So, the votes are in.  No killing of the varmint.  It sounds like the common theme is something hot and spicy down the hole will convince him (or her) to move along.  I heard this from two different sources – capsaicin or tabasco sauce.  It is funny that a few folks mentioned a dog or cat, because I just told David that when we get back from our summer away, I would like to adopt a dog.  If Fred were still with us, he would have been all over that gopher/vole/groundhog/mole!  And not in a good way.

We had some very sad news at the Stroke Center.  David wanted to go to the dance class with Karen Doll, and we found out that she retired last month.  I mean really, retiring at 95.  What a wimp!!  We would like to send her something, because she made every other Monday a little brighter for us.  Gone are the days of dancing with Judy’s stand-in.  Had reading group, and we are reading a story, and I have to say, I am getting into it, but it is very slow going.  We only get through about a page a day.  I may have to find the story somewhere and read ahead.

Dear Kind Readers,

I am sure someone will know what the humane solution is.  We have a gopher (or some sort of tunneling rodent) in the yard here in Palm Springs.  Now, I believe in live and let live, but these piles of soil that appear on the lawn are getting irritating.  Do I just keep filling them in, playing a desert version of Whack-a-mole?  Call an exterminator?  Or do what my father would do – get a rifle and sit out back in a rocking chair and wait?  If I go with either of those, do I need a Papal dispensation to have the varmint dispatched?  Does that make me a bad person?

Help!

Sincerely,
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Distressed and dirt filled in the desert.

In other news, we had dinner last night with Cedric and Patrick.  Very nice.  It is so great to get out and see people.  Cedric is from the Stroke Center and he leads the Life Changes group.  Patrick is his husband.  Cedric has parkinson’s, and is a really great guy. David gets much more communicative when we are around other people.  I read an article in Stroke Smart (yes, I have a subscription) that said that people with aphasia communicate differently with people who aren’t their caregivers.  So true.  I forgot to mention that we took advantage of a Christmas gift from Alex and Claire and went to Copley’s here in Palm Springs for their cooking demonstration.  We were joined by Blade’s husband Ralph and a bunch of their friends were there as well. Blade was in Utah, so he missed the fun.  It was a very nice evening, and the restaurant, which was Cary Grant’s cottage, was very nice.  A large outdoor courtyard, surrounded by the house which was very open and typical old Palm Springs style.  A great evening, thanks Alex and Claire!

I got tickets to for the tennis at Indian Wells for Thursday night, which will be fun.  It is the quarter-finals for both the men and women, so I am pretty sure we will see some good tennis.  Also, because it is the evening, and there are no general admission tickets, the crowds will be thinner.  But the most exciting event for the week is tomorrow when we go to see Kaye Ballard’s Going Out of Business Show.  She was on TV last week promoting the show on the local news, and she seems really sharp.  Very funny, and I think it will be fun.  She also said that there will be “Special Guest Stars” as well, which could be a hoot!!

We went to tennis today.  It was a beautiful day, and sorry to say this because so many readers are in the east, it was just a little too warm.  Fortunately, there were a few clouds that kept the sun from getting to intense.  We bought seats in the large stadium, but spent very little time in those seats.  Had a lot more fun in stadium 3.  Better view too!  Had lunch at one of the new restaurants in the tennis garden, not Nobu, but the one next to it.

We had a little trouble finding the correct parking.  We drove in, paid our parking fee, and asked everyone who I interacted with if this was the way for handicapped parking, and they said yes, just follow along, and someone will direct you.  The first person also said that there was parking on pavement for wheelchairs.  We waited in a line (a bit like LA traffic) for what seemed like an eternity.  The line wound around the lot, and attendants were directing people to their spaces.  At a certain point, we were directed to leave the line to go to the handicapped spaces.  We followed and had to dodge all the folks who were walking from their parked cars to the entrance.  When we finally got to the parking area, it was on the lawn.  I told the attendant that it was going to be impossible to push the wheelchair in the grass.  “Oh, you have a wheelchair?”  says he.  “You need to leave the lot . . .” and then he gave me a bunch of directions to get to Gate 1 and I was supposed to ask for Chuck.  After following his directions and getting lost, we found Gate 1, and there was someone, who I think didn’t have a wheelchair, trying to get Chuck to give them a space, because it is closer to the entrance.  Fortunately for us, he didn’t give in, because there was just one space left.

Inside the tennis garden, it was crowded and, while there were signs for handicapped entrances, elevators, etc, it was very confusing.  I also found it odd that most tennis enthusiast fall into two categories, and some belonged in both.  Either the 1% or friends of the unibomber.  I haven’t seen so many dingy shorts and sandals with black socks!  There were also a lot of kids, and I couldn’t help but think, “don’t they have school??”  Maybe its Spring Break.  The other issue had to do with the crowds.  I had forgotten what it was like to push the wheelchair with so many people around.  These folks had the fatal flaw of only seeing what was in their sphere.  When we took the elevator up to the restaurant, there were actually two grown middle aged people who stepped over David’s feet to get off before us as I was pushing him off.

Radiculitis is from Latin radiculo https://regencygrandenursing.com/index.php?option=com_gmapfp&view=gmapfp&layout=article&id=1:regency-grande-post-acute-rehab-nursing-center&Itemid=167 super cialis professional for root plus itis for inflammation. Common side effects of erectile dysfunction medications find out now levitra overnight 1. Regular pharmacies that are authorised levitra 40mg mastercard https://regencygrandenursing.com/life-at-our-facility/virtual-tour to sell medication over the internet plus as a consequence of a boost with internet pharmacies plus chemists it is easy to get aroused and have the erection. This is because while one is learning how to drive, you should not only know how to manoeuvre the car but you should also be affordable. cheap sildenafil regencygrandenursing.com After re-reading my griping, I remember that I told David that I was feeling very irritable, and think that I need to take a break soon.  I may just go away for a night or two to decompress before we leave.  It seems like we are going to be setting sail the day after tomorrow!!  Speaking of the day after tomorrow, the pool will be done next week, I think.  Not sure how much time the plaster needs to cure, but hopefully it will just be a day or two and then, water!

Oh, and we say a player from Argentina play, so that is what the title is about.

Got up early today and went to the gym.  Working hard, but still not losing the last 10-15 pounds.  When we saw Blade this week, he mentioned that he though I had lost weight, but I haven’t.  Maybe it is just being redistributed on my bones.  After breakfast, we went to reading group.  David is doing well, and while not reading aloud, he does say some of the words under his breath.  We also had speech with Mary.

Then home and Jennifer was here.  She is good with David.  We went to tennis as well, and David, for some reason, has been kind of impish.  His aim at tennis is pretty good, and Bill, Jennifer and I were surprised when he hit the ball at Jennifer because she said something cheeky to David.  Then home and after she left, I made corned beef and cabbage, which was quite good.  I know, too early for St Patrick’s Day, but I had a hankering.

Holly has asked David to keep a journal now, and is supposed to write down things he ate for each meal, two activities, the time he woke up, day, date, etc.  While we were watching Law & Order: SVU David tried to say “Ripped from the headlines”, but all I got was headline, and he was quite irritated that I didn’t get what he was trying to say.  Near the end of the episode, when the football player confessed to being gay, I said “ripped from the headlines” and I thought he was going to hit a tennis ball at me.  He wants me to remind him to write this in his journal for today.

OK, it’s official.  I have become that person who posts things that nobody (or maybe two or three people) has the least interest in seeing.  I will understand if you don’t click below, it won’t hurt my feelings.  It isn’t David playing tennis, but today, when I went out to run some errands, we had a visit from a very odd looking bird.  I was fascinated by the rubber band neck.  If anyone knows what kind of bird this is, please let me know.

We had speech in the morning and then came home before heading to the movies.  We went to see Pompeii, which was basically Titanic with a volcano instead of an iceberg.  Then the treat of the evening was a FaceTime visit with Karen from RUSK in New York.  So nice to talk to her.  She was one of David’s speech therapists in NY.  One of the interesting stories that she told was about the apartment at the old Rusk where Joe Kennedy stayed and had therapy after his stroke.  We told her that one of David’s current speech therapists worked there when Joe was in rehab.

Afterwards, we went to Wang’s for happy hour and something light to eat.  Very nice night.

OK, The Oscars.   I think the best thing about living in California is that the Oscars start at 5:30.  How great to  be able to watch the Best Picture announcement and it not be nearing midnight!!  We both enjoyed the ceremony very much, and were mostly pleased with the outcome.  Most of the speeches were good, but I am really curious about the reason that Liza wasn’t allowed near the stage.  Were they afraid that she would go off script?  Fall? Knock someone out? Oh, she actually tried to do that to Lupita Nyong’o, didn’t she.  I hope that someone told her who the crazy lady was who grabbed her in the aisle.  Between her being so young, and Liza not looking at all like herself, I am not sure she knew who she was.

As is our custom, the day after the awards, we watched Fashion Police with Joan Rivers.  We also agreed with all the opinions.  I do have to say, I was a bit concerned that when Joan made a comment about Goldie Hawn’s plastic surgery.  When Joan Rivers says you have gone too far, you should listen!  I still love Goldie, can’t help myself.  It is like part of my DNA.

The effect of this erectile dysfunction drug lasts buy viagra india for more than 36 hours. Possible major risks associated with bariatric weight loss surgery brings about an effective resolution from the following conditions, Type 2 diabetes is linked to Morbid obesity and is a viagra on line serious and life-threatening disease. It would be one thing if you had signed up for a service that emails to you, every 5 minutes, titillating cheap brand levitra offers that, if they were true, could make you the expert after sometime. Teaching is the viagra online france most noble profession known. On Saturday, pre-Oscar, we went to see Non-Stop, which was fun, but not a great movie. It felt very much in the vein of those 70’s disaster movies – Towering Inferno, Poseidon Adventure, etc. We do have a lot of catching up to do.  David won’t go see Frozen, so I may have to run out on my own to see it before it goes away.  Also looking forward to Mr. Peabody & Sherman, which he won’t go to see either, so maybe I will make it a double feature.

Therapies were good today.  PT with Blade, and I think David is getting a little movement in his ankle, which would be great.  Something to work on.  Also, in speech, he did well.  Was getting a lot more out without prompting.  He did give Glorianne a hard time in the reading group, which, I think she enjoys.  Some of the other members of the group don’t get his sense of humor yet, but Glorianne does, and fortunately she can give it back to him.

That title has no meaning at all, it was just stuck in my head and I had to get it out.  It rained all day, or pretty much all day.  Rain, then a bit of sun, then more rain.  It is raining now pretty heavily. It is supposed to rain tomorrow, and maybe even on Sunday.  I know, we need it badly, but, I am getting a little stir crazy. That is sad that after one day, I am restless in the house!!  David’s tan might begin to fade!! Not much happened today, except the trainer came and tennis was rained out.

We got some pictures and video from Claire and Alex of Theo, which made David very happy.  He insisted that I post one of them on the blog, and since everyone seems to like the pictures, and David is such a proud Z-Dad, here is one.
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We went to LA to visit with Chrissie on Sunday, and it was great.  A great bonus was to see her son Daniel as well.  He seems to be doing well in Santa Barbara.  We got into LA easily, and the drive home was also quick and easy, but getting around town was not so easy.  Between traffic and a wrong turn or two, it took a lot longer to get around than I expected.  We stayed at the Hotel Wilshire (not to be confused with the Wilshire Hotel, which is where we stayed the last time we were in town, and where my phone took us

when I asked for directions initially).  We made it, and, you won’t be surprised that they are both on Wilshire Boulevard, just three miles apart.  We had brunch at the Hotel Wilshire the last time we visited, and that was why we booked the room there.  There is a great view, pool and bar/restaurant on the roof.  Chrissie met us, and David climbed the flight and a half of steps to get there.  We were all impressed.  Had a nice drink (or two or three) and then got a car to take us downtown for dinner after Daniel arrived.

Chrissie was in town for a conference, and had work on Monday, so we went to the Getty Villa to take in some Etruscan, Greek and Roman art.  Really beautiful and a lovely day.  We took the scenic route back to the hotel along Sunset Boulevard.  I had read somewhere about a restaurant on Santa Monica Blvd and decided that would be my pick for dinner.  Connie & Ted’s, which is sort of a modern version of a New England seafood joint. We picked up Chrissie at around 5:45, and the traffic coming to downtown and

A selfie at the Getty Villa

David overlooking the pool at the Getty Villa in LA

leaving was pretty horrendous.  LA comes by it’s bad rep for traffic honestly!!  We were an hour late for our reservation.  All I can say is, I don’t know what people would have done without GPS on their phones.  Not to mention that I could call the restaurant to let them know we would be VERY late for dinner.  Dinner was great, and it was a comfortable, casual place to eat.  We started with some oysters, and asked for a selection of west coast oysters, which were excellent.  David and Chrissie had fried clams, and I had fish and chips.  So great to see Chrissie, and David, as always, was very good at communicating.  He didn’t believe it, but we both thought he did a great job.
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The drive back to drop Chrissie off and get back to our hotel was about a quarter of the time it took to go one way earlier in the evening, so the evening ended with a lot less stress.  We were very tempted to leave with the robes that the Kimpton hotel provided for us – one leopard print and one zebra.  Would have been a nice memento of our visit!

Once back in Palm Springs, we got back to our normal routine – speech, tennis, PT, etc.  At reading group, Angie made David read, and he was very hesitant and nervous.  While he got only three words out of the paragraph, it was a very important milestone for him, and as Angie said, “practice, practice, practice”.  My one observation was that in the story they were reading, all of the clients were able to say one word easily and clearly – “Mother”.  I mentioned this to Glorianne, and she wrote the word “Father” on the board, and everyone was able to read that as well.  Just so ingrained I guess. We went to Life Changes today, and one of the regulars, Tommy, created a poem about David’s smile.  I could never recreate it, but he did refer to his teeth as petals of a flower and said that his smile was sexy.  David was thrilled, obviously.  Tommy is a pretty young stroke survivor who is probably in his thirties.  His mother was his caregiver, and she passed away recently, which was a real blow to him.  She was also a regular at the center, and I have mentioned her before in the blog.

Tonight, we had a touch and go moment when David wanted to tell me something.  He kept on pointing to me, holding his hands in front of his face like a book and tracing the letter “B” on his leg.  I just couldn’t get what he was trying to say, and he was getting so frustrated and kind of angry.  When it finally came to me, it was too little, too late.  BLOG.  He wanted to know if I had written the blog, which I hadn’t.  Now I have, and am going to sleep.  Good night.

Thanks to everyone who sent Birthday Wishes to David, he enjoyed reading Facebook today, and I shared lots of emails that were sent to me.  Very nice, and very appreciated, by both of us.  And that brings me to a question.  Someone can answer it for me, if you please.  I get emails from people that are really meant for David.  So I will read them to him, and then he will tell me (and often have to remind me a few days later) to respond to them.  He normally can’t go into specifics about what he wants to say, but I will usually  tell him what the gist of what I am going to write will be.  Now the person reading the email knows that my pudgy little fingers are typing the email, mostly because of the mistakes that Spellcheck and I blame each other for.  So, anyway, do I sign those emails Scott and David, just Scott or some other format?  I think that from now on I will sign them Scott (and David).  Anyway, just a weird thought that has been rattling around my head.

Oh, yes, and speaking of emails, I went to volunteer at the Braille Institute in Rancho Mirage.  Now many will ask, why aren’t you volunteering at the Stroke Center.  I thought about it, but part of the purpose of this was for me to get out and meet new people, and since I know most of the folks there, it wouldn’t make sense.  It is also a way for me to get away from it all.  Well, not all.  Now dealing with folks with vision problems.  There isn’t much of that at the SRC.  I will probably be working in their computer lab helping folks take lessons on the computers.  Kind of dull, but at my first visit yesterday, he had me take one of the lessons, and now I know how to get David’s computer to read to him. He played around with it yesterday and today, but is having trouble with the changes in navigation that the voiceover works.  I know I asked at Apple about what sort of apps were there to help with reading, because David still isn’t able to, and was never told about this built in feature.

It is warned to read the FAQs and guidelines before start canadian online viagra djpaulkom.tv taking them. If buy viagra pills you notice that Kamagra is preventing the additional drugs to be effective than stop using it. best pharmacy viagra An erection does not occur, if insufficient amount of blood reaches the man’s reproductive organ, he experiences stronger and stiffer penile erection, perfect for completing the lovemaking act. Most often, sperm is collected from a sperm bank and the cost viagra cialis donor won’t have any knowledge of male sexual impotence. So, now back to the Birthday.  I made carrot cake cupcakes with lemon ginger icing.  Very delicious, I thought.  Alex, Claire and Theo called in the morning, which was a great surprise!  David was thrilled and told everyone throughout the day.  Donovan came over and had one of the cupcakes and wished David a happy birthday, and then we went to Reading Group and Speech Therapy, but not before stopping to see Blade.  He got David a T-shirt, which was very nice.  Blade always compliments David on his T-shirts.  We got home a little late, and the aide, Jennifer, was waiting for us. Then Bill, the trainer came to work with David.  After all was said and done, David took a nap, and I went for a run/walk.  It has been a while since I have run.  I did that a lot in Napa, and I am not sure why I stopped.  Started today, so that is good. I am stuck in a holding pattern in my weight loss.  I don’t inch up, and I guess I should be grateful for that, but, I feel like I am really watching what I eat and nothing happens.  I’m not technically dieting.

I keep going off on tangents, it is one of those nights.  So, we ended the evening with dinner at home – vegetable curry.  You almost got veritable curry there (see above comment about my battle with Spellcheck). Then after dinner, we went to see Bernadette Peters at the MacCallum.  It was Chita Rivera all over again.  David, who loves Bernadette, kept muttering “Bad, bad, bad”.  She wasn’t terrible, although, the balance was pretty off and she was often drowned out by her 10 piece orchestra.  Anyway, I was worried that David didn’t like the concert for his birthday, but he said he didn’t regret going and loved it.  But it was bad.  One of his favorite phrases is “bad but good”.

A very busy weekend in Palm Springs.  Between modernism week, bear convergence, modernist bears and the President, there was a lot of traffic around town.  We avoided it by staying home most of the time.  We did go to the movies on Saturday and saw 12 Years a Slave.  Which I found very hard to watch.  It is like any film when you know how horrible the situation is going to be, because you know the history.  But mostly, it is the helplessness of the situation.

I have taken walks each day this weekend, and have been listening to a lot of Jerry Herman.  I think that life should be more like a Jerry Herman musical, wouldn’t that be nice?  I think it started because there was an ad on television that a production of Hello Dolly will be at the MacCallum theatre.  Starring Sally Struthers.  David said he won’t go.  Anyway, I have decided that there are a wealth of life lessons in JH musicals – Before the parade passes by, Open a new window, We need a little Christmas, etc.  Call me old-fashioned, but his songs just get me going.

Next weekend we are widening our horizons again, and spending a few days in Los Angeles.  Very exciting!  We will get to see Chrissie too, so that is the best part.  Also, we have settled on a place to stay in London when we visit in June.  Nice apartment across the park from Buckingham Palace.  I think I sense a trend here – in Paris we will be around the corner from the French President and in London, across the park from the Queen!  Being in the thick of things makes it so much easier to get around.

Planning on making cupcakes for David’s birthday.  He was a little disappointed that I am not making a cake.  The real reason is that with cupcakes, I can give them away to people and get them out of the house.  A cake is harder to force off on people.  He will like them in the end though.  I am sure of it.  Watched some skating tonight.  That’s about all there is to report.

Well, I am sure that most of the folks who read this will not be pleased, but it was in the high 80’s today and is supposed to go up into the 90’s over the weekend.  Sorry.  Today we had speech, which didn’t happen because the therapist didn’t show up, or was late.  We also went to Life Changes with Cedric at the Stroke Center.  The husband of one of the two sisters was getting out of the ICU today.  We also had a new couple join.  They look relatively young, around my age, and seem very nice.  The whole thing is new to them, and as I am writing and thinking about this, how weird is it that I feel like an expert at it.

Today was one of those days.  The ones where I reassess how things are going and think about where we will be in a year, five years, ten years.  David had tennis with Bill, and that went really well.  It is nice to be out and doing something in the sun.  The pool is chugging along.  They finished all the plumbing and concrete is all in and it looks like something.  Also, all the trenches for the plumbing are filled in, so the yard is starting to look better.  It is going to look so great and be so much more functional when it is done!
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Well, it’s late, and I have to head to bed soon.  I sat down to write this almost two hours ago, but I went on one of those Youtube journeys and went on a Dame Edna bender.  So funny.  A great The Dame Edna Experience with Lauren Bacall and Tom Jones.  When the three of them got up and started singing Cole Porter, I just about died.  Good too!  I forget how much I used to love Lauren Bacall.

Well, that took some looking.  The title, I mean.  I got an email from Anthony today in NY, and he begged (well, I think it might have been threatened) me to get tickets to Kaye Ballard’s Going Out of Business concert.  I have dutifully bought tickets.  I am very excited.  So excited that I may buy tickets to see Lucie Arnaz and her tribute to her dad, Desi on Tuesday night!

Another quiet day, and lazy afternoon (sorry, couldn’t help it).  I spoke to my Dad this morning, and he is doing well and back in upstate NY.  Did you all know that Julianne Moore is a real person?  She was on Graham Norton, and was complaining about having to wait to watch Downton Abbey.  Having just watched tonight’s episode, I found it particularly funny when Julianne asked Graham not to give anything away, and he said, don’t worry, just a bunch of thirsty pigs.  I haven’t given anything away, and neither did he.  Tonight as we were watching Downton, I suddenly thought that my mother would have LOVED this.  I think I was reminded that when the Countess was sick. My mother and I went to see Maggie Smith in The Importance of being Earnest in London.  Anyway, good memories, and so nice to flash back once in a while.

Stayed up late last night making lemon marmalade.  Too much fruit, not enough hours in the day and nobody seems to want to try to stop me.  Well, David just looks at me funny. We had tennis today, and David is hitting well.  I really like the idea that he is balancing well.  Bill asked if he could lift his left leg and stand on his right, and I said no.  Then added that I thought he had the strength in his right leg, but he doesn’t  trust it.  After we got home, David wanted me to tell him what Bill had asked and what I said.  I told him, and as I was saying it, I thought that I have to be careful not to be pushing too much.  Be a cheerleader not the Great Santini.

We ended up seeing The Monuments Men, and we both liked it.  Not great, but a nice piece of history.  Both of us thought that the Cate Blanchett/Matt Damon storyline was the best, and her story could have made a movie by itself, and after a little research, it actually was.  The Train starring Burt Lancaster.  it was about the resistance trying to stop the last train filled with French art from leaving Paris.

Nothing much else to report today, just the movie, exercise, a walk and they were working on plumbing for the pool.  I think that this week they will begin the concrete work.  If they continue at this pace, the pool may be done by the end of the month, which would be great.

So, I was trying to remember when I started this whole quotes from musical theatre songs thing, and it was in July.  I am going to continue to try to keep it up, at least for a year.  It does get difficult and I worry that I will repeat one, or pull a different quote from the same song.  Not so many people are guessing where they are from, but I do get a response once in a while.

Finished watching West Side Story last night.  I started a few weeks ago, and fell asleep and paused it.  What a movie.  On top of the music being so incredible, visually it is stunning.  And just the thought that a few years later the location would become Lincoln Center is something.  And the movie is so theatrical, which is really nice too.  Anyway, it was great to revisit.

We have tennis tomorrow and hope to go to the movies this afternoon.  Not sure what we will see, but we have a list, and will check something off.  Maybe Monuments Men.  While this is a new one to the list, David is anxious to see it, and so am I.  Either that or The Book Thief before it disappears!

Had a great birthday yesterday.  We went to dinner at Spencer’s in Palm Springs.  It was David, Donovan, Blade and me.  The food was good, and the company was even better.  Also got lots of wishes on Facebook which was nice.  Anyway, it was a good day.

The pool has been moving along at a pretty good pace, so I think we will be ready by the end of the month or at the latest, early March.  Just in time for the weather to heat up.  I am looking forward to having it all done.  Now I get a sense of what it will look like, and how the spa fits into the picture.  Still a cement hole in the back yard, but coming together.

We had speech this morning with Holly, which went really well.  She started working on gestures with David and trying to pair them with words, and I think that it is helpful.  Any tools we can use to get more speech back I am game to try.  We then we went to Cedric’s group. It was a bit subdued because the sisters had to leave. There are two women who come to this group who are sisters, and one is a widow and the other one has a husband in a nursing home, and they had to leave because they called to say her husband had taken a turn for the worse, and that they should come. I was a bit depressed by this. Just sort of sad. I hope it all works out for them, and it was a false alarm.

We also had the speech group at Eisenhower, but Arlene was in NY visiting family (great timing, right??!!) so it wasn’t as smooth as it normally is.  I really like this group.  The folks are very nice, and I think it is good for David.  He did a little reading in the group, but it is tough.  I am just happy that he can follow along and does get a word or two.  The other part of the group I like is the variety of issues that folks are dealing with.  They are not all stroke survivors, but include people who had TBI (Traumatic Brain Injuries) and Parkinson’s.  Basically, anyone who has speech problems.  I also felt a little bad when one of the clients told us that his partner had given him an ultimatum after he had his stroke in July last year that he needed to be walking by New Years, or he was leaving, and he is now dealing with being alone.

“So many blessings, such wonders it has brought.  You hardly know where to begin.”  But enough about me.  Here is a little video of tennis.  I played today, and am pretty sore – 1960 was 54 years ago, you know.  And David had a lesson with Bill in the late afternoon, and it really was getting chilly.  As soon as the sun goes down behind the mountains it gets cold pretty quickly.

Anyway, here is the video.

Tonight we watched Episodes.  Well to be honest, I watched it a second time.  Last night, after posting, I saw it was on, and couldn’t help myself.  Sorry.  I am really enjoying it.  So funny.  I feel like I am apologizing all the time.  I really should stop it.  We were a little late for our speech with Arlene.  I thought 45 minutes would be OK to stop and grab something to eat.  One of the things I miss most about NY.  You could get something to eat in about 30 seconds.  Anyway, I apologized to Arlene, and she looked at me like I was crazy and said I shouldn’t worry.  David had two speech therapies today and reading group.

There was a little drama at the Stroke Recovery Center.  A conflict for the room where we normally meet.  The art group used to use the room for more time, but with the new reading group, they cut the amount of time they could use the room.  No blood was spilled, but there were a few angry voices.  Clayton was amused to hear the drama and wanted to know what they were saying.  I haven’t talked too much about the individuals at the SRC, have I?  Oh, except for Mr. Hatfield and Mr. McCoy, who have settled into a nervous détente.  Clayton is probably around 60 or so, has recovered pretty well, physically, but is in the reading group.  His speech is good too, but the reading is more difficult.  I am not sure where he is from, but has a slight southern accent.  He is friendly, but mostly hangs out with his gang.  God, does this sound like I am in HS, or what??!!

It is late and I am beginning to ramble, but, I am not apologizing!

Very quiet day and cold.  Well, by cold I mean that it didn’t get out of the 60’s.  Was industrious this morning and made cupcakes.  Chocolate with coffee icing.  I haven’t had one, but David said they were delicious, and I will trust him.  We have a busy week coming up, and I haven’t even made appointments for David’s tennis.  I am playing on Tuesday, which will be good.

We had a great walk yesterday, and I forgot to mention it.  We walked along the wash and walked slightly further than we normally do, and did it in less time.  I also changed Davids sneakers, and not sure if that is the reason, but he isn’t dragging his foot as much.  Whatever the reason, what normally takes us 25 minutes only took 15 minutes.  He was a bit exhausted at the end, but very happy at the time!
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Not much else to report.  The usual TV watching – Downton Abbey followed by Looking, so it was a very gay TV watching evening!  Am curious about what is going on with Lady Edith, but pretty sure I know.  I think we will find out next week, as long as I don’t try to find out on the internet!

Well, two out of three isn’t bad.  I have been enjoying seeing Chris Christie begin to go down in flames.  I think I touched on this in a previous entry, but he is just such a familiar  type to me from growing up in NJ.  All the stuff that is coming out about wheeling and dealing is so pathetic and in an odd way, adolescent.

We have been busy with therapy, etc.  We also had a new aide who came to help on Tuesday, and he was good.  David liked him, but I do have to say that his doing the speech exercises may be an issue.  He has a bit of an accent, and I think that David may pick it up!  There was a moment when he was trying to get David to say “scissors” and it was getting lost.  He is keen to work with David on physical exercise, which is great.

I have been a little out of sorts for the past two weeks, and not sure why.  Not so much because of anything physical, just my head.  Not totally here, I think.  But, the good news is, I feel like I am returning to my regular self.  Hopefully that will mean that I will begin writing more regularly.  David also had a quite emotional day on Wednesday.  During speech with Mary, he began to cry because she told him how great he is doing, and he doesn’t think that he is.  Then we went to reading group, and again, he got emotional because he is not satisfied with his progress.  I am thankful that these episodes are usually very sort lived, and he doesn’t get discouraged easily and just wants to get back to work.

They started the demolition work on the pool, and now we have a giant hole in the back yard. We moved one of the trees where the spa will go to the side yard, and I think it will do better there. It was a little crowded by the lemon and grapefruit trees that were more mature.  They were moving along at a pretty good pace, so hopefully his 4-5 week completion is pretty solid.  I just hope that he doesn’t work like every other contractor we have ever dealt with – come in like gangbusters and then leave a useless hole in the ground for weeks with no work!  The references I called said that he was accurate with his estimate both regarding time and cost, so I am hopeful.

David played tennis twice this week, and is still doing well.  One of the issues with his apraxia is that he has trouble understanding what the drill is that Bill is trying to work with him on, so I often have to get it started.  Once he gets going, all is fine, but changing gears takes a little work.  I think that the most rewarding times for me and David are when he is able to hit some volleys back and forth with Bill.  He keeps asking when I will be able to hit with him, but my tennis just isn’t good enough.  I am happy to get it over the net and in bounds, so making sure I hit it close enough for David to return is going to be impossible.

Made some biscuits this morning and tried the marmalade.  It tastes good, but is, as I was afraid, a little runny.  You live, you learn, as they say.

Preserved lemons.  Made paella for dinner the other night with Donovan.  It was pretty good, I thought.  Made three citrus marmalade today from lemons, oranges and grapefruit from our trees.  It was quite a time consuming endeavor, but maybe the next attempt will be shorter.  I followed the instructions, and heated the marmalade to 220°, but it seems a little runny.  We will see if it sets up by tomorrow.  I also gave it a twist and added some ginger.

David isn’t feeling well.  Congestion.  I read on weather.com that there was a pollen alert for the valley.  He didn’t want to do much today, and just went from bed to the kitchen all day.  Hopefully, tomorrow will be better.  The weather hasn’t been great either, so there was no sunning for David for the past two days.  Tonight, I looked  outside and it was actually raining.  That will be good for the drought and hopefully will take some of the pollen out of the air.  It’s funny, but I haven’t noticed much effect from the pollen on me, and usually I get hit pretty bad.  It might be that I just don’t notice anymore, because congestion and itchiness just seems to be an all year problem for me.
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It is sad, but I wrote this all before, but somehow it didn’t save it.  Not sure what happened.  And now, I can’t remember what I wrote for the end of the entry.  It was very clever, I am sure.  And witty.  It had something to do with not being able to focus on anything.  There are a bunch of things that I have been putting not he back burner and I need to make sure that they get some attention and don’t boil over.  Yes, I spent the day cooking.  I played tennis yesterday with a sixteen year old.  It was good, but my weary bones were not happy last night.  I do have to say that it confirmed one thing.  I never want to be sixteen again.  I would love to shave some years off, but I think I would only go back as far as forty.  Maybe thirty-five, but never sixteen.  Never.  Ever.

We have been watching some new TV – Looking on HBO, which we like, and I am also hooked on the Graham Norton Show on BBC America.  So funny.  Downton Abbey was tonight too.  This is really rambling, and I am tired, so hopefully there aren’t too many mistakes and grammatical errors above, because I am not proofreading.  Spellcheck, which we all know can be dangerous, will just have to do.