Hello! Tap, tap…this thing on?

It is I, Ti! I know, I’ve been MIA. Many of you talk me off the blog too so you know what a struggle it’s been to read anything, at all! TOO MUCH NOISE going on in my head. The news. Ha! Every day I wake up to some new atrocity. The scare tactics, the ridiculous posts to get you to look over here while critical services are gutted. What a show! A bad one.

So how do we deal with this? For me, I try to get outside as much as possible but I also try to talk with others because we are definitely not alone in this. Do not isolate. As bad as it is, we can outlive HIM.

Some good news, my daughter graduated from college this past Friday! She will be moving out before August. Not sure where she will end up yet. Agents, auditions, they all play a role in where she will put down roots.

BUT just a few hours after graduating, she signed with her dream agency!

Right Now:

Headed to church. Online hosting and then hanging with the students. I drag myself around on the weekend but the minute I step into that building, the students energize me!

Happy Mother’s Day to all the moms!

This Week:

My genetic tests came back perfect. Nothing in my gene makeup caused the tumor so my kids are good. My neurologist was really concerned that it was passed down. Of course, I probably will never know what caused it.

Work has been very busy. Adjusting to the additional workload that has resulted from a small re-org is taking some time. It’s cutting into my reading because a lot of approvals come after the work day so my free time is limited. I’m learning all sorts of fun things but eh, it’s a process.

Other than that, nothing planned this week. My goal is to finish a book!! Never had to set goals like that before.

Reading:

I’m reading a great book. The Imagined Life by Andrew Porter. It’s set in Orange County, California which is local to me. It’s about family but also identity and love and what love is to different people. It’s very thought provoking. Full review soon.

Also reading The City and the City by China Mièville. I read this book back in 2012 but my club picked it for May so I’m reading it again. I cannot remember it even though I reviewed it here.

Watching:

I WAS watching the last season of Cobra Kai but it’s horrible! Cheesy, predictable, bad acting, zero effort. I give up.

I will catch the new Karate Kid movie when it comes out because of Jackie Chan. Love him.

Grateful for:

• Long walks
• My genetic tests coming back good
• That The Girl graduated!
• That I am taking a trip to see my son at the end of the month!
• My little Otter Pup is still here!

Give me all of your updates!! Trying to catch-up.

I’ve had a long, luxurious, lazy vacation, and yes, it was peppered with all of Los Angeles burning. Heartbreaking to see all of the Palisades and Malibu as we know it, absolutely gone. The landscape is completely different. You need GPS just to see where those buildings were because nothing is left. Just ashes. What a horrible start to 2025. The acts of kindness and support is what stands out to me though.

Malibu Before.

Malibu After.

My heart and prayers go out to those people. Yes, many celebrities lost homes but so did a lot of working folks, who had their homes for decades. Even being so close to the ocean didn’t help. They couldn’t do air drops because of the 90 mph winds.

Right Now:

Student ministry starts up again today so I am on my way to that after a quick bite and a ton of coffee.

This Week:

This Monday I am back at work. Remotely, but back to the routine. Routines can be good. I have been incredibly lazy with my wake-up times these past four weeks. In the past, I was never able to sleep in. Sleeping in meant until 6am or so. But after brain surgery, I pushed it to 8am. Unheard of! Now I am dragging my behind back to work.

Reading:

My first book of the year is The Brothers Karamazov. It’s very good and I am doing well with it. At 928 pages though it will be awhile before I review that one. I finished Bright Young Women and reviewed it.

I added the following to read alongside Brothers:

Lucy by the Sea by Elizabeth Strout
Three Days in June by Anne Tyler (comes out 2/11)
Trust by Hernan Diaz (Feb club pick)

Watching:

We finished Squid Game season 2. It’s really such a good show. Very hard to stop watching so we blew through it and now have to wait for Season 3 in June. The creators went with a much younger cast of characters which made it extra playful. Really dug those new characters.

We started another Korean show on Netflix called Happiness but the Hub is not getting into it. We will watching one more episode and then decide. We’ve only watched one episode and it’s supposed to be kind of like a zombie movie but this one is different.

Grateful for:

• Coffee creamers that taste good without all the fake stuff and chemicals. My fave at the moment, Chobani. Lots of flavors.
• Opportunities to try new things. Sometimes, they stick.
• Fire crews that jump into fire battles even without water. There were so many fires that water pressure was an issue and hydrants were tapped out but they were still there, grabbing what they could like dogs and personal effects.
• That I work for a campus that puts everyone’s safety first. I was off this past week anyway but after the fires, the campus asked everyone to work remotely for the rest of the week. A good decision. Happy that my colleagues could do that.

Other than that, we are dealing with some in-law health stuff. Doctor’s visits and the like. Would appreciate your prayers.