it was another grey day here, cool and humid. Fine by me. Rather the way I like it.

It's so unusal to NOT have spine pain...just odd. I like that too.

I haven't overdone it since the doc put in steroids and novacaine. Have slept like a baby :) what a wonderful thing, to sleep peacefully. Finally after months and months.

My kid sister called me tonight. She liked everything I mailed her :) So glad! She got socks, bandanas, talcum in rose scent, keychains for her collection, a dromedary camel for her collection of those, a gag gift ( it was a "grow a new sister" toy. Put it in water and it grows. The card it came on said "she'll never borrow your clothes, hog the phone, read your diary, steal your boyfriend, rat on you" and other assorted sister stuff.

There was other things and I can't even remember them. It's hard to know what to send her as she's homeless, living in the shell of a camper with her boyfriend and their dogs. Mostly in the past I've mailed her money and a phone card.

It seems to be quieting down around here. Been a noisy day in the neighborhood. A lot of people taking advantage of the cooler air.
Tomorrow I've got an early morning appt. and then I'm going to have the driver drop me off downtown. I need some time alone to putz about the shops and enjoy solitude on the town's streets....

I might stop in at the bakery and get a doughnut, a glazed one, or a bismark. Cross the street and get my haircut, and then call my son and we'll have lunch at the grocery store as they're having brats for .38 cents each, same for pop and chips.

I got some movies at Block Buster yesterday, watched one of them today, still have two to watch. Think tonight would be a good idea for one as there's not much on tv.

Saturday the ladies want me to join them at the luncheon for this month. For some reason I"m just losing interest in this activity. One of the ladies wants to have it at her house everytime so that she can get to the nursing home right away if her husband gets worse. She's a devoted wife, to the point where she doesn't even leave to do her grocery shopping now, she has it delivered in case the home calls. She lives in a senior home right next to the nursing home. She insists on having the menu the same everytime, and wants us to do the same thing everytime, watch a movie.

We used to get out and go for walks, play our musical instruments, go to the park, now it's the same old thing. We're sitting there waiting with her as the hours go by...
I know that's what friends do, it's just been a long 3 years since his stroke..how sad for him and for his wife of 60 years. Maybe the routine helps her cope with the uncertainty of how much longer he'll be able to hang in there.
Maybe I can start visiting her during the week and skip this monthly luncheon....that would still help her and also get me away from this group.

Tonight is strange. I feel like I'm caught in a time warp, suspended between the past and the future somehow...I'm not the same person I was back in 96, that first Christmas I attended a dinner party with our group. BAck then it was different, there was professionals that ran the program, there was activities, outings, different environments, and my spine was recovering from major surgery. ..where has the decade gone???..............................

Do you think you're poor?? by U.S. standards I'm considered to be living below the poverty guidelines. Yet I feel as rich as the most noble of all kings and queens. I have a roof, food in the house, electricity, natural gas, hot and cold running water, a bed, dishes, I have a home. So many don't have that most basic of things. A home where one can go to seek shelter from the outside world....

The Canada geese are gathering now, have been for the last week or 10 days. That's how I know the end of summer is approaching, like a parent waving a child in from playtime...




fleaface