1.  August 2021: my season of yellow.

2.  Those of you who’ve been around awhile know I’m kinda über organized for the blog.

3.  There’s a running note on my phone with post categories so I’ve got someplace to jot random stuff that pops into my head.

4.  I also keep a monthly spreadsheet for blog posts. It lets me plan topics, titles, quotes, all the bits.

5.  And because I’m just this spazzy I also color code boxes. Gray after I’ve written and scheduled a post, yellow for days I don’t publish.

6.  Let’s just say the August spreadsheet sure looks sunshine-y. But whatever, mental health breaks and all that jazz.

7.  At the moment I’m propping my laptop against one knee while balancing an icepack on the other. I’m a circus act.

8.  But seriously, guys, I cannot get the swelling to go down in this thing. Ice three times a day, Pennsaid morning and night, Arnica gel, staying off it and elevating. UGH.

9.  I am not a patient girl.

10.  I also don’t want to be a girl patient.

11.  I’m running out of things to do while lying flat on the couch.

12.  Plus there’s usually a giant dog trying to climb up at my feet so, y’know, there’s that.

13.  The teens started back to school this week.

14.  It’s…well, it’s weird.

15.  I want to think it’s good weird.

16.  I’m a little worried it’s waiting-for-the-other-shoe-to-drop weird.

17.  Either way it’s strange for these guys to get up and leave for school every morning.

18.  That’s what happens after more than a year of remote learning in one form or another. Reality shifts. Then it shifts again.

19.  Basically there’s no predicting what the 2021-2022 school year will bring so we’ll just wait it out.

20.  I went in Monday to get blood drawn for labs.

21.  Full disclosure (or at least as full as y’all need): I’ve had bloodwork done for one reason or another since my twenties. This gig is old hat for me.

22.  I know which arm has the good vein and how to relax so needles don’t hurt going in.

23.  I don’t bat an eye at tubes filling with blood or peeling pressure wrap off afterward.

24.  But all this means I really, REALLY know when I’ve got an — ahem — less than skilled tech.

25.  As evidenced by the small purple bruise in the crook of my elbow. But I’m not a whiny baby so I sucked it up so she could get the blood.

26.  I managed to make a few dinners this week but at least they were ones that didn’t take hours on my feet.

27.  Fettuccine alfredo one night, crock pot chicken with mashed potatoes another.

28.  But I hit the wall last night so we ordered pizza and called it a day.

29.  Sometimes you’ve gotta know when to say when, am I right? Last night was a definite when.

30.  We’re supposed to grab dinner with a couple of friends tomorrow.

31.  We use outdoor seating so I need all of you to send No Rain Vibes our way.

32.  ps – It really sucks to be weather dependent like this.

33.  Then again, if we keep trucking along the way we are it won’t be long before they’ll look at closing restaurant dining altogether and rain won’t matter.

34.  Our county is red. Most of North Carolina is red. Hell, most of the freaking south is red so we’re really showing this covid thing who’s boss.

35.  You know who else is knocking it out of the park? All those parents screaming at school board meetings about how their kids — who are too young to be protected by a vaccine — shouldn’t be required to wear a mask. Bless it.

36.  There’s also the Texas parent who yelled at a teacher because they couldn’t hear her through her mask. Another parent at that same event physically assaulted a teacher, ripping off her face mask. What happened to Teachers Are Our Heroes?

37.  And then yesterday some NC yahoo parked his truck outside the Library of Congress and hollered about having a bomb. This terrorist posted videos to Facebook ffs, and he was in full MAGA rage mode.

38.  The Capitol Hill Police Chief made statements regarding the recent losses in this guy’s life and said that “There were other issues that he was dealing with.” He noted that the guy had a criminal record in NC but nothing that appeared “serious.”

39.  I’m gonna need us all to step back, close our eyes, and imagine something. What would yesterday have looked like if a Black man or an immigrant or a Muslim parked his damn truck on a D.C. sidewalk and raved about having a bomb, being prepared to die, and being one of five people on the ground ready to take action?

40.  Somehow I doubt it would have been a peaceful negotiations ending with someone quietly taken into custody. And I’m damn sure their personal “issues” wouldn’t have been floated to the press as justification. I’m sensing your typical white guy/mental illness BS coming down the pike.