A Bloody Busy Day

We went to a show last night (more about that later) and at intermission I told Walt that every molecule in my body just wanted to crawl into bed and go to sleep.   I was so tired that I walked in the front door when we got home, visited the bathroom, headed to the couch and was asleep in seconds.  I didn't wake up for 7 hours.

My word this has been a busy week.  I am about to make my fifth trip to San Rafael in 7 days, and think that yesterday's double round trip plus all the emotion involved in the precipitous decision to move my mother to Davis just left me wiped out and not in the best condition to start the day yesterday.

But it started with giving blood.  I love the new hemaglobin test Bloodsource had where it all goes through a machine.  Previously I had to wait for that test drop of bood to sink or not and if it didn't (which usually happened), then they had to put it through a centrifuge.  Now it all goes in this tidy little plastic case which goes into a machine that checkes hemoglobin levels and I haven't flunked a test since they started that method of testing.

After I finished my obligatory snack and drink, I raced home, got Walt, and we headed over to Covell Gardens for "contract signing."  This involved the representative going through every page of the lengthy contract to explain everything and my signing away my mother's life as her Power of Attorney.  My mother didn't have to be there for that, fortunately.  It took about an hour and we did have some questions, which she answered.  (About 5 minutes into the signing, my cell phone rang and I saw that it was Scott from Springfield.  I muted the phone and turned it off.)

One question I asked was whether my mother could have the San Francisco Chronicle delivered to her, since this is NOT the Bay Area.  Covell Gardens gets the Sacramento Bee and the Davis Enterprise. We have the Chron delivered, but I wasn't sure how it worked for a facility like Covell Gardens.  I still have to check with the guy who runs the company that delivers it and see if it's possible, but I got the fun notion that I could deliver her paper each morning and have coffee with her to start the day.

After the signing was finished they invited us to lunch at the facility, so we did that.  The food seems quite good.  This time I had a spinach salad with strawberries and turkey and a balsamic dressing. 

I had a whole hour after getting home before time to go to Logos to work my afternoon shift.  It was a very quiet afternoon and I don't think my portion of the day came near $100, though I did have one big sale.  A couple of friends came in and they bought about $50 worth of mysteries.  

These are people we have known for a very long time, her better than him.  She is from the South and drips Southern hospitality, in the nicest way.   One of the kindest, sweetest people you'd ever want to meet but I have to tell you that after David died, she drove me batty, coming to sympathize, bringing treats for us and the dogs nearly every day.

When Paul died, another friend asked if she could do anything to help and as she is a politician and quite tactful, I gave her the task of making sure that our Southern friend didn't drop by unannounced every day.  I don't know what she said to her, but it worked.  She didn't.  Part of me felt bad about that because her intentions were so beautiful, but I felt smothered after David died and just wasn't in the mood after Paul's death to go through it all again.

The afternoon at Logos was so quiet that I tried to return Scott's call three times, but he was always busy.  In the late afternoon he called and we were able to chat.  It was really a very nice chat.  They were prepared to offer us all sorts of incentives for keeping my mother at Springfield, but he realized that 0.8 miles distance from my house vs. 75 miles distance was something they couldn't compete with.  I told him he had been wonderful to work with.  He told me he'd keep her on his list for a few months and call in June or so to see how she's getting along.   We ended on a good note.  I will miss him.

Walt came to get me at 6 p.m. and we had a whole hour and a half before having to go up to the university to see Bat Boy, the Musical.  I was so exhausted the very LAST thing I wanted to do was to see a show and I actually pulled what for me was a hissie fit when we got to the box office and the girl had no ticket set aside for me and said haughtily that she was not in charge of comps and couldn't give me one (later I saw the ridiculousness of this as the theater had about 30 people in it tops, not even 1/4 full).

I leaned my head against the glass and told her that I was here to review it and that I really wanted to be home in bed, so if she couldn't give me my two tickets, I would be very happy NOT to review it and just leave.  (that's my "hissie fit.")

Fortunately someone nearby said she would check and someone else came out and apologized me and let me in.  This company is student run and they always ask me to review and there is almost always a problem at the box office because the PR person, once thanking me for agreeing to come, forgets about tickets and the box office person is also usually new and won't take any step that she hasn't been instructed to take.

Bat Boy is a very odd show, but ultimately a lot of blood is shed on stage, so we figured it was a nice end to a day that started with my giving a pint of blood.  A parenthesis of blood, you might say.