Crystal clear

The french cookie "macaron" is super delicate and tasty, and I love them. They are also pretty costly. The Ann Arbor District Library hosted a chef from the People's Food Co-op who demonstrated the correct techniques and gave out recipes for both the cookies and a basic filling, and also gave us a ton of ideas. As he's been a chef for 30 years, this was invaluable help.

I have reproduced the cookies, they are delicious, and they feel so simple to make. Granted, I have yet to make filling, and that is certainly the next step. I have only made plain and chocolate flavors, and as anyone who has had these fabulous confections is aware, they can be colored and flavored into fascinating variety. I enjoy making them, as with a little planning (the egg whites have to sit for three days before use) they are very simple to prepare once the technique is mastered.

I was happy that I could share these with my temporary coworkers. It is a pleasure to share them and have them appreciated!

This year, another camping trip, this time to Lake Charlevoix, which Siri cannot pronounce. Love living in Michigan which makes the rest of Michigan so much more accessible. Stupid to write, but so happy it's true.

We did all the usual fun stuff, using gear I purchased while employed, and had a great time. Didn't lose any kids into either Lake Charlevoix nor Lake Michigan, had beautiful weather, and had awesome nearby campers who taught me a new way to build a campfire and taught my oldest kid the beginnings of whittling.

Also went and found Petoskey stones on the lakeshore. Very short hikes and bike rides, lots of marshmallows -- it was great. I am still having trouble dealing with the kids when they are off their meds but that's just the way of things, no matter where we are. We even have a new family story to tell: I didn't put the food bin into the car the first night, so we had to buy groceries the next day because they ate everything except one box of mac and cheese, one box of GF graham crackers (yay!) and 4 bars of chocolate they couldn't open.

The slides in the campground and at the beaches, made of metal, are the same ones I remember from when we camped there when I was a kid. Super tall, super solid, built for forever. I'm not saying how old they must be, but another camper estimated they were built in the 60's or even 50's.

Maybe we'll get out for one more camping trip this year. I hope so!

So far I've replaced the stove, the dryer, and the shower head (I'm still hoping I can salvage the original shower head, it was expensive and I liked it). I've repaired the screens. I've ordered new blinds, dealt with the ant infestation, replaced parts in the toilet and tub. The condo association has replaced one foggy window and repaired three other windows with various issues. I still have to replace the bathroom sink fixture and the sink itself, but since I'm going to have to pull out the tub surround to check for mold, I figure I'm not going to spend any extra until we get started with the renovations. And the furnace is shot, so I've scheduled the HVAC replacement.

I have contractors looking at the kitchen as well as the bathroom (when they are looking at replacing the tub surround with tile), because the cabinets are literally crumbling, the floor is curling up, and the countertops have pits in them. I don't want to knock out any walls, but I do want more storage, nearly indestructible countertops, and floors that are fairly solid. I've also requested quotes on a larger deck with a gate for the kids/dogs.

Meanwhile, the electricity went in and out several times, and then stayed out for a while, and then came back on ... you get the drift ... but only one circuit. I had 120 but not 240. DTE came by on a Sunday less than 24 hours after I reported it, and replaced one part and tightened a part that has been burned/burning. They put in a work order to replace the block in the box, and that was also completed in less than 24 hours. So now we have working electricity. But I didn't have to fix that myself, so yay!

We are here. Our stuff is here. Our cat and kitten are here. Our dogs are here.

Very little is unpacked. Haven't found any dishes other than the camping set we've been using since early June. Same with the sporks and glasses.

The basement is full of boxes, as is the 10x10 storage unit. Once the basement is unpacked and a bunch of stuff is donated or sold (depending on value), I'll start going through the storage unit and getting rid of most of that. There are a bunch of books in there, and I think at least half will have to be donated. I've already donated a bunch but there's just no room.

I've applied for insurance and I have to prove that I have no income. I'm not sure how to prove a negative, I think we all know how that goes.

There has been a lot to repair about the house, and it is desperate for remodeling. Some of the kitchen cabinets are falling apart, for example, and the last set of renters was not as kind to the place as all the other sets were. In addition, I had the floors sanded and re-poly'd by someone who did a terrible job, and they are like walking on sandpaper. So I have had some stress about both fitting into the place, and getting it "nice" or even livable.

But as you can see, I have finally hooked up the computer.

Planning trips back and forth, and packing everything we shouldn't need for the next week. Packing! Packing!

I have my oldest kid home with me for the month of June. I thought it would be good because, well, I can't afford camp, and it would be a badly-needed bonding time for us. And it's working, I think. Each day, we begin by dropping off the youngest and going for a run together. This started off poorly and has improved each day, and that is where the bonding is happening. We are building some badly-needed trust.

I still make mistakes, and I still lose it sometimes when the disability symptoms are more than I can stand. But this is a start. It is a stepping stone toward something we need, and I am very glad to have this opportunity to show both of us what we are capable of doing.

I've been dealing with cats and cat poop a lot lately. The feral/not so feral anymore litter of kittens and their mom have contracted something, and there is a lot of litterbox-changing going on at our house. Meanwhile, Kurzon wasn't dealing well with Mimi's passing, so he had a very expensive trip to the vet. Perhaps he is sad, perhaps he is an old man with a finicky stomach. In any case, he isn't eating well right now.

I took the foster set to the SPCA (I am officially fostering through them) and their vet said the family looks great and am awaiting the results of tests. For two days. Meanwhile, lots of cleaning and changing and cleaning and washing. One kitten is now puppy-pad trained, which is extra useful I guess.

Yesterday, friends from around Ohio came down to pack us up. After 7 hours of packing, lunch, packing, resting, and packing again, we are all packed except for the those things we need to use for the next three weeks. I will still have some packing to do right before the movers come, but it will be minor.

My friends agreed I had done an excellent job of giving away belongings. There was much less to pack than was expected. I probably still have 'way too many books and kitchen utensils. As I unpack, or as I find I have no room, more GoodWill donations will accumulate, I'm sure.

Being packed feels good. I know that sounds odd. But having everything in boxes feels like progress.

Edited to add: I found some unlabeled boxes, and some boxes labeled only on the top. Unpacking will be an adventure!

On April 28th, I rear-ended another car with my Subaru Forester XT on the way home from picking up my youngest from preschool. Everyone was fine, my car started, and I drove it home at about 25 miles an hour because it sounded awful. In addition, the hood was badly dented and I didn't want it in my face.

I got it back from the shop yesterday, and it was still making a funny noise, sounding awful, and shaking a bit while I was driving. As I drove it back to the shop, I second-guessed myself the entire way. I thought things like, "maybe it's just that I haven't driven it for a month," and "maybe I should go drive a new one so I can be sure," and "how can I describe this so they will believe something is wrong."

But the guys believed me immediately. They found engine faults. They heard the shaking and the extra loud sounds that the turbo shouldn't be making. They were concerned that there was additional damage to the turbo's vacuum that had gone unnoticed during the repair work, and they wanted to continue to investigate.

So I am back in the rental, and they are working to get it into perfect working order. And I feel more confident in myself. It's nice to be heard.

My oldest cat is maybe 18. She was one of the foster cats from when I fostered with the Ann Arbor Cat Clinic, and I got her in 2002, pregnant with 4 kittens and too far along to "do" anything about it. She was a great mom and her kittens were adopted quickly. She, however, made nice to my two home cats, and convinced me to keep her.

15 years later, she's been through three moves, three babies, three dogs, breast cancer, and hyperthyroidism. Until three months ago, she slept every night on my pillow, and has been pretty much a fabulous cat: not too demanding, not too expensive, but always there, always nearby, always peaceful and purring.

And of course I'm writing this because we are nearing the end. At first, about a year ago or so, she started ignoring rules, and jumped on the table while we were eating, trying to get our food! This past winter, she decided she no longer wanted to eat the fancy cat food, and would only eat boring grocery store cat food.

This weekend I noticed that she wasn't really eating anything at all, and she has lost another pound (she's usually around 5.5 pounds now that she's old, so 4.5 pounds is not good.) So I got a lot of tuna at my favorite club store, and she's downing that whenever she gets off her favorite perch. If that buys us a few more days of happiness, I am thankful and happy to provide her with what she wants.

This site has very good advice for considering the quality of life as older cats age. So does this site.