Weather in the Tries:
Lots of wind today, which means the Zombie Leaves will be out to attack the Brave Dog. Will he show them he’s no longer afraid, that he is, after all, the Big Chihuahua??? We shall see.  This week will mostly be in the 50s with lows in the high 30s/ low 40s. With perchance a shower or two now and then. Mostly then, according to my phone.

I’m Home Again, Home Again:
Had a great visit with my Sister & Brother of Choice (SOC & BOC) Lee and Dave at their beautiful house in South Seattle. We went out to eat a couple of times, once to a Portuguese restaurant, Ciudad, that was to die for. We had grilled octopus, grilled chicken, and I should have written everything down, because it was to die for. Especially the octopus! The mural is delightful. If you’re in Seattle, or planning a trip, you might want to check Ciudad out!  

On Sunday, we went to Jude’s, a neighborhood bar and restaurant, for eats n drinks. The guys who own it are master mixers of great cocktails. Lee & Dave had something truly liked, and I went for a Smokey Salve that could easily become habit forming. Rye, mesquite bourbon, crème de cacao, ginger, & bitters. Oh, yeah, so glad Jude’s is not in my neighborhood. Oh yes, I could develop a habit for that.

The specialize in Cajun cooking, and I had their Grits Plate. Made me homesick for the deep south. Their menu all looked good, it was difficult to choose. Everything I looked at looked better than the one before. The blackened catfish was to die for. So, yes, you must go to Jude’s, too.

Watched the first episode of Foundation. If you read the 4-book trilogy by The Good Doctor (Asimov), the series is based on the books. I read them so many years ago, I can’t remember that much about them to know how close/far the tv show is from the books, but I was hooked, for sure.  Now Housemate Dan and I can watch.

We got caught up on gossip, and I left on Monday. I arrived on Thursday pm, left Monday am, so the 3-day rule of company wasn’t too badly stretched. And, on Friday, they drove me to, and fetched me later, my last class of:

Doula Training:
The last class, was a two-parter. We learned how to wash a corpse and shroud a corpse. Sinch we were doing this in a home, we used real live corpses, and the class was divided into two groups. One washed, one shrouded, then we ate and reversed so we all got to see everything. Yes, we did have real live corpses. They were delightful young men, who volunteered, and played dead. Until we got them to laugh. Indeed, their resurrection was a miracle. 

In between the first class and the second, when we all traded, we had a feast of a supper. The two corpses joined us to eat. It was fun meeting them, and those of the class who could come. A lot of our cohort is located on the east coast, or otherwise just too far away to come. 

I am signed up for the A Sacred Passing class on Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD). Then I will take the class from End of Life Washington (Death With Dignity) if it’s different. I will need to shadow another doula a few times, which may be a tad fun this winter, as I will be the only one in the Tri-Cities. I’m hoping there is someone no farther than Spokane. That’s a trip I can make in the winter. But getting across the Snoqualmie Pass may be dicey. I had to drive from Seattle to Portland to Kennewick one time. It was not a particularly fun drive at double the distance, double the time.

I need to get all my forms filled out, both to know how, and to have them available for when (if?) needed for my death. If you live in Washington State, I strongly urge you to check out End of Live Washington, and go to their Wonderfile, read and download the forms and instructions you need. If you live in another state, I suggest you find the equivalent in your state. There are even forms you can fill out now, leaving instructions for what happens if you develop dementia, if you are in a same sex relationship your bio family doesn’t like, but you do. Some need to be notarized, many do not. Then, every year, on your birthday, go over them, and make any necessary changes. As End of Life Washington says, “Plan now, die later, do a lot of living in between!

From the Paws of the Brave Dog:
My human came home yesterday and the first thing she did, well, almost the first thing, was to come to the bed and snuggle me for a really long time. It’s so hard to snuggle her when she isn’t here. Housemate Dan is good, but he doesn’t snuggle like she does. She didn’t even read her books or anything. She just snuggled. Oh, happy day, happy day. My human came come. My human is home and I happy danced all the way to the bed. Did you see me happy dance?

Duck, Death and the Tulip:
This is a delightful book about a duck who meets Death, and the friendship that develops. It’s a children’s book, that I bought after seeing the video in one of our classes. The words and drawings are from the pen of Wolf Erlbruch, a German writer and illustrator. It is a marvelous story about a duck who sees Death following him and they become friends, until Duck dies. There is no religious theme to the story. Or the death of Duck. The only think I would have liked to see is one more comma in the title, so it reads Duck, Death, and the Tulip. But the Oxford comma is not in high favor at the moment.