La Niña de mi corazón

Naturally, no sooner do we turn on the central air but a front moves in and the temperature plunges forty degrees. Ah, La Niña, ¡como te quiero! I had no idea it was coming until a couple of acquaintances in WI posted that they had lost power due to the "hellacious storm" and I checked the radar map to see a wall of angry red bearing down on us. For all that, it wasn't so bad; it even got me out of watering the garden, which I was afeared I might have to go and do. I probably would've slept through it entirely if not for being keyed up due to a marathon phone call with my mother.

She's alright, but still only inching toward taking control of things. Thanks to a lot of nudging from bunj, she's finally getting a grip on her finances (although it was dispiriting to hear she'd pushed off an appointment with a planner for a week because she couldn't find the paperwork she needed). We talked a lot about family matters, although she wanted to keep the bad news about my older brother for another time. I've known for a while he wasn't doing well. It's inevitable, given that he's decided he's better off not taking the recommended dosage of his antipsychotics. We actually had a long phone call on Sunday which went pretty well, despite occasional bursts of crazy.

All in all, it was midnight before I got to sleep and nearly eight before I got up, which unfortunately meant I'd be leaving the house right at the moment the next wave of heavy rain was supposed to pass over. So I used the pain in my right foot as an excuse to postpone my departure and got only sodden as opposed to soaked. It's feeling somewhat better now, but I'm not sure whether to credit exercise or the Aleve; guess I'll know when the latter wears off.