Sarah Palin is apparently my second or third cousin-in-law. Sort of.

Joel the Neff has revealed the likelihood that my late cousin Katie's son, who was adopted by her second husband, is a cousin of Todd Palin through his adoptive father. Joel didn't reveal all the connected leaves of the family tree so I don't have the relationship completely established in my mind. But I had wondered if the little boy I remembered from those days was related to the Alaska Palins. He and Joel spent a lot of time together as kids, though after Katie's death we lost some contact. Or at least I did, living in Colorado. My sister and her family were able to stay more connected. He did note that the Portland Palins were not planning to vote GOP.

It's been a hard week or so. Last week at this time, I noticed that my throat was getting a little scratchy, but it does that sometimes, so I didn't do much besides drink more water and suck a lozenge occasionally. But by Wednesday's band rehearsal, I realized I was in danger of losing my voice. And then my schnozz began to itch and drip a little, so I hauled out the cold/sinus meds so I could make it through the Pete Seeger meeting and singing.

By the next morning, it was clear that I was infectious, so I stayed away from the gym, stayed away from the Thursday night jam, popped the meds and hoped for the best. My neti pot became my best friend and helped stave off a worse cold, I think. But I wasn't feeling good.

And then my back began to hurt. Muscle spasms tend to hit me when I'm overworked and underloved, so I sighed, got out the heating pad and the back support stuff, and kept the spasms at bay with heat and pressure.

And then the company I was expecting on Saturday night late arrived several hours early, which took me totally by surprise and increased my sense of being overwhelmed. I'm an extrovert, but I do love my solitude and hate to give it up unexpectedly! But these are dear friends and I was glad to see them, even though surprised.

And then...canker sores, paper cuts, and a major coughing fit during the Sunday service (fortunately my guest colleague was preaching, not me), plus all the little surprises that arrive on Sunday morning before the service starts---the things that didn't get set up in advance, the new visitors who need to be welcomed, the RE stuff that can't be found, etc., etc., etc.

I think I'm out from under the worst of it today, though I woke up feeling sort of dragged out anyhow. I don't have anything too stressful to do today, so that's good, but I'm feeling the lack of exercise, since I haven't been to the gym for a week, and that's a downer. Also, the FS's father-in-law died suddenly several days ago, so his family is in turmoil and that's painful in a whole other way.

It also doesn't help that the world and national scene is so dismal right now. I find myself yelling at the newscasts and especially at the campaign blurbs which are so hateful and so inaccurate, many of them. Our local state ads for governor are awful, on both sides, and I've used the mute button on the remote over and over.

It did kind of help to learn that my colleagues, at least those seven or eight who communicated about the issue, did agree with me about Bill Sinkford's participation in the Fellowship of Reconciliation's meeting with the president of Iran. They spoke very eloquently and very positively about their support of his action. I felt like the lone ranger out there for awhile!

And this morning I learned that it's possible that my friend Gini Courter, UUA moderator, will be able to be our Building Dedication speaker next spring! That's a real upper!