The little guy loves the movie Wall-E and I found this robot Wall-E for him for Christmas.  Technically, it was a gift for poppa, from Jack.  Poppa was kind enough and patient enough to put it together for him.

It remains bloody cold here, -33C tonight, but I'm stubborn and don't want to stay home just because it's cold.  Yesterday we went to the mall for a walk indoors, to burn off some energy, and I saw what I call sundogs;  technically it's a 22° halo, which I didn't even know was a thing.  You see them in the winter when it's really cold and the sun is low on the horizon.

Today I took Jack to an indoor playground which he likes.  We were there about ten minutes when he tripped and fell, and banged his face hard on a picnic table.  He's got quite a large, swollen area right beside his right eye and a small, abraded area.  I asked the staff to fill out an incident report and let the social worker know what had happened.  I was feeling like a crappy grandmother until one of the parents there told me about his parents opening the front door and banging into his daughter, leaving the mark of the deadbolt on her forehead.  It wouldn't have bothered me so much except children's services is still involved in his care and this is how everything started with his mom and a black eye.

Tomorrow we're going swimming, I think.  I have to convince myself to put my bathing suit on and go out in public.  Jack doesn't care what I look like, just me.  He was funny the other day when he noticed one of my tattoos on my backside.  He pointed and said, "What dat?"  If I chicken out of the swimming, we'll go wander around West Edmonton Mall and burn off the energy.

Christmas holidays have been kind of a blur this year, with everything blowing up it seems.  I still haven't cooked my Christmas turkey yet, maybe this weekend.  I'm working hard on just taking one day at a time but I miss making plans.  It's not just Jack and what's going to happen with him, but covid, climate change, and the world in general.  

Right now I'm thankful that I have a magic bag to take to bed with me and a good book to read.

I'm thankful Christmas is over for another year.  It was pretty much a bust.  Just before I left work on Thursday I was notified that Katie was sick.  She had a high fever and was lethargic.  Her roommate had also tested positive for covid.  I didn't go see Katie because there was nothing I could do and I didn't want to be exposed to covid.  The next morning Katie vomited once and her fever went down and she recovered quickly.

Friday night after work I I felt sick to my stomach and vomited up everything I'd eaten that day.  I was so tired and felt so rotten it was all I could to crawl into bed at 6pm and leave the two guys on their own.  My body felt like it had been beaten and my skin hurt but no fever.  The next morning I was still sick but improving.  Whatever I had, it knocked me flat on my ass for about 30 hours.  There was no Christmas dinner.  We had kraft dinner for supper.  

The little guy did get his presents open though but he wasn't feeling well either.  Nor was my husband.  We all fell asleep at some point on Christmas day.

I had my covid test this morning and I'm finally feeling better, just tired and feeling out of breath when I'm doing stuff.  The little guy had a nice video visit with his mama yesterday.  He finally misses her and she looks like she's doing well.  She's making sense when she talks.  She's smiling.  It's a night and day difference and I'm so thankful for that.  I am so hopeful that she keeps on doing the work when she gets out of rehab, for her sake and for Jack's sake.  

We broke a record here today with the cold.  Edmonton hit -41C.  Our place wasn't as cold obviously but it's fucking cold here.  When it gets this cold the roads turn into skating rinks and driving becomes very interesting.  

Hope everyone had a lovely Christmas.
 

Update.  I'm covid negative.   Wonder what I had.

This is probably one of my favorite photos from my old house when I was still married to my ex husband.  That window was in front of my kitchen sink and had room for my radio and my plants.  The African violet was from a patient who died in the 1980's, Laura was her name.  When she died, nobody picked up her things and I thought that was so sad.  I took her violet home and took care of it for years before it too died.  The cat curled up in the sunshine was called Maggie and if you sat down, Maggie would sit on your lap.  

At the time I took this picture, 2010, I had no idea about apertures or bokeh, and the soft out of focus yard in the background was only a happy accident.  I've learned a lot about photography in the past eleven years and enjoy taking photos so much but between covid and Jack, photography seems to have been put on hold.  

When I was a young woman, I would have thought that this was the end.  I'll never get back to photography but as I've gotten older, I realize that life truly is just a progression of lazy circles that continue to turn and turn and turn.  When Jack is older, when I've retired, when I have time, I'll come back to it.  I still take tons of photos with my phone but I do miss my big camera.  

It's raining here today.  It's not supposed to rain here in the winter time.  It's dangerous because the rain freezes on the roads, making things slick.  I'm stuck in the house, still, feeling like crap, still, but I did pop outside to the backyard to take this photo.  Photos always make me feel good.  I know for a lot of people it's music, but for me, it's visual, images.

I hate sitting around doing nothing.  I'm bored out of my mind waiting for my sinuses to empty themselves out.  I've been in pyjamas since Sunday night, that's not right:)  I did manage a shower yesterday which was good but really, what's the point?  

Jack is well and when the big guy dropped him off at daycare this morning, the ladies there said Jack is always a happy boy since he started living with us.  That feels good. We made a difference in his life.  He's sleeping better and he no longer obsesses over "owies" like he did when he first came back from Victoria with me.  

We shall see what the future brings as it turns and turns again.