Today 22Jan2023: Sunday

I started the morning with more vivid dreams about change and searching. The themes that repeat in my dreams. I woke before my alarm at 6:40AM this morning. I needed to write the blog on Sunday morning. I was too tired and a bit depressed on Saturday night, so I did not write the blog then. I do my best writing work in the morning (while I am best at figure painting and model building in the evening). So I start right out of bed to begin to write. I stop to make coffee, using the newly cleaned French press from the dishwasher, and have a banana with some cornbread muffins I made the day before.

Aside: There were no bananas at Safeway today (there was a handwritten sign that more would come on Monday), but I remembered in the pandemic that, bananas were unavailable for a while. So I was singing, with apologies to Parrot Heads, “The last banana in paradise” when Corwin and Evan turned the last banana we had at the house into a daiquiri, and I might have sung, “Yes, we have no banana today,” in Safeway today.

I wrote the blog without difficulty and finished it in time to not rush my shower and dressing for church. I put on a white L.L. Bean shirt (old-school oxford with button-down collar) and a banker’s tie with a sweater over everything. My usual most formal wear. I grabbed my Apple in case we would watch online instead.

The trip to the hummingbird house was uneventful at 9:40. Air Volvo arrived just around 10, an on-time arrival. Susie was ready, but Anassa was concerned that Susie was coughing and choking on her breakfast to the point that Anassa helped Susie eat. After that, Susie decided to stay home, and we moved to the social activity room after putting away Susie’s coat and scarf. Anassa arranged Susie in a comfortable recliner, and I set up the screen and my Apple to play the service.

We were ready, but First United Methodist Church, Beaverton, had no video for about ten minutes. Susie was already falling asleep in her comfy chair. Susie had stopped coughing but turned pale, and I was worried. Susie was profoundly sleeping. Her color soon returned to normal, and she was just sleeping. I tried to listen to the sermon, but I was distracted by Susie and tired myself.

Pastor Ken talked about how Jesus had created a conflict in folks by talking to those who were usually pariahs (Apple selected a spelling fix to ‘piranhas’ which strangely fits), tax collectors, Romans, and other folks excluded from good company. He believed this created a conflict for Jesus’ followers as they had to work through their reactions to these unwanted people and align with Jesus’ teachings. So that we have to work through these reactions; imagine Jesus coming to you and saying, “Follow me.”

Susie was well-rested by the end of the church. Having me there and her warm and safe goes a long way to make her feel better. I played some music for her and then called her mother. Leta and Susie chatted for a while. I filled in facts here and there. Susie started to get tired again, and Leta rang off. I played some old rock videos, and Susie sang along to some of them.

We opened a box from my Aunt Cathy and Uncle Martin for Susie. PJ and socks for Susie. Susie was thrilled.

Soon it was after 1PM, and Susie was hungry. Anassa moved Susie back into her wheelchair and made her lunch.

I headed out just for lunch. I drove to the nearby Red Robin, found a chair at the bar with an empty seat next to it, and had a Diet Coke and an Ensalda plater (two slit chicken breasts cooked in southwest spice and a salad with southwest ranch dressing). It was perfect.

It is a strange Red Robin. One of the door handles is missing, making you wonder, when you reach it, that they are even open. The next set of doors is out of alignment and hard to open, again making you wonder. The bar is cramped, and you can’t walk between the chairs without bumping into folks–very strange. Natalie was the bartender again today. I had her last week, and she was happy to see me and quite helpful. But at the bar, it was mostly chaos around me as kegs failed, and they seemed to be training everyone to put in orders. I just ate my lunch and read my email–I brought my Apple with me. I had to use my iPhone to supply a connection as they don’t supply WiFi. My food was excellent and hot, and everyone was happy to help me. I was fine.

I returned to the hummingbird house with Susie in her recliner in the shared living room. Susie asked to move to her room. Anassa moved Susie to her bed, and we put on Snow White, the original version from Disney+. Susie stayed awake for most of that. I nodded off somewhere before the poisoned apple scene and woke with the chase and fall of the crone/Evil Queen. It was now past 4PM, and with me falling asleep, it was time to head out. Susie was sad, “I need you,” but relented, and I was soon gone with a kiss.

I returned home; my emotions were still too close to the surface, but spending most of the day with Susie was good. I cry easily and have to stay focused on getting things done. I am happy Susie recovered from the coughing, as I was worried.

I changed out of my church clothes and headed to Safeway. There I spent an hour getting groceries. I received word that the church wants me to make the Bourbon Chicken dinner for Mardi Gras, so I picked up some of the basics to run a small test batch on Monday.

Aside: Molasses is hard to find; it is by the pancakes (not baking). There were no eggs, so I bought a container of Egg Beaters. I have 11 eggs left.

One of the checkers at Safeway, Ise, is Iraqi and has been in the USA for about a decade or more. We are always happy to see each other. He asks about Susie and my health. He is very kind to me, and we are always excited to see each other–we made it through the pandemic and still going!

I get all my loot to the house and unload without incident. I then make jambalaya (no seafood) for dinner. I added the diced tomatoes, cajun sausage, kielbasa, and some ham (defrosted Christmas ham) to make it great. I had three bowls!

I watched The Legends of Vox Machina as I wanted to rewatch it while eating. I liked it better the second time. This is animated series based on a Dungeons and Dragon campaign, and the animated version was created by a Kickstarter. It is profane, funny, and does remind me of my own games.

I start to write the blog at 8ish.

Thanks for reading.

My ad campaign, a whim after reading about this on WordPress, had 2,700 imprints (ads sent to folks on the Internet), and that resulted in ten clicks, and my $10 is all used up. So yes, that was a buck a click.

And while I ignore this, my blog has lost about ten percent of its traffic. I think folks are not at home on the holidays and reading. I have all these crazy tools available to me. By the way, the China military seems to have moved on–yes, in the middle of the pandemic, I had followers in China and Russia. I suspect they were trying to understand how we were doing during the pandemic and reading some blogs. What a strange world!