Where have all the ideas gone...

My brain was tossing ideas out left and right yesterday for things to write about. Really, it was! And I thought, self, it would be good to go and open the blogger page and jot a few of these down (in a typing sort of jotting way), you know that you won't remember them until after you finish the day's blog if you don't (if you even remember them then). But did myself listen? Nooooooooo! Sigh.

Well, maybe, if I write about the day, I will cause a little bit of mental stimulation and the ideas, or heck, maybe even other ideas, will re-pop into my brainlet. Here's hoping!

Mom volunteered to go do laundry with me. "Do you want me to come?" she asks. That isn't the point, is it? "Gee, of course, I want you to come." Really? So that I have one more concern while I am out doing laundry? Sigh. But at least she got dressed and got out of the house. With less self inflicted stress because she was choosing it on her own. Not one mention of feeling sick. Yay! Not much I could think of having her do to actually help. I suggested putting the quarters in the machine, but she passed on that. Oh well. We did go for ice cream after the laundry. She got some cappuccino crunch. Sadly Mr. Twistee is closing for the year come Tuesday. Maybe the grocery store will have something similar. Look at me - reminding myself by adding it to my shopping list on my phone! Go me! Mom does love her cappucino crunch! Lo and behold! Hershey's makes some! Now, if I can find it in the grocery store...

And there we have it, our excitement for the day. Laundry! Three baskets of it. This necessitated buying new laundry detergent - the inexpensive stuff we had purchased on our cross country trip last year (?) finally ran out. I also got some stain remover, which didn't work on the sternum stain on one of mom's shirts. All this was purchased at the Family Dollar store in downtown Geneva. The ATM at the community bank was down for servicing (on the Friday before a holiday?) so I needed to get some cashback as well as the laundry detergent. A man was in line buying a dress for a toddler and he and his friend were, luckily, amused by my antics of suggesting that, though it would be a little small on him, it suited his coloring.

Wow, no, I didn't recall all the things I wanted to write about. Which means that there is potential for more things to be written about at a later date! Yippee!

(Btw, I came up with a few of them after I finished this and will put them in tomorrow's post!)

The meeting that wasn't

Don't you hate it when you have a meeting and everyone who is supposed to be there isn't? What's the point in having the meeting when all the players don't play. Sigh. So, it was rescheduled. Yippee! I did get some work in the office accomplished, though. And my new time sheets for The Smith's hourly employees, me included, will get their first trial run starting next week. I can hardly wait.

And there we have it. The excitement for the day. Woo hoo! We can all take a break now. Phew! Ah. If only I knew someone who was a masseuse who could come in and give me a good working over. Heck, I would like a massage of any kind at this point in my life. Maybe after my next pay check? I think we get paid every two weeks...

Aide day! Yippee! Mom says she doesn't need the company - but she does so enjoy an audience. For a while. Then she is over it. Jenny is great, though. I am very happy that we have her helping out. 

Some of you may have noticed that I am have not been writing much about relationships or the lack there of. That is because there is nothing to write. Nothing positive that is. Which is sad. And not worth writing about. So, I am not writing about it. Yay?

What is Irony?

I am not sure I understand the concept of "irony" entirely. Maybe because at one point I listened to Alannis Morrisette's Ironic song and got all confused. Anyway, I save everything for a while. Well, just about everything. Not used tissue, but just about everything else. Or nail clippings. Ok, few things bodily related. But papers, I save those. A lot. Just about every receipt gets saved for at least a year or two. Except for one pair of receipts recently. Remember when I was doing the faucet drip thing? I bought a faucet replacement set at Lowes. Brought the receipt home and nonchalantly tossed it at a box - my recycling box. I vaguely thought, "Oops, wrong box" and intended to move the receipt later. That night, Wednesday, was recycling - and we all know how I don't like to miss an opportunity to put recycling out, so out it went. I sort of recall thinking "Hmm, I wonder if I will need that Lowes receipt. Nah!" And now, here I am, wanting to return the faucet thing but not sure if Lowes will do it without a receipt. They ought to - since they are so computerized, but I haven't gone out to try. So, is that irony? I save all the receipts except for the one that I really could make use of?

I made a delicious meal last night, if I must say so myself. It is one of my more favorite meals to make. BBQ (homemade BBQ sauce) ribs with baked beans, coleslaw and corn on the cob. Everything turned out well and mom enjoyed it. Unfortunately, ribs just doesn't turn out to be enough food for her. Sigh. Sometimes she reminds me of that huge cornucopia looking Doomsday machine on Star Trek (TOS).

Late night movie choice was The Odd Life of Timothy Green. I liked the ads for it when I saw them. Jennifer Garner has always been an actress I enjoy watching. The movie was pretty good, all things considered! Made me cry a lot, which is always fun!

There was a time

When I was younger, I was happy to fill a day full of activities. And when I am traveling, I generally do a good bit in a day. Just now, though, I in am a one-a-day sort of frame of mind. If I have one thing to do, that is plenty. One major thing, that is. Not a small thing like normal daily activities - I am not all done after brushing my teeth. That would be sad. For instance, Monday, I had the stuff at the Smith to attend to. It didn't take all day - but it did take a good chunk out of it. I could have, though, if I really, really wanted to, worked in all sorts of other non-daily activities in - like laundry or cleaning my room or some such nonsense. Instead, I didn't. Yesterday, I had no non-daily, non-maintenance sort of activities to do. So I played. Today, I had my one activity and am now over it for the day. The rest will be daily stuff - lunch and dinner and things of that ilk.

But back to yesterday, I played a lot of Mass Effect 3. I teared up a few times and eventually got to the end of the game. It took a while and had a lot of cut scenes. There was a big hubbub in the gaming community about the ending - that was all I read about it until after I had finished the game. I didn't mind the ending. And I enjoyed the series overall. Yay games!

Mom had another memory flash - and I think they might hurt her a little bit - they just keep going round and round. This time it was a song from South Pacific.

Time to start thinking about dinner!

Topical Tuesday

We are thinking of instituting a Topical Tuesday movie series at the Smith. The idea is to show movies that are thought/discussion provoking. Maybe show them on alternate weeks. Wednesdays, again on alternate weeks, we are going to run movies that are interesting cinematically but not necessarily large audience draws. Any ideas for a catchy name for our Wednesday movie series would be appreciated and entertained (maybe a glass of water - champagne is soooo expensive...). (Whacky Wednesday is off the table!)

That is part of what I did on Monday, a staff meeting at The Smith. I also met with a man (Mark) who works with the Dance Department at Hobart and William Smith about a fall dance concert that they are going to present at The Smith rather than at the Winn-Seeley gym as they have done forever in the past. I think he was anxious at first, but got more relaxed after we had chatted for a while.

Lastly, I spent a little time going through a large collected stack of CD/DVDs. Many people create them for an event presented at the Smith. I think there were four or five years of senior slide shows from Geneva High School in that pile. Mainly I was trying to find anything that we can use for music before movies and plan to let go of all of the stuff that has been abandoned there. Goodness knows we don't need them when the show that they were for happened 5 years ago! Or longer! I think I am going to like working as the Technical Manager of the Smith. Now I just have to decide if I want to always capitalize "The" or not. Hmmm...

Mom had Jenny the aide and was a bit cantankerous until she got her food. Mom ate a lot yesterday. Dinner was chicken and corn and broccoli - after that she had at least one fiber bar and ice cream. I have to remain happy that she has an appetite! She watched Shall We Dance again last night. She really doesn't like Swing Time and Shall We Dance all that much. I will put them at the bottom of the rotation. I like them both and don't understand what she doesn't like about them. It could just be Alzheimer's. (When in doubt, blame it on the disease.)

You may be wondering what excitement transpired on Sunday. I am wondering that, also. If anyone has any idea, please write and tell me!

Quite a Day

And now it is Sunday. The day of rest! Yippee!

Yesterday was chock full of exciting times. Not a bad thing, but not something I need everyday.

First off, the wedding at the Smith. It went off without a hitch - well, the couple got hitched, so, I guess that isn't an accurate statement. It went off with a hitch - but the good kind. There was only one surprise - that they had planned on taking photos at the location. No one mentioned it to me. Oh well. The photographer, John, did them efficiently, which was great. I puttered and did some cleaning while waiting for them to finish. A few interesting things were hidden in the closet I am currently working on. Anything I can move out of the manager's office and out into other people's spaces, I am happy about! Oh, and I plugged in the phone in the manager's office and it seems to work. Yippee! I wonder why it was unplugged...

After work, I bought mom a tuna dinner from Parker's. It was a tad more expensive than I would have liked or thought it should be, but mom seemed to enjoy it. She still has a good appetite. Yay for blessings of any size, shape or kind! I ended up with a slice of pizza from Cam's and some pretzels that the wedding party left behind.

Next up, showing the movie - The Bling Ring - at the Smith. It was not very well attended. I guess (college) kids just aren't interested in going to see movies in the theatre when they can watch it on their laptops or tablets. Whatever. I didn't like the movie all that well. The acting was mediocre, the film was just all over the place, the story was a depressing one. All in all, glad I saw it, and am glad it is not something I will ever have to see again. Yay!

After the movie, I went to the Red Dove for a beer, Left hand Milk Stout. I needed some graham crackers to have with that. Yummy and very, very sweet! New bartender there, who I think I might have seen before. Had a nice time just relaxing after the excitement of the day.

At home, mom was in her room, but not ready to sleep. I think she might have a bit of sundowner's going on. Anyway, I offered to put a movie on for her - and she accepted. And ended up watching two. I must remember that she doesn't like Swing Time. Hates it in fact. Sigh. I also fed her two bowls of popcorn - of which she only remembered one and kept whining about not getting a second bowl. Sigh. It is so sad to see her when she gets frustrated about not remember the seemingly simplest things to remember. Oops, two "sighs" in one paragraph. I think I need a break! Anyway, we were up until 3 - when I passed out. I think I need to get her a DVD player for her room. Maybe this week. We shall see.

I love Weddings!

I was going to write: "I love weedings" but I doubt anyone would have gotten it. So I chickened out and went with the correct spelling. Sigh. I hate it when I chicken out. Luckily, this is a small chickening.

Anyway, I do love weddings. I am note sure why exactly. They are times of high stress for all involved. Ok, not all. Some people are just there for a good time. But the bride and mother of the bride are usually quite stressed out. And sometimes the maid or matron of honor. Sometimes the groom and the best man. I think it is that, despite the stress, most people are in a good mood. Happy about the whole experience. And all dressed up!

This is my first wedding at The Smith. I hope not the last. Not a huge wedding. Four bridesmaids and four groomsmen. I think they are expecting about 150 people for the service. The rehearsal went pretty smoothly, all things considered. I got there early and set up the sound. Lots of things needed plugging and lugging. I got the amp up on stage all by myself. Yay me. I would like a new dolly with much larger wheels. Just saying. Anyway, I didn't put the speakers up on the tripods. I just couldn't get them that high by myself easily. Not even easily. With much effort. Oh, I just had a thought. A little stepping ladder or even one step up would help. That will have to be looked into. I also put the railings on the steps - another job that is easier with two people. More people need to be added to the list of potential helpers at The Smith.

The wedding party arrived around 3:30 pm. Frank, a family friend from Pennsylvania, was the designer and sort of wedding director. He and his friend/co-worker Brittany (not sure how she spells her name) did a great job setting things up - though they still want to do bows before the wedding. Everyone was pretty easy going (despite the stress). The rehearsals (three times) went smoothly. No big technical issues. I get to raise and lower one light. And play some tracks from a CD at the appropriate times. I think I can handle it.

They left about on time as well. Yay! I stayed and shut things down and then headed home to cook dinner - salmon for mom, sausages for me.

Short but to the point post

Part of the yesterday's excitement was visiting the Geneva Community Center where the Smith is sort of helping to put on movies. I don't understand how this came to be, but I am happy to help out. The space is still the black box theatre it was last time I visited. I did, though, learn about where the light switches were! Yay!

Yesterday was also the last day of service at the Leaf Kitchen. I went and had a few beers to show solidarity. I don't think Tatiana got the turnout she was hoping for, but it seemed to be picking up as I left to head home and make dinner for mom.

I watched Safe House last night which starred Ryan Reynolds and Denzel Washington. I was tired, but it kept my attention, which is a good thing. Overall I enjoyed it - not great, but entertaining. I like Ryan Reynolds. And there wasn't a whole lot of dialogue. I don't want to give it away, but the good guys won!

Today I get to start work on the first wedding I am helping with at The Smith. Yippee!

Yes - short post - got up late and have to head off to work.

Two weeks in a row!

I'm back! Phew! When I forgot to put the recycling out last week, it really threw me. True, my reminder on my computer had stopped (why had I stopped it?) so nothing popped up at midnight to tell me to put the recycling out. I don't know why I felt so discombobulated by a missed rendezvous with the recycling. Maybe because it is the one thing I can do each week that makes me feel like I am emptying the house of clutter just a teeny bit. Teeny, weeny, little bit. But better than nothing! Two weeks and counting!

Met at the Smith to talk about movies. Apparently we are going to be showing movies at the local Girls and Boys club as well as at the Smith. Interesting. So I had to get my head around two different sets of programming. Not a big deal, in the larger scheme of things. Still, all information has the potential to be useful. And I did learn a good bit. Somehow, though, I got the times all mucked up. I thought David and I were meeting at 4 and the meeting about the community center movies was to be at 5. Ooops. 3 and 4 respectively. I was only an hour off, but on time for the group meeting. Yay. I am hoping I can do some of the film stuff from my Mac. There are mostly MSFT PCs at work. Although I can get around them in a pinch, it has been years since I have done a lot of work with them. Poo even. But I will re-learn. Yippee!

At some point in the near future, motivation must be manufactured to get out of the little rut in which I have maneuvered myself. There are many things that would benefit me to get accomplished and I am really busy at not accomplishing them. Not that my days are so jam packed with other priorities. (Like getting my blog done - big and tough and rewarding that one is)(ok, yes, it is - well the last one mostly, which, when I analyze it, is pretty important to a sense of well-being) And making lunch and dinner and doing a crossword with mom are not that time consuming. Oh, I did have a realization - not an epiphany-let because it was really a one time thing - or maybe those ought to be reversed in meaning - hmm - anyway, while showering, last year (I like to be dirty) I put together my plan for an evening meal. Yay! Don't you find that the effort of figuring out what to make for dinner can be daunting at times?

Last night, latish, I met up with David and Keiran and Jason and Laura and played some pool at Trotta's. No one was there except for the bartender, Mario. He graciously let us play as long as we wanted, which ended up being till about midnight. I didn't play all that well. I realize that I am still ok, not good. Certainly not great. Sigh. Still love playing, though. Even on small bar tables.

And by nothing, of course, I mean something

There is always something to write about. If nothing else, one can write about not being able to write. One of the quickest cures to "writer's block" is to write about not being able to write. Yesterday's post wasn't about writer's block, though, it was about thinking that the subject matter for a post was not leaping out at me, as it frequently does. Sometimes I have way too many ideas for one post and try to jam them all in. Other times I do a decent job of spreading the ideas out over several posts. Yay!

We had a visitor yesterday. Not a gentleman caller, but a young woman from the EISEP program - an Ontario County Program that helps to pay the cost of mom's aide. This was the annual review to check on eligibility and to see if anything had changed substantially in our/mom's circumstances. Nothing had, that I could tell. But apparently, I had forgotten to mention something or other last year which I did mention this year. This caused a change in the amount we have to pay for the aide. Downwards. Yippee! Life is grand! More money for pistachio ice cream!

I went back to the Beef and Brew for the first time in a long time last night. I couldn't go to Red Dove, because Alan the new bartender is just too darn chatty! I may go back eventually, but only time will tell. And Leaf Kitchen is no more. As of Thursday. So I went to Beef and Brew. They were having two events there - one on the patio - spoken word, open mic sort of thing. And trivia inside. 21 people or so were playing. David's team was full and I just didn't feel like playing. Instead, I had a delicious Yeti from Great Divide and toddled off to Jose's in Canandaigua for some chicken wings. Yay! It was fairly crowded when I got there, but most everyone left soon after. Some people played pool, but no opportunity presented itself for me to play. I sat at the bar, had a good Southern Tier IPA and a dozen inexpensive and tasty chicken wings! I will probably go back again in a couple of weeks.

All in all, a pleasant day was had by many!

What to write when there's nothing to write?

Just writing total nonsense is an option of course. Not that I would ever do that without warning. But I am not in a nonsensical sort of mood. I could write about the loads of nothing I did yesterday. Sigh. But that gets a bit tedious, even for me. I could write about Mom and her wild gadding about town - except that didn't happen, which brings us back to the nonsense option in any case. I could write about Star Trek (TOS)(The Original Series) episodes I watched last night - one of my favorites amongst them - A Piece of the Action. Hmm, decisions, decisions.

Yesterday was a "Jenny the Aide" day. Mom got washed, her bedsheets got changed. Life is clean and happy and good. I also re-taped mom's self inflicted, scratched, wounded forehead. Later in the day, she trimmed all of her fingernails, all by herself! I am so grateful that mom is so self-capable. I keep reading horror stories about later stages of this disease and quail at the thought of going through some of that stuff. Thankfully, we are not there yet. May the powers that be (if there are any powers that be) grant that mom not suffer through that.

Dinner was fairly typical and mom seemed to enjoy it - cheese stuffed hamburgers, corn on the cob, green salad and tater tots. Mom didn't ask me if I made the tater tots myself or if I bought them. Is this a bad sign?

Here I am, writing about Star Trek, TOS. I don't know why I enjoy A Piece of the Action so much, but I do. Maybe it is Shatner's over acting (as usual) that just fits somehow. Or Spock in his suit and hat. Or the little kid who wants a piece of the action. I just think it is a great, fun episode. It seems that the latter half of the second TOS season is filled with the crew exploring planets with Earth reflections - this one, a roman one, the Nazi one and one about the Yangs versus the Kohms. Interesting. Or as Spock says quite a bit - Fascinating!

I don't know why I wrote my post and forgot to publish it for so long yesterday. It's not like it was an exceptionally full day. Oh well, life is just like that sometimes!

Mom's Memory Moment (amongst other things)

It is so odd how mom's memory works. Justin came over and solved our leaky faucet problem and mom remembered a lot about him. That he was recently married, used to work for Mary Gerhart and helped us out with a big drain problem. All without prompting from me! True, she did go through the whole litany of what she knew about three times in a row, but at least there was some spark of memory there! Huzzuh!

Late last night, I watched Small Apartments which was weirdly fun. It got low ratings on IMDB, but I liked it a lot. Very quirky. I thought that a friend had watched it and reflected that on Facebook. In fact, I am sure that is where I saw it mentioned. Unfortunately I forgot who said they had watched it. The person I thought had watched it said she hadn't. Hmph. Oh well, I am glad that it found its way onto the Netflix queue.

Sunday was also a busy time at The Smith. Guys and Dolls loaded out and did an excellent job cleaning up after themselves. They all believed that the theatre looked better than they had found it. Probably true! Then there was a going away party for David, which was fun. I couldn't stay long, as I needed to get back to feed mom dinner, but he got a good sized group of attendees and everything was very pleasant. Yay!

Still no drip from my bathroom faucet! I am soooooo handy!

I am listening to a book called Middlesex and enjoying it so far. I am curious, though, why the Greeks portrayed in NYC have accents that sound Jewish.

This is one of those periods in my life where everything seems a little too overwhelming. I know that life is not under my control. I fully understand that. Right now, though, things are worse than normal in my head. I try to live in the moment, be positive, all that jazz. Please realize, this is not depression. It is confusion. Ok, maybe it is a bit of depression. But life goes in cycles. And most of my cycle is way above the median line of unhappy. What is that song - into each life some rain must fall? This too shall pass.

And then I think about mom and what she is going through. Sigh.

Internet Fail!

No Post yesterday, not exactly sure why. I just didn't manage to get it done. Sigh. I did, though, do other stuff. And I did stuff on Friday too. Weird, right?

One of the exciting things that happened recently, was a second round of dimmer vacuuming. This fun filled process is not doen frequently, but seems to do the trick in preventing the dimmers from occasionally failing. Not failing catastrophically, just failing enough to make it annoying for the audience. Since I haven't heard anything from The Smith, I am guessing it did the trick. Yay!

On Friday, mom had a doctor appointment. It was zippy and easy. Sadly, they have gone to an electronic check in system. I guess they are trying to save money by having fewer reception people. Sigh. Why is it all about money? The scanner that is attached to the system had fallen from its velcroed position, so I thought it had eaten my mom's health insurance card. But it hadn't! Phew and yippee! Mom got weighed, not measured, blood pressured, temperatured and blood oxygen leveled by a nurse. Then, almost immediately, Dr. Ryan appeared. He didn't have much to say since mom didn't have much to say. Besides her Alzheimer's and some of her other issues, she is healthy. I am happy about that. Mom thinks these 6 month check-ups are a waste of time and money. Speaking of which, I was surprised that the visit was only $15. Huzzuh!

So much for Friday. Saturday, Daily Challenge wanted me to do a chore I had been putting off. I was going to, but then decided that I was going to take Saturday and Sunday off from chores. But the universe wasn't letting me off the hook that easily. A little before five, Justin came over and took a look at the leaky faucet. Turns out that the internet was wrong about what needed to be fixed in the faucet. They had said replacing the little cylinder thing would do the trick. When I couldn't find a replacement cylinder, I figured I would need to replace the whole faucet assembly. Justin stuck a screwdriver down into the bottom of the faucet housing and pulled out a little washer/gasket and spring pair. Who knew they were there? The internet videos I watched hadn't mentioned these. Apparently, they get tired eventually and need to be replaced. $5 at Value Hardware. Desiree didn't know where they were, so she got me another associate who helped me locate the right ones. Back at the homestead, I replaced one of them, and the leak continued. So I replaced the other one and, voila, leak no more! Yippee! Cheers from the masses! A chore was accomplished despite my wanting to not do anything of significance on Saturday. Silly Universe.

Saturday night, I went to Leaf Kitchen to help them try to get rid of some of their bottled beer. I did a good job. I think they appreciate my efforts. Saw people I knew and chatted with them a bit before eventually toddling home. It was a fairly early evening for me as I popped into bed almost immediately on my return. I guess I was tired or something.

Up and at 'em

I used to think the saying was "up and atom" - of course, I grew up when atomic energy and such was still pretty fantastic sounding and new. Now I know what it really is. Got get 'em, tiger! That is what I did yesterday. Up at the crack of dawn. Ok, not really. But I was showered and out of the house before 9:30 am to spend time at The Smith playing with the HVAC controller. Fun times.

Since I was up, I decided to run a couple more errands. My first (and most likely my last) trip of the summer to the Geneva Farmer's market was first on the agenda. Not the most thriving farmer's market I have ever been to. No broccoli! Or artichokes! They did have corn, so I got three ears. (It was delicious.) Not a lot of people there at 10 in the morning either. Still, some farmers market is better than no farmers market.

Next stop, the library. Mom wants to go to the library. I will get her there again sometime. I think she just enjoys looking at the books and then taking a few home. I don't think she really reads them. But I don't sit with her every minute of any day, so I don't really know. Since I was by myself, I got two audio books to listen to in the kitchen. Yippee!

Next major event, napping! I was tired so a nap was definitely in order. Yay for naps. Oh, and crossword fun with mom. This is something that I try to do at least once a day, but I do miss some days: read clues from a crossword for mom and try to help her to figure out the responses. Kind of like Password (the tv game show) which I really enjoyed. On a side note, I think I may have mentioned this before - mom wants me to try out for Wheel of Fortune. I did once, years ago, and didn't become a contestant. I don't know that I would qualify next time either. And that show has a huge element of luck involved, which counteracts my cleverness quotient, such as it is.

After nap, was dinner - last night I made store cooked chicken with house made corn on the cob and sugar snap peas. Yum!

After dinner, mom watched a couple of movies - one Cary Grant and one Fred Astaire, while I played. I finally finished Red Dead Redemption - which I enjoyed thoroughly. I started a game about Alice and Wonderland (not much of a resemblance to the books) which is pleasant but not scintillating. Suddenly, the phone rang. Or rather, I looked at the phone and saw that Kelly from the Smith had called and left a message minutes before. Apparently the dimmers were flipping off again. Sigh.

I headed down and did what I could to help out - which basically meant standing around and watching to see if it happened again. Which it didn't. Yay! This morning, David and I vacuumed the dimmers off and out and hopefully that will solve the problem, as it did last time. I was a bit surprised at how much dust (saw dust?) was in the vents. Eeek! Quite a day!

Drip, drip, drip

I have a leaky faucet. That is not a euphemism. It is a fact. Actually, I think there are two in the house, though one isn't actually a faucet, it is the sink itself, I believe. Anyway, I took it apart hoping to fix it and failed. Then I decided to replace the unit - and failed. And the drip changed locations - from being down the drain to down into the innards of the house and into the kitchen. Slow, but steady. Sigh. Last night, as I was going to sleep, I had an epiphany-let. Sometimes they come fast and furious, other times, well, this one was a long time coming. I replaced the pieces to the faucet and now the drip is back in the drain. Yay! If only I can find someone to come and replace the faucet for me. Any takers?

Many accomplishments yesterday, not the least of which was getting mom dressed. Luckily, she can still put clothes on by herself. So far. Yay! We did have one mission for which she was required - a visit to the phlebotomist. She has a 6 month check-up on Friday and we were supposed to get a blood test done before the visit. So we went yesterday. Mom still has her humorous moments, asking me if she could stay home and give blood from the house. Tee hee. I do realize that I get the urge to amuse people (especially people in their work spaces) from both sides of my parentage. I didn't get to see my father in action - well, I might have seen him, but not that I remember (since he died when I was 6)(not when he was six, because that would have made me impossible)(or at least very unlikely) but I heard that he enjoyed making people amused. Mom, when she is in a decent mood, also does her best to be charming and amusing when out and about. And yesterday was a good day. The phlebotomist said my mom was lovely and very pleasant. Huzzuh!

I had two more errands and I dragged mom along on those - though she actually walked around without much dragging. Thank goodness for the handicapped parking tag! The first of the two errands was to get my NYS driver's license. Finally! After just over two years of being here, I have finally gotten around to doing it. A year ago at this time, I almost got one. But I needed a social security card, which I couldn't easily put my fingers on. So I got a new one. And then didn't follow through and get the license. But now I am all set! Temporary license is in my wallet - permanent is on its way. Two weeks the guy said. Yippee!

Next stop, Rite-Aid to get some pills for mom. I discovered that my Favorite Pharmacist got the transfer she desired up to Rochester - where she owns a home and lives. Good for her. A little sad for me. Not that I have been going in much in any case. Just a little sigh.

Because mom was along, I decided that we would go for ice cream, despite it being a relatively cool day (high of 67 degrees Fahrenheit). We went to Mr. Twisty's. Mom loves the cappuccino crunch and I got some blue colored raspberry Italian ice. Mine was good, but I could also have not gotten any. In order to avoid the questions from mom, I just got myself some.

And yes, I did get the recycling out. Mom seems unaware of the dwindling pile of New York Review of Books in the dining room. Yippee on both counts!

Selfishly, I wonder, should I live so long, and the disease not be conquered, who will take care of me as I am taking care of mom? And will they be nicer to me than I am to mom? Or will I end up in a refrigerator box (living, sort of, I guess) in some sort of hobo town for poor, old people? Maybe the world (as we know it) will come to an end before then...happy thoughts!

Sleep Glorious Sleep!

For some reason, I didn't sleep well the night before last. I think I got about two hours of sleep before I woke up and couldn't fall, or didn't fall, back to sleep for another 3 hours or so. At which point it was 7 and I needed be out of the house by 9. I woke up at 8:54. At least I got another two hours of sleep. But neither of the alarms I had set on my phone had woken me earlier, as I had hoped they would. Why? Well, because the phone was dead - uncharged. I think the uncharging was partly due to the weather. I don't get awesome ATT reception on the best days - which makes my phone search for service more than I would like, which drains the battery. One reason I didn't sleep so well, I think, was because of a big storm that came through. Said storm probably also caused atmospheric disturbances which made my phone do more searching which drained the battery which led to me waking up 6 minutes before I was supposed to be downtown. Eeek.

Finally, I figured out how long it takes for me to drive from my house to The Smith without much traffic and with zippy parking: 3 minutes. That is pretty quick. Yay. We were meeting to go through some of the stuff in the Tech Cemetery or the Dungeon of Despair. Over the past few months, David and I have been putting things we didn't think were useful anymore (or things about which we had no clue) down into a room in the bottom of the Smith. Even more recently, we spent half an hour cleaning that space up. The next step was to get someone in who might be able to assess what we had and what we might be able to let go of and for how much. That person was Greg, the sound guy. The three of us spent most of an hour looking at things and deciding which pile they needed to live in - the sell pile, the keep pile and the "we have no idea what this is yet" pile. Huzzuh!

Next up, a bit of time was used looking at the HVAC system. It just doesn't seem to be working they way we would expect it to work. And experimentation seemed to prove that was indeed the case. Hopefully we will get some help from the controls people and the whole thing will work as expected. That would be nifty!

I really needed a nap all day, but didn't get one. Instead, I came home, made lunch for mom and then headed out to do laundry. I also decided to tackle the drip in the faucet in the small bathroom. Sigh. First off, I didn't have a wrench large enough to do the job of getting the lock ring off. So I bought one, and a box of washers for around the house. Who knew what size I would need? Turned out, upon returning home, that it was a washerless faucet - there is a cartridge in the faucet that gets replaced when it goes bad. Easy peasy, right? Wrong. Lowes didn't have the replacement cartridge. Not really a surprise since I am sure the faucet was put in many years ago. Huge sigh, though. I got home with a replacement faucet set - which the man assured me would be simple to install. And I think he is right, if I had the right tools and double jointed arms. Meanwhile, the leak continued. The shutoff valve to the cold water doesn't actually shut the water off. I guess that needs replacing too - though a functioning faucet would probably make the problem less pressing. How did I realize the extent of the problem? A puddle of water in the kitchen was a good clue. Glarg and glarp. So, right now, I have a huge pile of mess in the little bathroom and no end in relief in sight. I have written to our former handy person, Justin, but he has not written back. I heard an ad on WNYR about help around the house - Fingerlakes something, but didn't write down the information. Poo.

After the day I had had, I did not feel like cooking, so headed to Ling Ling to grab some Chinese food. Yum! Mom doesn't mind when I don't cook. I had already decided that I didn't want to go out on Tuesday night, so I stayed in and played while mom watched some TV and ate ice cream. Later, she had problems with her new television set. A new remote is, of course, daunting to someone with Alzheimer's. I am not thrilled with the whole set, but it works. And I think I got mom to a place where she was able to do what she wanted to do. Not understanding time doesn't help. She wanted to watch David Letterman and didn't understand that he wasn't available upon demand. I was exhausted from a long, frustrating day and did my best not to hurl the TV from her bedroom window.

All this is to explain why there was no post yesterday. Today is another day. We are having a bit of fall, weather-wise, in beautiful Geneva, NY. We need to get mom's blood tested and run a couple of other errands. And I still have no idea what we are doing for dinner tonight. I do have an avocado that is rapidly going bad...

Media-tastic Day

Yesterday was a media-rich day. The first media event was live theatre! Yay live theatre! Two local theatre groups got together and mounted an ambitious production of Guys and Dolls and presented it at the Smith.  I got mom up and dressed and to the theatre early. (I must was that sweater she wore - eeek!) She managed pretty well, though her clothes wearing skills were a bit iffy - she kept trying to put one arm through the neck whole of her shirt. That didn't work. Anyway, we got there and sat in the seats that I think are best for her. Since we were there really early, we watched the cast wander around and do some warm-ups before the show began. At 2, with an audience of about 250 (which is great, but looked teeny in that space (holds 1400)) the show began.

Overall, I enjoyed the production. The performances though uneven were enjoyable, the music was decently performed, the sets were great and worked well and the lighting wasn't adequate. Of course there were things I would have done differently, I wouldn't think of myself as a director if there weren't. I think mom enjoyed the show as well. Lots of recognizable music in the piece (which I had forgotten).

A funny note: one of my favorite parts of Guys and Dolls is when Nicely Nicely sings "Sit Down You're Rocking the Boat." Mary Flett, I am sure you remember that part. Anyway, I love the music and it has a lot of possibilities for production. Just as the song started, mom needed to go to the bathroom, so I missed most of it. But we made it to the bathroom successfully - which is one of the reasons I picked the seats I picked for her! Yay!

Later, mom and I watched Argo. I thought it was good, not great. Ben Affleck didn't have a lot of dialogue, which helped a lot. That was a scary time for a lot of people - I vaguely remember the whole hostage crisis - but not the bit about the six people being rescued. The main thing I remember was the disastrous attempt to try to mount a rescue and the helicopters malfunctioning or crashing or some such. Anyway, the movie was a little too confusing for mom, but I think she managed to eek out a little bit of enjoyment from it, which is always a good thing.

We have a doctor's appointment this week with Dr. Ryan. Yippee!

Out and About in G-Town

That's me, the hip guy who flits from place to place on a Saturday night. Ok, honestly, a little weird for me being out on a Saturday. Not as crowded as Friday, it seems to me. I wonder why that is...anyway, first I went to the Seneca Smokehouse, the newish place that opened up just past Belhurst. I went and had a couple of beers and came to a realization: I knew Jenny the bartender before meeting her there. Turns out she was working at Parker's in Geneva back when I was in my CA-NC transition period. Aha, even! That's why she seemed so familiar when I first saw her. Ta da! Woo hoo! Huzzuh! I did not, though, find her in Bar Dreams. I gave her a copy anyway, just because of shared history. I will probably go back again. They close early, so I left and headed to Red Dove.

I didn't know what I would find on a Saturday night at Red Dove. There were lots of cars parked in front of the building, but it turned out that there was lots of space at the bar! Yay! So I sat and had a beer. They were out of the Sly Fox O'Reilly's Stout and had Lefthand Milk Stout instead. Yum! It has been a while since I had that delicious beer. I mostly went to meet the new bartender and I did. Just not the new bartender I had thought I was going to meet. I met John who normally works on Wednesday (I don't think I have ever been to the Red Dove on Wednesday - and from what he said, I don't think I ever will (it is very busy, apparently)) who was subbing for the new Saturday night bartender. Oh well. Still had a pleasant time. If only I can get Chelsea to stop calling me Gus. Sigh.

On my way home, my cell rang, so I pulled over and answered it. Kelly asked me to come in to the Smith and change the HVAC settings, which I did. It seems that the system isn't cutting off when the target temperature is met. Maybe it is user error, but it seems like that would be the expected behavior. I will check out the manual at some point soon.

Other than that, a quiet Saturday. Mom and I did a few crossword clues. She husked some corn and washed some dishes. I am thinking seriously of taking her into a nail place and getting her nails pared all the way down, to make it a smidge more difficult for her to scratch. Right now, she is sporting a lot of bandages! Hopefully they will let her owies heal a bit!

Crazy times at the Smith Box Office

Opening night of another show at the Smith. Guys and Dolls was pretty well attended. A lot of people, though, wanted to get their tickets right before the show. Good thing that there were two of us - and then three of us - working the Box Office. I had just learned the system that day. Matt, my coworker has been using the system for months. We rocked it. And with Kelly helping to make change, things went pretty smoothly! Yay! The tough part was that I was there way too long - from 4 till past 8. Hopefully I won't be needed for that time frame again. It made it hard to get mom food.

When I got out, I went to Parker's to get mom a fish sandwich dinner. Sadly, they were out of their fried fish. Poo, even. I left and finally, after a little mental waffling, opted to get food from Friendly's for her instead. I got her the fish platter and ended up eating a little of it myself. Mom, when I got home, was all set to go to bed (at 8:30 pm). She had had her ice cream and was winding down. Interesting how her sense of time is so terrible. Anyway, she was excited to eat. When she is no longer excited to eat, that will be a pretty good sign that she is ready to go. So far, not nearly ready!

After dinner, we had a movie night - Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers in Follow the Fleet. This might be one of my favorite of the Fred and Ginger movies. They are cute in it together as if they actually might like each other, unlike in others of their movies. (I don't get a lot of "chemistry" from them - more brother and sister than lovers.) There is a number where they are making "mistakes" that result in collisions and such. Mom didn't like it. I thought it creative and entertaining. All in all, I enjoyed the movie.

Other than that, my left shoulder is really sore for some reason. Probably user error.

Feeling a bit blue

Yup - but this too shall pass.

One of my fears is that I may be going down the Alzheimer's road myself. Heck, I am only 52 but I have read about a lot of people who are younger than I am who have Alzheimer's. Eeek! Last night, I went to put the store bought, cooked chicken into the over to keep it warm and it bumped into something. I couldn't think what was in there. Turns out it was a pan of tater tots that I had cooked on Wednesday night and forgot to serve. Sigh. I hate throwing away food, but couldn't bring myself to save the tots. Completely forgetting them was a little unnerving. Ok, I don't really think I have incipient Alzheimer's but...

My current temperamental shade could, of course, be due to lack of sleep, the weather and a pair of socks I wore on Wednesday that were too tight. Oh, and forgetting to put out any recycling on Wednesday night! Glarp and grrr!

Yesterday, I got a call to go into the Smith to set the HVAC system for the upcoming performances of Guys and Dolls. Easy peasy, 5 minute job. Ha! I ended up being there an hour and found myself agreeing to go to work tonight to help out (not sure if I am volunteering or being paid - I do hope the latter...). And the HVAC itself didn't cooperate. I had to call the "controls" guy and see if he could figure out what was wrong. Apparently the computer had become disconnected from the network so rebooting it solved the problem. Yay!

It was steamy and warm last night - not dropping below 70 degrees (Fahrenheit). I am guessing the humidity is 95%. (Nope, only 92%)

Mom watched two of her new movies last night. She didn't like Flying Down to Rio but did seem to enjoy Roberta. Both have Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers in them. There are still two more of those. Plus I ordered 5 more movies for her. Four Cary Grant movies and another Fred Astaire movie - the one with him dancing on the ceiling. Now, all we need is a new TV set for mom in her room. Maybe even one that has a DVD player built in. The TV she has currently is older - and I don't know how to get a digital converter for her - though even if I could, I think a new TV would be better for her and her eyes.

Duct, duct, goose

Yesterday, after a late Tuesday night out and about, gorging on chicken wings, beer and pool, I had to arise and shine (and give god my glory, glory...)(nope, not really religious...) and get to the Smith to do some volunteer work. Yes, I volunteered my time. What a good person I am. If I were wealthier (or wealthy at all, fiscally) (I am wealthy in other, non-monetary ways, I like to believe) I would volunteer more. Perhaps. Probably not. But it wouldn't matter if I volunteered or not. Anyway, I went in to help a founding father of the modern incarnation of The Smith Opera House with the removal of some old duct work from the guts of the building. When the air conditioning went in, the old duct work was demolished (partly) and not removed. No reason to leave this lying around. We wanted to have a chain gang (or fire brigade type line) of people to make the work go quickly and easily. At first, it looked like it was only going to be me and Ken. Then the contractors (who were there for other reasons) jumped in to help. And then another volunteer showed up. Many hands made light work and we got the job handled in about an hour and a half! Yay us! I got the easy and fun job of standing by an open hole in the wall three stories up and throwing the pieces of duct and other debris down and out. Yippee! Made some good noises! And no one was hurt! We did get dirty, though...

And that was the high point of my day. Nothing else exciting transpired. Oh, wait, I am, yet again, a fibber. Something depressing happened. Leaf Kitchen announced that they were giving up their fight to bring fresh, happy, locally sourced food to the people of Geneva. Very sad. I went in to chat with Tatiana and I must admit that I was a teeny bit tearful. I have always felt welcome at their establishment. Sigh. I guess I will have to go in a few more times before they close up for good at the end of the month.

Lastly, mom and I had movie night and watched Ghost World. This movie had been recommended to me, and being somewhat enamored of Scarlett Johanson, I figured what could it hurt to watch the movie. Well it hurt my brain. A lot of people think highly of this movie. I thought it was pretty bad. I didn't like Thora Birch, who was the lead. Scarlett's acting was terrible - sure she was 15 and was supposed to be 18, but she was just plain bad. Pretty, bad. Steve Buscemi, who I enjoy, was not all that great either. I am sure he did what was wanted of him and more, but just not wonderful. And it got weird at the very end. Which left a peculiar sense of non-closure for me and mom. Perhaps it was supposed to signify that she had died? Who knows? And I for one, will hope to forget the movie soon.

Phew!

Leaving Canandaigua after an evening of pool and wings, I got pulled over by the Sheriff. He seemed to think I had had too much to drink to be driving. After a battery of tests, he decided that, in fact, I was ok to drive. But I do need to get my NYS license taken care of. I almost got it a year ago, but I didn't have a second form of identification. Well, third. I needed my current license, and two more forms - a passport wasn't good enough for the DMV. So I had to get a social security card. And how did I get the social security card? With my passport. Sigh. Now, I just have to find the card again. I know I have it somewhere. It and three or four others. I have gotten a lot of them over the years. And misplaced many of them. I wonder how many Augustus Schoen-René's are paying into social security?!

It was a fun evening, besides the Sheriff incident, which actually had its fun moments. I went to the Red Dove to say hi to everyone down there. Sadly a new bartender will be taking over Tuesday nights from Sarah. Boo hiss even! Nice enough guy, very chatty, named Alan. Wandered up to Beef and Brew and met up with the trivia crowd - ok, mainly David and Keiran. And Sarah, (another Sarah) who opted to go home rather than come out with us. Probably wise of her. Anyway, the three of us went for pool and wings at Jose's where we went last week after our win at trivia. I had seen that they had wings for sale on Tuesdays and Thursdays - and the notion of garlic Parmesan wings sounded awesome! We got a dozen - six medium and six garlic parmesan, both were good. Ok, the garlic ones were great. I will definitely go back again.

What else exciting happened? Hmm. I made pasta, with alfredo sauce from a jar. Needless to say my home made stuff is better. But it was easy. Also sausage, broccoli and, guess what, for a change, corn on the cob rounded out the meal!

We lost! Sniff, sniff

We lost in the championships of trivia. Not even a place in the top five! Grrr. And there were no country music questions to blame it on. And I think we got both of the sports questions correct (Thank you Sarah!!) Still, a good time was had by many, many people. Over a hundred people participated in the event. Many more than the bar was prepared for on a Monday night. It did take me a good long while to get my first (but not only) beer of the evening. And the beautiful town of Waterloo NY got explored. True, we did end up right where we started, but it was nice to have a little walk about in downtown Waterloo.

I need to figure out, quickly, when my mom and I are going to go see Guys and Dolls. Not really sure I am dying to see it. Still, it would be good for mom to get out and about. I don't know that she has been out in a while. I went in to the Smith twice yesterday. Once for the staff meeting and once to do a little work - removing the steps - easy peasy - and getting sound down into the dressing rooms - not so easy - luckily David knew how to do it. I will have to see if I can retrace what he did so that I can do it as well. I think we need to buy a few more cord adapters to make life easier and more streamlined.

What other excitement did yesterday entail? Dinner was fairly tasty - asparagus, corn on the cob, friend rice with peppers and onions and a bit of pork from the freezer. Trying to use up what's in there. Oh and it was a Jenny day! I wasn't around for her whole time, but apparently she did a good cleaning of mom's nesting area near the television in the living room. That could be done more often and I wouldn't be upset about it!

Happy Tuesday!

Seemed Successful

The coffee experiment seemed successful. At least on its first day. I will continue it and see what happens. I saw an interesting video about Alzheimer's the other day. The progress and what is eaten by the disease was good to know. Depressing, but good to know. Anyway, mom had pretty irrefutable evidence that she had had two cups of coffee. Yay! And washing two cups is worth the result of mom not stressing over the amount of coffee she has had. Oh, and I don't know if I mentioned this, but I started to mix some decaf into her mix. I think it was about 70/30 this go round.

Finally broke the seal and started on a new game on the xBox. This may not seem like a big deal to you, but to me it is huge. I have a backlog of games that I haven't played and it was beginning to get a little ridiculous. My plan is to play through all the ones that I have before getting any new-to-me ones. This particular game is about the Wild West - a period of history that has always been of interest to me. Loved, loved, loved Deadwood! Yay even!

Perhaps this seal breakage will also shift some other areas of my life into motion. Anything is possible - though most things are unlikely. If you recall the list from before of things that need to get done (not urgently, but they would be nice to accomplish) there has, so far, been no movement. But the day is youngish. Today is Jenny the aide day and I do have a staff meeting at the Smith. And tonight I think I am going to play trivia again - it is the finals after all...

Ok, gotta get a bit motivated. Hope your days are filled with happy choices!

Solving the two cups of coffee conundrum

"I gave you two cups of coffee!" "No, you didn't" "I did." "I did not have two cups of coffee. I only had one cup of coffee." "I brought you two. Do you remember this conversation?" "Yes, vaguely." "So?" "I only had one cup of coffee! I can never win."

This happens most days. Sometimes longer, sometimes shorter. Yesterday, though, I had an epiphany-let. I would bring up a second cup of coffee after she had her first cup. Two actual, physical, different mugs. Yes, more work for me in terms of dishwashing and such, but well worth it to end this fairly useless and pointless and frustrating (for both of us) conversation. It will be tried at lunch. Yippee!

Friday was not a day filled with steps, large or small. It was largely vegetative. Saturday, Guys and Dolls did a large part of their load-in and build at the Smith. I went in for a few hours in the morning just to be there. They had everything under control, so I chose to spend that time working in the Manager's Office. It probably hadn't been neatened in at least a year. Maybe longer. I did not find a lot of treasures, but I did find the surface of a desk and a table. Yay! There is still a bit to do - a closet full of drawings (from a cursory examination) and three containers of random things collected from around the theatre in other cleanings. It actually feels like a place I can sit comfortably now. Not that I expect to sit there too often...I went back and checked on them twice. The first time just to say hello. The second to make sure the place was locked up. It wasn't. Not in a horrendous way, but one of the unlocked side doors had not been re-locked. Not really their fault. Actually neither was, which is why it was not horrendous. The other was a crash door that is notoriously hard to make latch. I fixed them both and toodled home.

After the second visit to the theatre, I went for a beer or two at the Smokehouse. Jenny, the bar manager, is growing on me. Lucy was there, serving now and not bartending. And I saw a woman that I knew from somewhere, sitting at the bar. But I didn't talk with her. She was with someone (I hope her son...). And since I couldn't place her, I didn't want to say "Haven't I seen you somewhere before?" Isn't that a classic pick-up line? Well, I am classic...I just relearned that I am a few months older than President Obama! Eeek!

Wish me luck with the coffee experiment!

We won!

Ok, I don't know that I helped all that much, but the team with which I played Trivia last night came in first place! Woo hoo! Hard fought match, looked like we were doing dismally and then we came up with some clutch answers in the final few questions. Go team Electric Sheep! There were four of us and sadly we had no sports knower. That would have helped a lot. And there were way too many country music questions. Seriously, one country music question is way too many! The bar we were visiting was in Canandaigua. So near and yet so far. I liked the place. Nice staff, decent beer (not great) and ok decor. No pool table. They did serve food, but I didn't look at a menu.

After winning, we decided to go out and celebrate some more. David and I both like to play pool a lot, Keiran enjoys it as well, and Sarah, well, we dragged her along fairly willingly. We looked at three places with pool tables, none of which were very appealing. At the last one, a woman suggested a fourth place - down by the Lake. Perfect! Not the best pool table I had ever seen, but decent for a small bar table. Lots of room around it - inexpensive beer - and it turns out that they have inexpensive wings (12 for $4.75) on Tuesdays and Thursdays. My current plan is to head there on Tuesday after a beer at Red Dove. Just because I can. Yay! We played a while and it was very pleasant.

Funnily (not funnelly) I was in Canandaigua earlier for lunch out with a friend. We went to Rheinblick's, a German restaurant. Someone mentioned this place to me a while ago and I had forgotten about it until asked to pick a place to lunch. The food was good and the staff were all very friendly and helpful. We originally didn't see that there was a lunch menu, so were ordering dinner, which looked great! The lunch menu - in the back of the folder, had some good options, too. I ended up with a pulled pork sort of sandwich and had delicious potato pancakes as my side. Yum city!

Sometimes one just has to laugh

I choose to think of this event, in retrospective (I mean this in the sense of observing something in the past with perspective - heck, maybe that's what the word really means...), as funny. I was working at the Smith for an event - more on that later - and wanted to also maintain contact with mom and get her in her zone - watching BBC news and such. So I called her and warned her about half an hour before the show started. I called again at 6, which is when the BBC begins to check in. Well, she couldn't figure out how to turn on the TV. I tried walking her through it - from getting the remotes - she was confused and thought that the phone and the TV were somehow the same thing - she kept telling me "it" said "in use." Took me a while before I realized she was talking about the phone and not the television. (Which is terebi in Japanese - the weird things we remember...) Anyway, she couldn't get the remote - or any remote - to work on the TV. I was working, so I told her to forget about it (hahahahahaha) and to read her book instead and I would fix things when I got home. Well, I got home and found that the correct remote was not anywhere to be easily found. She had found two remotes - one for the blueray player and one for the stereo. Obviously neither of those would have ever worked to turn the television on. I tore the living room apart looking for the third remote. Nothing. Nada. Rien, even. Then I had an epiphany-let and sure enough, the remote, according to mom, had walked upstairs to her bedroom all on its own! Wow, what a clever remote! Are we laughing yet?

I was at the Smith for a longish while yesterday. We had a kick-off event to some sort of fundraising. Yay! (Ok, I know more about it - just not going to talk about it). I went early so that I could help Kelly to feel more comfortable and supported. Good thing I did. The stage needed some re-arranging so that we could make it presentable for the presentation portion of the program and to be able to bring the movie screen in. Lights needed to be focused - which I did - on the podium - which I had forgotten I had put behind a big door - but David found (because that is where he has often stashed the podium) and sound needed to be finished setting up and tested - Amp on last and off first - have to remember that! And there were also sundry other things to take care of. Table and chairs for an acting bit - and to top it off, we had to work to get a nifty presentation, made by one of the staffers operational. The laptop we use to present things has an outdated version of Powerpoint on it. So we used another staffer's mac laptop. I am not a Keynote expert - so getting things to work took a bit of mental sweat. Sigh. But eventually everything came together - as it often does in a production - and life was beautiful.

Last night was movie night at Chez Schoen-René and we watched Warm Bodies. It wasn't as good as I thought it would be - many of the best bits had already been shown in the trailers. Still, it was fun. Mom said she was going to have nightmares - let's hope that isn't/wasn't the case.