today the maintenance man at sonnystone turns 52—not yet old, but not still young. i’d like to talk about how grateful i am that this guy decided to save me (and my daughter). i should mention that he has worked his a– off to give me everything i ever want and taken care of all the things i need, even when i didn’t know i needed them. as an emotional kind of being i’ve certainly given him some roller-coaster thrills for his money, but somehow he just keeps steady and strong. this being away from him for so long has been interesting and sobering, as i realize what a good friend he is to me. i had thought for a while that i needed someone like myself and nagged him a lot to change, but i’m certainly glad that he has the kind of quiet confidence in himself to stay who he is. and who he is is someone i respect, admire, and trust. happy birthday, husband. wish i were there.
we just got back from seeing “the queen” at the cinema. most of my readers are aware that i am a close personal wanna-be friend of the royals, so you know that i was intrigued by the whole story. i am not, please don’t attack me, a fan of princess dye. i really loved it, loved the portrayal of hm erII and was very moved.
it is beautiful weather here, so we walked down to have a little something after the show and discovered that mel had erroneously reported that one of my favorite eating places had closed. to celebrate her error we stopped at “finnegans wake” for a grilled cheese and beer before proceeding on back to apt. we’ve been there many times when she lived over on york ave.—i think even husband was there with us once. at any rate, i’m glad they hadn’t really closed.
tomorrow is a church day and then off to a show. i feel like i can’t eat another bite and have only gained about 2 pounds, so should survive.
we have a few more ingredients to buy for the dinner, need to bring up the new dining table, but that’s the extent of our list. it’s turned a little seasonally cold here, but we’ll be braving it for the balloon-blow tonight.
back at sonnystone, husband will be serving fried turkey to mr. & mrs. boy-child. sides will include mashed taters, i’m sure. it would be great to be all together, but casey has been anxious to serve that fried t. for years and now he can.
as we gather together in different places, let us remember that we are all held together in Love. may God bless us all.
3 weeks (nearly) down and 3 to go…i’ve decided i need to stay another week here. i’d thought that 5 weeks would be enough, but really feel that melissa will need me the entire time prescribed by her brilliant surgeon. the patient is doing “okay” but there’s been a slight concern: the incision has been a little more painful and has changed to a rather hardened area. she does get keloid scarring and we’re hoping that’s what the feel is, but unsure why that should cause pain. dr. ky has ordered a ct scan of the area to be sure it’s alright. that’s not been scheduled yet–waiting for insurance to okay the precert–but we expect it to be early next week. in the meantime, i continue to do all the lifting and melissa does only walking and corralling of the kids after school. i haven’t informed the folks back at the lutheran school and quite dread to tell them. i’ve talked to the folks at church and they’re very supportive and understanding. i’ll not be able to be a part of the christmas program for the first time in a long time, but they’re doing fine.
my look-alike niece, lauren, had surgery yesterday in evansville and will be off of her feet for a while, too. word is she’s doing well, though, and we’re all thinking of her with get-well thoughts.
emma’s two teeth are quite awesome and her vocabulary skills have grown to include “ba”. she’s quite anxious to propel herself independently and yesterday pulled up on the couch all by herself–i’m the only one who saw her do it, though. she’s ready to learn some balance and walk, as she really doesn’t care for swimming on the floor.
there’s a birthday party this sunday for gabrielle, the little girl melissa picks up from school. she’ll be 8-years-old, but seems very much older than a typical evansville 8-year-old. i’m going to run back over to the art museum while the family attends the party. we’re also planning to see a show called “the umbilical brothers” and later to see the christmas spectacular at radio city. the weather’s been very nice except for a day of rain yesterday, so i’m looking forward to going over to central park next wednesday to watch the balloons being blown up for the macy’s parade.
in the meantime, i’ve got to call the school, the church, and travelocity to arrange an extended stay.
sunday was a beautiful autumn day and also my day to do whatever i wanted to do. my chosen adventure was to go in search of a sandwich i’d had several years ago that remained burned in my mind as one of the best i’d ever had–a basil, mozzarella and tomato sandwich. i knew i’d been in the park near the zoo, but in the past had not seen the particular outdoor area where i’d found it. i started out heading toward 86th so i could stop by a verizon store and see if they had a battery for my phone. they didn’t. then it was over to the park. i entered around 79th and meandered along snapping pictures and enjoying the ambiance. soon i found myself at the famous boathouse restaurant.
this restaurant is usually packed by the 11am time i arrived, but fortunately i was able to sit at the bar and enjoy a couple of beers, watching the folks row their boats and wishing husband were here to row me around. actually, i could probably row myself “around”–in circles, but i’d never be able to get myself back to shore and may have been quite a hazard to others. so i was content to sit on a barstool and admire.
after leaving there, i headed out toward mid-town with no particular place to go.
when i arrived at rockefeller center i had already developed a rather grumpy attitude toward the throngs of tourists who do not observe the sidewalk rules of etiquette. they seem to be velcroed together in masses of 6-10, spilling all over the place and making a person have to walk out on the street to get by them while they geek and gawk. over by radio city music hall i stopped for a chicken shish-ka-bob from a street vendor and decided to check into a backstage tour of the hall. it was fascinating and if you like art deco (like i do) you’d really enjoy it. i also got to meet a real rockette and watch about 2 minutes of the christmas spectacular–enough to make me want to see the entire show. my tour group included a guy wearing a rather obscene t-shirt that read “nothing butt bass” and his wife, who breathed like darth vader, a couple from spain, and a grandma with her grandkids who hadn’t seen “the wizard of oz” (call the authorities).
( i went on down to 42nd street and checked into another verizon store, but to no avail. will have to order the battery online. anybody who needs to call, call moon’s home phone.)
my tootsies were tender as i headed back to the park, determined to find the sandwich i’d longed for. wading through some more tourists, i spotted the spot just before the zoo entrance. going in, i was thrilled to find it!
mmmmm……it was just as good as i remembered. after sitting, eating, and people watching for a while i wearily wandered over to madison and grabbed a cab back home. i love this town.
as we move along here, my days are emma, emma, emma. 9-months-old babies require a lot of entertaining between feeding and naps and even though i know her mom and dad are reading this i must be honest and say that i am very worn out by the time i get her into her bed at night. because of our colds we had to stay inside a couple of days this week, but yesterday, today, and (hopefully) tomorrow we’re outside strolling and swinging. many folks predicted how attached i would become to her and they were so right. we’ve very much bonded and i love almost every minute of being here with her.
melissa is having increased, very much, lots, of drainage from her incision site. her surgeon told her that she will have this, but today we’re going to call her just to make sure that this amount of bleeding is okay. mel is doing the afterschool job while i watch the baby which means walking a couple of miles a day. this may have affected the situation, and definitely hasn’t hurt her, but i want some reassurance from the doctor that all is well.
the tivo/dvr around here is broken and can’t be fixed until monday; i’ve been following the luke and laura saga on general hospital and it’s been challenging to work in viewing them. thank heavens for the soap channel! i now know all the words to several episodes of jacks big music show and a couple of backyardigans (doin’ that yeti stomp). they are great songs, too, so i’m not complaining!
my cold continues and my throat still hurts some, but sudafed keeps a grandma going. happy veterans day!