday because we went to the cabin for the first time in two years. I didn't realize it had been that long, but the little notebook that we keep there to record our visits didn't have any entries after October 29, 2022. Last summer there just wasn't time and this summer there wasn't time either. When we're away from the cabin for a while, we always think it may be vandalized, or even burned down, but it never is. On this visit we met a neighbor who looks after the property next to ours and he apologized for walking through our property to get to it (of course, we said it was fine). I think that probably helps keep ours safe too.

At first the kids weren't going to come with us on this trip. They don't like the cabin -- so boring, such a long drive, nothing to do there, etc., etc. But I encouraged Teen B to come so that we could work on homework while we were there. And then Teen A expressed interest in the sandwiches at the Cutthroat Cafe in Bailey where we always have lunch. And then he said he might like to drive...

So without much nagging from us at all, they both came. Teen B brought his homework and we spent an hour on language arts at the cabin, plus he and Rocket Boy worked on math in the car on the way home (before it got dark). Teen A enjoyed a cold ham and cheese sandwich at the Cutthroat Cafe, AND he drove us all the way there and all the way back. He's getting to be quite a skilled driver, though a bit of a speed demon. Rocket Boy sat in the front seat next to him on the way up, scolding him about his speed all the way, and I did the same on the way back. At one point he was doing 75 in a 55-mph zone. Granted, everyone else was going just as fast, but still. I think he needs to get a speeding ticket -- and pay for it himself -- that would help slow him down. 

We didn't spend much time at the cabin. We got a late start (what else is new) and didn't make it there until around 2:30 or so. I took a walk down to the beaver ponds and discovered that the old beaver den had been destroyed, but Rocket Boy investigated and found that the beavers had made a new den on land, with tunnels, so that was interesting. After Teen B and I did language arts, Teen A wanted to leave so that he could shop at Al-Mart (Alma's version of Walmart), but Rocket Boy wasn't ready to go yet. So -- the magic that can happen when they grow up -- Teen A drove himself and me to Al-Mart for a little shopping. We bought some snacks, plus a new hoodie and an Al-Mart t-shirt for him. On the back of the shirt it says "Dude, I think this whole town is high!" and then it gives Alma's elevation (10,500 feet). I was a little worried about him wearing that to school, because of the drug connotation, but he wore it this morning, and I haven't gotten a call from the principal yet, so maybe it's OK.

And then we drove back to the cabin and hung out for a while longer, and then the neighbor dropped by, and we finally left around 5:30 pm. It was fine. We drove to Morrison and had dinner at the Morrison Inn, and were home in Boulder by about 8:30.

I'm a little slow this morning because I took my first shot of the new dose of Mounjaro last night. (I decided to go up to 7.5 mg even though I had one more dose of 5 mg left, because it really wasn't working anymore.) I slept well, but woke up with a splitting headache. That's a Mounjaro side effect that I hadn't experienced before. It's somewhat better now, but it's been replaced by gastrointestinal misery. None of this is surprising. A lot of people have trouble when they go up to 7.5 mg. Speaking of which, it's probably time for the Mounjaro report.

• Weight the morning I took my first shot: 254.6
• Weight last Sunday: 233.6
• Weight this Sunday morning (after 19+ weeks on Mounjaro): 234.6
  

So not only did I not lose weight, I gained a pound back. Hence my decision to go up to 7.5 mg. I was up another pound this morning, but I decided to put Sunday's weight down here because today's weight is probably just due to the trip to the cabin and eating lunch and dinner out. My stomach has already emptied itself this morning, so the weight would be meaningless.

Only three days until Halloween! We don't have a pumpkin yet and we haven't gotten out any of the decorations. I don't know if there's any point this late in the game, but we'll see. We will definitely get a pumpkin at least. (But when?)

On Friday night, Rocket Boy and Teen B and I went to the haunted house at the high school. As always, we had to wait in a long line. We arrived around 8 pm and were let into the building around 9 pm, I think. Something like that. It wasn't too cold and I had a warm sweater on, so I didn't mind the wait. The theme this year was Alice in Wonderland, or, as the posters said, Malice in Wonderland. I thought they did a good job, better than last year. The haunted house is always kind of the same, so when you've been through it a few times, you know pretty much what's going to happen, but it's still good.

Oh, and I almost forgot to mention the best thing that happened this week (after Rocket Boy's homecoming) -- he got the furnace working! To recap, last April it died, RB fiddled with it for several days, no luck, we called in some furnace people and they fiddled with it, no luck, and finally they said it's the circuit board, it'll cost $1200 to replace it, or you could replace the furnace. This time, RB fiddled with it some more, called around to see if he could buy a circuit board himself (avoiding the HVAC company's markup), and ended up talking to a guy at a furnace supply store who advised him to replace just the sensor. The sensor cost about $32. Also, he asked them how much a circuit board would cost: $161. I know the Boulder mark-up is real, and the HVAC company's labor would cost something, but seriously? Anyway, he drove to the store in Arvada, paid $32 for the sensor, replaced it in the furnace, and voila! We have heat!

His ability to fix things is not the ONLY reason I married Rocket Boy, but it's one of them.

Another thing we did this week was drop off our ballots. That was very satisfying, especially since there was someone right before us and someone right after us doing the same thing. Seeing people vote makes me happy, I don't care who they vote for. (Well, I do, but that's secondary. The most important thing is that people vote.) There's one proposition on the ballot that we disagree on -- sort of -- it's confusing, and a lot of people in this state are confused about it and not sure how to vote. It's Proposition 131, which would establish ranked choice voting. In general, I'm in favor of ranked choice voting, but I was uneasy about this proposition for a couple of reasons. It's being heavily promoted by wealthy conservatives, and many Colorado progressives are against it. Rocket Boy is a big fan of ranked choice voting, so he voted for it, but I am more cautious (about everything), so I voted against it. We have been arguing about it ever since. We keep reading different things about it and debating the merits of what we read. It's so satisfying to be able to have this sort of argument with my husband in person, not just over the phone.

This is another reason why I married him. We think alike in some ways, but differently in others, and we both like to talk about what we think. I think it would be horrible to be married to someone who didn't enjoy arguing.

I should probably stop here. It's almost 2 o'clock in the afternoon and I haven't even finished my morning chores yet (specifically, the litter boxes). I think my intestines have calmed down enough for me to do some work. Rocket Boy went to Golden this morning, something to do with his new job, and he mentioned that he might try to go swimming too, so I hope that's what he did. I've been enjoying having the house to myself for a few hours, but I'm also looking forward to seeing him again soon.