Thursday, December 20, 2018

Going It Alone

First of all, if you are a theater person and have not heard about this video you must watch it.  It's James Cordon, Emily Blunt, and Lin-Manuel Mirandez singing 22 musicals in 12 minutes.  At some point with all the lyrics and choreography you begin to wonder how did they DO that???  Absolutely fabulous

And while we are on absolutely fabulous videos, how about this Christmas song that I had never heard before, believe it or not, sung by Judy Garland on an old Johnny Carson (well, of course it's old.  They've both been dead for a very long time!).  This is from 1968, the year before she died.



Yesterday was a red letter day.  I drove to Atria.  Ned decided to see how I'd do, both loading my walker in and out of the car and then driving over to Atria.  Piece o'cake.  Just like riding a bicycle.  Feels strange to be driving again after nearly 6 months.

We had a nice visit, or as nice as they ever are, with my mother and then dropped her off at the dining room for lunch.  Ned wanted to get home because he is preparing for his annual Christmas party.  We stopped at the store for a few staples, but since we didn't go to my usual store, I forgot necessities -- like bananas.

I guess I was worn out, though, because I came home and slept for 2 hours.

Walt slept upstairs in his bed last night but it didn't go well.  He doesn't articulate the problem all that well, but when he decided to sleep downstairs again, I finally figured out his concerns, so he's back in his recliner downstairs and since I can't watch TV when he's in the recliner (and I hate elevator music...and golf, which he uses to put himself to sleep), I came in to my office to get some letter writing done until I was too sleepy to do it any more.

In the morning, Walt was unsettled about how his recovery is going.  He seems to think he should better by now, though he is following the recovery schedule he was given after his surgery
He sent me off to CVS to get some more supplies for him....my first driving alone, which means if I did something wrong that didn't kill me or anybody else, there was nobody to point it out to me.  I'm not sure if that was a good or a bad thing, but it all went without incident.  I didn't even take my walker, realizing that all I really needed was my cane to get me from car to shopping cart, and then using the cart as a walker.

When I got home, Walt met me at the door saying I needed to drive him to Kaiser.  I was reluctant since this would be my first long trip, it would be in heavy traffic and would involve parking a distance from the building, all things that I had not done in six months.

But I told him I would do it.  In the meantime, Ned called and talked with him and talked him down. pointing out how the things that frustrate him are normal parts of recovery.

He also sent me a text message telling me NOT to let his father call the doctor unless it was a real emergency.  I am so glad Ned is in the know and that he is able to remind his father of all the things the doctor has said and what is and what is not normal.

The rest of the day went uneventfully, until I went to cook the pulled pork I had bought for dinner the night before and discovered Ned had put it in the freezer, so it was frozen solid. We ended up having spaghetti with pesto.

Walt decided to sleep in the recliner again, so I spent some time in here at my desk while he listened to elevator music.

I will be very happy when life is finally normal again, but I am encouraged to see that he really is better every day

I wonder what is going to happen when I have MY surgery next week!



Listening to all the chatter about the resignation of Gen Mattis has taken me back to 1996, the year that I left the job I loved because it had become impossible for me to stay.  My nature made me want to write a seething letter about my resignation and all the thing that were wrong with it, but my friend Olivia told me to write something controlled, to make it my future resume, talking about all the things I had done in that capacity (and there were many) and thanking the people responsible for my departure for the faith they had in me when they hired me in a supervisory position.

The letter was a thing of beauty and a couple of people told me it was the best resignation letter they had ever read (not the "f-you" letter I was going to write).  I have always been grateful to Olivia for convincing me to be polite, not angry, though it was written through gritted teeth, which I am sure Mattis did too!

When I read Mattis's letter, I could see exactly what he was doing and good on him for damning with more than just faint praise, while being civil and polite.

It's a real talent!

But God help us now. 

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