Is It Saturday Already???

Last night I posted an email to a lot of people I know, telling them about Dad being in the hospital. People keep asking how they can help me, so I thought one way they can do it is by visiting Dad in the hospital. And today he had five visitors. I couldn't get there until after 7:00 p.m.

I had tried to clean the house but my cell phone kept ringing. I got very little done. Tomorrow I will finally clean those counter tops, and then maybe I'll feel it's sufficient. You could care less about cleaning. When we met, you thought the brush attachment on the vacuum cleaner was for dusting. Your apartment was layered in dust and there were spots on the kitchen ceiling from you turning on the blender without the lid. You had worked hard to clean your place before I first saw it, so your normal clutter and dirt had been cleaned up. Since then, any cleaning has been my job. When Florinda started in 1993, she basically saved our marriage. Up until then I had done some house cleaning every day, and I was tired of it, especially since it only mattered to me, and if it didn't matter to you, you weren't going to participate in it.

I had also gone to the grocery, and then Laura and boyfriend returned, much to my surprise and joy.

Today you went shopping by yourself. You found clothes on sale, for great prices, and you had really needed them. After losing 48 pounds over the last seven months (the last 30 being more or less involuntary), you didn't own one thing that really fit you. You got two new pairs of pants and five shirts. I don't know if shopping is something I want you to do, but seeing you have the energy to shop is heartening.

Laura, Kyle and I went to the cell phone store to activate a new phone. It occurred to me that a motivating factor in their returning here was the new cell phone that had arrived yesterday. Hers had been acting up and Kyle, with his powers of persuasion, had arranged for the company to send out the newer model. She was really anxious to get it. The cell phone store wasn't much help; that particular store never is. They always seem to refer me to 'corporate' stores. The kids dropped me back at the house so we could go on a bike ride while they went on to one of the corporate stores. You tried your bike for the first time since early October. I took off ahead of you and you rode for 13 minutes. When I came back after 35 minutes, you were resting in the van. Your energy level tomorrow will let us know whether or not that had been a good decision.

The kids returned with Tito's tacos, I showered and washed my hair so Laura could blow it out for me, you showed Kyle how to use his new camera, and then I finally got to the hospital to see Dad. It's funny how a day off can get so short on time!