January

January has been more positive than the fall, so the new year is off to a decent start. I got a fancy dress to wear to our first ever burlesque show to start the year off. It has pockets!! Seattle is so casual generally that I may never have an opportunity to wear this again, but it was fun to dress up for a night.

People who attend this artist's shows go all out in their dress, though there were a few people who kept to the typical Seattle dress code. It was an awesome experience, great energy from the audience and incredibly impressive line up of artists.

G completed the youth strength training series at our gym, so now he feels comfortable in the weight room and is allowed to use it on his own - much needed to build strength for pole vault which he is trying out in track this year.

I went on a closet purge, removing all the items I've been holding onto but am finally trying to accept will never fit me again. Some were hard to give away, but I had fun reminiscing over the shopping adventure to get this top for my Debussy performance my senior year of college. My sister went with me (I still need her help picking out my clothes). It was a fun but exhausting day because trying to find something to wear that evokes Debussy is not easy. Made even harder by ridiculous modesty rules. But this worked well in the end - and became a thing that I've never worn again because what else would I wear it for?? It was too fancy for anything else in my life back then. It's felt good to clear out some space.

This is a bittersweet, if somewhat silly, one - a patient is moving away and they handed me this crumpled up bit of sticker paper at our last visit - they were so excited about giving it to me. One of the great things about working outpatient is that you get to develop deep relationships with your patients, share in the ups and downs and celebrations of progress. But it's a double-edged sword because sometimes you have to say goodbye.

Ryan and I went to another play, I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter, and it had this gorgeous set:

Also, that is a person in the casket on stage. They were in there before the doors opened, which means they had to lay there perfectly still for at least half an hour before the show started. I know my nose would start to itch as soon as the doors opened if it were me, so we were very impressed by this feat. Excellent play which is based on a novel. I haven't read the novel, but think I'll pick it up based on this performance.

I finished Still Life, which was recommended by my sister (who, in addition to advising me on clothes, also has stellar book recommendations - which makes sense given that is literally her job).

This is the second book I've finished this year (the other was one of the Heartstopper graphic novels), which means I'm already closing in on the number of books I finished in 2022, haha. Time for reading has not been plentiful in recent years, but I'm trying to change that. Anyway. I don't really know how to describe the book, but it was much-needed in my life. It contains passages such as:

They go together. It's what we've always done. Left a mark on a cave, or on a page. Showing who we are, sharing our view of the world, the life we're made to bear. Our turmoil is revealed in those painted faces -- sometimes tenderly, sometimes grotesquely, but art becomes a mirror. All the symbolism and the paradox, ours to interpret. That's how it becomes part of us. And as counterpoint to our suffering, we have beauty. We like beauty, don't we? Something good on the eye cheers us. Does something to us on a cellular level, makes us feel alive and enriched. Beautiful art opens our eyes to the beauty of the world, Ulysses. It repositions our sight and judgment. Captures forever that which is fleeting. A meager stain in the corridors of history, that's all we are. A little mark of scuff. One hundred and fifty years ago Napoleon breathed the same air as we do now. The battalion of time marches on. Art versus humanity is not the question, Ulysses. One doesn't exist without the other. Art is the antidote. Is that enough to make it important? Well yes, I think it is.

But also:

When I call it a day, I'm going to be in my Land Rover with Poppy by my side and I'm going to drive straight off a cliff.

Poppy know about this?

Not yet, said Des.

Best tell her.

Maybe you're right.

If I had to try to sum it up, I guess I'd say it's about chosen family and lives lived and the million tiny, beautiful moments in those lives.

Finally, I've discovered that puzzles are similar to quilting fabric for me. If I'm around them I can't help wanting to buy some. We went to the toy store while the cleaners were at the house and found these. This first one was so apt for Seattle and made us all laugh, but we opted not to get it.

Because we were more interested in these two as far as actual puzzling goes. I don't think we'll make these anytime soon, but I really just couldn't help myself.

And that brings January (almost) to a close!