I would never budge ’til spring

Well, David is in heaven.  We ordered an adjustable bed and now he can sit up comfortably in bed and watch TV.  I have to say, it makes me pretty happy too.  We would have an endless dance all night trying to get the pillows and the foam wedge that we go to stay in the right place.  Now, with the push of a button, we are set in seconds.

Today I dropped David off at the Stroke Recovery Center and left him there for an hour and a half.  Alone.  He looked a bit worried as I left, and when the door opened after the reading group, Glorianne told David, “see, he’s here” because I am sure he thought that I had forgotten him or had gotten lost.  He said he was a bit exhausted by speech and reading.

On Monday we went to Songshine, which is a singing program for people with Parkinson’s and Stroke survivors.  I think it will be good for David.  Some of the folks who go to the speech group at Eisenhower also participate.  A nice group, and they do a performance in the spring, which will be fun, I think.  Last year they did The Music Man, and it was very good.  A concert version and just the music, but it was good.
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We have our first appointment for Physical Therapy scheduled in two weeks, and David is excited about that.  It will be good to get back to it.  Glorianne suggested that we set a half hour aside each day to practice speech, which we started tonight.  We didn’t go for the full half hour, but it was good, and it is always good to have something like that scheduled.  At least that is what David says.  I would prefer just winging it!  And by winging it, I mean, only doing it when we feel like it.  I suppose we could skip it whenever we don’t feel like it, right?

This weekend I am taking two days off and checking in and checking out.  I made a reservation at one of the hotels in the area, and just going to lay by the pool and relax.  Maybe go and see some “cartoon” that David won’t go to see.  I say animated feature, but David insists they are “cartoons”.  Well, I think on that note, I will say goodnight and that I think I may need these two days away.

Funny, how it ain’t so funny

I remember when I was in my 20’s and living in Jersey City with Cid we spent many nights playing Joan Rivers What Becomes a semi Legend Most and laughing almost to delirium.  She was, to my mind, the funniest person I had ever heard.  The photo on the back of the album still makes me smile to this day – a family photo from the Royal Wedding of Charles and Diana with Joan photoshopped (long before that word made its way into our lexicon) on the right end, sandwiched between two Earls, appropriately adorned with a big pink hat, and holding a blender with a huge pink bow slapped on top.  As many are saying, she was a force of nature and I’m going to miss her.

Fortunately, we have a few taped episodes of Fashion Police and David and I are trying to make them last for a few more days.  We also watched the final episode of So You Think You Can Dance and couldn’t be happier for the outcome.  I loved Ricky.  All four of the finalists I liked a lot, so it was a good season, all around.

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I have been going to the gym pretty regularly as well as walking or running, depending on the heat.  We are supposed to have some showers over the next few days, and the temperatures are expected to be in the 90’s which will be nice.

Talk about a star looking like a toy

The other night in my late night swim, as I was floating in the pool looking at the stars, I noticed searchlights crisscrossing the sky above me.  It was Labor Day Weekend, and the population of Palm Springs had swelled with vacationing revelers.  I just thought how nice it was to be in Southern California with all its sun, fun and glitz.

Today, we were back to work, and we stopped by to see Blade after getting blood drawn at the lab and before seeing Dr. Loftus.  It was great to see him, and he apologized in advance for the bad mood that the good Doctor might be in.  It seems that one of Blade’s patients had a fall, and she was also a patient of Dr. Loftus, and she insisted on going to see him, and might have thrown off his schedule a bit.  When we got to the office, it was quite true.  We didn’t see the doctor until 45 minutes after our scheduled time, and he actually took a moment to complain about how the office was being run.

He did, however, say he wanted to cry because he was so impressed with David’s expressivity.  David was very pleased to hear that.  We then went home and met the new aide, Jessica.  She seems nice, and after a brief introduction and giving her some instructions, I headed out to run some errands.  Then to the gym.  Still exercising, which is great for both my mood and physically.  Now if I can just stop eating like the world is running out of food, I will be happy!  Also sent out another resume.  I figure one of them will stick one of these days, right?

That makes you feel brand new down to your toes

It has been a weird couple of days.  Hot, but nice, but I have been a little depressed, as you may have guessed from my past couple of blog entries, or maybe the lack of entries.  But today, the clouds seem to have lifted.  I finally got out and took a run and walk, and I think that I need to make sure that I do it every day.  I told David that he has to light a fire under me if I hesitate.  Not sure whether the exercise exorcised the demons, or if I was just feeling better and the exercise came out of that – which came first, the chicken or the egg?  Either way, I am glad to be felling better, and I am sure David is too. There are also two jobs that I saw listed on ArtSearch that look interesting, and going to send in my resume and cover letter for both of them.  The locations may be problematic, but we can cross that bridge if we get to it, and it is a good first step.  The plan was that in September, I would start to try to rejoin the workforce, and, while it is a couple days early, I thought, why not.

We are also looking at some projects to do around the house here, and hopefully get some of them started in the next couple of weeks.  We have wanted to put some sort of wall unit in the living room on the wall where the TV is, and have some ideas.  We have a design consultant coming on Tuesday morning.  We also have an appointment with the Doctor on Tuesday afternoon.  Once we see him, we will get referrals to start therapy back up.  David is anxious to get started.  I called my contact at USC and unfortunately, David isn’t ready or right for the study.  They need folks with more use of the effected arm.  She asked if he could grasp and release a ball, which he really can’t do.  She said that I should call back if he get some more movement in the hand, and we can reevaluate.  She also said she added David to their database, and if another study comes up, she will let us know.  I think I was more eager for this study than David was.  He was concerned about having to travel to LA.

But you must be ascertained that every time you are about to Buy sildenafil tablets in india. viagra viagra online This particular drug carries Tadalafil in it as the best component. The lack of desire in women can be confusing and sildenafil 50mg tablets shocking for their husbands. This caffeine intake remains associated with a number of several body functions. generic cialis australia Carla came yesterday, and will be coming every Thursday and Saturday to give me some time off, well deserved or not!  She is great, and nice with David.  Not as gossipy as Jennifer or some of the other aides.  David loves to hear the gossip about their dates, boyfriends, other clients, you name it.  Tomorrow, I may take a hike if it isn’t too hot.  it may be over 110, but, it is a dry heat, right?  It was 109 this afternoon and I survived.  Hydrate.

We went to Life Changes at the Stroke Recovery Center with Cedric, which was nice.  One of the other clients said how happy he was to see us back, and later pulled me aside and said that he was sincere and really meant how happy he was to see both of us back.  I was going to say that I give all the credit to David, but, in reality, we are a pretty good pair.  I think people see how simpatico we are, and a bit like Laurel and Hardy, we make them laugh.  On purpose, of course.  He had suffered another stroke over the summer, and seems to have been shaken by it, but he seemed in pretty good shape, or no worse than when we left, so that was good.  I also read that there is a Gala in November for the Stroke Recover Center, and David said he would like to go, which is great.  A nice way to give back to the center that has given both of us so much.  Not to mention the theme is A Night at the Copa.  Are they hoping that Barry will show up?  I can just imagine the costumes that David will want me to whip up!

Summer days drifting away

Well, not so much for us.  We just arrived last night in Palm Springs, and the summer here lasts much longer than most places.  Our trip home was great, and mostly uneventful.  We came very close to missing our connection in San Francisco.  The airline had been kind enough to make an alternate reservation for this morning, in case we missed our flight last night.  Fortunately, we just made it before they closed the doors.

Our visit in NY was great.  We saw a reading of a new musical by a good friend, which we both enjoyed very much.  It was called Long Ago Song.  A very interesting story with some great music.  I hope that it has legs, and gets produced somewhere.  That was Tuesday night, and on Wednesday we had lunch with Gwen, which was great.  So nice to catch up and share a meal.  Then we went to see A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder.  I am officially obsessed.  Such a funny and clever musical.  The performances were terrific all around.  It is also so refreshing to see a show that really relies on the music and actors rather than theatrics.  I guess you could say it is the anti-Spiderman.  It is very sad, but good for us, that tickets to the Tony award winning musical still has tickets available on the day of the performance.  Fourth row, center, at that.  I am sure they were house seats, and the house was pretty full, but I think the show has a very specific audience.  So good though, and if you have the chance, go and see it.

We had dinner with Françoise, Joe and Joy from Fieldston on Thursday at one of our old favorites, Artisanal.  For lunch on Thursday we went to meet Karen, David’s speech therapist from Rusk, but after waiting 10 minutes, I checked my email, and we were a day early.  David gave me a look that just said “typical!”  We met her the next day, and then went to visit Liat at the Hospital for Joint Diseases and got to say hi to York and Steph as well (Speech, Physical and Occupational therapists, repectively).  We also got to say hello to the great nurses who took such good care of David while he was there.  David remembered his room as well, and only shuddered a bit when we walked by!  While the folks were great, the memories were not so good.

We also had a visit from Lynda in the afternoon, and sadly missed Marjorie because of a hotel mix-up.  We followed up our busy day with dinner with Hatam, Narges and Maya.  A Persian feast followed by a lovely walk in Central Park.  We ended our visit in NYC with a delightful breakfast with Anthony, Michelle and Julie.  It was great to see them and at the end, we thought that the breakfast was a bit more like a group therapy session and promised to repeat it monthly!  If only we could.

Now, we are safe back in Palm Springs, and already I am feeling like life is easier.  As soon as we got off the plane, the warm soft air and the smell of flowers in the air were intoxicating and I felt like we were home again.  Not that Vermont isn’t home, but I didn’t get to put everything in order this summer, so hopefully next summer, it will be easier.  went to the movies to see The Hundred-Foot Journey, which we both liked a lot.  This week, I will work to get all our therapies back up and going and life will begin to have the same rhythm that we had last year.

Me doctor recommends a quiet summer by the sea

Wouldn’t it? Joy arrived yesterday and we went to dinner at my Dad’s friend Judy’s and then to the Oldcastle for My Fair Lady.  Most of the performances were very nice and the theatre is great.  My only real criticisms were with the directing, but overall, it was very nice to see.  Oh, and Freddy had something very unfortunate going on with his pants.  It looked like they were about two sizes too small.

Today, I tackled some work, and I think that things will be in OK shape by tomorrow for our departure on Tuesday.  David is still feeling some pain on his back, and hopefully that will begin to subside soon.  I am looking forward to the visit to NY and really anxious to get back to California and our routine.  I think I am beginning to sound like a broken record.
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I did get a chance, the other day, to lay in the hammock for a while.  It was nice and cool with some dappled sunlight, but couldn’t really relax for too long.  Worried about things that needed doing and if David would need me for something and I wouldn’t hear him.  Maybe more tomorrow.

Locked in the bathroom with Peyton Place

Lois is visiting from Boston, and last night we went to see A Chorus Line in Weston.  As I told them as we drove home, I am not sure if it was just nostalgia, but I teared up at many unexpected moments during the performance.  I mean at times when I shouldn’t really be crying, not the usually moving bits of the show, which there are many.  I saw A Chorus Line in 1975 and a few more times during its long run.  I owned the album in my teens and just about wore it out so it feels very familiar to me.  The performances were great and it didn’t disappoint.

We have had a nice visit with Lois, and now, the end is really looming over my head like a steel beam!  So much to do before we leave on Tuesday.  I will be up late tonight, again, responding to emails that I have let pile up.  David claims he isn’t to blame, but, at the risk of sounding like a broken record, every time he needs help getting up, it throws me off.  I don’t think I have full blown ADD, but on the spectrum, I am leaning that way, and disturbances don’t help.

Every once in a while I glance out the back window and see the hammock that seems to be calling me, but I have not had a moment to use it.  I just want to go out there, and swing in the breeze for an hour or so.  I don’t think it will happen though.  The weather is feeling decidedly fall-like and the sun has been getting lower in the sky in the afternoons.  It is amazing how quickly the sunlight changes at this time of the year.  Well, more musings tomorrow.

My destiny calls and I go

That title is twofold.  Spain and doing what needs to be done.  We have canceled our trip to Spain.  David brought it up yesterday, and I suggested that we sit on it for a day, and decide tomorrow.  Well, tomorrow is now today, so we decided.  I canceled accommodations, flights and hotels.  We are still heading to NY next week for a few days, but heading back to Palm Springs on Saturday.  We have renters in through Monday, so we will book a little two night holiday in Palm Springs.  A little honeymoon maybe.  It never seems to end with us!  Anyway, I am putting a positive spin on this, but we do have an appointment with the doctor tomorrow (along with haircuts, which may be more important!) so we can figure out if there is something wrong.  David has been complaining of some pains and has, as I said, not been his usual upbeat self.  I am hoping that it is nothing.  I have a list of his ailments ready for our visit.  We also have an appointment with Dr Loftus in Palm Springs on the first Tuesday in September, so that will be good too.

Today was supposed to rain quite heavily, like it did around NYC, but never really materialized.  It rained a bit, but nothing like a downpour.  Did some needed projects around the house while Ally was here with David.  Felt quite productive.  We watched a documentary called Pageant about the Miss Gay America.  Pageants and drag queens – how could you go wrong, right?  Then we watched The Railway Man with Colin Firth and Nicole Kidman.  As much as I want to not like Nicole because she was married to that lunatic, I can’t seem to help thinking that she is a really good actress, and gives the most subtle, understated performances.  Something about her quiet strength gets me.
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Anyway, I am looking forward to getting back to Palm Springs and starting back into our routine.  I might even get a chance to exercise again!  I know I have gained a few since we have been back in VT.  Maybe even two or three or five in the last two days.  I know I am in trouble when I crave potatoes with abandon.  I have also been drinking too much or not enough, depending on how you look at it.

You can make a pot roast, that’s wonderful

Lauren Bacall.  Betty.  I had such a fixation on her in my late teens and early twenties when I was, how shall I say, “maturing”.  I used to be told that I had a certain Bacall look when I was younger (no laughing).  It was more of an affect than a look.  I would turn my head down and at a slight angle and look up under my eyelashes.  I did get some free drinks that way, but, sadly, not much more.  I really did shed a tear when I heard the news.  I loved her.  Again, not completely unexpected.  I think the last time I saw her, I thought to myself, any day now.  Well, that day has come and I was saddened by it.

It was a rough day here at Scotsmere (our ancestral home in Vermont – joking, by the way).  David was a bit low and I started out the day not being able to get out of bed.  It has been like that on many mornings, so I wasn’t surprised, but I am a bit depressed.  David, who is usually a fountain of joy and positive light began crying at a certain point.  After regrouping, we decided to head off for a haircut (which didn’t happen, but we have an appointment for Thursday morning) and were hoping to make it to the movies, but there was construction on the road, so we had to give up and head back home.  I guess you could say that it was one of those days.
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Anyway, I am blue about it all.  Robin and Lauren.  Sad.  And let’s face it, I didn’t know either of them.  So what is that about?

Soaring, tumbling, freewheeling through an endless diamond sky

Robin Williams.  I would say what a shock, but isn’t there always a darker side?  Sad anyway, and tomorrow I think I will find something to watch and remember him by.  For a very brief period, and I never really figured it out, people told me that I had a “Robin Williams” quality.  The first time was at an audition for something, I can’t remember where or for what, and the director said, “you must hear this all the time, but you look just like Robin Williams”.  I told him that this was the first time I had heard that one, I had heard Nathan Lane and Kenneth Branagh, but never Robin Williams.  Then, a few weeks later, at another audition, I was told the same thing.  This director added that he didn’t think I looked like him, but it was something about my monologue.  I did do the same monologue for both, so maybe that was it.  I took it as a compliment.

Today, Ally came by and read emails to David, which he loved, so keep them coming.  I think they may have even responded to some of them.  While they were doing that, I went to the farm stand and picked up some stuff and made a nice chopped greek salad.  Quite good, if I do say so myself.  Even better that the only not fresh ingredient was the olives.

We did some more quilting, and should be done with piecing it together by the end of the week, I think.  I also spoke to an exterminator, and it is expensive, but I am going to have him come and take a look.  If he can rid the house of mice, and we can come back in the spring to a mouse free house, it will be worth it.

As you all know, David loves his lists, and I have been keeping one, but read today something that I thought was interesting, and might work better for me.  Someone suggests that lists set you up for failure, and instead of just making lists, you should schedule all the items on a list and really understand how much time something will take.  Anyway, will try that, and see how it goes.  We are planning on going to the movies tomorrow and getting haircuts.  Also have two theatre outings this week – A Chorus Line at Weston and My Fair Lady at Oldcastle in Bennington.  I am curious about the My Fair Lady, because it is a reduced version with two pianos  I have always been a fan of pared down musicals.

Over here, hello!

Well, some of you may have noticed that my blog was down for a while this morning.  What a nightmare that was.  It started last night, and I have to admit that I was trying to fix something that wasn’t so terrible, and it turned into, well, it turned into nothing on the site.  After much angst and an online session with the hosting service, it was sort of fixed.  If by fixed you mean I could post stuff, but none of the old stuff was there and it wasn’t formatted.  I left the session and took a deep breath, and made it all work again.

Well, glad to be back.  David has been bugging me to ask people to write to him at his email.  He is feeling left out, and getting emails will make me read them to him.  Not a bad idea actually.  We did some more quilting today, and it is coming along.  I does make the room look very green

The piecework for the quilt is almost done.  It will be a project to complete back in CA.
The piecework for the quilt is almost done. It will be a project to complete back in CA.

though, but, after all, it is green.  We also started sorting clothes into piles of stuff that will be shipped to Palm Springs, stuff that will stay here and stuff that we will bring with us to Spain.  Oh, yes, we leave in a little less than two weeks to go to Spain.

Well, I am pretty tired and I know there are things to tell, but honestly, I can’t think of any more.  Oh, yes, the garage roof is done.  More tomorrow.

Of course it all depends if it rained last night

We went to Saratoga this afternoon.  Not for the ponies neither.  We had a great visit and lunch with Betsy Downes and Pat Doyle.  They are at their house in the finger lakes, and we met half way.  Well, I say half way, but, I think we traveled about half the distance that they did.  It was great to catch up, and I told David on the way back that I thought he was very engaged verbally and he actually even agreed with me.  That is not a usual occurance.

Tomorrow, they are replacing the roof on the garage.  Well, replacing the shingles on the roof of the garage.  One of many projects that I wanted to get done this summer.  Unfortunately, it is the only one, and really was at the bottom of the list, but, he could do it, and why not?  Still have to get the house mouse-proofed – my patching didn’t seem to do the trick.  I saw a little visitor last night.  I am going to call a local exterminator and see what he thinks.  Our departure is starting to breathe down my neck, and I have to begin sorting through everything here and pack up what I can so it isn’t left for the last day.  I have the aide coming an extra day next week and that should help.

One of the topics of conversation today was our plan for next year, and I thought I would share that here.  We are planning on driving from Palm Springs to Vermont next year in April, I think.  We will take our time and stop at many places along the way, and end with a week or so in Washington before heading north to Vermont.  We will start planning out route, but if anyone has any suggestions for where we should go and where we should stop, that would be great.  Another adventure with David and Scott to look forward to!

On the blog front, I have been having a problem figuring out how to have parallel blogs on this site.  I have done some research, but the process of doing it seems very involved.  It may take some time, so those of you who have asked for access, don’t think I am ignoring you, it just may have to wait until I am back in CA and able to devote some time and brainpower to getting it figured out.

We’ll build our house, and chop our wood

Today was very productive for me.  I did lots of work around the house, we did some quilting and the kitchen garden consultant came by and we staked out the garden for next year.  It is a pretty simple design, with some options and ideas for other parts of the yard.  A four square garden behind the garage and some more raised beds near the deck for herbs and flowers.  I think it will be very nice.  Lots of work for next spring!

My most time consuming project today was plugging up the holes where the mice might be getting into the house.  I think I might have made a dent, if not solved the problem.  Time will tell.  Not much else to report.  David is feeling better, and I should head to bed now.

Goodnight.

While the band’s playin’

Yesterday we watched the Carol Channing documentary, Carol Channing: Larger Than Life.  If you haven’t seen it, you should.  She makes me very happy.  Critics may say that she is living an inauthentic life and never leaves that character that she plays, but I love her, and as I said when we saw her at the Kaye Ballard concert, she still has it!  I think the best part is the story of how she found her current husband after so many years.  Just like a Jerry Herman musical, she makes me float.

I have been trying to figure out a way to make the other blog work, and haven’t cracked it yet.  I have done some research, but it is taking time to crack how to make it work seamlessly.  Will keep you posted.  Hopefully tonight.  We had the different folks come on Saturday.  The tilers were both fine, but I liked the second one better.  The sale man who gave us the names mentioned that the first one was very opinionated about how things should be done, and I got the feeling that he would want to do things his way.  I just hope that the cost doesn’t get out of hand.  We need to do it though.  I think we will plan on doing both bathrooms as well.  We are still sleeping downstairs, and the first tiler said that he would suggest I plan on making sure the first floor bathroom is accessible as well.  Good point.  The roofer also came and I think that will be done in the next couple of weeks.  Finally the potential renter liked the house, and is flexible with his dates, so I think that will work out.  All in a days work.

Did some more quilting today and that is moving along.  I don’t think we will be done before we leave, but pretty darn close!  I also told David that I thought that when we got back to CA, I was going to seek out some volunteer work or find an interesting interning gig.  Something to keep me in the game and that might turn into something, without taking me away from helping David out.  He suggested that I ask here if anyone has a connection or can think of something to do, let me know.  I think it would be ideal to have some work that I can do remotely.

Tomorrow we have the consultation for the kitchen garden, which I am really looking forward to. The aide will be here, which is great, so David can participate, but if he needs anything, she can help him and I can continue.

Little more than a glance is enough to show you just how small you are

I have decided, for good or ill, to begin keeping a secret blog.  Sort of the darker side of Scott.  If you ask very nicely, I may give you that password.  I promise though, that I will not write there until I have written here first.  Mostly, it will be my “bitch blog” where I will write the negative things that I don’t dare write on here, but need to get off my chest.  I will think of it as my other therapy.  I will also read it to a therapist when I find one.

Well, here is the positive news for the day – Ally came by and she and David got along great.  She lives in Dorset, doesn’t have a cell phone (really?  Congratulations!!  I wanted to add another “?” at the end, but thought, really – Congratulations!!), has a boyfriend who she lives with, doesn’t have a TV (here I will say – Congratulations??!! and how do you survive the winters?  Ah, Netflix, of course) and David shares his birthday with her Dad.  Him saying that to me wasn’t really difficult either, I just ran through her birthday, her boyfriends birthday and three’s the charm – her Dad’s birthday.

We also had a great chat with Alex, Claire and Theo this morning.  We heard Theo say Bye Bye and Claire has heard him say au revoir.  Bilingual!  After talking to them, we did as we promised, and exercised.  David also took a walk with Ally while I was gone.  He said the bugs were bad.  When I left, I did some marvelous things!  I wandered through Banana Republic and GAP and then went to my favorite place, the Kitchen Store in Dorset.  I swore I would buy something, so bought an apron and oven mitts – the mice started eating the ones I bought at the Dollar Store.  They can have them, they are ugly.  Maybe if I put the oven mitt in the mouse trap, they will DIE! DIE! DIE!  Maybe I should have saved that for the “Bitch Blog”.
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Well, I have not been feeling well (more about that later on the BB – maybe I should rethink that name and taking suggestions) with some flu like symptoms.  I usually get over these summer things in a day, so tomorrow, I will be bright as a daisy.  I also have a message at the top of th webpage saying that my connection has been lost, which happens all the time.  It better save all this or I will kill someone.  Copying now.

Tomorrow we have a busy day with two tilers, a roofer and the prospective June/July 2015 tenant coming to visit.  Will fill you in on that excitement tomorrow!

I wish

Now, anyone who gets that title, I am sure has seen the preview that was released today.  At least, I think it was today, I have been reeling a bit.  David’s fall has set him back a bit, and he is still a little sore and, while he disputed it when I told my Dad, he is a bit insecure about getting up and walking.  We also haven’t exercised, but we made a pact that we would do it tomorrow morning.  Also, I have an aide coming in for three hours tomorrow, and for Mondays and Wednesdays for the rest of our stay in Vermont.  Same as CA, companionship and some light cleaning, and I will have a few hours on my own.

I am taking suggestions for what we might do next year in June/July.  I had an inquiry for renting the house here in Vermont, and the potential tenant is coming on Saturday to look.  I thought it would be a good idea to break up our summer stay in Vermont with a month somewhere else.  So, what will it be?  Alaskan Cruise?  Napa again?  We are also planning on coming back east much earlier than we did this year.  I have decided that next year is going to be my summer of cultivating.  On Monday, we have a consultation with a kitchen garden designer which was given to us as a wedding gift from Nancy, and are finally getting around to scheduling it.  If we get here earlier in the spring, I will be able to plant and make our garden grow – yet another musical reference.  I have visions of canning and pickling.  Maybe it will really be my summer of Martha Stewart.  Minus the prison stay.

I have been having some very strange dreams.  Normally, my dreams are in some way related to my life, but these are filled with people and places that I have never seen.  Needless to say, in the dreams, I know everyone and where I am, but when I wake, I don’t know who or where.  Not sure what that is about, but as long as the people are nice and places are pleasant, I am not complaining!

Well, enough for tonight, and I will get to respond to some emails that I have neglected.  You know who you are, and if you don’t hear from me tonight, but expected me to respond to something, please bug me!  I love to be bugged.

Common people don’t know what exquisite agony is

Well, it has been a rough couple of days.  Well, yesterday and today.  Yesterday, David had a fall and he is still a bit sore.  In his eagerness to help clear the table after dinner, he fell as he was getting up from the table.  I had walked into the kitchen, so I couldn’t see what happened, I just heard it.  As always, it was a bit frightening.  He laid on the floor for a while and had to settle down a bit.  I didn’t want him to try getting up until he had some more color in his face.  Getting up is always quite difficult.  He can’t really help much, and I am grateful that I have lost weight and am, as David used to say, “strong, like bull”, to quote Natasha from Bullwinkle.

Since the fall, he has been having trouble getting comfortable sitting anywhere and needs help getting up and sitting down.  It seems like every five minutes, he wants to move or have his pillows fluffed up or rearranged.  I got a chair with arms that we had stored in the garage.  I hope that will help avoid any more falls.  The hardest part is, he doesn’t want to get into the car, and I don’t want to leave him for too long now.  On top of all that, my allergies are in full gear, so I am a bit drugged and it has been raining (the two things may be related).

On Saturday afternoon, we went to see Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike at the Weston Playhouse.  We both enjoyed it, but I don’t think all the performances were great – particularly Vanya and Spike.  Vanya’s timing wasn’t great and Spike, while the character is pretty broad, was played a little too much like a spoiled 15 year old.  Anyway, we enjoyed it.  We are going to see All in the Timing next week in Dorset, which should be fun.

Life’s candy and the sun’s a ball of butter

Just like the song, today was one of those defining moments.  We had a great visit to Nantucket, with lots of relax, some soccer (that, by the way, I am too old for, but I survived), oysters (fresh and delicious) but most importantly, lots of love (that is always returned and much appreciated!)

David relaxing in Nantucket
David relaxing in Nantucket

I did have the opportunity to take a run while on the Island, and while running, you know how your mind starts to wander? I had the  brief thought – why don’t I just keep running?  Sort of a Forest Gump thing, without the shrimp, of course.  I cold just leave all my cares behind and run away.  Why not?  It could be fun!  Or not.  Then, like the Ziegfeld Girls did for Fanny, the voices in my head got me to turn around at the lighthouse.  Of course, I knew David would be well taken care of, but then I thought, who would take care of me?  Who would challenge me?  Who would love me?

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So, the tipping point today was just a bit of exasperation.  It began last night when the drain in the sink was broken, and I hadn’t fixed it, and when I ask David to wait before brushing his teeth, he didn’t and when I got upstairs, the sink was full of water.  Then, today, I was in a bad mood, you know, just feeling very sorry for myself, and David wanted to do some quilting.  I took a deep breath and thought, OK, here we go.  He will sew a panel, I will have to pull all the stitches out, and he will do it again.  Maybe this time it will be OK, or I will just have to repeat the process, over and over and over again.  This did happen, the first time.  And then, as if the cosmos were trying to slap me across the face (which is a pretty popular pastime for the cosmos), David whizzed through about 8 panels without a missed stitch.  Very nice work, and I am sorry for my irritability.  I am sure he can sense it, and when I read this to him tomorrow, I will catch it, I am sure.

I actually went back to the blog to check the date, but on Saturday at 12:30am is the two year anniversary of David’s stroke.  Now, don’t get scared, but for a brief moment, I thought about maybe ending this blog there, but I think it has become too much of a therapy for me.  I am sure that David would have preferred am more traditional therapy for me.  Well, if not traditional, certainly more severe.  I did meet Murray once, and that just scared me.  Anyway, I will continue, but if I don’t write before then, please raise a glass on Friday night (I won’t suggest you stay up until after midnight, we are all too old for that) for all the hard work David has done and the progress he has made in the past two years.  And kiss someone you love.  I will be doing the same.

Everybody rise!

I am sad tonight. Elaine Stritch is dead. Everybody should run and watch Elaine Stritch: Shoot Me. In other news, we are on our way to Nantucket, and had a great dinner with Lois in Concord. More tomorrow.

I wish my house was not a mess

Still cleaning, and seeming to get nowhere.  Well, not nowhere, but not getting to the end fast enough.  Maybe I just have to deal with the fact that there is no end.  At the risk of sounding like a housewife, is the laundry ever “done”?  I just finished folding two loads, and there is a pile of dirty clothes upstairs.  Maybe naturists have the idea.

We went to see Maleficent today.  Almost missed seeing it in a theatre, which would have been disappointing.  I was already bummed that it wasn’t around in 3D anywhere.  We both liked the movie very much.  I am sure that this idea came to the writer while they were watching a performance of Wicked.  Who am I to question where inspiration comes from, right?  I enjoyed it.  Oh, and by the way, the blog title has nothing to do with Wicked.

We worked some more on the quilt today.  David is doing pretty well with the sewing machine.  I do need to figure out a way to keep the pedal from going to full speed though.  He can’t seem to be able to moderate the speed – it goes from 0 to 60 in a millisecond!  I will devise some sort of stop for the pedal.

Next week we will hit the two year anniversary of David’s stroke, and I am feeling a little nervous about that.  The therapists all gave us milestones to look toward to check progress, and one year and two years were big ones.  Progress is still happening, but it is very slow in coming, but every once in a while, David will say something that surprises me.  Almost as important, I was reminded today when we did some exercises, that he doesn’t say the wrong words as much any more.  Sometimes when reading, he will say a different word, but it normally means the same thing, and I will take that.  Phone – Telephone, Television – TV, etc.  He is also still very much himself – today he got quite angry because I hadn’t started a list of movies that we want to see.  I started a list of movies we want to see.  None of them open until Christmas, so I am glad I jumped right on that!

I feel like I am boring when I write here because nothing is really happening.  Vermont has been difficult for me because we are so isolated in so many ways, and I don’t have the support that I do in CA.  I get tired of having to come up with things to do or say to keep David engaged, and I am sure he would say that I am not doing a very good job of it.  I would have to agree.  That might be the answer to one of those cliche interview questions – “What is you biggest weakness?” – I have trouble coming up with things to keep people occupied.  I would make a really bad kindergarten teacher!  David would certainly agree with that, and if memory serves me, I think he has told me that before.