Happy day--I'm back! The study is almost completely finished and looks great, but for three days, I suffered withdrawal pangs from the Internet and it was EXCRUCIATING! Really, I got up at my usual time and didn't know what to do with myself. Being electronically deprived, I was reduced to turning on the television and that was enough to make me go back to bed and suck my thumb.
Well, no matter, the agony is over. During the last few days, I hung around home a lot, spending time making minor decisions about the work on the study. It's so great that Dennis and Bill are neighbors and friends--we trust them completely and Pat enjoyed having them here. They did a wonderful job, no surprise there. They stayed for lunch on Wednesday, but the other days divided their time between here and another commitment.
Picked up friend Leslie--who happens to be Dennis' wife--on Thursday for Weight Watchers. I was pleased to have a 2.5 loss, making my total to date fifteen pounds off. I now weigh 184.4, so I have a way to go, but that's perfectly okay.
Went to Babies 'R' Us and got presents for Jen's shower tomorrow. They have such adorable things--and such humongous prices (but who's counting?). After some hints from Alison, I got for Baby Boop (they still haven't agreed on a name) a bedding set (sheet, quilt, bumper pad, valance, dust ruffle, and diaper holder) all in a "Sea Life" motif, with stylized fish, crabs, and so on. Couldn't resist adding a matching mobile and picture frame. I then saw little "onesies" with "I'm the little brother" on them and got one in 0-3 months and one in 3-6 months. Got a book called "I'm A Big Brother" for Joely and will give him that along with the shirt I got from the Museum of Natural History in Washington.
Rushed out last night to Michael's and got large woven boxes with covers for the deep shelving in the new study. They look good and I can store a lot of paperwork in them.
Pat's brother, SIL, and niece were going to come for lunch on Monday, but unfortunately, Bill is under the weather, and they had to cancel. Bill has had a heart condition for years and he's had some respiratory involvement recently. They don't go out much and were very disappointed, but I said we'd plan for another day. Will call niece Donna and see if she wants to come herself. (Donna is the daughter of Pat and Bill's late sister, Peg.)
Susan was in Connecticut for two days, but I didn't excuse myself from walking this time. With Mozart on my new portable CD player, I walked to the shopping center and back on Wednesday evening, a total of two miles. Thursday, I took the master on a mile or so walk around the development and yesterday, Susan was back, so we resumed our usual mile and a half. The weather's wonderful--it got up to 90 yesterday (sorry to all you heat-haters, but I like it that way).
So-o-o good to be back on line. After Dennis hooked up the computer yesterday, I immediately read all the entries I had missed by Betty, Pat, and Dee--it was great to be back in the groove!
Breaking news: An article that Alison and two fellow grad students researched and wrote appeared recently in an Australian journal of occupational therapy. More on this later.