May 29: Regular stuff

Up in NY, Lyle turned 18. Tonight is the surprise party. He's still totally clueless, so hoping we can carry it off he walks in the room. I've been having great fun with this: the mild form of cloak-and-dagger. Sneaking around, co-ordinating, coming up with cover stories. John and Emma just left for Target, and then they'll head over to the restaurant by 6:30. Right now Lyle is taking a nap, he got very little sleep last night because he was in a magic card tournament (it's some kind of card game that came out of Dungeons and Dragons?) until about midnight, then was up to go to work this morning at 6:30. This may work out perfectly, because then I'll just wake him in time for us to go to dinner and get at the restaurant at 7pm, the specified hour.. Still will be shooting from the hip as to why we should go to this one particular restaurant....

Hands continue to improve, although typing for long periods of time causes the left hand and forearm to ache. But the amount of time is growing and is definitely improving.

This afternoon Emma and I took a walk down to the Hudson River. This would not normally be cause of mention, but the reason we went was because there is a very steep hill to walk down and up. We walked down and back going very slowly up the hill, stopping frequently to rest, but I made it! I'm trying to walk at least five days a week, am now up to 45-60 minutes. Not breaking any speed records, but the best I've done in years. As long as I keep my heart rate below a 100 my stamina is pretty good. Having made one goal to climb the Tor (see Oct 15, 2009 post) my next goal is to climb the mountain up at camp. The family vacation is first week in August, so still lots of time to 'train'. I haven't been able to climb since July 2004, right before things really deteriorated.

It's good to have a goal.

The kitties and I are enjoying the household being back to normal without Oreo. Zerla is getting around amazingly well. She walks a little funny, almost like her hind end is a bit higher, but she gets around quickly and is jumping up on the windowsills without using anything. Since Oreo picked on her she seems to be particularly happy for the return to normal, frequently next to me on the couch. KC goes on these 'tears' in the house, usually the evening. The three other cats and I will be on the couch, watching TV. All of a sudden the thunder of pawsteps will start in the dining room, through the kitchen, past us, followed by a flying jump through the window and out to the porch, circling the porch, another flying leap back through the window, living room, etc. This is repeated at least once more. Apparently it's his daily exercise. After this he settles on the kitchen table and naps, always staying as close to the food as possible in case the feeding schedule changes.

Finally had to break down a couple days ago and use the air conditioner. I don't tolerate heat well. The other member of the household who doesn't like the heat is Chester--he can take even less. I discovered this at the old place: he would stop eating, be very lethargic; then as soon as it cooled down he was back to normal. He had been just laying on my bed the other night, but his head went up when I turned the window A/C unit on. He immediately jumped on the sill in front of it, blocking off the majority of the vents. After cooling down sufficiently on the one furry side, he turned around and put the other fuzzy side against the vents. After about ten minutes he appeared very satisfied, and settled down on the bed, lying at the corner where the air hits. Stupid animals my a__!

Have a probably tenant, but a few snags. She is on disability and gets a housing allowance from the county. So we're waiting for them to go through all the red tape. Once it's official I'll say more.

Thanks for checking in, Laurie