In somnis veritas

I'm happy to report that I slept well last night and there are no side-effects from the vaccine. My appetite is a little better-I had some oatmeal, and a piece of roti and a spoonful of curry to eat as breakfast and lunch respectively.  Dinner was tea and toast-overall, more than I've had for a while. I'm taking the anti-emetics regularly, not just waiting for the nausea to hit. The tiny dictator, as usual, was parked on my lap as much as possible. He'd prefer that I didn't evict him so I could eat, especially since he can't mooch. He was so funny earlier-he'd finished the food in his bowl, and decided that we weren't attentive enough. So he picked up his bowl and carried it to Don, dropping it on his lap and scratching at him as if to say that he was a neglected, starving puppy who needed attention! we were laughing too hard to respond quickly enough, so he jumped onto Don and got in his face.  He's scratching at me to be patted, and isn't pleased that I'm writing. I know, he commands a lot of attention.

I was talking to my niece last night and again today, and she told me that she has an assignment to do a vision board. So last night we talked about the goals that she wanted to attain, and a bit about obstacles that she might encounter. She's surprisingly clear on some of her goals, but also clueless about some others. Not a shock, nor is it a problem-I told her that my ideas of what I wanted at 16 had no relationship to what I was doing at 21 (the 5-year span they're asked to cover.) and even less by 25! University was about the only thing that was a constant, but not my field of study. She asked why I didn't follow my initial idea, and I said that my interest changed. They did, too. Originally I thought that I wanted to do medicine, but a couple of days at my doctor's practice removed that idea. I thought about doing Chemistry research, but I encountered Computer Science and I was hooked. I realized that I liked problem solving, but not bodily fluids, so medicine was no longer a contender. My second love, Chemistry, fell out of contention for the simple reason that Computer Science jobs paid better. I explained this to my niece, who seemed to understand. We agreed to discuss career options soon, because she's unclear what she'd like to do. She's asking herself questions like, "what are my interests?"; "what do I like?" and so on. It's not an easy conversation, and I'm proud that she's tackling it head on. We also talked about hobbies, and which ones could be turned into money- making ventures. Lots of questions for us to tackle. I expect that it will be an eye-opener for us both. She recommends that I do a vision board also, so that we can "learn together." You know that I'll do it!

So there you go-I'm going to have to do a vision board for the next 5 years. Travel, of course is high on my list; I have friends and family to see. This pandemic needs to beat a retreat so I can get on to my plans! Europe and the UK await!  Since I know that my readers are all fully- vaccinated, let's encourage everyone to do the right thing ASAP!  Good night!