Powerful rainstorms led to a string of power outages last month, the longest of which lasted nearly 24 hours. Melody was away for an APGO conference at the time, so Westley and I spent that weekend mostly without electricity, playing board games, painting by numbers Seurat-style, and embarking on a Puyo Puyo Tetris adventure on the Switch, all while learning to cook with headlamps and shower with a flashlight. The experience prompted us to invest in more headlamps and a power station. With heavy rains flooding most of California, we spent most of our January weekends indoor, which gave me time to discover the mystery of the Prometheus in 1899, wrap up House of the Dragon and Umbrella Academy, and finally storm past Stormveil Castle in Elden Ring. For food, we smoked ribs and char siu, and made lots of congee, soups, and stews. Westley enjoyed partaking in song and dance at the DHS Jazz Choir workshop over MLK weekend, but felt sick after a Chinese New Year party at a CRNA Melanie’s home. For my birthday weekend, we drove to Stockton for a crab feast with my in-laws, and unexpectedly scored dinner reservations at SingleThread. Chef Kyle Connaughton’s Cal-Japanese-inspired menu drew on seasonal ingredients including Dungeoness crabs, duck, and lemons, with some dishes appearing more like works of art. Some 3-Michelin-star-level attention to details like clear cocktail ice cubes and butt-warming bidet seats were unfortunately offset by inconsistent timing between courses and accidentally pouring sparkling water into our cups of still water. Overall, we appreciated the lavish meal, but probably not worth the 2-hour drive to Headsburg and returning home at 1 am. We spent this weekend packing for our trip, fertilizing and herbiciding our back lawn, and cutting our hair. Westley also did his part to successfully reach level 5 at SwimAmerica, just in time for snorkeling the Great Barrier Reef. With just days before our trip, it’s a race to tuck away as much work as we can.