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So much has happened. I mean, nothing major, but enough that I just haven't really had a chance to update.
The reorg at work has come with some stress. They've placed all the federal employees but not the contractors. My govies have requested me by name and have shown they will fight for me, but I won't feel truly comfortable until my COTR and PM have weighed in. Part of me is a little concerned the prime will try to swipe the subcontractor billets (they did that with the other two billets on my team over the last couple years), but my study lead has already decided I'm still part of the team, so I choose to be optimistic.
One night, as we were about to leave for dinner, Elliott spotted a dog in our yard. He was kind of large - maybe had some pit bull in him, I dunno dog breeds - and had no collar but he was clean and friendly and obviously belonged to someone. Jason started calling him Doggy Brasco. He knew how to sit and was clearly car trained, so we thought we'd take him to a local vet to see about getting his chip scanned. Our neighbor posted to some neighborhood Facebook group, and luckily we were only about two blocks away when she texted Jason to say the owner had been found. Coincidentally, he belonged to the neighbor's friend's mother-in-law, who was visiting town. We were running short on time and didn't want to leave him outside, but our neighbors routinely board dogs so they took him in until the owner returned.
Thanksgiving weekend was pretty good on balance. We went to Clinton's for the Thursday meal, which was of course delicious. We played some air hockey, where Mara-Faye scored most of the goals - for both herself and everyone else. Friday, Jason and Elliott went up to visit Jason's grandma Anna, but I stayed home due to tummy troubles. Jason got me Skyrim for Steam because he's the sweetest, so I spent much of the day playing that. Saturday was crafty day at Six's with Sophia, Kate, and Ixy. I finished setting up my 2026 planner but mostly it was just so great to chat with them. It'd been way too long since I'd last spent quality time with my favorite ladies. That evening I brought Sophia home with me and met up with Jason, Rob M., Brittni, and the boys for another Thanksgiving dinner. Jason loves cooking and eating traditional Thanksgiving food, so he went all out with the classics - turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, homemade gravy, two kinds of cranberries, deviled eggs, rolls, and corn, plus Rob and Brittni brought apple pie, pumpkin pie, and creme brulee cake. Everything was just amazing. After dinner, we played some party video game that was kind of like Mario Party but with Rayman Ravin Rabbids. My tummy had started feeling iffy by that point so I just watched but we all laughed quite a lot.
Sophia spent the night because Wife Rebecca needed the car and we had DCC here the next morning anyway. Well, we had planned to. My stomach was being terrible again, and before we started they noted how miserable I looked. I had planned to power through but instead they rolled some characters with the new Palladium TMNT RPG books we'd recently Kickstarted (which are basically updated reprints of the books I used as a teenager) and did a quick demo session. Jason's excited to start a Palladium campaign; I'll roll a character and join them at some point, I'm sure.
Monday I went back to the GI doctor for no freaking reason whatsoever. The endoscopy biopsy results aren't back so I haven't a clue why they insisted on seeing me in person this soon. She doubled the dosage of my anti-nausea med and told me to add a probiotic, and I left feeling very frustrated and annoyed. The good news is the increased dosage does seem to be more effective, but I don't want to have to take it every single day, sometimes twice a day, forever.
Monday was also the Vienna Stroll, which is always a time of chilly fun. The weather was really great - cold but neither windy nor rainy, so it wasn't as bitter as it sometimes has been in the past. It's especially fun watching Sophia experience these gigs for the first time. She's not a fan of Christmas music in general but she's still really enjoying herself. Yesterday afternoon we sang at an assisted living facility out in Warrenton, then had the Fairfax tree lighting in the evening. Just the holidays shows next Saturday and the Willard the following Monday and then the chorus holiday gigs are over for the year. Which is fine by me, personally - I'm feeling a little too busy these days.
Wednesday I got home from work and found Jason in the basement, moving things around. Together we cleared out a lot of space, to the point where I now have an exercise area! And this morning, I even used it for the first time! Right now the plan is for me to get up a little earlier and do a video, then Jason joins me downstairs and we shower, then after work before I get home he does a VR workout (which he prefers) and takes a quick PT shower so he's not going to bed all sweaty. I have no idea how many days a week we'll be able to stick to this; we'll start with just a couple and see how it goes. I already know that Wednesdays are likely to be rest days because I get home so late on Tuesday nights. Beyond that, well, I guess we'll see.
Friday we got about an inch of snow - the first measurable December snow in the region since 2017! It's the best kind of snow: pretty without affecting the roads. It's already all melted and there's no more precip in the forecast, but it was nice while it lasted.
Also on Friday, Jason and I filled the last pages of our respective Pokemon sketchbooks! We started at the end of June and drew one almost every single workday since. In a stroke of good timing, our new sketchbooks arrived in the mail on Friday as well - we got a couple with Princess Donut on the cover from the official DCC merch shop. We haven't decided yet if we're going to continue with the Pokemon right away or switch to something else for a while. We have a LOT of card games with cool art, after all.
Jason is at Zatch's for D&D today so I have the house to myself until the boys get home. The only productive thing I definitely need to get done is laundry, which has already been started, so I may treat myself to some more Skyrim.
The reorg at work has come with some stress. They've placed all the federal employees but not the contractors. My govies have requested me by name and have shown they will fight for me, but I won't feel truly comfortable until my COTR and PM have weighed in. Part of me is a little concerned the prime will try to swipe the subcontractor billets (they did that with the other two billets on my team over the last couple years), but my study lead has already decided I'm still part of the team, so I choose to be optimistic.
One night, as we were about to leave for dinner, Elliott spotted a dog in our yard. He was kind of large - maybe had some pit bull in him, I dunno dog breeds - and had no collar but he was clean and friendly and obviously belonged to someone. Jason started calling him Doggy Brasco. He knew how to sit and was clearly car trained, so we thought we'd take him to a local vet to see about getting his chip scanned. Our neighbor posted to some neighborhood Facebook group, and luckily we were only about two blocks away when she texted Jason to say the owner had been found. Coincidentally, he belonged to the neighbor's friend's mother-in-law, who was visiting town. We were running short on time and didn't want to leave him outside, but our neighbors routinely board dogs so they took him in until the owner returned.
Thanksgiving weekend was pretty good on balance. We went to Clinton's for the Thursday meal, which was of course delicious. We played some air hockey, where Mara-Faye scored most of the goals - for both herself and everyone else. Friday, Jason and Elliott went up to visit Jason's grandma Anna, but I stayed home due to tummy troubles. Jason got me Skyrim for Steam because he's the sweetest, so I spent much of the day playing that. Saturday was crafty day at Six's with Sophia, Kate, and Ixy. I finished setting up my 2026 planner but mostly it was just so great to chat with them. It'd been way too long since I'd last spent quality time with my favorite ladies. That evening I brought Sophia home with me and met up with Jason, Rob M., Brittni, and the boys for another Thanksgiving dinner. Jason loves cooking and eating traditional Thanksgiving food, so he went all out with the classics - turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, homemade gravy, two kinds of cranberries, deviled eggs, rolls, and corn, plus Rob and Brittni brought apple pie, pumpkin pie, and creme brulee cake. Everything was just amazing. After dinner, we played some party video game that was kind of like Mario Party but with Rayman Ravin Rabbids. My tummy had started feeling iffy by that point so I just watched but we all laughed quite a lot.
Sophia spent the night because Wife Rebecca needed the car and we had DCC here the next morning anyway. Well, we had planned to. My stomach was being terrible again, and before we started they noted how miserable I looked. I had planned to power through but instead they rolled some characters with the new Palladium TMNT RPG books we'd recently Kickstarted (which are basically updated reprints of the books I used as a teenager) and did a quick demo session. Jason's excited to start a Palladium campaign; I'll roll a character and join them at some point, I'm sure.
Monday I went back to the GI doctor for no freaking reason whatsoever. The endoscopy biopsy results aren't back so I haven't a clue why they insisted on seeing me in person this soon. She doubled the dosage of my anti-nausea med and told me to add a probiotic, and I left feeling very frustrated and annoyed. The good news is the increased dosage does seem to be more effective, but I don't want to have to take it every single day, sometimes twice a day, forever.
Monday was also the Vienna Stroll, which is always a time of chilly fun. The weather was really great - cold but neither windy nor rainy, so it wasn't as bitter as it sometimes has been in the past. It's especially fun watching Sophia experience these gigs for the first time. She's not a fan of Christmas music in general but she's still really enjoying herself. Yesterday afternoon we sang at an assisted living facility out in Warrenton, then had the Fairfax tree lighting in the evening. Just the holidays shows next Saturday and the Willard the following Monday and then the chorus holiday gigs are over for the year. Which is fine by me, personally - I'm feeling a little too busy these days.
Wednesday I got home from work and found Jason in the basement, moving things around. Together we cleared out a lot of space, to the point where I now have an exercise area! And this morning, I even used it for the first time! Right now the plan is for me to get up a little earlier and do a video, then Jason joins me downstairs and we shower, then after work before I get home he does a VR workout (which he prefers) and takes a quick PT shower so he's not going to bed all sweaty. I have no idea how many days a week we'll be able to stick to this; we'll start with just a couple and see how it goes. I already know that Wednesdays are likely to be rest days because I get home so late on Tuesday nights. Beyond that, well, I guess we'll see.
Friday we got about an inch of snow - the first measurable December snow in the region since 2017! It's the best kind of snow: pretty without affecting the roads. It's already all melted and there's no more precip in the forecast, but it was nice while it lasted.
Also on Friday, Jason and I filled the last pages of our respective Pokemon sketchbooks! We started at the end of June and drew one almost every single workday since. In a stroke of good timing, our new sketchbooks arrived in the mail on Friday as well - we got a couple with Princess Donut on the cover from the official DCC merch shop. We haven't decided yet if we're going to continue with the Pokemon right away or switch to something else for a while. We have a LOT of card games with cool art, after all.
Jason is at Zatch's for D&D today so I have the house to myself until the boys get home. The only productive thing I definitely need to get done is laundry, which has already been started, so I may treat myself to some more Skyrim.
