Haven't gone back to sleep...

So, instead of sleeping, I came up with a thought about why the problem we were having with ticket sales was occurring. I went online and fixed it. Yay me. Then I started working on a draft document that Kelly has created. I might be doing more than just editing it, though...I will do what I am doing and give it back to her. Maybe she will credit me with co-authorship if she likes the changes I am making. Maybe not.

Mom is being a real pain in the butt today. Yay.

I am exhausted again. Up at 3 and then up at 6 and then up at 8 all to help mom - then from 8 until 9 almost incessant calls from mom - where am I? Where can I go? What can you do for me? Me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me me. For an hour. And now it has started again. Sigh.

I got a bit of a nap. Yay. I also did some good work on the Kelly doc. And I even went out to run some errands. Spent longer than I thought I was going to at the Smith, talking with Kelly and getting a few little things accomplished. Then a brief stop at the Public Library (I love libraries - I wonder how they will evolve in the future...) to pick up two Audio books that were being held for me. One of them I had completely forgotten I had requested. The other is the next book in the Harry Potter series - book 5 The Order of the Phoenix. Yippee! Last, a quick stop at the grocery store to pick up some corn on the cob, some of mom's pills and a few other things. Now I am back home again. And could use another nap.

I am almost finished with The Goblet of Fire. Yippee! 

I tried to watch The Boxtrolls with mom, but she was having none of it and slept through most it. It wasn't all that engaging on the small screen. It might have been better on the big screen. Or on my computer with headphones or better sound. All in all, it seemed ok, not great. Glad I rented it, though. 

Simply Sunday

Off to a good start. I got  great amount of sleep after the past two days of having to get up at an hour to which I am not accustomed. Huzzuh! And mom did a decent job of getting herself to and fro from the bathroom. Without calling for me. Double huzzuh!

Mom's tummy is upset. That isn't fun for anyone. Poo, even. :)

We have had lunch and mom ate everything without complaint. Yippee, even. 

No exciting plans for the day. Some Smith work is all I really have on my plate.

I really need to start working on getting mom either more care here or get her to a nunnery, er nursing home. I can feel that those next steps are imminent. I thought it would be in January, but we have managed to Mid April. Go us.

Spring is spronged! Yay! We have bluets in our yard. And next door some daffodils. And our lilac bushes are starting to leaf and bud. How exciting is that?

Went shopping at the grocery store and bought some hamburger so that I can make meatballs for dinner. Yum. 

I also bought mom a red heart ballon and bought myself a whole pile of boxer shorts. I am so excited to change my underwear now. But I am holding on - anticipating the excitement tomorrow. So excited!!

Ok, definitely not playing Dark Souls or any of its variants anymore. When the first boss you play is 3 times as strong and the first thing that happens is that you are stunned without recourse - that just isn't fun. On to the next game.

Another early day

Today was another early start with an alarm sort of day. Huzzuh. I did get a couple hours of sleep, which is a good thing. I only went in to get things started for my staff member. Got there, got things going and came home. I have been working and napping since then. 

Lunch went much more smoothly today. Mom was awake and cooperative. Yay. Dinner will be corn on the cob, left over chicken and some salad. I need to use up my lettuce.

Wow, mom is in a state today! Wide awake and full of it. Where am I? It's not safe in my bed. I'm cold (it is 75 in her bedroom). I hurt all over (I have given her as much pain medication as I can according to the directions. And all of this over and over again. Yippee!

Just came back from the grocery store where I got a bunch of vegetables primarily. I don't know why, but I had a hankering for Challah and they were ought. I guess I shouldn't be surprised since it is Saturday. I bought some little bread rounds instead. Maybe a snack tonight of nutella or cheese or something. We shall see. 

Started a new game - one which promises to have the protagonist die a lot - and so far it has been true to its word. Joy. It might be too deathful for me to play. We shall see. So far it is pissing the hell out of me. Grrrrr.

Mom ate all of her dinner! Well, she didn't eat a little bit of the tiny salad I gave her, but she did eat everything else! Yippee!

Zip, zoom, zowie

Here we are, almost to mid April. I think the time goes weirdly when the weather is weird. Then again, maybe I am just weird. Weird is a weird word.

I just paid a couple of bills. It is that sort of day. Time to get some stuff accomplished that has been accumulating. Mom gets her STAR exemption, I mail the taxes (I still don't understand how I, who earns so little owe state taxes - seriously it is mind boggling - but then again, I do live in NYS and we are one of the more heavily taxed states), Netflix gets its latest movie back, and my retirement gets another bit of funding (yes, mom's Publisher's Clearing House entries are waiting to be put together). And I am sleepy. I am looking forward to the day when I can sleep and wake when I want to, not with the Mom Clock waking me at hours that make sense to her. Sigh. Snore.

My plan is to crank through the stuff that I have piled on my bed, and then start to think about Smith stuff. I know that I want to go in and work on the copier issues - get scanning and emailing up and working, get the PS (post script) printer drivers up and running on the two office computers and maybe some of the laptops, keep working on Theatre Manager (trying to learn how to design tickets to be scanned and how to scan them to show them as used)(and other stuff).

Honesty is a rare thing, I find. A checker at Wegman's gave me $.75 because she took my bottle return coupons one day six months ago and forgot to take them off my receipt. How great is that?!

So many great lines in The Big Bang Theory. Just saying.

Blocked!

Mom realized why the gate was there and was unamused. Sorry/not sorry. I tried to explain to her that it is really for her own safety, but she feels she is being imprisoned. Not much I can do about that. But I can sleep soundly at night not worrying that she will pitch headfirst down the stairs trying to get herself some food. Yippee!!

We are going to the doctor's today to get her looked at and then going to the lawyer's office. Fun day. Good thing I have gotten all of my Smith work (movie playlists, movie sound playlists, HVAC, mail blast, etc.) done already. And tonight, conference call with the family. To whom I emailed the list of records I need to have on hand for eventual medicaid approval. It is a slightly daunting list.

Wow, what a day so far! Mom has forgotten how to stand up apparently. There's some fun stuff. I mean, I remember when she complained about climbing in and out of tombs in Egypt. And grumbling about not getting up all the time. But now she seems to think she has forgotten how to stand up by herself. Yippee. The aide got mom dressed, I gave her lunch and then we had a "talk" about her lack of exercise. Her great response - "What have you done for me lately?" Seriously? Anyway, we shall see if I can get her to do some exercise.

We got to the doctor's on time, huzzuh, and had the wonderful PA we have had before. Mom does indeed have shingles. And she prescribed an anti-viral - as Paul suggested. No one told me that 21 pills was going to cost $65. How much help will it be? That is anyone's guess. I guess we will see.

Then off to the lawyers to see about a couple of things. He didn't think he had any of the originals of some of the documents on my medicaid preparedness list. Oh well. He does have an original will, but the copy is good enough for now.

We were going to go get mom some ice cream, but she wanted to come home and go to the bathroom instead. Weird, but whatever.

I need to go to the pharmacy and get her prescription, pick up some stuff. I might also go and set up an appointment for a massage. I could really use one. Or two. One a week is about right, I think. Sigh.

Got the prescription and cooked leftovers for dinner. Time to do some hard core relaxing.

Great Purchase and an Owie

Starting with the bad news, I have a paper cut on my right hand ring finger. Owie. I probably ought to put a bandaid on it so that it doesn't catch on everything it can possibly catch on. Sigh.

My calendar was not up-to-date! I forgot to put in my appointment today with the Elder Care Attorney. She told me that the initial consultation was free - to determine if there was aught she could do for us. Thereafter it will be $250 an hour. Sigh. I haven't looked through my papers yet to see what all I have in my plastic tub. I don't know where the deed to the house is - I think it is in mom's safe deposit box. I wonder how I get access to that. Hmm. I will ask at the bank at some point. I don't think that is a crucial thing for the meeting today. I really do need to call the long term care people and see if the POA (Power of Attorney) I sent them was sufficient to grant me access to the account. We shall, of course, see.

My plan is to get my Smith stuff taken care of this morning. I need to build the two movie playlists, make the two spotify playlists, finish the Mail Chimp Weekly Email Blast and see what I can do about getting the other mail blast for PUSH closer to completion. I ought to be able to do all of that by noon. Hopefully.

Oh, the purchase of Greatness. I really like Aaron Sorkin's work. He writes really well and mostly gets good writers to continue his shows. I bought the complete Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip for $10 (including shipping)! Mom and I watched three episodes last night. Ok, mom napped during parts of them, but she was there on the sofa beside me. Yay!

Time for some work. Good morning!

Looks like mom got Shingles after all. Crap. We will head to the doctor's office tomorrow or Thursday.

Toasty!

The temperature at 5:12am on Wednesday morning in Geneva, NY is a balmy 37°F. It is going to be above freezing most of the day! Huzzuh! I was just outside in a t-shirt and boots playing choochoo train in my walkways. Mom and I get to go to her dentist appointment this afternoon. Yippee! An outing! Always a reason to celebrate. This is going to be mom's first time downstairs in a few weeks. I am tempted to take her to Friendly's for dinner, but am concerned about all the issues involved in a meal out. We shall see. (They called to reschedule - seems like this is the second time that has happened...) For now, I think I will try to get a few more hours of sleep. That would be nifty...

The puzzle movie is on hold - not because I don't want to do it, but because creatively I am a little stymied just now where it is concerned. Fear not, it will get done. Eventually. I hear that patience is a virtue. Hahaha.

I took the plunge and am going to go further spelunking into the depths of software upgrades. This morning before I went back to sleep, I started the download and upgrade process for my phone - the download took 6 hours - well, it ended up actually only taking four (!) - which unfortunately was exactly when I was supposed to be getting a call from an Elder Care Lawyer. Oops. We ended up speaking on the house's landline instead. Choices and options. Huzzuh!

Tonight I think I am going to update the software on my laptop. I don't really want to, because nothing is broken on here - but life moves forward and I don't want to get too far behind the technological curve, do I?

It is so warm outside! Things are melting, slowly. I went out to clear a little of the driveway and discovered a few things: slush is heavy, my shovel is broken, and my car lost a piece of plastic that is making things tough for my right front tire. Yippee.

Shopping at Walmart is always a joy. I went to buy mom some more underpants. They had a price thing that was wrong. Hate that. It said what I was buying was $75 per hundred - when it was actually   closer to $40 per hundred. I bought myself some socks, too. One of the newest socks I had mysteriously sprouted a hole in the toe. Grrr. I liked that sock too. I had named it and everything. (Sockie, in case you were curious - or Harriet - it answered to neither.)

Mawwiage

My excitement today is heading out into the winter wonderland that is Geneva NY today (I think the high temp is supposed to be 7 degrees Fahrenheit - and we have a decent amount of freshish snow on the ground) to get to the Smith to meet with a woman who is planing on having her wedding ceremony at the Smith. When I agreed to see her, I didn't realize that it was President's day (I think we ought to go back to having individual days off for each president - what would you do on GW Bush's birthday?) and that the Smith would be closed! Well, poo. It will, though, get me out of the house for a little while. I do need to do some grocery shopping. Mom was asking for tater tots all evening. When she was awake.

Mom was up until about 5 pm yesterday and then slept until 11 or 12 at night. Yippee? I watched all of the stuff we usually "watch" together on Sunday night - the baking show where the the 17 year old got tossed, which was a pretty good showing for anyone - top five - then Downton Abbey - where everyone is blithely accepting Edith adopting some random child - and lastly Grantchester which is getting even more melodramatic. I hope the vicar ends up with the German woman - but since it is a drama, I bet they won't end up together. And of course, mom woke up pretty thoroughly right after the shows ended and spent the next half hour complaining that she didn't get to watch them. Which makes me a bad person because she was sleeping during the show. Yippee.

Mom just asked for a backstage tour of "this place" - asking to see where the people were riding the horses...and where all the other people who live here were. (Weird that those two words don't rhyme...)

Ooh, I might be a polymath. I know I am a polyglot. I hate poli-sci. Not sure about polygamy or polyamorousness. And I am not roly-poly. Ok, probably not a polymath, but a polymath aspirant.

Nice package!

My package from Amazon came. I ordered it only a few days ago and it came yesterday. Huzzuh! Full of three items that will improve my quality of life. Ok, maybe not, but I am glad to have them.

My items

What do we have here? First, we have a tub hair catcher. Maybe this will make it so that I don't have to use more of that caustic hair clog removal liquid. That would be nifty. I loved the instructions on the back.

Sometimes instructions are so, er, helpful

Next we have a book about the Feldenkrais method of exercise. It is tough reading. Maybe I will get a video. (There are some on the interwebs! Huzzuh!) I hoped that this would give me some ideas on how to get mom to exercise without her realizing I was getting her to exercise. Maybe not.

Lastly, we have a cool piece of technology. It is a wifi extender - train it and then place it at the edge of your routers range and it will create a second range. How cool is that? I had purchased a web camera to help me keep an eye on mom and her bedroom was a little out of range of the router in the house. This device has made it possible for me to set the camera up and check in on mom's bedroom when I am not there with her. Even from the Smith. I am guessing that anyone can check in on her at any time. And by anyone, I mean anyone who knows the camera name and password. And I just ordered two more cameras so that I can keep track of her in other parts of the house. Huzzuh! They have come down in price tremendously! Now if only I could find one for the Smith that was reasonably priced. I need one that can look from the Smith to the Kiosk so I and others can look at it to see if things look right.

I like Pebbles

The other day, Newegg.com sent me an email as they do on a weekly basis. Usually they go right into the trash. This time, something caught my eye. A pair of JBL Pebbles speakers. For $29 dollars. The speakers are for laptops and they rock! (Oh, I made a funny. Or JBL did...)

Up and at 'em! I need to work on fixing up the slide show for the Smith. It is a little weird working on the slide show remotely. Some strange behaviors that I am still trying to figure out. I do need to go into the Smith to do a few things - test a couple of movies, set up the speakers for tonight, bleed the furnace...then this afternoon, a doctor's appointment with mom. That'll be fun, for sure. It looks like I will get to all the calling and such that I am supposed to be doing on her behalf tomorrow. And maybe laundry tomorrow too. Gee, isn't it great fun, reading about my day and my plans?

The doctor wasn't all that much help. He suggested upping mom's dosage of her sertraline (sp?) as that might help with mom's anxiety. I just don't want her to be a drooler. Didn't do anything about her knee - because, well, we didn't really want to get into the whole thing at this point since it is functional still.

My right wrist is twanging for some reason. Maybe I am typing too much? Or working on the puzzle too much? I am at that point now (way past where today's picture shows) where I think that there aren't enough pieces left and that I am missing four or five. I did find two of three edge pieces that had eluded me for a long time. Huzzuh!

Is it sad that I look forward to taking mom to the doctor's because I get to interact with people who don't have dementia and at the same time don't need to worry that mom is ok?

Games I Play

Yes, I am a player. If you didn't know that before, know it now. I like to play. I believe that play is part of what keeps one young at heart. Unfortunately, I do play the badder sorts of games as well. Let's start with those.

I need to play games with my mom. Most of them are for her own good. Whenever I go out, I am "going to The Smith." Even if I am not going to the Smith - that is where I tell her I am going. I sometimes add Wegman's to the places I am going and to the things I am doing. More information than that just starts her brain whirring - and that can be sad. I try to keep mom as calm as possible.

At home, whenever I need to "escape" from my mom - because if I didn't escape, I would go even crazier than I already am - I say I am "going to the bathroom." She can't really deny me going to the bathroom(even though she sometimes tries to). When I eventually return, I might tell her what I was actually doing - within reason. Playing xBox is just "playing," working in the kitchen is just that. Working on the computer (which includes checking Facebook - I mean, come on, that takes a lot of time and effort...)

Next is the answer game. Mom used to ask the same question over and over again. She still does, but the question has become "What am I doing?" or some variation of that. It is really hard to answer that. I am not one for giving her activities - when I have given her activities she gets even more stressed out. She doesn't do much, so my answers are pretty simple most of the time: You are going to the bathroom, you are lying down thinking happy thoughts, you are eating your lunch.

Just for your information, mom's cognitive skills are declining appreciably. I can say a sentence I said six months ago and today she can't parse it. I need to keep my sentences down to about five words to maximize her listening comprehension. No allusions, no big vocabulary words. Sigh.

I play games when I make meals. Ok, not so much play games as sometimes make two meals - or one and a half meals. For instance, if I make salmon for my mom, I will make something else for me. Or tonight, we had salad, hamburgers and sweet potato tots. On my salad I added green olives and mild banana peppers - two things that mom has made clear she doesn't like. And for our hamburgers (which I marinate in Worcestershire Sauce and stuff with cheese) and tots I added a few pizza pockets - again things that mom doesn't like. And I play with recipes - making things I have always wanted to make. Mom says she loves the egg drop soup from Main Moon on Exchange Street. Well, we are out of it - and there is still Chinese food left over - so I am going to make some egg drop soup for her. Yippee?

I try not to play relationship games, but I am a gamer, so...

Ours (which is in the attic) looks like this

Speaking of gaming - I love all sorts of games - from tic tac toe to chess, from old maid to bridge, from Stratego to well, anything. I own an xBox. Our first video game console was the Odyssey. I have had two NES's - both stolen - from the same house - on successive years (sad story that). I love to play pool. I wasn't a big arcade gamer, but did enjoy a few. Played lots of games on the computer and still like to. I don't have a lot of games on my phone - but the two I have currently (well, I have three but I don't play one of them too frequently) are bridge (yay!) and Word Jigsaw. I love them both and use them as rewards or time fillers.

Anybody want to play?

Fear of feeling fearful - is there a phobia of fear? Phobophibia.

I hope, that as I age, I maintain a modicum of fearlessness. My mom is afraid of everything - including everyday stuff - like breathing and walking and, well, everything. I don't know that I would be able to live in a such a constant state of fear...

My right ear is blocked again. Poo. I will adjust or it will get better or both or neither. Grrr.

When I first came to take care of my mom a few years ago, she was pretty autonomous. Now, I am a little worried to leave her alone for more than an hour at a time - maybe two or three depending on the day - but four makes me really anxious. And I can't really tell her where I am going as a) she just forgets and b) gets anxious if it is someplace new. OK places for me to be going are: grocery shopping and The Smith. So if I am headed out for whatever reason, I am doing one of those two things in her mind. Luckily, right now, there isn't a lot happening at the Smith, so I don't need to be there for long stretches of time. We shall see what happens come the Spring.

I took most of the day off from the puzzle yesterday. I got a couple of pieces put together and a couple of pieces added to the pieces already attached in the puzzle - but not the leaps and bounds that occurred in the past few days. Moderation and patience - always working on those two "virtues."

The Smith did get a bit of my time yesterday. One of my projectionists was really, really late. Got there at 1:45 when he was supposed to be there at 1:00. Sigh. So I got to go in and be there for a while. Which was a good thing, since it seemed like he had also forgotten how to run the movies. Double sigh.

Oh, I did get to Lake Drum's chocolate and beer and BYOV (bring your own vinyl) event. Sadly my copy of Court of the Crimson King is totally messed up. Maybe all of my records are. I don't know. I haven't actually played many of them since, well, for a long, long time. Why the heck am I holding on to them still? Silly Augustus. Speaking of which, I did decide to let go of some plastic baggage that has been accumulating for years and years (and years and years).

But I got away from my subject. There was quite a crowd at Lake Drum - especially for a Sunday afternoon. My enjoyment was spoiled a little because of my ear being stuffed up. We early muggers got a yummy taste treat as well - I think I posted a picture of it on Instagram - pulled pork plus! The taste of chocolate was pretty yummy, chocolate with bacon. I did think that there would be more chocolate tasting than just the one little tidbit, but there wasn't. The tasting of beers that Victor and Jenna shared more than made up for it, though!

I didn't end up buying any of the chocolate that was for sale. Lake Drum was out of the beer I have been partaking of there most recently, so I made do with the Smoked IPA.

Next stop yesterday, grocery store. Yippee! I love going to the grocery store. Is that acutely weird?

I spend a lot of time on Facebook. And recently on Instagram as well. And I comment and "like" a lot of posts. I do worry (a teeny bit) that people get tired of me always writing on their posts. But I like to feel like I am actually engaged in something, rather than just sitting here passively and not interacting. If they don't want their crap commented on, don't post it. Anyway...

Burned the Brussels Sprouts

Sigh city. I really do like brussels sprouts. I didn't mean to burn them. I made a batch for dinner and then cooked a second batch to be eaten like popcorn or tossed into other dishes. Sadly, I left them cooking for five hours. That wasn't good for them. No one noticed the smell, I guess. Mom, for one, wouldn't have been able to figure out how to turn the toaster oven off. Then again, I am not really sure that is true. She does seem to be able to figure out how to turn things on and off. Though that is about the limit of her acknowledged cognizance of things technical.

Speaking of mom, I plan to take her to the race track again. I know that she has fun there. It is a pleasant way to spend a nice afternoon. Maybe sometime this month. Still haven't figured out what to do about Kristen's wedding. My guess is that we will just not go. Finding someone to watch mom for a few days is not an easy task. And I haven't gotten my ducks in a row regarding mom. Sigh. I really need to do that too.

Carrot or the stick? I tend to work better with the carrot - or even better with carrot cake. How about you? When you have things you would like to do, do you beat yourself up and take away things? Or do you promise yourself a treat when they are done?

A package I ordered finally arrived. Yay! Mom has been watching a lot of Doc Martin lately - I mean at least 10 times through the whole series. Not that she really remembers it, but I think it is beginning to sink in, that she has seen it before. Oh, that reminds me of a funny - well, not funny, but interesting perhaps - there is a DVD of Victor Borge that she loved to watch, until she found out that it was a recording of a show he had done. Some part of her brain thought that she was watching a live performance of his, right then, right there. Anyway, I bought her a set of DVDs of As Time Goes By - starring one of her favorite performers - Judi Densch. I hope this goes over better than the NCIS series I got for her.

Vacationland Maine - Wednesday and Thursday May 21 and 22

How long have I been here? How long will I be here? What state is this? Who am I? Yes, I am getting that jello-like and relaxed. Mellow jello! We drove up on Tuesday. Wednesday day was a decompressing day. I didn't do a lot of anything - except ate and drank a bit. Oh, and saw a movie. Well, a collection of five documentaries from the Camden Film Festival.

That was a nice relaxing day!

Thursday was another relaxing day. My main (tee hee) plan was to buy a new laptop and a new iPhone. (I am using the voice typing feature and it seems to be working pretty well)(How freaking cool is that!) At first I didn't know if I wanted to go to Portland or someplace else to find a Best Buy. So I used trusty online stuff and found out where all the Best Buys were and it turns out the Bangor location was indeed the closest. (OK, back to my laptop and no more voice typing.)(Wait, maybe there is an option...looks like there is - downloading something so that I can use it offline as well as online. Almost a gig download!) So I hopped in the car, programmed my GPS (love my GPS) and toodled off to Bangor's Best Buy.

Bangor isn't so very far from Belfast. The two cities, though, are not connected by major highways. They are connected by less than major highways. A lot of little towns are driven through as well. A 30 mile drive takes an hour. But at least it is scenic! Yay scenic! I tried listening to one of the CDs I recovered from my book bag - oops, they both were all beaten up. Sigh. So it didn't play as well as I would have hoped. I have a plan, though. I am thinking of turning my old 3gs phone into an iPod. I have never had an iPod. I know, I am a loser. Actually, I am just not that "into" music. Don't get me wrong or started. I do enjoy music - I also like silence. Most of the time I prefer silence. And when I am doing something, I don't need sound in the background. Usually sound in the background (rocking the rhyming) is distracting. But there are times when I would like some music. And creating CDs doesn't seem to be the thing to do. Especially since a) I don't have any blank CDs hanging around and b) my new laptop doesn't have a CD player. I would like to make all the music that is on my old computer available to my new computer. I think I need to upgrade my iTunes though to take advantage of iCloud. Hmm. Just going a mile a minute here in my thoughts. And typing them almost as quickly. BTW, I have installed the dictation thing on my laptop, though somehow I think that is cheating. And really, part of the reason I don't do a podcast or a vlog is because I like to ponder and correct and recording  what I say just seems out of control. Typing, now there is something I fool myself into believing I have control over...

Where was I? Oh, right, on the way to Bangor. I got there and was lucky enough to follow a group into the store who also were looking at getting a new laptop. We chose similar things - I chose to go for the larger hard drive, though. Which, on this machine, is a solid state one - quiet and fast - oh so very zippy! Technology is amazing!! Next stop, cell phones.

I was a little worried about changing phones. Change is scary. Fun, and scary. I didn't know what to expect. It actually was easier, but took longer than I had thought it would. Oh well. Still, I was told my options, changed my plan drastically, but now I have unlimited text!, and picked out a nice, white iPhone - for $1. Plus money to turn the thing on. Really? Jeezus!! Anyway, I am happy and it seems to work. Now all I need is a new case for it...

After bonding with the sales guy over this and that, especially Geaghan's, I headed off in search of food. Ok, I didn't really search, since I knew that I wanted to go to Geaghan's. What's not to like - good food, good beer, good atmosphere. True, no pool table, but other than that, it is high on my list of great brew pubs! (Maybe it is in my brewpub blog...) I had a great oatmeal stout - or two - and a yummy tuna melt with sweet potato fries (which were a little cool but life is that way sometimes...).

Back on the road and headed to dinner with my friend Susan. We have known each other for, oh my goodness, I don't know how long. We were friendly as kids - though she is a few years older than I am. Our families were friends. And we have remained friendly this whole time. Yay. She offered to make me dinner and I gladly accepted her offer. Yummy stuff, too! I need to find a good meatloaf recipe. I think mom would enjoy it.

Long day, though, so I then headed home, played a bit (phone, computer, xBox) and then hit the hay! Yay!

I might have some pictures for the next post. From my new iPhone. Huzzuh!!

Michael J. Fox is my age

Just sayin'! Anyway, I watched his new sitcom on TV last night and it made me sad for some reason. He was fine, the characters and set-up are fine. It just made me sad. And I don't think I will watch it again. Partly because it made me sad. Largely because it is on network tv and I can't stand sitting through the commercials. I mean they really make my skin crawl. I must admit, having an iPad handy does make them a bit more palatable. But still, I would rather not be inundated with them if I don''t have to be.

I went to the Farmer's market yesterday. The pickings were kinda slim. It looked like a third of the vendors weren't there. I think next week is the last week for this particular market. Eeek! Anyway, I looked at several booths and then decided to spend all of my hard earned, hmm, not so hard earned coupon dollars at one. I bought: small seedless grapes - yum city!! - leeks - haven't figured out what to do with them - a cool sweet red/orange banana pepper - some beets - for dinner on Saturday night - some kale - out of which I made baked kale chips that were ok - I need to make them into smaller pieces for mom next time - and five ears of corn which I steamed last night - mom ate two of them! Go her! I am glad, in some ways, that she still has her appetite. And sometimes a sense of humor. Yippee!

We also watched a collection of short Pixar films. I thought they were enjoyable overall - even though I had seen most of them before. I am not sure whether or not mom liked them. I think she did. Mom used to own Pixar stock which became Disney stock which she sold. She used to be a big fan of Pixar but has forgotten all of that. Sigh. 

I didn't spend much time at the Smith yesterday. Yippee! And the fire curtain installation is proceeding on the schedule that was last presented to us. Two crews helps a lot! Speaking of the Smith - I get to show Blue Jasmine a few times this weekend. Huzzuh!

I looked into getting tickets to Matilda. There were $50+ of service charges for buying two tickets! Oh my god, no! I have to figure out some other way to get tickets. Maybe Erich would buy them for us and then we could pay him back. Or something. $50 is parking in NY or a lot of other things. Service charges my butt! $2 a ticket - maybe. Even that is stupid. Why are there service charges? What services are they providing? Glarg!

Extra Random Thoughts

There are some things for which is it better to have too much (or too many) than to have too little (or too few). High on this list, for my mom especially, is toilet paper. Another I guess is money (which is a lot like toilet paper). But this isn't really about the list of things, rather than being about the toilet paper. I went shopping yesterday with only a mental list of what was wanted and what was needed. The needed list was short - a vegetable for dinner - I went for spinach. Wanted - not much at all, so I just wandered through the store. I picked up a yam, some cookies and a huge thing of toilet paper, because mom really does go through it like it grows on trees. (Yes, I know, trees, paper...) As I was taking stuff out of the car I remembered that I still had a good bunch of toilet paper in the paper closet - not a closet made of paper, but the closet in which the paper products reside (along with other residues, or is that residents?).

Now that the drip is gone from the bathroom faucet, I don't have easily and pre-filled watering containers. So the plants are getting a little parched. Then, one day, I was getting mom some water from the refrigerated brita pitcher and I realized that I had water in her glass! In the past I have put it in the top of the pitcher. But from that time forward, I use that little bit of water in a plant! Yay! Win win!

As some of you recall, no doubt, I listen to audio books. And when I do, I turn off the CD player and thus lose my place. Some CDs have few divisions - either they divide only by chapter or by some random method - but most of them have less than 31 divisions. There is one company, though, at least, that breaks each CD up into 99 pieces! Eeek! How on earth is a calendar supposed to accommodate the number 99? Then I had one of those epiphany-lets: Months have numbers associated with them - who doesn't know that April is 4. So, I use the day of the week - 0-9 for the tens place and the month for the ones place! It has worked so far! Yippee!

Get video replay out of golf! Really. Seriously. Tiger is the most video taped player of any player out there. So there is much more video of him than anyone else. From a bazillion angles. Golf has always been a gentleman's sport, hasn't it? And honestly, who hasn't fudged a shot here or there (especially on mini-golf when the damn ball just won't go in the hole and who wants to write down 27 as the number of shots, so you just put down par...). The latest Tiger incident is his ball moved when he moved a twig and he didn't see it move. Or if he did he thought it was so little that no one who wasn't standing right on top of it could see it move. And it wasn't like it moved enough to make any difference at all. But some video guy was editing his extreme closeup of the ball and it moved miles in the frame - the equivalent of 2 millimeters. But most anyone else wouldn't have had that shot on tape. Why penalize Tiger for being scrutinized? Sigh.

And there is it, a thought filled and thought provoking post. See, they happen!

Wow, quite a day!

I finally finished listening to Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides. Interesting, entertaining - the kind of novel that I wish I could write. Well, ok, I would hope mine would be a little funnier, since that is how I like to think I roll, but still...It took a lot longer than I thought it was going to - more than three weeks! Eeek! I had a dream, that I read a book (350 pages or so) in a day. Haven't done that in a while. Haven't read an actual book in a long while in fact. Maybe one day it will happen.

I ran a few errands yesterday. Grocery store was grand central station - really busy! I guess Saturdays are normally busy. Lots of staff standing around peddling stuff - a cashier friend was pushing papayas. Ran into Cassie while buying veggies. And they finally had salami in stock. I asked the guy what the issue was - he happened to be standing there stocking things - and he said the distributor was slow. Not really an answer, but I am not sure what I expected. Maybe something about there not being as much supply as their used to be as people moved away from things like salami in their attempts to eat more healthfully. Hmm. Speaking of shopping, though, I need to go again soon and get more nose tissue. Someday, I might actually pay attention to how long it takes mom to go through ten boxes of tissue. I hope it is more than 10 days!

After the grocery store, I stopped and got gas in the car. I haven't had to do that in a while - I don't really drive that much. I got my gas at Kwik Fill - they proudly proclaim that they only sell gas from crude that is from North America. Go them! Last stop, Rite Aid to get some pills for mom. I miss my favorite pharmacist. The one who was there didn't even look up or smile the whole time I was there. Remind me not to go when she is there again, please. 

Our lunch was one of mom's favorites. Or at least I thought it was. Junior bacon cheeseburgers from Wendy's. Turns out that mom thought the hamburger tasted weird and that the fries were limp (they are Wendy's fries and are never particularly crispy). Oh well. Our mass produced food is done for a while. Back to Augustus made food for the next week or so. Yippee!

We watched a movie together last night - The Bachelor and the Bobby Soxer - starring Cary Grant,  Myrna Loy and an older Shirley Temple. Madcap comedy ensues. Fun and worth watching. At least in my estimation. I don't know if mom enjoyed it as much as I did, but I think she liked it ok.

Aha! I wrote some notes!

I did it, and it works. Ok, I knew that. I have done it before. But seriously, my posts have been short because a) not a lot has been happening and 2) I forget the few thoughts and interesting bits that do occur. Sigh.

Mom scared me the other night. I was up latish watching TOS - the episode where the people from Andromeda are turning people into interesting shapes that are easily crushed - when I heard someone (hmm, who could it be, I didn't wonder) creeping down the stairs. I got up and found mom at the top landing. She was heading downstairs to tell the kids who were sitting on the porch to move along. I told her to come get me next time she had such concerns (not that she will remember to, but she might) and that I would happily zip down to check for her. Sure enough, no kids on the porch, just some kids walking by across the street. This incident did scare me a bit, because it proved that mom could be a wanderer, despite her dislike of moving around. Eeeek!

I had a cooking epiphany the other day. Quiche! It has been months since last I cooked it. Mom doesn't know what it is but seems to enjoy it. I explain it as "egg pie." One of the two was a quiche lorraine sort of thing - the other was more of a garbage type - tossed in a bunch of leftovers (not the taco meat) and called it dinner. I forget how easy it really is to make - basically milk product (I use half and half) and eggs in a pie shell. Just about anything else can be added. In my second one we had feta, spinach, mushrooms, onions, chicken and cheddar cheese. Yay. We also had what was probably the last two ears of corn on the cob that we will have for the year. They are just getting small and unappetizing. And a salad. I need to use up my salad like ingredients! I dislike things, especially food, going to waste!

Speaking of which, I noticed some pistachios lying on the floor of my room. There were in a ziploc bag, so I was hoping that they would still be happy and fresh-ish. Sadly, they weren't. Ick. Soggy pistachios are not the best thing on the planet to eat in my opinion. But I didn't want to throw them away, so I suffered through the eating of them. Luckily, there weren't many left! Huzzuh!


At Wegman's, they don't sell Hershey's ice cream - I will look at Tops is I remember - but they did sell a store brand called Cappuccino Chip that might suffice. I bought a tub of it for mom - so when she finishes her pistachio ice cream, she can try that one. Yay!

Mom and I watched Big Miracle together last night. She seemed to enjoy it and I know I did. Loosely based on actual events from 1988, it tells the story of the media frenzy and eventual rescue of some gray whales near Barrow Alaska who had gotten cut off from open ocean by ice. Worth a watch if you like feel good movies about nature.

A day of this, that and the other laundry

Laundry day! Gotta love it. I have not, as yet, ventured down into the depths of the basement to check to see if the dryer is functional. I will be pleasantly surprised should it actually work still. My lack of spelunking being the case, I haven't, as of yet, done more than a brief survey of what the washer world contains in the way of options. So, it was off to the laundromat for me.

It was quite empty - so, maybe Wednesdays will be laundry day going forward. Or have they already been "the day." I don't know. Once every two weeks do I do laundry? Does that seem about right? Three large loads (or four smaller loads) in two weeks. Too much? Too little? Just enough? While the laundry was, er launderizing, I went for a wander - to get some pills for mom from our lovely Rite-Aid and just a little walkabout of the mall. Such a beautiful day for walking around! Lots of pleasant scenery as well.

After laundry, I did some food shopping at Wegman's - which is always a fun experience. Most of the time. And then a quick trip to the library to pick up two more audio books. I am toying with the idea of heading to the NYC area while mom is in Maine with Juliet. It is a long drive - and I don't really have a place to stay, so I might not. But I am toying with the idea. I was sort of thinking to head down on Tuesday and back to Maine on Thursday. I can't remember if we are supposed to be leaving on Saturday or Sunday. Oh, speaking of which, I really need to remember to stop the mail for a week. And to remember that I can walk to the post office on Hobart's campus to do that! To get back to my original thought - I got the audio books in case I do end up spending a lot of time in the car by myself driving around.

Dinner ended up being chicken thighs with spinach and corn on the cob. Not too bad. I think I mostly have the menus planned for the rest of the week - I need to use up the stuff I have in the fridge so that little will go bad while we are away.

Leaf Kitchen was rocking for beer night! Ok, not really, but I had fun. And I had raspberries in my Brooklyn Chocolate Stout. Good chatting with all and sundry. A nice evening out. And about.

I was hoping to love The Bourne Legacy and, sadly, I did not. It was ok at best. I liked the two lead actors, Jeremy Renner who was in the Ghost Protocol and Rachel Weisz, but there was just nothing oomphie there. Most of the best action sequences were in the trailer for the film. Edward Norton did not instill in me the same excitement that he has in other movies in which he has appeared. Just eh. Well, got lost there for a minute on IMDB. What a great website! Or at least I think it is great. I just wish there were a link to Netflix on it - a one click - add to my list feature. Oh well, can't have everything. Or can we?!

What do you do?

Or some variation on that theme is a question asked by many people of many people. Maybe they are being polite. Or maybe they are interested in just getting some information. But what the heck does it matter? "What do you do?" The question is asking, it seems to me in my defensiveness, how do you justify your existence in this financially focused world in which we find ourselves. Well screw that! Life isn't about what you do! It is how you live your life. What do you do? I live, breathe, read, write, play, ponder and none of that has anything to do with earning money. Life isn't about money. Ask the worms or the fire that consumes your flesh after you die. How much money are you taking with you when you die? How much happier were you that you worked at a job that, ultimately, was pretty pointless and meaningless? I have worked quite a few of those myself - and will probably work at more of those as I grow older. Right now, I don't really have the time for a "job." My job is to make sure that my mom has a decent quality of life in her waning days. Isn't that enough for anyone to be "doing?"

Maybe a better question would be - what are your creative outlets? Or do you define yourself as a human being and if so, how? Though, I, for one, tend to not define myself if I can help it. Definition smacks of judgement to me - and since I try to be accepting, this sort of sits wrong for me.

Interesting study I read about on Facebook - so it must be true - researchers found that just thinking about money makes people jerks. Which is why when I see someone write that they are looking for someone who is "independent" or "financially stable" on their profiles, I immediately click off of them. And if possible hide them.

On a completely other note, mom and I came to the same realization at about the same time - that she could easily take over the task of cleaning up the form-feed paper. It is fairly straightforward, fairly mindless and gives one a sense of accomplishment. Yay for all of that. Then again...she did one little stack and thought she was done. Then I watched her try to do some more. It was actually quite humorous. Not very quick or effective, but I did get a giggle out of it. Gotta find giggles where one can!

I had a plan yesterday. I did. And then it got a smidgen changed up by a call from The Smith. David wanted company and a little help with resetting the lighting for an upcoming show. I am glad he called. I do enjoy working on things at the Smith. And they are almost done with their air conditioning install! How awesome is that?! David and I hung out (a lighting joke) for about two hours getting color in the lights and doing some rough focusing. Yay!

After that, my plan continued on its merry way - with David coming along for the ride. Part of my reason for driving down Route 14 was to check on the progress of the new beer place (20+ taps) that is supposed to be opening soon. Two weeks ago they said two weeks to go before opening. Oops. Maybe they will be open after we come back from Maine.

In my on-going quest to go to all of the Wineries around Seneca Lake, I had decided that I would do at least one on Friday. White Springs Winery was the winner of the opportunity to impress me. Read my thoughts on my Brewpubs and Such blog, if you would be so kind...After that, we made a quick stop at Leaf Kitchen to visit with Cassie and friends. We each had a beer and then David headed off into the Sunrise (East) while I went into the Sunset (West) to get some groceries at Wegman's. When I got home I discovered that my wheat pizza crust was a tad moldy! Eeek! So I nipped that bit out and went on with my life.

Mom had salmon, asparagus and corn on the cob for dinner. I had pizza. We both had yummy food! Yay!

After dinner, mom watched Now Voyager. I didn't so I can't review it. She seemed to enjoy it, which is always a good thing.