Three weeks in and the US is even more messed up. I feel for everyone living there. Friends have told me house-to-house searches are happening now without warrants. My mind is full of screaming as I wonder how this is happening in 2026.

Yet, all I can really do is share links like Rainbow Refugee’s website and hope it helps at least some of the population to get out.

Otherwise, I can focus on what is in my realm of control like my home. Maybe that seems selfish, but I can’t dwell on what is going on in another country that I am powerless to change. All that leads me to is depression and anxiety. It won’t bring Renee Nicole Good back to her wife, child, and dog.

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Three weeks in and part of me wants the year to speed up. I want to be beyond the renovation, beyond the hurt shoulder, and into all the fun things I have planned for the year. I have so many crafts I want to be doing.

Instead of fun things, I had to buy a new toilet seat because the one I have has a proprietary attachment and I couldn’t find replacement screws for it. I wish companies would stop with this kind of idiocy. I’ve been fighting with it for many months. Yes, I often wait too long on things like this.

A cooking item was also purchased as it was one of the things I figured I would need during the upcoming stage of the renovation when my stove will be disconnected. It’s an indoor grill/panini press and it was on sale.

I suppose I did get one thing that represents fun. An extra long HDMI cable to improve my hockey experience without having to disconnect my laptop fully. That one was long overdue. It was supposed to be here at week’s end, but got delayed. The details don’t make any sense. It went from BC to BC, to BC, to Ontario, to BC, to Ontario, to BC and has left the BC location about 11 times since. I think Purolator is drunk.

Early in the week, I got the stinky painting down on the next section of flooring I’ll be doing in the hopefully near future. Next up, was the first coat of paint on the rest of the walls with the exception of the portion nearest the stove because the range hood was in the way and some deep cleaning will be needed there. Also likely needed is a way to prevent the grease from getting in between the range hood and the bottom of the cupboard. It’s fuzzy and gross up there.

It was a packed week with much of it all on Tuesday. Appointments with the dentist, the doctor, a document review at work, plus a PWHL game all that same day. I felt frantic by the time the doctor appointment came about. Overbooking myself wasn’t great, but everything went well apart from the game. After many years without, I finally have a family doctor again. And he seems nice. The dentist felt like the usual torture. Three minor cavities to deal with next week. The game, well, Ottawa’s winning streak was ended by Montreal. At least it was Montreal and not Minnesota. They had won 6 out of 7 games despite being in several provinces during this time.

On Wednesday, some good things happened for me. A thing at work that has been difficult would be leaving my care in the coming months. Also, I was notified that the fraudulent charge on my credit card would be coming off of it this week. With some work and some personal stress being relieved, I felt like I could breathe a bit more though it’s not completely for sure until 90 days pass. And I had candied salmon for lunch. It’s not always available, but it’s one of the few ways I enjoy salmon other than in sushi form on top of rice.

Though I was quite sore, I got some paint onto my kitchen walls after work. It will need two more coats.

I looked forward to my Thursday appointment with my massage therapist. As I had run out of benefits in December, I had cancelled that one and it felt like forever since the last one! I had many things to discuss with her as we plan this year out. But there was a massive snow storm, so it was moved to Friday.

The hockey game on Sunday felt long. Too many games are going to over time. It’s statistically odd to me. Lately, it’s taking so long for teams to score the first goal. Maybe I just didn’t care as much because it wasn’t my team playing. After, I enjoyed watching Schmigadoon! Season 2 with online friends. That was a fun way to end the week.