Speaking of boring, the long saga of Anne Mary continues. After phone calling back and forth, she told me at 11:00 the doctor hadn't been in yet to discharge her. Luckily, Susan offered to pick her up since I had company, and when I saw her and Walter coming back from church (she's Catholic, he's Presbyterian and they had gone to his), I told them I'd take them up on it. They went and got her and boy, was was I glad, because when I went over to ask how it had gone, Susan gave me an earful. I won't go into all of it, but--illustrative of one of Anne Mary's infuriating pretenses, the Little Holy Girl one--she was frantic about not getting to mass. She was in the hospital, for heaven's sake, but of course, she needed Susan to assure her she wasn't naughty. Incidentally, they had told her after a series of tests, that they saw no heart involvement and it was probably indigestion--no surprise to me. I called her (A.M.) after I talked to Susan and she told me she was driving up to New Providence this morning to see the world-renowned cardiologist, anyway, of course. Aagh! Susan and I agreed that one thing we know for absolutely certain is that we haven't heard the end of this (rather, that we'll never hear the end of it) .
Other than that, it was a pleasant day. Jack B. came over and the four of us talked and reminisced with good cheer. Larry, Jack, and I went to Wawa and got computerized sandwiches, then took them home to eat with Pat (I had made him American cheese and strawberry preserves--he didn't want store-bought). After, while the guys were still chewing the fat, I went to Acme for a few provisions, then did wash and various chores.
Early on, Marge and I corresponded via e-mail; Fred was to return from upstate NY yesterday after helping his daughter get her house in shape to sell or rent. Responded to lots of other messages, too, before meeting Susan at 7:00.
Made baked chicken and sides for dinner, happily adding a big salad for Larry and me (Pat won't touch it). Afterward, we had a showing for Larry of the 1936 DVD Betty had sent me. We all liked it, of course, but being of a philosopical turn of mind, I kept thinking that virtually every person in the newsreels is dead. All the things they took so seriously and were most important to them have been forgotten. That didn't depress me, I just felt bemused. Taking a famous slogan from a major writer, Kurt Vonnegut, I just thought, "So it goes" and shrugged off the mood.
Ellen called and we had a long, enjoyable talk. She's taking another art course, some of which is interesting, she said, and some not so much. (This will give her "salary credits," always a nice thing to contemplate.)
Alison called. She and Mike, still in New Mexico, are having a great time. They had gone up to the mountains and hiked, among lots of other outdoor adventures, and were now back in Redoso ? Reverso? Versado? with Mike's son and his family. When she called, they were at a skateboard park watching Christian, 10, on his board. There's also Catherine, who's 5. Alison said she couldn't get a signal in some of the remote areas they visited, which is why she was able to call only once before. They'll be home on the fourth.
Assuming Pat's reasonably okay, Larry and I are going to Eastern Penitentiary in Philly today. They don't have prisoners there anymore (it was built in 1824) and it's open for tours and education. Incidentally, Larry and I went to the drugstore after dinner and we started talking about the activity thing. We feel the same way: that we couldn't stand a long succession of days without some interesting highpoints to look forward to--maybe travel, maybe visitors, maybe just a different way of doing something we've always done a certain way. I have no problem at all with regularly being home and being caregiver to my husband--but I'll ask another couple over now and then, or meet a friend for lunch or dinner, or drive to Port Republic just to look at the architecture.
"The grave's a fine and private place/But none, I think, do there embrace..."and they don't go to Poseidon for the early bird special, either.