Up and Out

Visited GL today.

Up around 7:30, 40 minutes DVD exercise (WATP), shower, clothes, and made it out of the house around 10:30. The time taken will need to be shorter when work starts again, but at least it all got done today, for the first time in three weeks or more.

Also stopped briefly at the store to get her diet pop and graham crackers. Peace offerings? Not really. Just stuff she likes.

Found her nodded off in a wheelchair (big HONKIN' thing!) in the hall a few doors down from her room. Probably the meds. If that doesn't ease off, I'll speak to the nurse or doc about it. Less angry is one thng, zonked out is another entirely.

All the framed photos and paintings need to be rehung (again), so will bring hammer and small nails next trip, along with the quilt I bought for her last year, but never brought by. I don't like this room as well as I did the other, but she wanted a change and she by-god got it. Be careful what you wish for.  There is less usable space for her stuff, and the view out the window isn't nearly as nice. Someone thought it was a good idea to put her hamper full of nasty, dirty clothes in the closet, and her clean ones now smell bad. Urrrgh...

I'm going to mess around with the little TV I bought her when she was in Assisted Living to see if I can get the DVD player to work. If so, a bunch of nature videos from the pawn shop will keep her occupied when there isn't anything on regular TV she wants to watch.

Her grand-daughter, C., came with her two little guys while I was there. Handsome, rambunctious little boys with their Mom's blond hair, but cropped short.  She handled everything with good grace. As I've said before, she's become a level-headed young woman, and it's good to see her and her young family.

My back has been aching for the past two days. It could be from being in bed so much this week. I also wonder whether it could be medication-related. The pharmacist said the new meds would make me thirsty. Could that mean they might put a strain on my kidneys? I'll make it a point to drink more water this evening.

Shana and I are supposed to meet at the school of massage therapy to get 2 for 1 hour-long student massages in the a.m. Hey, $12.50 each is a smokin' deal, and the students do a good job. I used to go a lot several years ago, and will be going regularly again, now that I've found their new location.

S. says she's never had a full-body therapeutic massage before. I think it will be good for what ails her. She needs some pampering, and this is boy-howdy pampering. I just wish I could go TONIGHT. And tomorrow. And next Wednesday would be good, too.

Instead of eating a big meal late in the day, I decided to take myself to a local Italian restaurant I like for a substantial lunch. Didn't eat breakfast, and have the option of reheated leftovers and/or prepped salad for dinner.

The last time I went, it was with GL, and the place was called Polo's. Now it's Nostalgi'a Cancione e Vino. Same lovely, friendly young lady serving, and the same good food coming out of the kitchen. I had Baked Eggplant Rollatini (well, one rollatino...the other two came home with me-BIG), and a 7" Margherita pizza with a "side" salad that was way more than iceberg lettuce and a chopped tomato. Mixed lettuce with a Romaine and spinach base, tomatoes, red bell peppers, fresh raw mushrooms, cucumbers, it was a good size and came on the plate with the pizza. A thin crust, fresh sauce and mozzarella and fresh basil leaves were drizzled with olive oil and baked so it was crispy and gooey. Oh boy...did I eat too much? Yes, I did. And yet, I still managed to pack in a cannoli and some very tasty decaf coffee.

I had to wait while the chef mixed up the cannoli cream and filled the shell. The filling was a little too soft, but tasted very good, and the presentation with stripes of caramel and chocolate sauce made it irresistible. I suspect the filling's consistency would have been better if it had been given time to set before serving. Hey, I was having dinner for lunch. Next time, I'll try to have more patience.

Oh, and the lady said they now have live music on Friday and Saturday evenings. There's a piano for the playing of standards. Maybe I should go with a friend for a glass of wine to see how good the music is.

Just for the record, it's in a little strip mall on the south side of Glendale Avenue, just east of 51st Avenue, and it's worth looking for.

So andyway, I salved my raw nerves with food again, but I did it at a good place (not fast food junk), and didn't curl up in a ball in bed with it. That is a step in the right direction. A gooey, cheese-laden step.