The husband is working in Las Vegas at medical a conference, and I joined him for the weekend.

I generally don’t gamble, so I spent Saturday wandering around, seeing the sights. I also caught a couple of shows. As always, Vegas is commerce unbridled and a feast for the eyes. 

It’s been a pleasant weekend.

Saturday we held a baby shower for our friend Huff. Huff is about two months away from giving birth.

We had about 50 guests. It was an interesting mix of characters, Huff is a real estate agent and in the program. The guests were largely either real estate agents, or in the program, or both. 

Real estate agents are great guests at parties. Sure they want to network, but when they leave they are fastidious about cleaning up. More of us could live by that mantra… “leave it better than you found it.”

My mother-in-law has Covid. It’s dragging on and she is bored. Fortunately, it’s not severe. She is resting up and frequently calling her friends and family . Later today, my husband will double mask and head over to leave a care package.

My husband has heard back from his pulmonologist. His lungs look good. He is fine. 

My mother-in-law has Covid. It's a mild case. She has a fever, a sore throat and has quarantined in her apartment. Apparently, there is a small outbreak of Covid at her retirement home. 

We have had a wonderful weekend in Seaside. I have been here many years in April where we’ve had nothing but rain and cloud.  This year there was much sunshine

At the convention, I attended Al-Anon talks. In previous years, I had only attended AA talks because my friends are members.

I found the Al-Anon talks more insightful and, as a result, enjoyed the convention more. While I have many friends in AA, I don’t share their struggle with alcohol. I can easily choose not to drink or limit myself to one, making it difficult for me to fully understand the challenges faced by those who can't stop. To me, it seems simple: just don't.

The "A-List bear." They are popular. QJ has thousands of Instagram followers. We had a conversation about unhealthy and healthy social media posts. In his view, an unhealthy post is a staged, shirtless photoshoot by the pool. A healthy post, on the other hand, is a spontaneous shirtless selfie taken while genuinely enjoying a moment by the pool, simply wanting to capture a memory.

Overall, QJ is a great friend. I enjoy his stories and respect his perspective on life. We often take many selfies together until he finds and posts just the right one.

We're in Seaside, Oregon for an AA convention—Sober in Seaside. Our friends, C6 and QJ, have joined us on the trip, as they do nearly every year.

Seaside is a quaint little coastal town. We're lucky with the weather this year—plenty of sunshine. Pacific Northwest beaches are usually blanketed in clouds and rain, so it's a treat to stroll along the shore and take in the views.

Our dog is off her pain meds and healthy again. She loves running along the beach. We still have to keep an eye on her, though—she has a habit of eating anything smelly she can find.

C6 and QJ are an interesting couple—definitely A-list bears. I have only ever seen them dress in jeans, a t-shirt, running shoes, and a baseball cap. The intriguing part? Their t-shirts, caps, and shoes always match. The t-shirts are perfectly ironed. It’s casual, but with a touch of precision. I, on the other hand, tend to be a slob. Well... I always wear clean cloths, but I haven't ironed in years. As for matching colors-- I'm lucky if I choose color combinations that don't clash.  My husband appreciates it when a spruce up my look a bit. I rarely have the energy for that. 

Our dog is recovering well. I'm administering her pain medication orally, but she resists swallowing the pills. She's quite skilled at concealing them; I've found a number of pills matted in her fur around her mouth and hidden around her bed.

My husband has an issue with his lungs. We're unsure of the cause, and he'll be seeing a pulmonologist as soon as possible. A few weeks ago, he had a persistent cough. He was diagnosed with a mild case of pneumonia and treated with medication. He felt much better afterward.

At today's follow-up appointment, the chest X-ray showed the pneumonia has cleared, but there's still an area of concern that requires further investigation.

Life goes on.

A while back our dog cracked her hind teeth while chewing on a bone. Since then these teeth have become prone to infection and will sometimes bleed.

Yesterday she went to the vet to have these teeth out. 

The procedure went well. Now she is on painkillers. For the first time in her life she is feeling dopey and uncoordinated. She does not like that. She stares at us with her tail between her legs, she doesn't want to walk and has little interest in her food. 

Get well soon little doggie.

I think the office politics are quieting down. I have to keep an eye on them. My business partner is angry and hurting from something. I'm not sure what's going on there. 

Spring has sprung in Seattle. Everything is blooming. We should have our first day or two of 70° weather in the next week. 

My husband and I had a good weekend. We had our accountant over for dinner one night, and friends over the next. Now we have many leftovers in the fridge. 

Our accountant knows which of her business are doing well and which are not. She uses this insider knowledge when she is looking for a contractor. I'm going to go to her for recommendations the next time we someone to work on our house.

There are some office politics at my day job. For reasons I don't entirely know, one of my peers has started lashing out at one of my teams to upper management. Word has got out. This makes it difficult for my team to engage as they they thought they had a positive relationship. They have been backing off as a consequence. 

I'm spending much time listening to people and creating a new and healthy plan. I have to convince my team that we will succeed even without the partner being happy. 

We are having a rainy week. Instead of longer dog walks, I've been inside catching up on errands and little house maintenance tasks. 

I taught myself how to crack a safe. Specifically our safe. Our safe has both a key and a combination. Yews argo we forget the combination. So I taught myself how to recover it. Perhaps I shouldn't be surprised, but YouTube has many videos on how to do this. 

It took a few hours and much patience, but the task isn't impossible.

I'm back in Seattle. The flight back was uneventful.

Sunday morning, my father, brother and I went to church before my brother drove me to the airport. As I was leaving, my father was teary eyed. 

 

My father's breakfast is always oatmeal, a banana and a vitamin pill. Lunch consists of a ham sandwich (no mustard or mayo) and a honey sandwich. Whole wheat bread.

Sometimes he doesn't even make the sandwich. He eats a slice of ham, then eats a slice of bread. 

For his main meal, he might have a chicken breast with boiled potatoes and maybe canned vegetables. Dessert is either a pudding cup or a slice of pie.

He eats out regularly. which adds some variety to his die. Though a hamburger and fries aren’t a major improvement.

How do you talk about healthy eating to a man in his 80s who is otherwise fine and takes care of himself? Maybe you don’t. I hope I I have his vigor when I'm his age.

I sometimes look to my uncles and aunts to try and see what the future holds for my health. My grandparents were all prolific. I have about twenty uncles and aunts to learn from.

So what is the impact of my genetic and familial predispositions? The smokers all died younger. After that it's murky. Some have died in their 70s. Some in the 80s. Others are still going strong in their 90s. Some have died from cancer. Some of heart attacks or strokes. A couple of dementia-- dementia concerns me the most. 

Looking over it all, there are no real strong correlations amongst my relatives deaths. I will die sometime in the future. Maybe of cancer, or maybe a stroke. 

Today, my father, a cousin, and I went to a farm show. It was fascinating. The technology and scale of farming equipment have grown tremendously since the 1980s when I grew up on my dad’s farm.

The 100-acre family farm is a thing of the past. The 1,000-acre business farm is the way of the future.

Massive, highly automated tractors can be yours for $500K—though you’ll need a few of them to tend your 1,000 acres, along with an understanding bank. The money required to run these farms is just as massive.

One of my high school friends is grappling with the future of his large farm. Business is good, but he’s also facing recurring cancer. Surviving cancer once is a victory; surviving five times changes your life plans. So, what does he do with his farm? His children are too young to take it over. What does his wife want? These are tough questions.

As I catch up with old friends, I realize that everyone has a parent or family member facing similar challenges. The real trick is learning to thrive and find happiness when these problems inevitably come your way.

If you’ve figured that out, please let me know how.

My Canadian friends have asked me many questions about Trump. The locals are curious. In response I've expanded on Tommy's idea. Remember "Twin Peaks" or "Lost?" Those crazy TV shows with so many twists that their plots only became more chaotic and confused over time. How do I feel about Trump? I feel like I'm watching Twin Peaks-- get some popcorn, watch the chaos unfold, then turn it off and try to get on with my life.

I told this to a cousin. She shot back.... "Hopefully it will be like Dallas and we'll wake up to discover last year was only a dream."

U.S. politics are not intimidating the locals. They are concerned. No one is expecting this to be easy. They are showing pride in Canada in a way I have not seen years. They are preparing to defend themselves-- elbows up! From what? Who knows. U.S. politics are so crazy that it's foolish to predict. Instead they are strengthening themselves and their ties with others. They are making plans to deal with the worst. They are pulling together. After all, peace, order and good governance are the Canadian way. 

I’m visiting my father and extended family for a week in the Ottawa valley. It’s snowy and sunny here. Pleasant for a March. 

 A have a cold. I've be laying low. Since I work from home, it will be a regular workday. 

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.