2026--i'm ready, i feel great

today when i broke my fast i literally-not-figuratively ate 2 bananas and they were the best bananas i ever had in my life. a classic post-fast food euphoria.

my sunday school lesson kinda tanked today. i failed to engage, you could say. it ended with a bit of a rant by bro chan on the subject of instagram. i think it was so much more than instagram to him. bro chan rants in a kindly, mildly impassioned, erudite way. he ended with a "i'm sorry to be so heavy on you guys, but i think you need to hear it. sorry, sister clarke, back to you," at  which point i tap my phone. 11:28. "well we seem to be out of time..." bear my testimony and close.

i spent the interim between church and stake choir chatting with h while simultaneously defending my vulnerable flesh from the murder mittens of mei-mei who was feeling feisty. 

the choir is preparing for stake conference which is happening in 3 weeks time. and guess what we are singing. a good ol' classic janice kapp perry song. jesus was no ordinary man fresh from the late 80's and early 90's. jordan probably sang it as a musical number in church. he probably did. most likely a tear slid down his cheek while he sang it, and i expect david poitras' heart fluttered.

anywho choir was thin on numbers as it often is after the christmas hullaballoo. sister araki asked if my mom was coming. everyone missed mom today. i gave my usual answer, "no she's travelling." jeremy a bass, and usually sitting behind me had a shock. "your mom comes? who's your mom?!" "the little old lady that --" "who lives in a shoe." interjects jeremy who always has a witty thing to say. "and in this case she does have so many kids she didn't know what to do." adds tracy.

greg, our choir director's husband, always brings us baked goods. as we file off the stage we grab this week's cookie or muffin. usually i grab 2, but i'm trying to curtail my sugar-gone-wild holiday habit. so, i told myself, "self, abstaining from the greg baked good is too stringent. so just take 1. that will suffice for curtailment." shawna (choir director) mentioned that this week greg made muffins and that there were also nanaimo bars. turns out that i was the first one to reach the greg baked good tupperware. i took off the lid to reveal....mini muffins! they were the size of an eyeball! so i took one and was happy.

back at home i indulged in said best bananas of my life, a bowl of mediterranean bean salad and some sourdough toast. and some dates.

and now i've gone and finished sarah's photos with mei-mei sprawled across my chest, under my chin, around my neck and in my armpit.

my long vacation is over. tomorrow it's back to work. i'm ready.

this is our family photo. sometimes mei-mei curls up in my arms like a bebe.

curling up around my neck like a mink.

i made natalie exchange unflattering pics with me at red robins

this year's puzzle. there's kinda 3 pieces that aren't quite right. don't matter none.