A little off the ends

The hair of it all

Time to cut my hair. Appointment is a week from tomorrow. I have a lot of curls which is fun but it feels like the mane is trying to take over lately. I am trying to strike the right balance of making the curls look cute but also having a slightly sophisticated (or at least intentional) gray-headed look. The color at the ends of my hair kind of clashes with the gray. Cutting a few inches off will no doubt bring me closer to silver fox.  

Trying the shampoo bar again and it seems to work for me with a vinegar rinse afterwards and no conditioner. I'll give it a few weeks and consider. Hair stylist Jessica says that shampoos with sulfates are just variations on the same soap that is in Dawn. 

Beast

I need a pet crate to try and trap our wild beast of a cat. I intend to start feeding him in the crate with the door wired open. Hope he'll catch on quick. I'm going to try a small dog wire crate to give him some roooom. 

On the page

I keep checking out books from the library. Guess I should read some of them. I started a reread of Pratchett's Lords and Ladies and it is quite restful to the brain. But I don't seem to be progressing so it's time to try something else. I haven't read any Moshfegh before and have got a novella to try. We're going to read her Death In Her Hands for October.

Taking over

I cleaned out youngest's room and rearranged the furniture. I hope she won't be offended. I found that she left behind about sixty t shirts. We'll do some weeding when she's back for xmas. Or I'll pack them up if we move before then. 

Intersection ahead

Eeeeek. I want to be able to plan long term. And I can't since my project is to find a new job in another city and move house in the next few months. I think it could be worthwhile imagining myself in the process. Rather than just hurling myself into the gray misty unknown.      

Eggplant mania continues

https://pickledplum.com/nasu-dengaku-recipe/ [I tried this as written and then with the same cooking technique but a soy/ginger/garlic sauce. It never quite worked for me and I'm going to keep to my broil until smoky good method.]

Find a New Shape

I am working at my job during the busiest time of our year, the start of fall semester. Mitigating that is that we're fully staffed and are using a new system that eliminates some of the questions that were common when using the old system. It'll be busy this week but not crushing. 

I can tell it will be a while before it seems normal to have no teenagers in the house. L is starting her fall classes 897 miles away. K is even further off in Amsterdam at the moment with her boyfriend. She just sent cute pictures of them on a canal tour and picnicking in a park. I'm happy for them and still feeling a little sad and sitting with that. I like them both so much and want good adventures for them. 

It is time for my job hunt to enter the applying stage. An excellent use for my attention and concentration. But before that I'm giving myself permission to be still and listen to my own reactions. I will find my stride. I will assume a new shape as the forces acting on me have changed.   

I feel like tv is getting away from me a little bit. I've been watching Uncoupled which is very NYC elitist in a traditional dram com way which I find enjoyable. Tisha Campbell is so watchable, needs her own series, clearly. I love Brooks Ashmanskas and I swear I remember him from something but the wikip page is not telling me. He was in Good Lord Bird and that's another thing I need to watch! NPH is usually a fun presence but at moments in this show I'm finding him very off-putting. It's a half hour of fairly predictable soapiness that I apparently need. Neither the romance nor the sex is very convincing so far so I guess I'm in it for the repartee, friend chemistry and slapstick. 

Only Murders had the best season 2 ep 1! Such a good cozy mystery conglomeration. I'm almost current on that one. 

Reservation Dogs started up and those girls in peril on the road just about killed me. I hope they get home next episode. We started watching The Bear and I really like it. I'd like to tear through the rest of it but am waiting for my spouse to be in the mood. I may need to just gwan ahead with that.   

Sandman is being just as good as I had hoped. Spoilers follow although I'm not all the way through yet, we just finished episode 7 The Doll's House. Which ended on a very unsettling and threatening moment! I need that to be resolved asap! The Danish reminded me that Tom, of Tom & Lorenzo, has written thoughtful recaps. 

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The Dream character looks like a tough row to hoe as an actor and Tom Sturridge is great. Can't say I liked Cain and Abel but TLo Tom says that they come from some of the horror comics that the original series drew from. I wanted to muss up (Gwendoline Christie) Lucifer's hair. David Thewlis and Sarah Niles should act together again soon, I would watch them do anything together. Kirby Howell-Baptiste is so different in this than anything I've seen her in (Good Place and Hacks is what I can remember). So impressed again with her. The Hob Gadling story was very satisfying. I am scandalized by the serial killers convention and how cozy the coverage of the three coordinators is. 

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Updated to stash this for future no-fun reference: Ms Demeanor's guide to handling the administrivia after a loved one's death.  https://ms-demeanor.tumblr.com/post/187765090397/saffronhare-ms-demeanor-hey-you-know-how-i 

The sweary version: DeathSucks.

Through the Unknown

Ordered and installed a bunky board to shore up my poor spouse's side of the bed. I feared that it wouldn't fit or it would be noisy or something. But lo! the bed is better - not as creaky and his side doesn't feel like an imminent collapse. 

Applied for student loan and got it approved and in process with youngest's school. 

Revised resume and got input from people I respect. Contacted my references and updated their contact info. Next is making updates my online profile. Then actually applying for jobs. Which gives me pause. 

I haven't quite figured out how to get from here to working a job in ABQ. Assuming (I know) I was offered one, I could accept, move in temporarily with my mom and start work. Then we'd need to do two enormous things: find a place to rent and start packing up and selling our house. I also fear leaving house packing to my spouse. I suspect this too will need to be tackled with a combination of 1) bulling forward without knowing exactly what will happen and 2) letting my subconscious turn this transition over until it feels more familiar. 

We leave tomorrow to take youngest to her dorm. A hefty14 hours of drive time each way. I have a long to-do list and have checked off some big items. Many more to complete today!

When we get back: buy a pet crate and start feeding the cat inside it. It seems like the best way to get Catastro-Freddie travel ready.