And Tuesday evening

 I don't know why but this week has felt super long already, and it's only Tuesday. I spent Monday afternoon doing teaching prep for the rest of the week (did so not feel up to working on research, and my allergies were already bad). And then today I did more prep, and in the afternoon went through a few samples. I'm down to a dozen (the last site) now, but really, three in a day is all I can do.

Also, I have to decide whether to push Friday afternoon to do more, or to see if I can make plans to get either the pneumococcal vaccine or a covid booster (if they'll let me have one, if my insurance will pay - there's a scary rumor that RFK jr. and his fellow vaccine-opponents may try to get it pulled from the market, and that could be bad. A booster probably won't be updated for the new variant but at least it might help my immunity a little?) I don't want to get both at once; I often have strong reactions (chills, fever, aches) and want to do one at a time. 
I am trusting flu shots will be readily available this fall and get one later. But I hate how the chaos, and how the fact that people have been installed in high places who don't seem to have our best interests at heart, mean I have to do all this calculating and trying to figure out "what is the most urgent thing to prioritize?"

I'm back to working on the mitts; I'm working on the body of the second mitt and am about midway on making the thumb gusset, so I'll get these done soon. Maybe I focus on these for a couple more days and get the satisfaction of finishing something for me. 

I do want to dig out all my partially done projects and gradually finish them, and I'm thinking again about some fingering weight yarn I bought back in 2020 - early on in the pandemic, when I thought I could just sit at home and knit, and a fingering weight cardigan would be a good choice. But I was too upset and distracted to do anything that complicated, and I put the yarn and pattern away. I think I know where it is....though maybe I start Greenstone first, when I'm ready to start another sweater.

(I joked to a friend who doesn't knit that "buying yarn, and planning projects, are two additional hobbies, quite separate from actually knitting. And that's true. And I think the planning step is my favorite. Though as I noted, I'm also suckered in by the "backstory" of some projects - "this is a sweater I made to be rugged for hiking" for example, and I go "I like to hike! maybe if I knit this I will find time to hike, and maybe even a companion to go with me!" of course it doesn't work that way but maybe sometimes a little....I don't know, it's not quite lying to yourself, but a little fantasy, is maybe a good thing.)

I'm currently reading on SPQR. It's interesting, and yet, I admit there are some eerie parallels with the stage of The American Experiment we're in. (Then again: human nature is always human nature, and there are power hungry types in all times and all places). I'll get back to The Enchanted Greenhouse eventually, and even "All Clear" eventually (but I'm still sad at the Big Event I just hit in it), but for now, maybe a little nonfiction is the best choice.