My ankle still bothered me on my walk with Elsa this morning. It will take a while for the muscles, tendons, and ligaments to adjust to this new alignment. It doesn’t actually hurt, it just buzzes at me telling me something is going on. I’m taking it easy because I don’t want to ask more of those body parts than they can give at this time. That could lead to an injury.
I was equally cautious during Bikram. I can imagine people who watch me work and see me do ‘less’ than I have done in the past, thinking, “Oh, poor Betty!” because I can’t do the posture to the full degree I was able to do it before. But they are the ones that just don’t get what I’m doing. A change like my ankle alignment means starting from scratch again. If I give my ankle time to adjust, I will eventually be able to do more. Also, my objective in doing Bikram is never, and I do never mean the postures. It is always my alignment. I use the yoga postures to improve my posture, which, due to my spinal curvature and several injuries and age, needs a lot of improvement. I keep on trucking.
I spoke to the librarian at the Notre Dame Catholic Seminary in New Orleans today at length. I had a list of books that I thought he would be immediately interested in. I could just mail him those and never have to list them in the CollectorZ ap. He was excited about one series I mentioned. He said it was a classic, and he knew a seminary in Africa that could use them. As it winds up, his collection was never damaged by Katrina. The seminarians all rallied and moved all the books from the first floor to the second, and the collection is intact.
While this makes me glad for the seminary, it makes me incredibly sad for Mike. He was so proud of his collection, and he so wanted to keep all the books together. His first thought was to give the collection to our godson, Mowgli. Really? The kid lives in one-bedroom apartments, yes multiple apartments because he moves a fair amount. Totally unrealistic. The next was the Josephinum Seminary, where he taught for 12 years. They’d have to build a new room to accommodate his 3,000+ books. I knew what he wanted is not realistic. I knew that not being able to give him what he wanted was not my fault, but it makes me so sad. I loved making him happy. There isn’t much I can do for him now. When he was alive, I could handle it when I disappointed him or just couldn’t give him what he wanted. That’s life! But it’s no longer life. It breaks my heart.
John Coughlin had asked me if it would be easier if I sent a partially completed list of the books or wait till I finished cataloging the whole batch. I may be wrong on how the app works, but it seems that if I send a partial list and then an updated one, the librarian would have to look through the whole list to find the added books. It sounds like an egg hunt on Easter Sunday but less fun.
I called Raymond James this morning, too. The trust fund has been set up, and I received the checks for my new checking account. Now, I have to see that all agencies that make automatic electronic deposits into my account and all agencies that receive automatic electronic payments from my account are informed. Then we can finally close out that individual account that is outside the trust.
Big news! I was able to reach my left ankle to wash it for the first time in years, 14 years. I did MELT after the shower and started making calls to change my electronic deposit and withdrawal information. Social Security told me it would be a 50-minute wait before I got someone to talk to. I walked around arranging things to do for the next 50 and charged my phone; the clerk came on in five minutes-tops! This process was easy peasy. This month’s check will arrive tomorrow and go into the old account, but July’s check will go into the new account.
Then I called Kaiser Permanente. That was a little confusing. I said I wanted to change my automatic payment account information. First, she told me I had to write a letter canceling my current account. When that was done, they would send me information and open a new account. Huh! I asked, can’t I just send in all the information immediately. Then she said she would send me a form to just change the account information. Then we were on the same page. It will take Kaiser 30 to 60 days to process this information. Social Security can do it in 7 days, and Kaiser takes 30-60 days? One has to wonder.
After playing FreeCell for a while to comfort myself (Yes, it does have some soothing effect) and working on the blog (which has a much, much greater soothing effect), I took my shower, did MELT, and got to work on weeding the garden and cleaning the house in anticipation of my dinner guests, Brenda and Don (Chef Boyardon), who cooked a curry chicken with broccoli and rice. When Don told me what he was cooking, he asked if it was okay with me. I said no. Really! That was a joke. I am so grateful that people are willing to cooperate with my needs. How lucky can I be? I supposed if I were allergic, that would be a different matter, but I’m not.
If I haven’t mentioned it before, I, at the age of 78, have made a fantastic discovery – the broom. Neither Mike nor I ever thought just to sweep the floors. This is particularly applicable here in Hawaii, where most of our flooring is tile or Pergo. Also, we have tile right outside our bedroom door under the overhang as part of the back lanai. Beyond the tiled area, the rest of the area is covered with these very annoying small rock chips, for lack of a better term. When I go out there in my Crocs, they always get inside my shoes. I drag these chips into and all over the house when I go in and out to hang up laundry or do some gardening. Mike hated these rocks chips on the outside tile and all over the house. He thought it was all my fault. What was I supposed to do, never go out there, never weed, never hang up the clothes to dry?
I finally noticed that these rock chips were all along the tiled area, even where I never stepped. I think the wind may blow them. Either way, I finally swept the area, discovered how much I enjoyed doing it, and am looking forward to doing it again. It makes me sad when I think of something that would have pleased Mike, but he is no longer here to enjoy it. He loved order; chaos was his worst nightmare. Just before he got sick, I went on a cleaning binge. I finally got rid of several gallon bottles sitting on the floor of our linen closet. Things like that made him so happy. Life is a work in progress.
My monthly date for giving Elsa her heartworm pill and tick and flea protection is the 10th. I gave her the pill yesterday and did top-spot today. Another breakthrough learning experience: I just learned how to open the blister pack, so I don’t rupture the container. There are clear directions, only I never read them and made up my own method, which is not as effective as theirs. Surprise!
Brenda and Don arrived at 5. Don started with cooking the rice. I still had 5 (five) different varieties of rice left in the pantry from when Mike did the shopping that hadn’t gone bad yet. Don selected a wild rice mix. I couldn’t find Mike’s rice cooker. I think when he bought a One Pot, he got rid of his rice cooker. Don chose a saucepan to cook the rice.
Don and Brenda had brought some wine with them from a friend. That bottle was bad. I pointed them to Mike’s collection on the enclosed lanai. They opened one bottle, and it was also bad. Slowly I get rid of food items as guests discover that they’ve gone bad. Brenda also had to throw out one of the packages of chicken because of freezer burn.
The curried chicken with broccoli with rice dish was delicious. For dessert, I served the homemade chocolate cupcakes from Judy. They were spectacular. The company was just what the doctor ordered. I laugh with these folks. We also talked about Mike, remembering shared moments. Brenda remembered a party at their house some years ago. There was a croquet game. When Mike got up to participate, he touched me on the shoulder as he passed. She could see how much he loved me. I remember how much I loved being with him and how much I continue to love him. My memories of Mike are mostly good, and the ‘bad’ ones just make me smile. There was so much respect and trust that there were never any seriously bad ones, other than that period when there was dead space between us. That wasn’t fun. I don’t remember that with a smile. But because we both waited it out, we came out of that period and went on to have an even better relationship than we had had before. I feel so blessed.
