Category: December 2022

Sure enough, my spider post had exactly the ramifications I had feared. Adrienne writes: “Those pictures of the spiders totally creeped me out. I didn’t bother with the videos. I can see why John thought they were awesome to study, but not for me. You will have to put up pictures of nice things to remind me again how wonderful it is to visit you and John again.”

So especially for Adrienne, let me present…pictures of nice things:

Here is a picture of the bougainvillea currently blooming in our backyard (we have some in the front yard too). Things that bloom in December make me awestruck.

A hawk on our back wall:

It didn’t take Biska long to figure out what an electric blanket is. Cozy!

Alex and Laura at a work party (ok, this has nothing to do with visiting me in Tucson, but it is a happy, non-spidery picture).

Hiking in Madera Canyon:

Next we have Biska in her Christmas scarf – note the oranges on the tree on the right. They’re yummy! Oranges on a tree in my yard in December! It’s unbelievable.

Me in Bisbee, which is a cute little town in a narrow canyon in southern Arizona with a lot of artists and unpretentious art galleries.

Our current favorite Tucson restaurant serves what to us seems like very authentic Sonoran Mexican food (not Mexican-American). Although it always seems empty and a friend of mine didn’t like it when I took her there last night, so we’re afraid it might go out of business. John and I think the food is great, and we hope it stays open!

Here’s three photos of our pretty outdoor mall, where I went to get my glasses adjusted today. It was surprisingly empty for a lunch hour, just 10 days before Christmas. I hope the mall doesn’t go out of business either.

When I’m discouraged about the state of our house, I go and sit in the living room. It isn’t in its final form; lacking touch-up painting, pictures on the walls, and some other details. But it is the most put-together room in the house at the moment.

And soon I will have pictures of some other mostly-finished 2022 remodel projects – all spider-free!

To send Kristina a comment, email turning51bykristina@gmail.com.

Kristina’s Website: Life Coaching for Adults with Autism

I know that just as soon as John sees my last post about not having much to write about, and he’s going to be like, “The spider! You haven’t posted about the spider yet! I’m waiting for the spider post!”

Uh yeah, about that. I do have some excellent spider-related footage. I mean, relatively excellent for me. My videos are generally about the most boring in the world. My spider videos are somewhat less boring than normal.

The problem is, this particular spider was in my house. And it was quite large. And I’m hoping that when my remodel is done soon, everyone is going to come visit me – except I’m afraid no one will visit if I post my spider videos.

So if you’re planning on visiting me this season, be assured that I will have a pest control company out here before you come. I just haven’t had any pest control done for awhile because we’re remodeling. Or actually, if you’re planning on visiting, maybe just don’t even read the rest of this post. Although the videos are actually somewhat funny.

So first…the spider.

Yeah, HELLO! Can’t get much more obvious than that.

Here’s my husband, all excited about the spider.

What a big f – I mean – sucker. Ugh.

In case you are not yet sufficiently freaked out, here’s a short video of my husband attempting to remove the spider with his bare hand like an idiot:

Here he’s trying again with lots of commentary from me (with some minor adult language):

And out:

Bye-bye spider, don’t come back, ok? Because, I’m sorry spider, but you’re not going to survive another visit to my house.

To send Kristina a comment, email turning51bykristina@gmail.com.

Kristina’s Website: Life Coaching for Adults with Autism

It seems like it’s been a long time since I’ve written anything. I did recently post the last of those exercise videos from a month or two ago. And my negative cancer screening from a couple of weeks ago. That was a big deal. A huge relief. Other than that, I haven’t had much to say. Part of the reason is the busy season. It’s always hectic from Thanksgiving through the New Year. I’m not sure if I’m going to manage to send Christmas cards this year; I’ve barely thought about Christmas.

Why haven’t I been blogging? Partly it’s the racket from the remodel. Listening to hammers and drills all day is unsettling. Also it’s been a challenging month or two. John and I are fine, don’t worry. But a surprisingly large number of our friends and family are facing challenges right now.

My lighthearted stories aren’t really coming to me. I sat down tonight to write, and didn’t know what to say. I thought I’d glance through my recent pictures for inspiration and it’s not doing it for me.

I’m not depressed. I’m actually happy and relieved to be back in Tucson. There’s just a little bit too much going on right now. Did you know we totally skipped a trip to Mexico? We had paid for our airbnb and everything, but because of changes in John’s work schedule and general stress and exhaustion, we didn’t manage to get down there. We went on a local hike and a day trip to a nearby artsy town instead. It was a good call, and we don’t regret not going on our Mexico trip. But it would have been nice if we had felt up for it.

Christmas is going to be a good time to relax. The house is not ready for guests yet, so the kids aren’t coming for Christmas. It’s a disappointment, but probably good for us to have some time with not much scheduled.

It is nice to have John’s brother and sister-in-law, Dan and Dawn and their kids in town during the winter. We visited them on Thanksgiving, and we realized that we’ve never lived in the same town as family before, except for when the kids were briefly living with us in the Bay Area in 2015. It’s sort of amazing to not have to get on a plane or go on a multi-day drive to visit family.

Here’s a festive picture of the holiday lights at the Tucson Botanical Garden, which is one of the places we went this past weekend instead of the Mexican beaches:

I do feel lucky to live in Tucson.

To send Kristina a comment, email turning51bykristina@gmail.com.

Kristina’s Website: Life Coaching for Adults with Autism