What a weird day. 

[Editor's note: So weird, apparently, that I wrote this whole post and forgot to actually post it yesterday! Oops! This was written Tuesday evening, but I am publishing it on Wednesday morning.] 

This semester, Tuesday and Thursday are usually my longer school days, with one class from 11-12:30 and the other from 12:30-2, and then I catch the city bus on campus around 3 to get me about 2/3 of the way home and then walk the last few blocks. That extra hour on campus waiting for the bus is handy for reading, schoolwork, or taking a little walk, and then by the time I get home, my 3-7 eating window has started, so I can go ahead and have something to eat. It's not a bad setup. 

But that is not what happened yesterday. I had a home repair issue that I had called about getting looked at, and we all understood (I thought) that they would come by around 4 PM or so. Well, inexplicably and without warning, they showed up just before 10:30 AM. So instead of going to school yesterday, I was stuck at home dealing with this. Luckily, when I emailed my professors, they were both very nice about it, being well-acquainted themselves with home repair issues, and both wished me well in the endeavor. It is now (allegedly) fixed, and I am happy to report that there are no longer any sounds coming from my basement which resemble the horde of Genghis Khan riding over a tin roof. 

Tomorrow will be what would have been my dad's seventy-third birthday, which I'm sure I will be feeling some kind of way about. In some ways it feels like he died a decade or more ago, but then sometimes I am amazed that the real number is three-and-a-half years because it feels like it's only been a year. Death and grief are odd things, as I am learning as time goes by. 

On a more cheerful note, I am still drinking (and liking) the chocolate protein shakes, although I just had one today since drinking two yesterday seemed to mess with my digestion. (Nothing a dose of Pepto couldn't fix, but still.) Still, 26 grams of protein in a little bottle with only 4g of sugar is excellent, and I'm grateful to have discovered it. Do any of you have a go-to protein shake or drink that you swear by? I'd love to know. 

Tuesday, 11 February 2025
(Tuesday in the Fifth Week of Ordinary Time)
Location: Ohio (home)
Reading: Long Island by Colm Tóibín
Weight: 320.0 lbs. (145.1 kg)