MONDAY, REHEARSAL, AND MY KNEE

I changed the bed, washed the sheets, and re-made, had breakfast, then just hung out for a bit. Went to Von's for bread, tuna packets, and Lean Cuisine. Took an hour nap, then packed my lunch and ate at my favored place in the middle.  

I ran into Suzanne coming back from the pool; she's leaving today for a retreat and won't be back until August 4th or 5th. Her brother, Glenn, will be staying at her apartment this weekend to water her plants and so on. 

Showered and washed my hair, then assembled what I was taking to rehearsal. That included the script for the skit I'm in. I'm very relieved that I have only a few lines, as I think my days of memorizing a part in a full-length play are over. I did my "Heart's Desire" piece and conferred with directors Erica and Brian about my delivery. I got some good feedback and will incorporate them into my piece. Also, I'm debating with myself whether to approach Erica and Brian about a sketch done by Tracy that I'm afraid will be highly offensive to practicing Catholics. We ran the first three acts of the skit--no title yet--in which I don't appear--will add the fourth tomorrow.

Just now, as I was topping off this entry, Noreen called to apologize for not mentioning beforehand that Gary would join us for lunch on Sunday.  No problem at all, I told her; I like Gary and even though his presence meant we wouldn't discuss some sensitive matters, we can save them for later.

Now the bad news: I thought my knee was improving, but that must have been wishful thinking. Clearly, it's not better and I had to use the cane last night at rehearsal. Called Ellen when I got home and she'll come over to at 10:00 and take me to Urgent Care today. Damn, I hope it isn't too serious.    

  

SUNDAY

Did a color wash in the morning, then just fooled around with this and that until I boarded the 6 for Danny's Deli. Got there a little early and sat on the bench outside  until Noreen arrived. Shortly after we were seated, a man came over and joined us. It was her friend (boyfriend/gentleman friend?), Gary, whom I'd met before. It was nice to see him and the three of us had a good time. Gary will turn 89 next month, which I was happy to hear--it's always satisfying to meet somebody older than I am 😁.

Ordered a half pastrami sandwich and matzo ball soup (they add chicken and veggies), along with--natch--a hazy IPA 🍺. Noreen got turkey with gravy and champagne and Gary--well, he got something, but I can't remember what. Anyway, we had a good time together, although Gary has had a difficult time: his sister died recently and his brother has serious health problems 😞. As for his immediate family, he hasn't seen his son for twenty-five years, but I think he's in touch with his daughter. We hugged goodbye two hours later, then I walked the two blocks to the bus station, and got the 10 home.    

I finally remembered to send a birthday gift to my great-grandson, whose 23rd birthday was last month. I had sent a card, but it just slipped my mind to add the gift; via Zelle, I sent him cash. I've got more birthdays coming up: granddaughter Vivian's 21st on the 29th and Tristan's 18th a week after that. 

I signed up for some kind of T.V. thing because I was interested in a documentary on the Idaho University campus murders. After watching the first episode, I saw that the next show has no relation to the subject. It just goes to some other story in which I'm not interested, so I guess I'll cancel. Damn, the electronic forces are doing all they can to annoy me!*

Got up at 5:30, a little earlier than I like, but I might take a nap later, as I have rehearsal tonight. Knee feels pretty okay, although I'm "aware" of it, so to speak, which if it were totally okay, I probably wouldn't be. I'll continue to follow the advice of my medical advisors--you know who you are... 💕

☝☝☝☝☝☝☝☝☝☝

* I cancelled, although now I'm having second thoughts. IF--and only if--I was mistaken and there are further episodes on the Idaho murders, I'll re-subscribe.

SATURDAY

When I got up, I discovered the Internet was down. Called Yondoo Communications, but it seemed it wasn't okay on their end. Tried the T.V. and that was off, too. I left them and had breakfast with an old-fashioned communication source--the daily newspaper. 

Amber picked me up at 8:45 and off we went to rehearsal. My knee was somewhat better, but not perfect and I used the cane throughout. Everybody was very solicitous, but I get self-conscious.  I know my colleagues in the cast are not thinking, "helpless old lady with a cane"--it's just me and I shouldn't put thoughts into other peoples' heads. 

Anyway, it was a good session. I did my cowgirl verse and got my part in the little playlet Amber is writing. I play "Rosemary" (I could make up a character's name, but why? I kind of like to have my own name there), whom Bob is dating. Bob's grown son, Jonathan, is very upset over the fact he's dating me, as I was his Sunday School teacher. I think it's a cute idea, and it will get more re-writing and so on. Here's Bob, my "shomance," who has actually made a living through acting since right out of college:

Bob Telford has an IMDB page, too: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0854360/. He's been in many T.V. shows, minor films, and commercials. 

BTW, he's sixteen years younger than I am. 

Home at 12:30 and the Internet was still down, so I called my computer expert, Ellen, and she walked me through the fix, as she's done many times before: power down laptop, unhook plug from wall, wait five minutes, re-plug, wait three minutes, then power up. Happy day--it worked!

Called Noreen to see if she could meet for lunch today. Yep, for a late one, as she goes to church, and I'll see her at 1:30 today. Made my lunch and took it out to the middle to eat in the California sunshine. Mostly lazed around the rest of the afternoon. 

Happy day--I got up this morning and have no hint of soreness in my knee--YAY!

rnet was still down; I couldn't remember how to fix it, so called my girl, Ellen. She told me about unplugging, plugging, waiting five minutes, then three minutes, and so on and so forth, and it worked. Made my lunch, took it and my book out to the middle and relaxed and e n the sun.  

FRIDAY

At Ellen's all day. We ate at Co-Marco, a restaurant of my choosing where we hadn't been for years. It was pricey, but my vegetarian panini was yummy. Went from there to El's to change, then to the pool.  Very nice, lovely sunshine, but only in the eighties. Had a fall getting out of the pool and think I sprained my knee or something, but it's improving.

Back to El's, we sat on her porch and chatted until the Access Van came to pick me up. Home a bit after 7:00 and settled in to have a bite, and to soothe my bad knee with ice. 

This is short because Internet went down--see Saturday for more. 

SOMEHOW, THIS IS OUT OF SEQUENCE--SEE SATURDAY.

THURSDAY

 Did a bleach wash during breakfast, ate, then tidied up a bit. I then spent several hours on something so important and significant I don't remember what it was. Made and packed my lunch, put it in my cart, then walked over to Von's for grapefruit and pretzels. Went from there to CVS to get denture cleaner, then came back to the middle to eat my lunch.

While there, I called Cheryl to reverse myself yet again. Since Ellen had invited me over for lunch and the pool, I decided, after all, to skip T.O.P.S. I'll have to leave at about 10:00 to take the bus to Ojai and I just don't feel like adding the meeting beforehand. Also called leader Lennie to tell her the same.  

More to my liking, I called Bobbi R., as I had been told her husband, Henry, is in a bad way. He is; malignant tumors are everywhere and he's been hospitalized for two weeks. Sadly, Bobbi herself is suffering from cancer; I didn't want to question her about it, but I believe she' waiting for the latest findings. Damn, life can be hard.

Rehearsal went well last night. We were given work-in-progress scripts of the "backstage action," not yet fleshed out. Mine is described as "One of the founding members of the theatre. Has a very unexpected showmance with Bob." Amber is writing it (Shannon is the writer on the other skit.) The who idea is to show us backstage on on stage, of course.

I videoed just tiny snippets of both the Low Attention Span band, with James, Suzi, and Steve, plus Harper singing, and sent them to myself on Messenger. Unfortunately, I don't know know to transfer them here. Will work on it.

Looking forward to lunch and a swim at El's today.

WEDNESDAY

Got several more mundane chores done, including appointments and so on. Made lunch and took it out to my favorite place to eat. It was very quiet--aside from a few people in the pool, I saw almost no others: 

In the evenings, with the hanging lights lit and a fire in the fire pit, it's very nice.

Home, I chopped the two pounds of onions I had bought on Wednesday, along with the red and green peppers I had gotten earlier. Stowed them separately in the freezer. 

Most the of the day, I thought it was Thursday and that I had rehearsal last night; called Cheryl to tell her I would skip T.O.P.S. this week.  No, Mimi, it was Wednesday yesterday--today, when this blog is finished and posted, is Thursday--AAGH!

Ellen called later in the day to invite me over on Friday--that's tomorrow!-- to go in the pool at her place. She also sent pictures of her new shed: 

And below are Ellen's tootsies in the pool; must remember to bring my bathing suit:

As for "Heart's Desire," El sent me the video of my rendition at the country fair three years ago. I won first prize with this, but I can't imagine why. I think my performance lacks a lot and hope to do better in the upcoming show. I tried to send it via email to a certain Jersey girl who requested it, but I'm not sure it went through. 

TUESDAY

What a good, fun day.  Ellen got here at noon and off we went to Wal-Mart, the dump that happens be the only department-y store nearby, darn it. We got our needs and wants, then El suggested lunch at the Hill Street Cafe. Great--I hadn't been there for several months and we went. I had a Reuben, even though I knew theirs don't nearly measure up to what you get from a real Jewish deli on the east coast. It wasn't bad, though, and I ate most. El and I had a lively--to put it mildly--discussion about politics, what's wrong with the country, Trump, and other trifling matters. However, we've talked with no holds barred before and the important thing is, we know we still love each other. I like the murals on the walls at Hill Street: here are two of them:

Also enjoyable was our trip to Green Thumb, where I got another tomato plant, Ellen got several, and we both got cages to keep them upright. Then it was back to my place, where El spent hours planting the new tomatoes, installing the cages around both, clearing off a lot of the damn needles that fall from the pine tree nearby, and cutting back the geranium. It looks great, although you can hardly see them in the picture--can't wait for my little darlings to grow!

Via email, I had sent director Erica two of my shorter playlets: Locket, a sentimental little piece and When Cooks Confer, a comedy. About the first, I was so pleased when Erica responded about Locket with this: 

"Oh, Rosemary. This is good. REALLY. I want to do it. Right after I stop crying. Got me right in the feels."  

However, Erica said she wasn't able to open When Cooks Confer because she didn't have Microsoft or whatever, so I laboriously copied it onto a PDF document and sent it to her last night. Hope she likes that one, too, although I think the agenda is filled for August 14.