Mystery Solved!

Hurrah! The mystery book was a Christmas present from my brother Ernst! Very thoughtful! Yippee! I like mysteries as much as the next person, and enjoy them even more when they are eventually solved!

I was thinking the other day that I am pretty lucky. I have had the good fortune to always have a roof over my head, always have been loved and accepted, to have enough to eat, water to drink. Who needs more, really? Well, I may not need it, but I have had it anyway - excellent educational opportunities and experiences, lots of travel, living lots of places, lots of friends and lovers (though I don't really know if the number of lovers I have had counts as lots in a relative way). Fun and frolicking. Sure, there have been and will be depressing bits and moments here and there. But overall, wheeee! Sending the universe lots of Gratitude! :)

On the other hand, there is mom. Although she is not at an advanced stage of Alzheimer's, it still pains me sometimes to know she is getting less able. And I don't know how best to help. She now has "old person" handwriting. You know the stuff - writing in awkwardly formed letters that drift around the page changing in size and proportion without any seeming pattern. I used to love my mom's signature. Now it just makes me cringe a little inside. Also, seeing her actually being frail and incapable is incredibly saddening. True, she has complained of being incapable ever since I can remember her speaking. But now she truly is getting to that point. She is scared of the stairs in the house in Geneva. Glarg. (My new favorite word/sound thing.)

Yippee, though. The year is almost over. Well, looking at it in a different perspective - every second ticks off another anniversary of a similar second one year ago. But in terms of the Calendar year, another one is going by the wayside.

I did my New Year's eve partying last night I think. Well, I went for a couple of beers at Red Dove Tavern. Had a nice chat with Roger who works for Red Jacket - he compared and contrasted Geneva and Canandaigua for me. And chatted with the new bartender - Joe - 25 and growing! Nice people.

Dinner was Chinese food - home made, Chinese food - well, two of the three dishes were Chinese inspired. Shrimp Eggroll, fried rice and then I added some mushrooms and spinach which is just plain yummy. No plan for dinner tonight yet. Oh, and I treated myself to some chocolate cake with pistachio nut ice cream, whip cream and chocolate sauce. Yay!

Photos from December 29, 2011:

Chinese-ish dinner!

I broke down and put a heater in the study cause it was cold in there