I heard Yvette leaving at something like 4:30 am. It wound up she went out to Matsuyama's to get Josh eggs for breakfast before he went to work.
I had set the alarm for 7 am so to make the 8:30 class. I woke up at 7:30 and jumped out of bed. I discovered that somehow I had turned the volume on my phone to zero. I let Elsa out the back door and raced to drink my two cups of water in preparation for Bikram. I did manage to take Elsa for a short walk and made it out the door in time to get to class. Only a few people were in before I arrived. I got my place. When the class started, there were 21 people. I met Yvette's friend Scott today. He is one of many people she brings into the studio.
The two of them arrived together in her car. I looked at her and said, "Is there something you want to tell me?" As it winds up, Scott doesn't have a set of wheels. Yvette picks him up and brings him to the class.
During the class, I continued doing everything without tightening my left glute and watching the effect on the rest of my body. Mark made some joyful comment, "Hawaiian humidity is back. Yeah!!" Maybe not so much. I think the humid days are a misery. Mid-August to mid-October. I'm planning to be in LA for Damon's birthday and Seattle for Karin's for part of that time in September. I also hope to stop off and visit Shivani in San Francisco.
When I got home, I showered, washed my Bikram clothes by hand, hung them up, did MELT, and used the Tiger Tail. I did some work on the blog, but I was too tired to do much. In the past, when I was young and busy, I would push through. I had to. But now, I know I have the option of taking a nap, and that's what I do.
Damon and Cylin called while I was napping, bringing me to the surface, but not enough to get me up and answer the phone. I was too tired to consider a conversation, but I had a big smile on my face listening to their message as I lay there. I went back to sleep.
I got up and worked on the blog. Judy called. I actually felt better, more energized after the call. I went down to the bottom of the property to pick limes. I got 42 off the ground. I didn't see flowers growing on the tree. Soon, I will have to buy lemons from Costco to get my limeade/lemonade fix.
I noticed that some of the Haole Koa trees I doused with gasoline hadn't come back. These are skinny invasive trees that nothing kills. All you can do is slow them down. But, it looks like I had some success. Of course, I worked on my hands and knees to kill the ones I did. I cut them down as close to the ground as I could, and then scraped the surface of the roots and poured a large quantity of gasoline on them.
I walked Elsa early before dinner because it looked like rain. I met Paulette coming down to pick up the family mail. She walked with Elsa and me until we got back to her house. I picked up our mail as I do every evening when Elsa and I come home from our before dinner walk. There was a check from TIAA Cref. I thought I told them I didn't want them to take out the minimum annual withdrawal amount; I wanted Raymond James to do that. Either I checked the wrong box, or they just ignored my instructions. Also, I'm confused about why they sent me a check rather than sending it electronically to Raymond James. Nothing is simple. Everything requires follow-up. So confusing. So complex. So annoying.
I ate dinner: leftover chicken salad from Zola's visit, leftover green salad from Costco, a slice of bread from Safeway with butter, and Judy's apple cake from Easter Sunday. I did more work on the blog.
After dinner, I cataloged more books. Mike's library makes me feel sad. I don't know how he related to it. I think with pride. I don't get it. There is no way he read most of those books. If I had all those books without having read them, they would accuse me every time I looked at them. I hope Mike didn't relate to them that way. Maybe he looked at them and thought, "When I'm ninety, I will have the time to read these all. Yummy." I sure hope so.
Yvette came up to use the dryer. She is trying to get me to socialize with more people. She mentioned that her friend, Steve, who house-sat for us during the funeral, found me interesting. At first, I thought he told her he was interested in getting to know me better. A moment of panic. Among other things, he is young enough to be my son. Old habits, etc., etc., etc. But no, this is Yvette's idea. She has both male and female friends with complete ease. She's a poster child for someone excellent at developing social relationships that are just friendly. I liked Steve, but I can't imagine he'd really be interested in getting to know me better. This is a whole new weird world for me. I can barely function on lunch dates with women friends I haven't known for a while.
I must say that right after Mike died, I started looking at men in a different way. I even had a dream of coming on to the husband of a friend, a man I have never found attractive in that way. I'm beginning to understand why widows and divorcees were rejected from the groups they socialized with as a couple. There must be something very primitive going on there. I am enjoying my time alone and have no conscious need for a man in my life, certainly not as a miscellaneous man. Mike and I spent 45 years building our relationship. It was/is worth its weight in gold.
I took Elsa for our late evening walk, had some Hersey's Milk Chocolate with whole Almonds, washed my face, tried to brush my teeth to get all the Milk Chocolate and almond bits out of my teeth, went to be and said, "Goodnight, Elsa. Goodnight, Mike."
