Ben and his family headed to Wisconsin for their annual 4th of July camping trip last Saturday, so I haven't had a chance to see him this last week.
My neighbor Leslie invited me to go with her to the farmer's market that day and that was a nice getaway. I splurged and treated myself to some wild Alaskan salmon for dinner that night and bought a ham slice from my favorite pork vendor for later.
Some days when I walk Joey and the neighbors, Tom and Sue are out in their yard, we stand and chat for a while. On Tuesday, they invited me and another neighbor, Judy, to go with them to the 9-Mile Creek Brewery for pizza and a beer that night. The place is huge, with a nice area that has a huge selection of games too play, lots of tables and booths, an outdoor patio and delicious pizza. I did have a local NA beer but not the IPA that they make. We sat and talked for three hours - what a nice time! They are such nice people and we have become good friends.
I had a nice, long phone conversation with Tom on Wednesday and we talked about how we have been together now, off and on and from a distance for almost nine years. I think we have a good thing going on but it would be nice to see him more often.
I also had a nice, long phone conversation with my friend Sue and we caught up on the latest news with our families and reminisced about some of the good times we had in the past.
Lois came by yesterday morning and we walked to the Perk Up Cafe that is just down the street from me and had a very nice breakfast. She has Charlotte this week because she was supposed to work (teaching swimming to young children) and then her work was canceled, so she missed out on being with her family on vacation. Lois had just dropped her off for swim practice and then headed my way. I would have liked to help out but because of possible withdrawal effects from the reduction of my medication, I am not supposed to drive.
I did risk driving to my dentist appointment and to run a few errands all right close to home on Tuesday. That was Day 14 in that reduction cycle and I am now down to just 250 mg/day for the next 2 weeks and then will be completely off that drug. I will continue taking Keppra, probably forever because it appears that is keeping me from having any seizures - maybe the dose will be reduced. Speaking of withdrawal - could that be why I was able to sleep from 9pm last night until 8am this morning? That is crazy!
Rene sent me a video of a big picnic we had at our house in Stoughton, back in around 2000. It showed Mike, my brother Rocco, and Rene's Mike, Mike's parents, our old schoolhouse and the beautiful yard with many of my gardens and the playground equipment. It made me feel happy to see Mike talking and laughing and playing Frisbee with a dog. We sure did have a lot of good times there and lots of good parties too.
