It is hard to believe that it has been nine days since I last posted. It seems like only yesterday I was writing about the new television. I guess the passing time is indicative of where I am in my process, and that I am recognizing something of a pattern, and the days just seem to be filling themselves up–no such thing as just one item scheduled per day.
Just for this week, Sunday I had Brighthouse here to replace a faulty cable that had been installed originally, and then got the new set correctly set on the wall and checked to be sure that everything was operating correctly. Monday, Nancy's day, was spent taking care of bills including getting a number of phone calls made that were necessary for family business. Then Tuesday, I did a second session of the Driver Safety Program for Anna–which was in Carrollwood, in an apartment complex I was not familiar with. The person that did the first session of the course left the paperwork for me to do. Wednesday I started the day with the second half of the rental course for H&R Block, left there early to go to St. Petersburg for AARP retraining. That was convenient because I could give Anna her copies of the paperwork from the previous day. Thursday I chose to check with Hyde Park to ensure that everything was in place for the course on Monday. Did find out that we need to revise the publicity for these courses and change the contact number that they have.
Probably the highlight of the week was spending that evening with John and Betty. We had a great meal, but more importantly we had such great conversation. Spending time with them is always a guarantee that the conversation will be interesting and the topics will be challenging. Had a new experience that evening, I drove home in the dark! The route was familiar and I found myself doing much better than I expected–since I have been avoiding driving at night for the last five months.
Friday I was not sure whether Jared would come and visit–he didn't. I did have much on the agenda to take care of for the Driver Safety Program on Monday, not the least of which was to call all the participants and remind them to be sure and bring their lunch, AARP card and drivers license. I have 20 people signed up for Monday. That will be my largest class so far -- four participants are also members of the CouplesClub. I think it's going to be a really fun day.
Saturday was SHARE day. Got to the church about nine o'clock after stopping by the tire place and arranged to get new tires put on the car later in the day. After getting all the groceries distributed, I headed to Apollo Beach to spend the day with Lee's family which grew during the day. Christian and Brandon came in, playmates were in and out, and with the arrival of Christian and Brandon the dog population grew by three. The funniest thing was watching Brandon's German shepherd getting spooked by the turtle. Allie and Jamie arrived about midafternoon after indicating concern that perhaps Allie might have chickenpox. It was absolutely amazing to see how everyone immediately raised the issue of whether that virus would be a danger to Josh because of his compromised immune system. The whole planned afternoon that would've involved Renée's brother's 40th birthday was quickly re-shifted to protect Josh. I was amazed at how easily Jamie handled that situation considering it was her child who might have the chickenpox. Allie was her cute most charming self–looking around in great wonder at the antics of all the adults. She seemed to be having a great time.
As the party broke up I came back to Tampa, got new tires for the car, picked up some things needed for my CPAP at Walgreens and finally came home. It was a long day–a long week– I was very busy–and it was fun.
I'm continuously asked how I am doing in this process. I think I am doing well–it's just that there are so many very small but very frequent reminders of how often I would turn to Margaret to tell her some little tidbit of discovery, or gett validation for an idea, thought, question. And that really does not include finding out how much I depended on her being in the car with me for my own comfort when I drove. Samantha is very helpful in giving me directions but she is not ever going to take the place of Margaret's presence in the car.
The week coming up may be as busy–starting with today when I firmed up the partnership with Blaine for getting the website up and running and marketed. Tomorrow is the big day at Hyde Park church, and on Wednesday Matt R. is coming to try to get all of the Valic business straightened out for me. I am hopeful that I can take steak and potatoes to Christian and Jamie's house in the late afternoon and we'll have a delightful dinner with Christian as the Grillmaster.
Still not really sure what the delay in writing in this log has been. I hope it is indicative that my routine is settling down. I find myself judging that while a lot of things happened during the day they did not seem to urge me toward writing. It is soon coming up to six months, so maybe I will change the address of the blog, re-address some of the issues and perhaps take a bit different tack. If anyone is reading this -- stay tuned!
I am still here every day :)
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