Tuesday, April 28, 2020

Weight 121.6, WW Bluepoints 17. Weight last seen on 1/15/2019. 12 of those points were ingested after 10 pm when I did some eating of feelings.

Dorene, my brothers long-term girlfriend (essentially his wife) passed away yesterday from breast cancer. She found out it had spread to her liver and lungs and was terminal a month ago, but thought that she had at least two years remaining. She ended up in the hospital for a week but returned home 3 days ago. She was not on hospice as they didn't think it was time yet. Unfortunately she did not pass peacefully as she suddenly couldn't breath, they called the EMTs who tried to help but she refused to go to the hospital. So she did pass with my brother but I guess it was a pretty horrific end.

I feel so bad for Dorene but especially for my brother who was happy with her for the first time in his life. He had some very tough early years as our father died when he was 7, our eldest brother when he was 9, then my mother was deep in a bottle for the remainder of the years he knew her until he moved to California. He had a marriage of 25 years to a woman who he fought with constantly for 25 years. His relationship with Dorene was the first where he was completely happy and he blossomed with her, jointly enjoying many new pleasures. They were on a bowling league, dressed up for renaissance fairs, and enjoyed watching the stars. When my son was in Napa he stayed with them frequently and I remember DS remarking at his amazement that my brother actually smiled and was finally happy. And so was Dorene. She was a lovely, calm, caring woman. We are going to miss her very much. Luckily my brother's son moved there from Boston last week to help. I wish we could go now, but obviously it will be a while.

On another note, several people I know biked or drove by the open beach yesterday. They said it was busy but people were well spread out. I haven't seen the news reports this morning yet - it will be interesting what they are presenting as reality.

So that is what is on my mind today. I will probably do my weekly grocery shopping today during the quiet time when I usually go, but otherwise nothing else is planned.

Stay safe, stay home, stay healthy.

Thank you for sharing the story of your brother and his soul mate. The ending is so very sad, but the beginning and middle part of their story is so beautiful. I'm glad to hear your nephew is there to offer support. Your brother is fortunate to have you also, even if you can't go in person yet.

It is raining here today. We've had a stretch of warm (to us) sunny days, so it's time. It's a slow soaking rain, which will green us up and turn us into the emerald city.

We had a department meeting yesterday, stress bubbled over and one teacher made another one cry. I still have a bit of emotional hang over from the event, but it's starting to dissipate.

I was shedding water weight so much yesterday that I was in the bathroom at least hourly. I began to worry about using too much toilet paper in these days of scarcity. I visited my stash, and felt reassured. :)

Toilet paper seems to have returned here as have paper towels and liquid disinfect. Not as much selection but at least it is available. The only thing we can't get is disinfecting wipes.

I decided since its raining that soup would be nice with half a tuna sandwich. I forgot to eat the soup (liquid) first. I forgot, ate the tuna, and then a couple spoonfuls of soup. Oops. Burping and hiccups. My sleeve is still there.

And my nose is running now. Sleeve wants to remind me of the early days.

I'm so sorry your brother and his love didn't have many more years together. It's just so cruel.

Yesterday my friend got me out of the house for a nice walk at a local nature park. The parking is closed to discourage a lot of people, but you can park down the road in a shopping center and walk or bike in. We stayed on trails that let us stay 6 feet apart, but I realized how much I miss visiting and spending time with friends in person! The Matilija poppies were blooming after all of the rain the last few weeks. I think they are my favorite wild flower here. The blooms are easily 6 inches across (the bushes easily 5-6 feet tall and covered in flowers) and they look like fried eggs:

We also saw a pea**** roaming around. They have a zoo there with all rescued animals that can't otherwise be released. I think the pea**** was one of theirs, but had flown the coop:

I got home to find a squirrel had found my birdfeeder and cleaned out a quarter of the contents. Neighborhood squirrels are not something we've ever had around here before. But they've moved in now!

This morning I had a nice FaceTime call with some friends. The rest of the day may include hair coloring...

Oh and Ferg and I are getting the hang of the drops! He gets a treat for each one, so he comes over willingly and sits down to get them now.

Have good days everybody!

I love the fried egg flowers. Beautiful. Pea****s are funny, they turn up in the oddest places. My friend's sister found one in her garden shed! While she was trying to decide what to do, the pea**** took off across her lawn. I'm with Ferg, if you want me to cooperate, treats will often motivate me :)

So the Boston Herald is reporting that epidemiologists now estimate there were over a 1000 Covid 19 cases by the end of January in Boston. DD was very sick, tested negative for flu and strong, and all her roommates caught it. People were sick in her office also. More reason to hope she already tangled with the beast. Like Peps, only an antibody test will tell the tale. When that is possible is anyone's guess.

Greetings Intrepid ones

Hard to feel intrepid when doing nothing. I took gallery checks over today and dumped them in the night deposit, quick stop at the drugstore and then drove by the natural foods store hoping to find plant starts. They had very few and there was a line out the door. So no thanks.

Liz so sorry your brother lost his dear one. That was so fast!! So sad and the usual rituals will likely be deferred. Glad son is available to help out. Not a good time for any significant life events. Thanks for sharing their story.

Its a beautiful day here. Usually the rainy season is still going on. I should be grateful for the sunny day but I know the lack of rain will mean drought this summer. Even so, my climbing rose bush has grown to be enormous and in a week or two it will explode with blooms. Maybe OH will decide to let me post pictures.

Speaking of pictures, love the poppy Cecily. We have them here but they are not out yet. Fried egg flowers indeed. I have never had one but maybe I can grow one this year. I think everyone is out gardening since they can't do much else. The local nursery is still open though with one way traffic and I am not sure what else. The parking lot looked packed.

So our county is allowing restaurants to reopen if they do this certification thing with safe practices. I think our galleries and studio should be able to reopen as we can maintain the same spacing and we are not serving any food and can more easily sanitize. Oh well, not my choice. I noticed our gallery's building owner had two retail spaces in the same building up for rent. There was a soccer gear shop and a very edgy little clothing store. Guess they closed.

Cecily hope Fergie's eye is better. Glad he is accepting the drops. My dogs are getting pretty rambunctious.

We had lasagne from Costco last night. Quite good. Several reruns pending.

Stay safe all. Diane S