We just watched Joe Biden and Kamila Harris being sworn in. I remember election night in 2016 and the kids going to bed, not knowing the results yet, but it being pretty obvious Trump was going to win. Béla was particularly frightened of being sent back to Korea. I wrote each of them letters and put them in their beds once his win was announced, so they would not wake up in the night and lie awake wondering.

I said we’d get through it together and we did. It’s over. It really is a new start.

Now we can begin healing, although we may not want to start immediately with Béla’s suture practice kit — although he’s got a pretty good start. He just doesn’t seem to have any local anesthetic.

You may or may not know that the only way to be a cool “young” thirtysomething is to be “obsessed” with houseplant cuttings! No one has ever thought of this before — certainly not 1970’s stay at home moms!!I mean, spider plants! We are returning to the land.

I know aloe is good for loc care and wanted to get Claudia one, and then someone in our neighborhood Buy-Nothing group had the TEENIEST ones to give away — so each of the kids planted one for MLK Day without much enthusiasm. But they are kinda cute and Claudia liked the idea that hers might someday be big and be on a windowsill in her flat in England with Marble, and/or Dobby.

We don’t always watch the live National Junior Classical League’s live show on Monday nights, but since it was a video game that was the topic, I asked them to tune in. (Additionally, more of Caligula’s palace has been discovered and restored — the show features a few different reports.)

The inauguration was definitely the high point of the week so far. Lady Gaga was great!