1. I am definitely over my cold (did not have any stuffiness or sniffles today) and slept a lot better last night. Still woke up a few times, but was able to get back to sleep quickly.

2. I'm not sure if I've mentioned it, but a house at the end of our street (four doors down) has been semi-abandoned for about thirty years and fully abandoned for at least 10-15. It's a house with attached apartments, and the house has been unoccupied for about thirty, and a few people in the apartments hung on for longer due to the rent being low, even though the landlord was, according to people we knew in one of them who moved out earlier than the stragglers, completely MIA. It's been slowly falling down in that time (a few years ago I noticed some of the stairs outside were missing) and after years of squatters that eventually led to a small fire (thankfully fire department responded quickly and no major damage was done), the windows and doors were boarded up, and a few years after that a chainlink fence was put around it.

Now finally starting last month they are working to remodel it! I assumed at first it would just be completely torn down and something new put up, but after they stripped it down to the bare bones, earlier this week new lumber appeared on the site and they started replacing bad spots and reinforcing things. Apparently it had asbestos inside, as when they first started work on it, it was all hazmatted up and had warning signs around. I'm really curious to see what it will look like when it's all done.

3. This morning I noticed a puzzle piece on the floor under the desk and knew right away it was too large for the puzzle I'm currently working on. Sure enough, it's from the Country Bear Jamboree one we just finished. Which I put out in the little library a couple days ago! D: I always am so careful when putting the puzzles away, especially if it's one I'm going to give away. I'd hate to give away a puzzle with a missing piece. But thankfully when I went out to check, the puzzle had still not been taken, so I was able to add the piece back in. I will be even more careful from now on!

4. Jasper's so handsome.

1. I'm pretty much over my cold. Nose was a little runny this morning, but I'm not stuffed up anymore. Still tired from not getting enough sleep, but maybe tonight will be the night? (Maybe not, though, since I was so tired this morning I bought a coffee when I got to work and then a Coke at lunch. Even though that was early in the day, it still might keep me up...)

2. I'm very glad tomorrow is Friday and it's the weekend. We're going to see Adam Conover live on Sunday, so that will be fun. (It's at the same venue where we've seen Paul F Thompkins a couple times, and Carla was browsing their upcoming acts a couple months ago and spotted it.)

3. Speaking of Sunday activities, the last Sunday of the month is our Oogie Boogie night, so I just remembered to put in a PTO request for that Monday. It only runs until 11pm, not like some of the nighttime events on the Disneyland side (DCA ones always start and end earlier), so it wouldn't be terrible to have to go to work the next day, but it's just a nice excuse to have a day off. And I do need to use up some more of my PTO balance or it will max out again before we go to Japan next year.

4. Tuxie's challenging me.

1. The main downside of this cold is that I am fucking exhausted from lack of sleep. I did get more sleep last night, but still tossed and turned a lot. Today I am much less stuffed up, so hopefully it will be easier to sleep tonight. Carla was so miserable when she was sick, though, so I'm very glad I didn't get it as bad as her.

2. Gemma really loves this new box.

1. We had homemade nachos for dinner last night and they were so good.

2. I tried to go to the post office this morning, but even though it was a few minutes past when they were supposed to open, the doors were still locked and there were about ten other people outside so I just skipped it and figured I'd try again on the way home from work (this location is just down the street from work, so it's very convenient). Thankfully the second time was the charm, and there was only one person there before me.

3. I seem to have caught Carla's cold after all, but it seems much lighter than what she had. I'm just a little sniffly and stuffed up but don't otherwise feel sick, so I did go in to work today but just stayed masked the whole time I was out so as to not get anyone else sick.

4. Molly has discovered a new way to maximize fur distribution on the towels.

Currently Reading
European Travel for the Monstrous Gentelwoman
14%. Sequel to The Strange Case of the Alchemist's Daughter. This one is very long (over 24 hours in audiobook form) so I'll be at it for a while, but I'm enjoying it a lot.

Death at the Fireside Inn
42%. First in a new-to-me historical mystery series, but it's pretty mid so I doubt I'll continue the series.

The Death of Public School: How Conservatives Won the War Over Education in America
8%. Title is self-explanatory. I only read the first chapter so far, but it's interesting. Unfortunately I had to return it to the library, but I immediately put it on hold again and there was no one else waiting for it, so I should have it back soon.

The War on Alcohol: Prohibition and the Rise of the American State
29%.

Recently Finished
The Millicent Quibb School of Etiquette for Young Ladies of Mad Science
This was fun. A little on the too wacky side for me, but enjoyable. I'll check out the sequel when it's out.

Lone Women
Highly recommended. I really liked this a lot.

Murder on the Marlow Belle
I don't know why the US release of these books is so far behind the UK release. It's in the same language! But it is, and that's annoying. This was out in January in the UK and only came out in the US this month. The next one is out soon in the UK but I assume I'll have to wait a while to get it here. :(

Made in Chicago: Stories Behind 30 Great Hometown Bites
We watched someone on youtube talking about one of the dishes in this book and he mentioned that this is where he heard about it. The book sounded interesting, so we ordered it right away. It's only 130 pages and some of the dishes have recipes to make at home, so it's a very quick read. I should look and see if there's something like this for LA.

Kaikai Gigigigigi vol. 1
New series by Uguisu Sachiko. I like all her stuff so of course I bought it. To be honest, it seems very much like a retread of You Will Hear the Voice of the Dead, but I loved that series so I'm down for it. Protag is a very ordinary boy who keeps finding himself at the center of supernatural happenings in his town. Each chapter is basically a stand-alone horror story with a thin overarching plot linking them.

Kubikari vol. 1-4
Short four-volume horror manga that I only finished because it was so short. A group of high school kids go to an old hotel in the middle of nowhere to film something for their social media channel, only to get trapped there while people start dying. The motivations were very flimsy and the whole thing was just not very good, but since it was short I wanted to see how it ended.