Most of my days have been hunkered down and getting walks in the neighborhood. I am now on day 11 of my 250 mg dose of Depakote and will drop to 0 mg on Wednesday. Yea!
This week I did do a small bit of driving. Deb and I went to visit a neighbor who fell and broke her pelvis and is in rehab at the Masonic Home nearby. The buildings are gorgeous, as are the grounds and she lit up when we walked into her room. Her family and the social services have determined that she is not able to live independently any more, as she is also having signs of dementia. She did get pretty emotional when telling us about this decision. This is one of the drawbacks to living in senior housing - you see this quite often.
My cupboards were bare, so we stopped and did some grocery shopping and made a stop at the local thrift store. It felt good to get out for a few hours.
My friend Elaine has also moved in with her daughter, as she had become very weak and I don't think she was eating right. I talked with her briefly as she was leaving the building and she told me "I will be back". We shall see.
Tom and Sue invited me and Judy to join them for burgers on the grill last Sunday, as Tom was trying out his new grill. They are such good neighbors! We enjoyed sitting on the deck and watching all of the birds that come to her feeders and birdbaths and also enjoying all of her beautiful gardens. She is a plant lover like me and we can always talk about that subject.
Last night, Ben and Jill took Lois and I out for belated birthday celebrations and we went to downtown Minneapolis to a very nice high end restaurant called Spoon and Stable. I had my first Old Fashioned in a long time and chose Alaskan Halibut for my entree - it was deliciously seasoned and served on sticky rice and a piece of Bok Choy. We shared some scallops and a beet salad. Everything was so delicious and seasoned very tastefully. They also brought the birthday girls a scoop of ice cream topped with cotton candy for dessert.
From there, we headed to the Guthrie Theater to see the play, "Come From Away", a story about September 11, 2001, 38 planes are diverted to the small town of Gander in Newfoundland that has a huge airport that had served as a staging area for allied troops heading to Europe during WWII. 7,000 people from all over the world ended up in this small town and the townspeople came up with ways to feed, house, and care for them. It celebrated kindness, generosity, and diversity and was based on true events. It was sad, but also lively and humorous. After six days, the planes are finally cleared to take off and head for their original destinations - some back to New York where they saw the destruction for the first time. What a lovely night out on the town!
