Today is gorgeous. It's sunny and pleasantly warm. I'm working outside, sitting in the sun.

C2 has been in the dumps of late. I listen to him patiently. He bristles quickly if I offer any advice. He's been unemployed for the past few months and he's just moping about it. He wants to work, but he hasn't applied for jobs. Having said that, his niche is contract work for the Military-- a sector that's been hit hard by the new administration. 

Much rain over the past few days. Over the weekend, our dog was sick and threw up several times. She hasn't done so today, though she is sleeping more than usual. 

 

My husband and I had a lovely Valentines dinner. For that, I did some prep work to have a long conversation with him. Usually I'm quiet at our dinners. We'll talk about work and the day, but nothing deep. For Valentines, I found "36 questions that lead to love." We had a good time walking through the questions.

My husband is visiting his mother when he can. She has several long-term and terminal conditions that don't get better as you age. Over the past few months they have become acute. She has been in and out of the hospital several times, fighting to find a cure. Only recently has she started to consider that the doctors are doing all they can and there is no lasting solution for her situation. 

My mother-in-law has started to think through how her sons will execute on her will. Her finances, unfortunately, are not simple. So she is ensuring that both her sons will have access to her accounts, bankers and lawyers. This involves paperwork and driving around to different banks and law firms. 

My husband is the kind of person who gets in there and gets things done even if it means dealing with paperwork and bureaucracy. My brother-in-law shy's away from these tasks. Perhaps his job doesn't give him as much flexibility. Unfortunately, it has left my brother-in-law in a situation where he feels like my husband is taking over, and will have complete control of their mother's money. It's caused some tension between them. I can't feel sorry for brother-in-law. 90% of success is showing up and he is not.

We are having a cold snap here in Seattle. On the plus side the days have been sunny. 

At work, some of my team have flown into town. One young, green employee didn't bring his credit card. He only uses Apple Pay and tap. As a result the hotel refused to give him a room. We had to scramble to fix that up.

This has turned into a dark time of the year. One year ago, my mother died on Feb 7. I just received the news that my sister-in-law's father died early in the morning on February 8.

My husband's niece and sister-in-law are in town for the weekend. They are paying my husband's mother a visit, and catching up with family.

My husband's brother passed away years ago from alcoholism. I think this was the first time my husband and his sister-in-law discussed the grief she felt at the time of his passing. Addiction raises all sorts of complicated feelings. This weekend brought them both some closure. 

And we are back in Seattle.

Friday, our last day, was wonderful. There was a layer of fresh snow that makes snowboarding more enjoyable.

Late Friday afternoon, we did Whistler's apres-ski scene. I'm was taken aback by how post-COVID it is. We went to a bar with a fantastic band. The bar was packed, cheek to jowl with people dancing on their chairs at the tables and singing along to the music.  

For me it was a wonderful experience seeing hundreds of people have a great time. My husband was anxious and he dropped a few hints as such. We left after about 15 minutes, walked around the village, passed many other packed clubs, and then met up with our friends for dinner.