A Fine Time In Town On Thursday

Bussed to town early, which was good, as I had time to stroll into some shops.  Although pretty quiet, it was great to be back. Met Diane at Peirano's at noon, sat on the patio across from the mission and the fountain, and we had a fine time. Our talk ranged over a wide spectrum, including childhood beliefs, spiritualism, "functional medicine," and the Krishnamurti Center. 

I was surprised Diane has never been to the latter, since he was a well-known philosopher throughout the world. I've been to the place he founded (he died some years ago) in the hills above Ojai--very serene, as is the building. There's a school there, too. The director is Michael Krohnen, with whom Greg is friendly; he gave me Krohnen's book The Kitchen Chronicles/1001 Lunches with J. Krishnamurti for Christmas. Diane, being very much into all kinds of off-the-grid esoteric ideas, was fascinated and asked me to ask Greg if he might be interested in going to a seminar at the Center for Spiritual Living on retirement. That's on Tuesday, I have no interest in it, but maybe Greg will. She also asked me to give him an announcement about the "Live to be 120" seminar she's trying to get off the ground. 

We stayed talking and had a fine time for almost three hours, then parted, she to get the Access Van, I to stop in here and there, then bus home. Stopped at Von's for an onion, as I have cucumbers and want to make a batch of crystal pickles. 

T.O.P.S. today and I fear I'm going the wrong way when I comes to weight--"Mimi, you're supposed to be taking it off, not putting it on!" 

Topped off the day by doing a jigsaw of Ellen's kitties in a box. For some reason, the jigsaw wouldn't copy, but here's the original picture:

Non-Wet Wednesday

Happily, the rain held off, as I  had places to go. The Access Van took me to my 11:00 doctor's appointment and the driver got there in time, but just barely. He was new and pointed out that SO-FI Apartments has no street number on the façade, so he couldn't initially find it.  I'm going to notify management about this. BTW, I was amused that, during the fifteen-minute ride, the driver had on--loudly--what my husband would describe as a "holy roller" or "bible thumping" station. I heard a solemn lecture about scripture, the sins of the world, and the path to righteousness 😇, which I happily stepped off years ago.😈

Even so, all, it seems, is pretty well with my various hormones and workings, according to to the endocrinologist. I bused home, had lunch, then walked to Smart 'n' Final for chicken, cabbage, and other goodies.  As soon as I got in, I oiled and seasoned the chicken and put it in the oven, using the method I found on-line that makes the most tender and delicious chicken (325 for an hour, then 400 for ten or so minutes).  Quartered the red cabbage and put it in the slow cooker. I usually add a cut-up apple, but didn't have any, so tried a combination of burgundy wine, vinegar, and a raspberry walnut vinaigrette. 

Suzanne texted to see if I wanted to go to WinCo this morning, but I'm meeting Diane for lunch in town at noon, plus I'm pretty well stocked up. (Of course--it never fails--I overlooked a few things, but I can  get them at Von's today.) S. then stopped in at my invitation, because I had forgotten to tell her Sharon's news (the 51-pound loss). We firmed up plans for the funeral on Saturday; I'll go with her, but she won't attend the luncheon after, as I will. I want to meet Mary's daughters in a social setting, as I was so impressed with the obituary and the tribute they wrote. 

Ellen called to say that school had, indeed, been closed on Tuesday because of the downpour. She was still driving home (at 5:00 pm) on the 33 and traffic was inching along. The road was backed up because two of the other three roads in Ojai were closed, presumably because of mud slides. Happily, it didn't rain yesterday, in fact, was nice and sunny, although somewhat chilly with a high of only 60.

I emailed Lynn and Sheri, of Dudley House, to explain what happened with Jim and me on Monday.  Just as well we didn't get there, I guess: Lynn wrote that the basement, which is where we meet, had flooded, so presumably, the meeting didn't take place, anyway.

Tuesday And Turkey

Yesterday's entry ran on so long, I'm going to make this just bullet points to chronicle my goings-on:

1. It was again--or still--raining c.s and d.s, and Margarita texted me to suggest we postpone our lunch date. We did, until Sunday, although late, it stopped anyway.

2. Suzanne stopped in about 10:00to see how I survived being cooped up all day; I told her about the business with the covered dish, Jim, and missed connections. She asked if I wanted to play cards later; I said okay.

3. Sharon called from rehab to tell me she has lost fifty-one pounds. She went in last week at 322 and now weighs 271. I reacted with what I know she needed: amazement and great praise. I realize that a lot--probably most--of loss is water, and I hope she'll be able to get serious about her nutrition when she gets out.

4. I called the Access Van to take me to my doctor's appointment today.

5. Suzanne came over at 2:00 to play cards. I told her I know only gin rummy and that's what we played. In truth, I still wonder if she actually enjoys my company or is simply following a charitable agenda. Anyway, it was fun in a mild way. We played for about an hour.

6. As soon as Suzanne left, I got my coat and my cart and walked over to Von's. Bought some so-so frozen dinners, which I like to have on hand if I want something quick. Also bought ground turkey.

7. Home, I made a large pot of my signature turnkey stir-fry. I vary the ingredients often and this time they included sweet pepper strips; mandolined onions which I had in the freezer; mushrooms I halved;  garlic, of course; and, for a change, I added a can of peas. 

8. My cousin, Sally, from San Diego called and we talked for about a half hour. I was actually in Von's at the time, but I didn't care; it was good to hear from her.

9. Had the stir-fry for dinner and it was yum.

10. Best news: Slept soundly and just got  up at 5:30--YAY! 

Miserable Monday

Okay, not miserable, but a fiasco. To cut a day-long story short, Jim was to pick me up at 6:00 for the Dudley House pot luck. I stayed in all day, because it rained all day--and this was east coast type rain, heavy and steady. I changed the sheets, did a white wash, and just a few minor chores after that. Showered and washed my hair. Called Jeanne Painter to tell her my brother's place in Cooper City (Florida) is only 58 miles from where she lives in West Palm Beach. We'll try to arrange to meet once I make firmer plans for visiting.  Called Jim at 4:30 just to remind him and he didn't pick up after the recording. I kept calling, the rain kept falling, and I am not going to continue this appalling--AAGH!  

To cut to the chase, after five or so calls to Jim with no answer, I finally called Sherry, then Lynn, the Dudley House movers and shakers, and after conversation, I told them I wasn't going to go. (At this point, I'm not even sure they actually had the gathering; will call Sherry today.) I was uneasy about Jim: Why didn't he pick up? Was he sick? Hurt? In an accident? (A stage of emergency had been declared.) Concerned and deflated, I started looking around to make something for dinner when about 6:10, the doorbell rang. 

Yes, it was Jim, standing at the door soaking wet and bedraggled. It seems he had had his class at 2:00 and had stayed on campus, then came directly here to pick me up. Because he doesn't have a cell phone, I wasn't able to get in touch. Later, he told me that adjunct faculty "weren't allowed" to use the phone at the college. That sounds stupid, but of course, it's assumed they have cell phones.

Anyway, I quickly got my boots and jacket on, repacked the orange cake I was bringing, and followed Jim out into the pouring rain. He had parked at the entrance, of course, and we were both drenched by the time I got in the car. At that point, I suggested what I should have before we left my cozy apartment: The hell with it, I have a pizza in the freezer and red wine in the fridge, so let's we eat here. 

Jim was happy to agree and we went back--this time, we drove to the other gate and my parking spot, so we didn't have that far to walk. We went in, I put the pizza in the oven, poured us each a glass of red, and we chatted on the couch until dinner was done. It was okay and I served the orange cake for dessert. Jim stayed until after 8:00, I cleaned up, watched the penultimate (I think) episode of the Bernie Madoff story, then went beddy-bye. It turned out to be not a bad day, after all.

😢😢  😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢 

I did a jigsaw of Betty and me before entering one of the Ventnor baby parades. While I was fitting piece after piece, tears rolled down my cheeks. I cried and cried, about as cheery as we were in the picture. 

I can only speculate why we were so glum. Did Mom (who surely took the picture) admonish us to stand still? Had we been wary of this new adventure, the baby parade? Neither one of us was particularly high-spirited at that age--Betty more fearful than I, but I was hardly intrepid. The names on the doll coaches? Our nicknames when we were babies. The story goes that one of us couldn't pronounce our names, so "Betty" came out something like "Bobby" and "Rosemary" sounded like "Mimi." (Which one of us that was, I don't remember.) Until the day he died (June 2, 1950), my father always called us by those names. Years later, of course, Betty called me "Art," the chronicle of which I've blogged about before. 

Sunday, Sharon, A Social Session, And A Scene

I took an hour nap yesterday, from about 7:00 to 8:00 am; felt livelier after. Had breakfast, did the crossword (annoyingly obscure and I only got about three-quarters of it), then decided to walk to The Market and Wal-Mart. Did so and was glad to find the only barrettes I like at the latter. Just got a few other things, then, having taken one of those tuna salad and crackers from home, ate that for lunch in the park I like on Victoria Avenue.

Bused home and called Sharon, who is starting her second week of rehab. This is not, of course, for any kind of addiction, but is an attempt to remedy her leg infection and other maladies. I'm not optimistic for her; she seems to resist both food restriction and exercise. She's well over 100 pounds overweight and has been for the six years I've known her, although a member of T.O.P.S. But I'll be damned if I'll take a high and mighty, tsk-tsk, it's all your fault attitude. She's trapped, I'm afraid, in her condition, and I'm pretty sure death is the only way she'll escape it. Speaking of death, I made a donation to the Alzheimer's Association in memory of Mary.

Went next door to Suzanne's for our 4:30 "social session" with her and Vickie and we enjoyed getting together. I was amused that Suzanne's brother and SIL had given her two bottles of non-alcoholic wine for Christmas, a red and a white. Unless you read the label--or drink it--you couldn't tell they don't have a kick. Vickie had some, I declined, as I've had virgin wine before and it's vile. Why anyone would drink it or, for that matter, the non-alcoholic beer Suzanne likes is beyond me, but hey, no accounting for taste. As for me, I brought my unapologetic IPA and we had a convivial visit. 

This magnificent picture of the Ventnor boardwalk was on Facebook and I enjoyed making it a jigsaw. (For some reason, I can't copy that configuration.)

Saturday, The Usual

Good grief, I must be losing it--forgot the weight report on Friday. Home, I was 132, for a loss of 1.2; at T.O.P.S., 130.9, for a loss of 1.4, so I'm going in the right direction, at least. Lora picked me up and only she, Julie, and I came. I asked if they wanted to go to Don't Drink The Water, the Woody Allen play three of my Fractured Actors colleagues are in. Both do, and we all chose to make it a matinee, so we'll decide which day.

Jim came at his usual 12:30 and we did some script reading before lunch. I had high-lighted the male parts in Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest for him and I, naturally, did the female ones. Published in 1895, it's a silly little farce, but was fun to enact. In addition, I chose a kind of spooky one-act play from The Best Plays of 1995 (if that was one of the best, I'd hate to see the worst).

I showed him Mary's obituary, which he read with interest. I suggested he attended the funeral next Saturday, but he declined. That didn't surprise, but did annoy me; I think it would mean something to Vickie if he came, but he seems unable to feel much empathy for others, a result of early trauma, maybe. Anyway, he certainly had no problem accepting the P.F. Chang beef and broccoli dish I served. 

He did say he'd go to the Dudley House covered dish supper with me tomorrow. However, I got an email from Lynn saying that the scheduled speaker, Richard Senate, had come down with an illness--not necessarily COVID, but maybe the flu and has had to cancel. It's iffy whether we'll meet or not. I'm toying with the idea of suggesting we do a kind of participatory variety show.

Suzanne texted Vickie and me, asking if we'd like to have one of our social sessions at 4:30 today. Vickie may or may not be available (Mary's daughter and family are coming in from Ireland, where they live), so we may postpone.

Darn, I seem to have reverted back to a kind of insomnia. I woke up at 3:30 and couldn't get back. It's now 4:13 am (Sunday) and I'm up. I think this is because I haven't been walking as much as is good for me lately. Either I had other commitments or it was raining. Maybe I'll take a nap later.

Friday, Free Of Crapola

Above: son Mike sent a screenshot of our family Zoom meeting the day after Christmas. 

As promised, Ellen got here at 1:00, after her hair appointment. We loaded my precious and valuable possessions (aka crapola) into the car, then walked over to Lalo's for lunch. I hadn't been there before, as it's relatively new, and I liked it a lot. Interestingly, we saw that it's an Italian restaurant, but the other Lalos in the area feature Mexican cuisine. No matter, Ellen had a club sandwich, which was enormous, I a meatball (I thought I was back in Jersey); we chased them with a diet Coke and a beer (guess who). Delicious and we each brought home half. 

We then drove to Goodwill and unloaded the goods; you can be sure I got a receipt and will take the value off my income tax. Back home to chat for a bit until Ellen left and I was thrilled to realize I had been relieved of so much. 

I then played around with yet more digital jigsaws, including this one. Hmm...I recognize Betty, but who is that lovely lady seated at the table and looking through a Holy Spirit High School yearbook?    

Finally, I did the same to the ancestral home: 1155 Lower Ferry Road, Ewing, NJ., where we brought up our children and lived for 41 years:

I made the mistake of taking a nap after dinner--was just sleepy--but I paid for it, as it's now 4:08 am. Usually, I stay in bed when this happens and eventually go back to sleep. However, I was restless, so got up. I hope to get sleepy enough to go back to bed.