Wednesday

I had made an appointment for a booster shot--or rather, a booster booster, as I'd already had three  doses--and went over to Von's for it at 10:00. After, I walked to The Market and got more cute little graduation items for Vivian. Some I'll have here when Mike, her Dad, comes next week, including a kind of small box with a place for a picture of the grad. The rest I'll send back for her with Mike.

Suzanne texted to ask if I wanted to go to WinCo this morning and yes, I do. I need some trash bags, coffee, and veggies, so we'll leave at 9:00. I tried to call Erica, the woman from BCNN who, for some reason had facetimed me last week instead of calling. When I called her, there was no ringing tone, then a recording came on and a man's voice said to message instead. I did and also texted, but I haven't heard back from her. That makes three people I know who have major problems with their phones. Being on that topic prompted me to call Noreen and we made a date for lunch tomorrow at Aloha. 

About 2:00, I started out for the bus, but there was such a chilly wind that I just walked around the block and went home. Lay on the couch and fell asleep for no more than a half hour or so. I was a little mopey, but snapped out of it. 

Literary Report: I finished A Burnt Out Case and am now deep into The Third Woman. This is not fiction, but is an account of Graham Greene's love affair with a wealthy American woman. Both were married, of course, but Greene never let his marital status come between him and his screwing around. 

Tuesday

In the morning, I walked to Smart 'n' Final and picked up a few things, including a small cauliflower and wine. I then bused to the mall and Target. I wanted to add to the little graduation item I had gotten for Vivian, but didn't find anything interesting or fun. I had seen some at The Market and I'll go back there today.

Stopped into Ross (they didn't have anything I liked, either) and ran into Noreen. We chatted and made a date for lunch on Friday. Think I'll suggest Aloha at the beach.

Home, had lunch, then trimmed the cauliflower and put it whole into my smaller slow cooker. It cooked up nicely and I had some for dinner. 

I had thought about going to Oxnard to stop in on Greg, but didn't. Instead--unusual for me--I lay down on the couch and took a short nap. When I got up, I made an appointment for today at 10:00 to get my second booster (Pfizer) right across the street at Von's.  So convenient. Think I'll go from there to The Market. 

I guess I was a sucker to pay $19.95 to E-Yearbook. Yes, they had the 1942 HSHS yearbook with my sister and brother-in-law in it, but they didn't have a lot of others I wanted to see. On another site--free--I found my brother, Jim's college yearbook--St. Joe's in Philly, class of 1950.

It's just as well we can't see the future, I guess. When Jim--or Jimmy, as we always called him--had had his picture taken, he never dreamed his father wouldn't be at his graduation. Or anywhere else above ground after June 2, for that matter.   

Boy, I miss him. Now he's 96, living in Bangkok, and I doubt if he remembers me. I'm afraid he's no longer the quiet, kindly, intelligent big brother I used to have--well, still quiet, yes, and I'm sure he wouldn't be unkindly, but the other? Maybe I'll get in touch with Chrissy, his daughter, to see if we can do a Facetime session or something. Or maybe I don't want to. 

Monday

Spent an hour after breakfast getting in touch with those who hound me, including yet again, the Ventura Star. This time, I had gotten an email to the effect that my payment was overdue. Long, boring story I won't go into, but of course, it wasn't, I pay automatically, and so on. Also straightened out various minor problems with CVS Caremark, Bank of Amazing Idiocy, and the New York Times.  

After that, for the second day in a row, I walked to Wal-Mart, as I had forgotten face scrub and oatmeal. Bought this silly unicorn for darling Vivian, soon to be a big college girl at University of Hawaii:

Took my BP at W-M again and it was 119/74, which I was electronically told is normal. Happy day, I recovered from my high blood pressure overnight! And without even doing anything! 

I was so pleased to get a call from Mary Hoffman. I hadn't spoken to her for about a year and we had a good long talk. She wanted to know how Betty is and, of course, I told her the sad truth. She's doing well herself and so am I, so that's good. 

Lunch, then it was off to town. I bought a DVD of Dirty Dancing--always liked Patrick Swayze (sigh)--and that was one of his best. It was a nice warm (upper sixties), sunny day, but extremely windy. I was actually almost blown off my feet at Main and Palm. On my way home, Lynn Wetzel called. She's the director of docents at Dudley House and I confirmed I'll do the duty in June. Must get my costume from Ellen's storage shed and study my lines--it's been three years since I've done it. 

Ellen called while I was on my way home. That's always a treat and we had a good chat. We've agreed that when Mike's here, he'll sleep at her place, but tentatively, I'll have him her, Mike, and Greg over for dinner the day he gets in. 

Sunday

I skipped breakfast, since I was meeting LaVonne for brunch at 11:00. Showered, dressed, and took off for the Hill Street Café. It's a scant mile via the overpass and I was early, but LaVonne came a short time later. It's always jammed for their Sunday brunch and yesterday was no exception. However, they have some two-person booths and we were lucky enough to get one right away. I couldn't resist the bottomless champagne glass; it comes with a carafe of orange juice, so you make your own orange blossom(s) and oh, yum, was it good. I also had eggs Benedict and yoicks, my bill came to thirty-eight bucks! But so what, we had a good time talking. 

Said goodbye to LaVonne and walked home, but immediately caught the 6 bus. I was headed to Trader Joe's for leeks (got the recipe from Greg), but impulsively got off at the big flea market at the college. It was jammed and fun to be there. I walked all around for a half hour or so and enjoyed it, but bought only a half dozen tangerines. Continued on to the mall and bought the leeks. 

When I got home, I was in a crazy cookin' mood, so made up a large portion of my ground turkey stir-fry. I had already chopped three large onions, which I browned before adding the meat and garlic. I put in a little red wine, which I must remember to do more often. Had some for dinner and froze the rest for later. 

I also prepared the leeks, which entailed cleaning and boiling them before dressing with olive oil, red wine vinegar, garlic, and Dijon mustard. They're then marinate for an hour at room temperature. Greg had served them as appetizers, but I had some with dinner and they were delish. 

Stopped in at Suzanne's to give her a rose in the vase she had last given me a rose in, and we talked a bit about Vickie's adventure with Bennie.  LaVonne called in the evening and we chatted. I wrote out a response to James re Vickie possibly getting involved in some way with Bennie's future care--she can't possibly take anything else on--and sent it to her for approval.  

Saturday

Crazy weather: After two days of 90+, it was 55 when I got up at 5:00. By the time I left at 9:30 and walked to Wal-Mart, it had warmed up to a very pleasant 67 degrees. Got the few items on my list and saw a sale on jeans. I got a medium--must try it on for fit, but it looks okay. As I always do at Wal-Mart, I took my BP. It was 132/76 and I was informed that was high. Since I'm so ignorant, I don't know whether to be alarmed or not. Okay, I've decided not to be.  

Bused home and was in by 11:00. I made turkey breast sandwiches and took a bowl of applesauce out of the freezer for a side. Jim came, as ever, at 12:30, and as ever, we sat and talked for a half hour before sitting down to lunch. He's in a much better frame of mind, having had the plumber fix the drain and we had a good session. He didn't leave until 4:00, after which I ran into my young upstairs neighbor, Leah. I invited her in, and we had a great time talking. 

After Leah left, I was at this laptop and I happened to look out the window. I was surprised to see Bennie, from next door, all bent over and being escorted home by my friend, Vickie.  A few minutes later, she came to my door to tell me she had seen Bennie on the overpass, by himself, leaning against a support. She went to rescue him and take him home. (Before his retirement, Vickie had worked with him in Ventura County Behavioral Health.)

Vickie came in and I emailed Bennie's brother, James, who lives in L.A. to alert him about Bennie. Vickie and I both think that although Bennie has aides in every day, but not all day, should probably be in a facility. It isn't safe for him to live alone. We then ranged over a wide range of topics, including her Mary, worsening in "Holiday Manor" (Vickie isn't satisfied with her care) and my twin, Betty. She stayed for an hour and a half, and it was a good, woman-to-woman session.    

Later, James texted me to thank me and to ask if Vickie could get in touch with him. I forwarded his message to her.  I'll be meeting my new friend, LaVonne, for brunch at 11:00 at the Hill Street Cafe, and will walk over the very overpass Bennie did. 

Weight, The Pool, And Graham Greene

I gained a pound, consistent both at home (127.8) and at T.O.P.S. (128.7). That's okay, but I want to stop this in its tracks. Five of us were at the meeting, including Sharon, who was the big loser with ten pounds. That wasn't, of course, one week's loss: She hadn't been there for four weeks and had been sick. She keeps track, as I do, and showed me that she's now under three hundred--yay! I felt for Lora, who picked me up, who had been sure she'd break the two hundred pound mark. Disappointingly, she didn't, but we all encouraged her that she will next week. I told her I clearly remember doing exactly that when I was at that weight--looking for the big break-through into the one hundreds.

Late breakfast, as ever on Fridays, then I walked to the P.O. to send Mr. K. the little gift. I had paid three bucks for it and when I found it would cost $17.90 to send, I took it home. I might ask Mike to take that and the sweat shirt I got for K's birthday back to Singapore and send it from there.

I was pleased that Jim called about 11;00 to say he had gotten a plumber and had the drain unclogged. Jim never calls during the day (if I don't call him Friday evening, he calls me), so this was an innovation. He has to pay the plumber himself, being worried the landlord would raise his rent otherwise, but I guess he's able. Happy day, he sounded so much better, relieved and light-hearted--well, light-hearted for Jim, which may seem somber if it were anybody else. Of course, he'll be over for lunch today--it's Saturday. 

I then did something truly radical: I went to the pool! It was almost as hot--lower nineties--as it had been on Thursday* and that first (and only) dip was just heavenly. I got out and started eating my lunch, which I had brought with me: a sandwich and a bottle of Heineken. Of course, it's forbidden to bring 1. glass and 2. alcohol to the pool, but ask me if I care. 

I was pleased to see Suzanne come in; she had swum her daily laps earlier, but had left her watch and was there to retrieve it. She sat down for a half hour to chat, always a pleasure. Contemplating retirement, she had informally notified her boss, who asked her to stay on until June to train the new hire. Suzanne, however, was firm in saying she would finish after her "next event" (her presentation on health education scheduled for the middle of May) and good for her. Home, showered, then went over to Von's for lunchmeat and yogurt. 

I've started re-reading A Burnt-Out Case, by Graham Greene. I had forgotten what an incredibly wonderful writer he was. He had been called the best living (when he was living, which is no longer the case-- he died in 1991). The book is not the usual fiction stuff: It's about a man who has lost his interest in life, along with his (Catholic) faith, and then moves to a leprosy colony in Africa, operated by priests. I've only completed the third chapter, but it's even better that what I remember. This is no action adventure, nor is it anything like a "man finds God again" tract or, for that matter, "man loses God and finds something else." I'll say no more, except that it's just a marvel of intelligent thought.   

*Crazy weather: When I got up a half hour ago, it was 55 degrees and it's predicted not to get higher than the upper sixties all week.

Hot

Yep, it was that hot.

Did three loads of wash, then thought I'd walk to the post office to mail a little gift for Mr. K., in Tokyo. I started out, but turned back when I got across the street: It was so hot, I actually thought it was foolhardy to continue. I even toyed with the idea of going in the pool. However, I had other things to do, including reading the rest of my big sister's diary. I also signed up (and paid twenty bucks) to join E- yearbook. 

In my sister, Gene's (not "Jean's") 1942 yearbook, I also found my brother-in-law, John Molloy. Incredibly, I don't believe I ever met him. He was an gunner or something during WWII. He was captured and spent time in a German concentration camp. I think he suffered from depression and maybe other emotional illnesses; he seems to have rejected the rest of the family after he returned home. I know he married someone named Patricia and they lived in the Midwest and had one son. John died 25 or 30 years ago. Here he is as an HSHS grad:

Sherry, from Dudley House, called, asking if I could docent on May 1. However, Mike is coming on April 29 and will stay over until May 1, so I want to be here. I told Sherry I'd do it in June. Now I have to not only get my costume from Ellen's, but study my spiel--it's been so long since I've been there. I mentioned to Sherry that I'd be at the docent covered dish on May 11 and will probably bring Jim. She gushed over that, saying how much she likes Jim. (She's seen him exactly twice, both times at the docent covered dish.) Of course, whether I bring him depends on whether we're still speaking or not.

At 7:30, I got a Facetime call from Erica, whom I met after the BCNN meeting on Wednesday. I thought it was a little odd she contacted me that way, but no prob. We chatted and will, one of these days, make a lunch date.  

An odd occurrence: After dinner, I picked up my mail and saw what was obviously a bill from the Ventura Star. What, after all my long-running payment problems with them, now they're sending me a bill? I didn't have my glasses on, so couldn't see the addressee lines, but opened it. Yes, a bill, but then I looked: It was addressed to "Mary M------n, apartment ---". That's Vickie's partner, now in a memory care facility, but that's my address! I took it over to Vickie and we agreed that the Star is a screw-up and may not be in business long. Also that we must be the only two people in the complex--or in Ventura-- who subscribe.