May 5th through 11th in 2014

Monday I went on a very long walk. Four and a half miles. I also got a lot done. I got texting put on my phone, I applied for a charge card, and I looked for some additional gadgets for my smart phone. I did all of this while walking. I also happened across Mrs. Bartlett during this and helped her with her mailbox. It was nice.

Tuesday I did a ton of exercise. That was really the highlight. Half an hour of biking, half an hour of swimming, then an hour of yoga. The yoga started to hurt my ankle a lot, so I stopped. I did better on the bike than I'd thought. Apparently I'm either faster than I used to be, or, biking is faster than I'd realized. Distances are a lot shorter (in minutes) than I remember them being.

Wednesday I ate over at Marshal's. It was pretty fun. For whatever reason, I often dread going there, but, when I'm there, I always had fun. I was the raconteur that I enjoy being, and he loved my China stories. He also whipped out one of his dirty Japanese ivories to show mum. She was . . . amusedly not amused.

Thursday I went on a five mile walk. I also auditioned for Persuasion. Two pretty girls showed up who I didn't know prior. I hope they're in the show.

Friday the weather was crazy and I had a migraine. I also helped mum do yard work. They institutionalized Matt on Friday, which is a good thing. He and his dad got in a fight, and his younger sister called the cops. For whatever stupid reason, Matt won't press charges against his dad. But he's in a psych ward. Which is good, really. He needs to spend some time there. Maybe he'll calm down. Maybe it'll also make his dad shape up. Doubt it, though.

Saturday was dominated by going to Amber's, then taking her to Matt, then going home. Part of me wanted to see her a lot. Part of me didn't want to see her at all. I'm very mixed. It's frustrating that I've never been able to act in a reasonable way around her. It's ever harder now. I'm managing the quiet, gruff, civility that described a lot of my relations with Rachael. I suppose there are some similarities. I have to keep reminding myself not to demonize her. It's really hard not to. Demonizing people is easy, and it makes you hurt less. It's easier to say, "She's a bitch!" than, "We don't get along, and, no matter how much you want it, being around her is bad." So, I need to both keep my distance, and constantly remind myself how good she is. Needless to say, it's hard. I dropped her at the hospital door (we were late due to traffic) and found a parking spot. While walking to the door, the shuttle picked me up, and the driver seemed to be very interested in Plutarch. I brought one of the little Oxford edition of some of the Greek lives for Matt. Amber brought him a Discworld book. It was weird seeing Matt's parents. Later, I did an airport trip for the Ho family. They brought me back a fez from Fez. Sadly, it was too small for even mum. I didn't eat until late evening. My plan had been to eat nothing all day to try to clear out my system. Tris and I used to do that in China sometimes. But we had orange juice. I learned that there's a BIG difference between eating nothing but drinking nutrition, and just getting NOTHING in you.

Sunday was, of course, mother's day(and Courtney (from elementary school, Ami's friend)'s birthday. I always remember said Courtney's birthday because she told it to me in 4th grade. Back then, I was very sad at school because SCS was terrible. So, mum would sometimes send me little presents in my lunch. One day, in the art room (no idea why we were eating there. Pretty sure it was the art room) she saw me open my lunch, and Lizzie the Beanie Baby was in there. She was excited because she had that one, because it was on her birthday: May 11th. It also turns out, she told me, that the year she was born, Mother's day was also on a May 11th, and her mum thought that was very special. Anyway, it was Mother's day this year, too. Grandma, her youngest son, his wife, and their brood came. Plus her other two sons, and one's new fiance. My old next door neighbor came, which was nice. I fell asleep on the couch for a while, having been already sleepy, but having decided to read some of the book I have on the pre-Socratic philosophers. I was also sneaking in to play Rome Total War, which was both nice and not. More on that later. Well, mum didn't freak out too much (which was strange, but nice). All and all not a bad day. Nor a bad week.