And my keyboard seems to be working fine now, though it is not the easiest one I have to type on so I ought to switch them out.

So the new year is in full swing. We just had another week of cold cold weather and most of Austin is still without power and thousands of the beautiful trees are broken. It really hurts me to see the pictures online. My neighbor said that during the week you couldn't drive down our street --- not from broke limbs on the road, but from the weighted limbs hanging out over the street that were too low! Of course, no one was driving anywhere because of the ice.

I had no issues here and just stayed home and stayed warm. Thank goodness no outages or tree issues here. We had ice and snow, just not as much. Now it is bright and sunny and a beautiful weekend.

This afternoon I'll be helping my sister get my mom packed up to move to another apartment down the hall. It is a bit smaller and a bit cheaper and her money is running out so it seems like a stopgap measure to help us keep her there another month or two down the line.

I have had a month of blah, but what's new. The Christmas tree is still up with lights (I think it should stay through winter) and the ornaments and decorations are all across the table and counter in hopes I'll sort through and pack them better.

I guess the biggest "news" is that I'm doing Saturdays on my radio station now in addition to the Monday through Friday gig. For that, I will be getting more money in one month. That will be a help. My boss said, "Eh, it's just a hundred dollars..." He has no idea how much a $100 helps! That's at least a 4% increase in my take-home pay each month. Yes, I make very little. I was thinking this morning how my salary went up something like 500% between 1978 and 1989. But between 1989 and, say, 2020? 0% Of course there were some ups and downs in the intervening 30 years, but geez. It has improved a bit with the new company and I have hopes for another little raise in April. But I won't get my hopes up.

I'm going to go to Austin this week. Beth is in town and I want to see her. I am anxious about the trip and about leaving the cats. I really hate to leave the cats alone for so long. My sister will come and feed and check on them, but that's not much. I know I need to make myself get out and do more things just so I don't become a completely isolated hermit. I would LOVE to be one, but that's not good for my mental health, I am sure.

Since I wrote last, mother had a bad fall and had a few days of being really sore and sick. She's better now, but her face was blue the last time I saw her. A couple of days after she did that, I fell too! Clumsy. I was putting some spare curtains away in a closet and got my feet tangled in them and tumped over. I usually land on my hands, but I landed flat on my knees. My left knee and shin are blue blue blue, even stretching around to the back. I had some bruises on my elbows so I guess I hit them instead of the hands. They weren't too bad. I've been sore, but it is getting better.

I guess that's the catch-up. No promises on when I'll write next. The good thing is I usually forget to write when I'm happy and occupied and doing well.