We bought some emergency blankets (we keep a couple in each vehicle and needed some to add to my brother's truck). It was cheapest to buy a ten pack, so we bought a ten pack. When they came, I thought: we've never actually opened one of these, so we opened one of them. They are silver on one side and gold on the other and are pretty flimsy but at least didn't tear easily when Dave wrapped it around himself. He looked like a gold alien caterpillar to me, so I snapped this photo.
Even after stocking the vehicles, we'll still have six of these things left. I guess we'll keep a couple extra and then maybe donate the rest. Other things we ordered to put in an emergency kit in my brother's truck: A battery jumper/tire pump device (yes, we also have AAA who will send someone to jump our battery or change a tire), a couple of pairs of work gloves, a few pairs of non-latex disposable gloves and a couple of hi-viz vests. I'll add a flashlight, a first-aid kit, hand sanitizer, a couple of bottles of water and a couple of Clif bars. We rarely stray very far from home, but I like to be prepared. I was a Girl Scout after all.
Speaking of Girl Scouts, a recent Storyworth question about camping sent me down the rabbit hole of Girl Scout memories, starting with Girl Scout camp and continuing to meetings in the basement of our leader's house. I was a Brownie--one of my elementary friends got me into scouting in the fourth grade--and then a Girl Scout until the seventh or eighth grade. We had troop meetings week in and week out and it was a stabilizing force in my life at the time. We did a lot and learned a lot and I am grateful for that time. Weird to dust off those memories, though. It was so compartmentalized from my regular, everyday life, but maybe I needed that. (I know I needed it.)
What else has been going on?
I've been reading quite a lot. I finished a Patricia Briggs novel (Winter Lost) and am just past halfway on the Rue McClanahan autobiography and about a quarter of the way into the Betty MacDonald book. I'm also still making my way through the Gabor Mate book, reading a chapter every few days. His stuff is wrenching though, best taken in small doses. I bought a couple of Jennifer Weiner novels that I want to start when I'm done with the Rue McClanahan. My brain is suddenly able to comprehend books, something that hasn't happened in awhile.
On the weather front, we have had several days of awful wind. When I say awful wind, I mean awful wind with fire watch warnings and warnings to stay indoors due to poor visibility and poor air quality. Yesterday we had to go out for a doctor's appointment and the mountains had disappeared behind a wall of dust. This can't be good for anyone's lungs.
My doctor's appointment was to have my ears checked and my right ear cleaned out. I have some condition in that ear that makes my ear wax form casts that don't easily come out. The doctor (or yesterday, the nurse practitioner) have to use tools and a vacuum to clear everything out. It's often painful and leaves my ear hurting for hours to days afterwards because the nerves are so inflamed by the process. So that was fun.
After my appointment, I wanted an ice cream sundae, but we came home and made sopa seca with lots of vegetables for dinner instead. (I still want an ice cream sundae.)
Today? Let's see. I didn't sleep well last night, so I slept the morning away today. I got up and ate a bowl of leftover sopa seca for brunch and I'm having a hot drink (Pero with soy milk). I need to get some laundry done today.
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