Tu Chantes Comme Une Casserole

 And I can't sing my way out of a bucket either. No matter, alone in the car no one can hear me singing along (horribly). En Francais. Terrible at both, I'm afraid but at least there's hope for my French. I'm doing lessons, and reinforcing them the best way I know-driving in the car, belting out Les Cactus at 100 decibles. 

Le monde entier est un cactus!

I know other songs of course, but there's something cathartic about a song with shouting. I like Dutronc. I guess there was Starshooter. Do you know them? They were like a French Ramones. They shouted most of their songs. 

When my voice started to go, I stopped singing at home, in the car, the shower-wherever because for some reason I couldn't deal with it. Well, good reason, I suppose but there's no point continually reminding yourself of what you can't do when there's other things you can. In a way, singing (badly) in French feels acceptable, as I'm focused on learning a language, not hitting notes I'll never hit again. 

Dans la vie, il y a que des cactus. In life, cactus is all there is.  Ain't that the damn truth.

Oh, look! Clothes!

I get dressed most days, but I don't always put the care into it that would make me want to take photographs. It has still been rather warm in Omaha, but we are expecting a widespread freeze tonight-then back to the 70s by late in the week. Ooops, make that 80s!

Barely saw any butterflies this year. That was depressing. Storms took out the milkweed and flowers people had been planting for them.

So maybe I should get this out of the way, and then I don't need to talk about it much after. That 10 lbs I thought I gained through hard work and eating more? Non, that's kidney failure. It isn't at the worst possible stage yet, and it is good that it was caught, if not early, then before it was too late! The hyperparathyroid thing from last year came raging back into action with serious anemia and hypertension. This is all most likely due to the parathyroid gland being a bastard ( or possibly the kidney failure messing with the parathyroid-it needs investigation), and I will be seen shortly by a specialist, and we'll move on. I only mention it, because my face looks somewhat distorted, and you lot are too polite to ask. My limbs and stomach are also swollen making it difficult to get dressed when everything makes me feel like I'm being disemboweled. Most of my day is spent running to the toilet only to find nothing happening. Actually that's not entirely true-there's diarrhee'. See I'm using my French but I think I put the accent in the wrong place. So that's that. I switched to a new primary care doctor outside of the hospital system I had been in, and it is so very much better. At least I don't need to wait three months to be seen only for the resident assigned to my care having since moved on to another placement. Teaching hospitals are necessary, but it wasn't working for me. It has been three weeks now and they still haven't sent over my medical records to the new doctor! I'm sure they wouldn't be that lax if I owed them money. I have spent the last three years getting worse, and I think I've been more than patient and understanding with the disruption caused by the pandemic .Understandably, a lot of people left the medical profession after that and we are quite understaffed in smaller cities. This was diagnosed last year (the parathyroid thing) they sent me home and told me it was a one-off on a blood test and that it isn't the source of the advanced osteoporosis (hint, it is) and that I am, as the doctor put it, "Just getting old." Well, it is clearly not a one-off as it is back and bringing a slew of other problems along for the ride. Honestly, the worst symptom is a sensation that the left side of my face is wet when it is dry. I'm told that's a common neurological thing, and largely harmless but damn, it is annoying. That was a lot to say, don't worry, it isn't as bad as it looks. I'm tired, but who isn't?! At least now I have an excuse for sleeping 10 hours a night. I really will be fine, a bad thing is hard to kill, etc.

Alright, so that's my update. Back to the outfits, shame about the face😑.

The fringed suede skirt has been worn. I was actually more excited about my new shoes. I wouldn't go as far as calling them, "Comfortable", but for a pair of heels, they're not bad. I found them new with tags at the thrift store for a few dollars. Cole Hann, if that means anything to you-I'm not really current on my shoe brands. 

My scarves are getting worn as well. I don't know why my neck gets so cold, even when I am otherwise warm. Old lady things, I guess!

This was one of those painfully high-waisted skirts. I like it though, so it is off to the seamstress to have the waistband remade. It shouldn't be too difficult.

Oh look, a theme!

Dress is by retro-style brand, Angie. I don't typically like their stuff, but this one spoke to me.

Summer dress easily stretched into autumn with the addition of a coat, or in this case a dress worn as a coat.

Another dress over a skirt and tunic

Vintage Gucci bag

I do sort of like how my hair looks, even if it is thin on top.

The dress is too big, so I walked around like this. There, I fixed it!

That's all true vintage. Seems I wear less vintage these days. No reason I can think of. Perhaps just a lack of imagination.

 And now, a quick photo dump of outfits, if you'll permit me.

Paul Green shoes, second hand, brand new!

Earrings from my high school years

Halloween, with dinosaurs

Biology print

And that's about it here. Dan is doing well in school, and is on track to graduate early. My beloved White Sox finished the season...actually, there's no need to talk about that. *ahem* the team is, as they say, rebuilding. I have thoughts, but they never call to ask me what I think. Dan's Cubs didn't do that great either, but at least it wasn't humiliating. 

The next two weeks are going to be tense in the US leading up to the election. I'm going to try and enjoy the relative calm until then. I voted (we have early voting in Nebraska) and that's about all I can do. I'll leave it at that as there's not much to be said at this point. 

The French lessons go on, I keep singing in the car. If I need to decamp due to what is increasingly looking like, as we say in the United States, A Shitshow it never hurts to have decent use of other languages. I can sing (badly) a bit in Italian, mostly opera, but I'd be lying if I denied a fascination with 70s Italian Disco. Look, don't judge. Unless you're pulled up beside me at a stop light, what I sing in the car is my business. 

He's still got it though!