How Time Feels in My Head

 The only thing of note to day was the cancellation of my oncologist appointment. HE cancelled. His nurse who rescheduled said he was in the hospital or had been in the hospital. He is such a nice and caring man. So, that is pushed more than a month out. I am not happy, but what can a person do? 

I had a really long talk with two women and that made my day. The first was a friend of a friend. I have never met her. The second woman was the sister of the friend. We talked about how we had all known each other for 43 years and agreed that was a long time, but the time actually seemed like no time at all. Have you ever looked back at decades long memories and thought how the time did not seem so long? 

The friend here in Birmingham has dementia. I said he might not remember me. She assured me he lived in the past and probably did. The talk with his sister revealed some things about their past family history that I had forgotten. And, the talk found her in seemingly good health although she must use a walker even in the house. I am fighting that. I take nothing that causes me dizziness or lightheadedness, she does for pain. I am fighting the use of pain pills, too. I just won't have them around. 

The funny thing is that I know almost as much as anyone does about her family history as I was good friends with friends and relatives of her family. They are sometimes shocked I know their history. 

For the last week or so, I have started dinner early so we could watch whatever was coming on TV at 7 pm. Often there are movies we want to watch or PBS programs like history or nature documentaries. It makes me grumpy to be starting dinner at 7 pm. Tommy never pushes me, so I am pushing us both. He peeled potatoes, and I cut the eyes out. We put the pork loin, potatoes, carrots, and celery in a cooking bag and dinner was done earlier than usual. There was leftover cabbage from the night before. I also got my three fruits in for the day--banana, strawberries, and apples. He is eating the oranges two at a time, sometimes three at a time.

When I eat potatoes, I only eat about two bites hot. Then, I let the rest cool completely before I eat them. So, don't think twice about my potato eating when I am diabetic. 

Sunday night, I slept four hours, and I took a four nap today. So, I suppose I am caught up on the sleep today. I told Tommy to wake me at three pm, but I awoke when he brought my phone to me at four pm. He said I moved and made a noise at three, and he thought I was getting up. I don't even remember. 

My plants will stay covered for tonight and then there is no more frost. We left the lettuce out last night instead of bringing it in, so I don't know if it will recover. 

Do long ago events when you think of the number of years seem like not so long ago as far as the memory? That is convoluted. I met my friend and relatives 43 years ago which is a long time to me. Yet, it seems like we met just yesterday and interacted. Do you ever have these feelings about events? 

Very Busy Monday

 There is nothing growing in the culture. The antibiotics are not helping one bit. I still have an elevated temperature and chills all the time, chills like my fever is breaking. So, I don't know. Yes, I will take care of this.

Today, it was not going to rain, and I had things to do. And, we did it all, plus I was able to track down phone numbers I have not been able to find. And, I managed to make more than a few phone calls. 

Tommy had some books he wanted to purge. I asked for one and asked him if I could sell the others. So, we loaded up four books and took them to 2nd and Charles. That did not work out--$2 for one book and $4 for one other. Obviously, they did not want the books. I will put them on facebook marketplace.

I bought Spare and am disappointed in the binding. Wondering if this was just the cheapest means to sell a book on Amazon, Tommy went into Barnes & Nobles. Their binding is the same. He bought himself a cup of coffee and a piece of Godiva cheesecake for me. 

He went into Belk's for me and used my gift card he got me. I was able to shop via him, phone, and sales clerk. Remember when I ordered Butterfly Meadow by Lenox and one plate came shattered? Well, I had a $20 credit. He bought the three accent plates they had. So, I still only have five dinner plates, but that is okay. When I have four other people over to eat, I will worry about it then. Or, I can use the accent plate.

We had to wait an hour for 2nd and Charles to insult us! So, we had a tiny cheeseburger from McD, watched the cloudy sky, and window shopped from the car. I have never had the desire to go in Five Below, but I looked at what I could see. I still don't want to go in. I forgot what else we saw, what stores. Oh, Plato's Closet was another. 

I called a friend who has antiques and knows a bit about the book scene in Birmingham. He was not there but his employee said we would have no better luck at Reed's Books. Reed's Books is fantastic. I have bought and sold there before. The history books Tommy is selling are so large I cannot lift them. I am glad we did not carry my books! I don't sell books by weight...lol.   

Today, we were in a shopping center in a place called Trace Crossings, tony place. It was sad because there were so many nice shops closed. Some were empty and it was not evident what stores were there. Tommy was the first to comment on the sad state of the shops, closed and probably not coming back. This was not just a shop here and there, but rows of shops. We came home with no more stops, just what we left to do, except McD.

We did go out after dinner was in the oven and look for a pink bag with ads and coupons and found none. Anne, do they still throw these in your neighborhood? 

We are having chicken something. Plus, we have leftover slaw, baked zucchini and squash.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

Reconnecting

Friday was a hard day. I had nothing hard to do, but I was in the car for six hours doing it.  My feet were then so swollen I could barely walk for the pain. 

We went to Cullman where I got my mail. There was nothing exciting there. Three items I needed and only one was junk mail. Usually, it is the other way around. 

We went by my place. I could have sworn the heap of the dog pen I used for my chickens was still there. But, the friend who wanted it said he got it. I was going to get a guy who picks up appliances and stuff to get it. He sells the metal. Anyway, I see a heap of something back there in my yard. 

Since we needed to get back here for another appointment, we just got a small BK meal. He ate his while I went to a grocery. I ate mine as we came south again. 

Grocery:

One huge sandwich sized tomato

7.5 oz can salmon (short one)

powdered cheddar cheese sauce

store brand iodized salt

Knorr Recipe Secret 

Poultry Seasoning  $0.33

Hormel Roast Beef 

2 7-oz Ronco Spaghetti

I was out of salmon. I need to find a good sale.  The tomato was huge and beautiful weighing .86 lb. I have not had this powdered cheese sauce in years.  Knorr will be used to duplicate a boxed mix that I will tell you about when I make it, successful or not.  I never buy poultry seasoning, but the price was right.  The can of Hormel is for an emergency when I cannot cook. Or, when we are avoiding going out when I don't feel like cooking. I bought two 7 oz. packages of Ronco spaghetti and used a $0.55 coupon.  Balance on groceries was $13.87.  I suppose I could have done without everything I bought. 

I reconnected with four people I have not talked to lately. I called my attorney friend and got her attorney husband. We talked a bit and then I called her at home. She and I talked more. Then, I called a friend who owns WHAT'S ON SECOND,  a shop in downtown Birmingham. I was calling about another friend with dementia and could not reach Rachel. He said that she was there and she could tell me about the friend. So, I talked with Rachel. 

After talking and reconnection with four friends and finding out about the fifth friend, I felt refreshed. It was a strange feeling having talked to all of them in one afternoon. These are people I regularly hung out with, all of us together plus other folk. And, I have been to all their homes. The woman with dementia, a professor, is no longer recognizing anyone. So, that is a bit sad. Her husband succumbed to vascular dementia. Oh, the attorney couple is moving to Fairhope. So, they will be gone from our lives. 

Backing up a bit, we had devastating storms and tornadoes on Thursday here in Alabama. We lost cable and internet. Thankfully, nothing was even near us. But, south of Birmingham, lives were lost. We listened to the weather on radio for six hours. Reports were that one tornado was on the ground for 100 miles. Another report was that the path was 180 miles, not always on the ground. It was very scary. 

Now, I need to lie down as my back hurts and my feet are swelling again and I am exhausted.  Later, I am going to make a pie using a Diamond pecan pie crust and a sugar-free chocolate pudding. I found these pie crusts on sale for half price at Publix after Christmas. I hope it is good. 

Did you have bad weather Thursday? Have you ever used a pecan pie crust? 

Lunch with Friends, a First

While trying to determine the location of a friend in fragile health and her husband, I have been in touch with another friend in Cullman. I call about once a week or every ten days. As I was contemplating calling her on Sunday, I had an idea.

When I called her, I suggested Tuesday we meet at the lake where we eat lunch and share a picnic table under a pavilion when we picked up our to-go lunches. She thought that was a great idea. Since we have to go another day for a doctor appointment, I was not sure Tommy would want to go just for lunch. Well, he thought it was a great idea, even when I pointed out we had to go again on Wednesday.

We picked up our lunch and waited until they came and got theirs. Then, they followed us to the lake. The location of the picnic table was up to Tommy because of his inability to walk and his use of the walker.

The pavilions are for rent. Well, we did not need to rent it, just borrow. There was a sign that said the one I chose as best for him had a sign that said it was rented for the day. Tommy was hesitant. I do NOT believe the sign. I told him we would leave if we were "caught." No one ever said a word to us. As I pointed out to the other couple, I think signs are just a suggestion, not chiseled  in stone. We stayed.

Lunch was chicken parmigiana, green beans, diced potatoes in some sort of sauce, a roll, two cookies. We carried a bottle of water each and the other couple shared a soft drink. I took us a dish towel to use on the table as a place mat. Who knows which ducks have been on the table. 

While there, a drake came to lunch. Tommy was going to feed him, but I chased him away--the drake not Tommy! Every duck in the lake would have come.  So, we had a good visit with our friends. He is a former minister, retired. There were many birds who came to the roll my friend threw to the birds. Poor little sparrows backed right off when blackbirds came.

This was the first time Tommy and I had ever gotten out of the car to eat. Usually, we go further around the lake and sit in the car. Tables are difficult to get to in that area. Today, the breeze was blowing steadily from the lake. I hoped it would blow our respective germs away if we breathed out germs.

We stayed from about 11:30 am until 1:45 pm. After that, I had my android activated.

For dinner, we had the same meal since we got four meals. They encourage us to get four instead of two. I took all the breading from the chicken and left it. The meal was delicious so not hard to eat twice in one day.

Since there was a food bank, we stopped by there. We got enough frozen meat for about ten days since we don't make a pig of ourselves by eating way too much meat. There were about ten cans of food, half of which we will eat. Plus, I chose strawberries and kale from the vegetable/fruit list. Also--two huge croissants, eclairs. The beet juice will go down the drain and I can use the glass bottle for taking milk with me.  The other five cans I do not want will be given away.

I think we might meet them for lunch as long as the weather is nice. It was a good day!

Have you met friends for al fresco dining?