No Soliciting (but you can see the ferrets)

I waited awhile because Kevin likes meeting new people and chatting with them, and I didn’t want to cut him off from this source of chats with strangers. It’s all part of moving into a new home. However, after so many visits from people trying to sell us things, I finally decided that I needed to put out the welcome mat, as well as the opposite: a “No Soliciting” sign. I didn’t realize how these two items might work together to create something new.

Shortly after, the doorbell rang, and my first thought was wow, that sign isn’t working. However, it might be a package, and since the peephole was set for somebody apparently 7 foot tall (we really need to fix that), I opened the door. A young guy was standing there smiling, and I tilted my head in question. “Do you have ferrets?” he asked, nodding yes as if he hoped this would be my answer.

Wait, what?

Not what I expected. Maybe he saw us take Brigid on a leash? “Yes… we have ferrets…”

“So,” he began, motioning at the No Soliciting sign, “I saw this, but…” he then motioned toward the door mat that says “Welcome” and at the bottom: “Hope You Like Ferrets.”

Ah. Got it.

“Can I see your ferrets?” He’s looking up with a whole lot of hope on his face. Well, of course he can see our ferrets. I told him to hold on while I get them. I yell out for Kevin that somebody is at the door who wants to see ferrets.  Kevin’s thrilled, and he grabs Brigid while I get the twins. We let the guy see the ferrets, and he doesn’t try to sell us anything.

The ferrets have been shared with two sales/charity people so far, and we haven’t been here long.  Trading sales calls for the joy on people’s faces when they see the ferrets is a win.

Tentative Roots

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Brown welcome mat with an image of a ferret as part of the word Welcome, followed by the words, hope you like ferrets.

We’re mostly unpacked, but there are still some “where’s the such-and-such?” moments.  It’s feeling like a home now. I’m still trying to figure out where my 5 TB external hard drive is because Cass wants to give me a bunch of file copies and about 10,000 pictures of Magnus. That sounds like an exaggeration, but it’s an actual estimate. Kevin and I already have over 5000 of our own (I mean, the kid is rivaling the ferrets at this point). All part of being Nana and Umpa.

The entire main level is being designed to be toddler-proof. Since we already aim for ferret-proof, we were most of the way there with our strategies.  We’re hoping it’s a place people can just come to visit and relax. Grab some tea, read, do art, play games, or hang out on the patio.  I once had a place where people would come for a moment of peace, sometimes to hide, to heal, to create, and to move forward.  Not sure we’ll recreate that exactly; it was a magical place, and a very different time.

We miss our friends, many who scattered across the continent (and beyond) post-covid. Many of us have been rootless for a long while (even pre-covid). Sooj’s song “Rootless” has gained new meaning for the community.

However, this place has captured the imagination, whispering possibilities, and I’m feeling points of connection here — to the land and the people.  Maybe, just maybe…. At the very least, maybe Kevin and I can provide a central location for visiting, and we’ll see what becomes of it.

Click here to listen to Rootless by SJ Tucker.

 

New Pain Scale

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With a recent ER-worthy medical adventure, I now have a new pain scale. I thought I knew what pain was.  I’ve had stab wounds, joints dislocated, hot grease that was literally on fire land on my legs, wisdom teeth dug out without anesthesia (hello, EDS side effect), and natural child birth. This, however, gets first place for pain.

Perhaps part of it was I had no idea what was happening. I had movie clips from the movie Alien popping up in my mind while it was happening, and I wasn’t far off! I kept saying that I needed imaging, but I was patient 36 in an ER made for 35, which had a skeleton crew including one very busy MRI tech.

I was making sure Kevin knew where the important paperwork was because I thought I might just die. Then he looked so concerned I tried to reassure and crack some jokes, but my brain wasn’t able to function through the pain, so I just told him that I loved him in case that was the last thing he heard me say.

Now on a scale of 1-10, childbirth still lands at 10, and a kidney stone gets a 20.

Especially with prior lab work being consistently healthy, it’s strongly suspected that the antihistamine I was taking caused my glucose levels to significantly increase, and at my follow-up with the urologist, I was the second patient that week with this likely scenario. It doesn’t happen to everyone, but with the increase in MCAS (and similar conditions) post-covid, there is likely an increase in patients dealing with this. The specialists need to talk to each other more about these things and compare notes. Based on what we now know, I should have had lab work about 6 months after starting the antihistamine regime to see how my body was doing with it.   For those of you also on the antihistamines (and I know several of you are), it’s something to be aware of.

I know to get lab work for the ferrets if they start a medication, but it didn’t occur to me to do this for myself. As much as I am trying to make sure I take care of myself more now instead of being only other-focused, I keep having these face-palming moments of failure.

I’m now taking quercetin, DAO, and other supplements for the histamine, along with paying attention to what seems to push me past my histamine threshold (and also what helps).  Fresh air, low stress, lots of water, and a “curated” healthy food list. It complicates life a bit, but there are worse things (such as kidney stones!).

All at once now — a quick update

A waterfall at the Fairy Pools, Isle of Skye, Scotland

A waterfall at the Fairy Pools, Isle of Skye, Scotland

We’re back from Scotland, so expect to see several posts over the next several days (weeks?) related to that adventure.  There’s much to share, including how to survive single-lane roads, millionaire shortbread, the great hoodie search, castle ruins, Doric dialect, figuring out how to order coffee, and security observations coming and going. One constant: the people of Scotland we met were kind and welcoming, and they had a fun sense of humor — like there was some sort of “trickster” gene they shared.

As if International travel wasn’t enough, we’re also in escrow to buy a house, which is its own adventure. If all goes well (please oh please let everything go well), we close on the 24th.  The last day of our rental lease is the 30th, so this is going to be a couple weeks of remembering to breathe. We’ll be hosting friends on the 18th, so we’re figuring out what we can pack now, and what must wait until the 19th so our friends have a comfortable space.

Of course, all the while, my work is full of big projects while overseeing the daily needs assigned to me, plus I’m attending a STAR symposium this week (on neurodiversity). It’s all actually quite fun!  Just requires a bit more caffeine these days.

Love Between Fairy and Devil – exploring beyond the familiar

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I was thinking about stopping my Netflix subscription again. Try as I might, I couldn’t find anything new that I wanted to watch.  Why do I even have this account?  I browsed different categories, and it was more of the same. I clicked the thumbs-up icon to “like” certain shows to try helping the algorithm, but still nothing new.  It actually recommended Twilight to me.  Okay, so I’m good with fantasy and shape-shifters and such… maybe I can help refine the results a bit?

So I searched for “vampire” to see if I could find some vampire shows that I did like and let Netflix clue in a bit better.

What I got was something unexpected. It was mostly Korean and Chinese Drama shows, None with vampires, mind you. Among them, however, was something called Love Between Fairy and Devil.  

My first reaction: Netflix, your algorithm is drunk. Go home.

But curiosity got the better of me, and I opened up the first episode. The intro was beautiful, so I kept viewing.  Then the first scenes played, and I found myself asking, “What am I watching here?”  It seemed like a combination of a comic book, a stage play with elaborate costuming and background scenery, and some CGI.  Not just the visuals, but the acting too. I allowed myself to let go, be curious, and just take it in.

It was cute, silly, cheesy… and I cringed a bit at first. However, it was also beautiful and interesting, and I found that I couldn’t look away.  I kept watching. It required that I let go of preconceived ideas, not expect familiar visuals or tropes, and watch the characters’ reactions to things that were said or done (because I couldn’t rely on my own interpretations of how meaningful a certain action was). By the end of the show, I felt I understood those expectations a bit more.  That’s right: I watched the whole thing, all the way to the end.  I have all the songs stuck in my head now, none of which I understand the lyrics for, but I found that I enjoyed them too.

Netflix noticed that I watched all of the episodes.  Now my account shows me almost only shows I need the captions on to understand. There’s a whole other world out there, and apparently I have found entry to another small part of it. Perhaps, once I explore the current recommendations, I can see where else a key word search can lead me.