50

Paul didn't get to be 40 back in 2009 and he didn't turn 50 yesterday.  Hard to think of what Paul (who died at 30) would be like at 50.  Jeri said she knew exactly what he'd be like at 50 -- he'd be a grumpy old man who would yell at kids to get off his lawn.  I suspect she's correct!

I look at Ned and Tom moving into middle age and seeing how their faces have changed -- not a lot, but they aren't 30 any more either -- and wonder what an "old Paul" would look like.  Would he have all the white hair Ned does?

Walt and I always go out for sushi on Paul's birthday, since Paul loved it so much.  The last few years we have gone to Sushi Unlimited and have our favorite sushi roll, "Lincoln Hills."  Sushi Unlimited has weird names for their dishes, like Crunchy Johnny, King Kong, Mama Mia, Folsom City and Cal Aggies, among others.  Lincoln Hills is "spicy tuna, crab mix, deep fried shrimp and avocado rolled in rice and topped with tempura crumbs, Fair Oaks sauce, sweet sauce and terriyaki sauce." The place has changed hands and it is now called "I love Sushi," but the menu is the same.

I decided Walt probably didn't want to go out to dinner yet so I ordered sushi to go and picked it up.  I chose two Lincoln Hills, because we usually end up ordering an extra one when we are in the restaurant  And then I picked two others that we had not tried before.

In truth I was disappointed in the Lincoln Hills.  I don't know how they changed it, but the recipe is different.  That's not to say I didn't like it, but I didn't love it like I usually do.  Still, we finished all the sushi and drank a toast to Paul.  One down, one t go (David on Feb 4)

Alice is heading back to Santa Barbara today and Marta is arriving tonight, but Walt and I will be on our own all day today.  I think we can handle it.  Walt says he is looking forward to it.

I was watching Alice Nan this morning, reading the paper and thinking about how just a few days it was Ned in the same couch, with the same coffee, but getting his news through his iPad.

Since he stopped the heavy duty antibiotics I have noticed a big change in Walt.  He seems to be "coming out" of the fog he was in and all sorts of things are improving.  He is now doing a lot of things he used to do that Ned has been doing for him, and neither Alice nor I have offered to help because he's just fine and that's a good thing.

He has also moved from recliner to upstairs bed (which means I don't watch golf all night any more!  Yay!) and is gradually sleeping better and better, which I take to mean that the after effects of his surgery are finally fading and he is looking at a normal life again in the foreseeable future.  Also, with the antibiotics finally over, he can have calcium again and we are finally making a dent in the supply of cheese in the refrigerator and I can cook normal food again (not that I wasn't cooking normal food, but I had to avoid anything with milk products in it.  Tonight's dinner has cream cheese and cream in it!)

I am cautiously optimistic that life will soon be returning to normal, which is a huge relief.  We were all so worried about whether or not he would come out of all the after-effects of the surgeries and infection and maybe our problem was that we expected too much too soon. He's not all the way back to normal again, but he's getting there.

Big sigh of relief.