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Breathing

I did a bunch of things today, most of them away from the computer, but a few of them with the new screen that I’d gotten for Christmas, with a 32-inch diagonal. I watched Moana on it, and really enjoyed it. I don’t get to see Disney movies when they first come out the way I did when my son was a lot younger, but this one was well worth watching. They did a good job respecting the Polynesian cultures being portrayed, including hiring a native for the lead role.

That was nice, but it really was the story that did it for me. No romance at all involved, which was cool to see, but just friendship and working together at things, which was all good.

I cried through a lot of it. That’s okay. It’s good to have good stories.

When it was done, I worked on a calligraphy lesson for people that wanted an hour and a half class in the afternoon. I then ran out to get some supplies, return some library books and the movie. Yes, our local library has a bunch of the newest DVD’s available for checkout for a week, for free. It’s a wonderful way to get caught up on movies I missed.

Then I had some lunch, chicken soup and crackers. My cold seems to only be worse these last two days, my sinuses ache, my nose is running, and my asthma has really started acting up badly. I had a horrible time trying to sleep last night from the coughing, and even with an extra shot of Advair, and my emergency albuterol, I had a really rough night. I finally dried up enough, I guess, to sleep and didn’t want to wake up so long as I could breathe.

I had some trouble with it during my calligraphy class, which happened at 2pm; but I was able to be quiet long enough to calm some of it down now and again. The good thing was that I gave my four students some really basic, good stuff to work with to just learn how to control the pen; and they were very happy about practicing with the guide and some of the source materials I’d come up with on Uncial and Gothic Textura scripts. The historic aspect has been fascinating for me, and learning that the uncial scripts were based on making each letter the most beautiful it could be and that the textura forms were created so that the letters would interweave to make beautiful words was really cool.

Different reasons for each of the forms, and that helped make them easier to understand as to why they were shaped the way they were. So there was an hour and a half spent practicing and learning what it was each of the ladies liked. Next month we’ll do bookmarks. That should be fun.

When I got home, I was congested, unhappy, and so I did something insane, I got on the exercise bike and rode for thirty minutes. More truthfully, I used the emergency inhaler, first, and then got on the bike; and for the first time in two days, I was breathing clearly. It was amazingly good as a remedy for the asthma. John also made a lovely dinner of tilapia, garlic Alfredo spaghetti, and steamed artichokes! I thanked him very much for the dinner and did all the dishes.

Jet had a friend over to do physics and calculus with, and then the friend got to play Gunpoint, which is one of the most snarky games I’ve ever had the pleasure to play. The dialog between the PI and his client is amazing; and the puzzle-solving adventure is sneaky, smart, and pretty difficult; and you get to make moral choices that change how the situation plays out and affects everyone involved. I really enjoyed it, and it was fun to watch someone discover it for the first time.

Sadly, my asthma got kind of bad after that, and I had a hard time reading to Jet when he was going to bed. Finally, he said, “Mom. Just stop and breathe for a while... just breathe.”

So I did, and I finally could go on. I will probably use the inhaler before going to bed, I’m tired enough to ignore the shaking, and at least I may be able to breathe well enough to sleep.

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