shopping

my boots from the online used goods circuit, purchased for a price i am embarrassed to repeat. intact waterproof and good lookin'.

there is asia with your lower cost of living and affordable almost-everything and then there is the thrift culture in the states which, if you couple it with deal-of-the-day specials, can net you some unbelievable catches. i am not complaining.

change of pace

so here we are at Ji and J2's and the focus emphatically switches from adult cares work weights various bypassing irritants and mature food options to elementary readers crumbs on every surface cheese slices and diapers. i vaguely remember i have another life somewhere else.

in other news, the cost of living here is stratospheric.

ff 3

• i still randomly and reflexly try to open the facebook app
• but having signed out and resolutely stayed out, my phone battery lasts a whole lot longer
• and my book is read a lot quicker

all the president's men - bernstein & woodward (1974)

a classic, people say. riveting reading. masterly investigative reporting.

this is all that and more. it pulses with action and connivance and plottings and maneuverings. although the sheer size of the cast of characters is enough to spin your head at first. at the end of it you feel like you just want to slap them idiot politicians. they really are the scum of the earth.

lunch

what shall we have for lunch? HOM asks. it's a joke of course. as if there was ever any question about it. protein style double-double! yeah!!

setting off

we pick up the car and start on the loooong drive to Ji and J2. we are apprehensive (a whole month in a support function!) excited (we meet E! and re-meet A!) low-grade anxious (loose ends at home and all over) glad (that J2 has traversed another eventful pregnancy) and thankful (how great is His faithfulness!).

a li'l bird tol' me

what i say is, if you are standing in line to clear the immigration controls, please do not also conduct a business meeting on your cellphone.

there is virtue in restraint and discretion and the peace is much appreciated.