Life Gets in the Way #456

My physical therapist came today and put me through paces I am now familiar and comfortable with. But she promises the game changes next week—we will work on balance and we will walk outside down the driveway with a cane. Has that woman ever looked as she came up the driveway at how cracked and uneven it is? We are also supposed to work on upper body strength—Lord only knows what that will entail.

This morning, since I still can’t bend to get my left shoe on, I asked her to help and explained that my major graduate school professor was coming for lunch. She was aghast and asked, “How old is he?” I guess she envisioned a feeble old man at least nearing ninety. “A year older than I am,” I replied. I went on to explain that in the years since I got my Ph.D., some forty-seven years now, Fred and I have stayed in touch and had lunch oh maybe once a month or so. Since my mobility went south, he brings me lunch because he doesn’t like to drive all the way up my driveway—backing down that 1920s skinny drive does him in, and so far I’m not about to walk down it to his car (see above—that may change). I promised to fix lunch next time, now that I’m cooking again. A challenge.

This was one of those days when life got in the way of writing. The PT visit takes 45 minutes; I have spent a gosh-awful amount of time searching for Christmas 2017 accommodations for my family—16 people isn’t easy. We now count eleven adults (two older girls will be 18 and 14 and are beyond a pallet on the floor dormitory-style with their younger cousins). Such large houses aren’t easy to come by and are expensive when you do find them. But I found what looks like a great property in Ruidoso (where there’s skiing but also enough for non-skiers to do), and today I finalized arrangements. I can get back to my life.

One exciting chore: listening to an audition tape for the audio version (to come from Auspicious Apparatus) of Skeleton in a Dead Space. I followed in the text and pretty much liked what I heard but I’m no judge. I am so glad to be dipping my toe in the audio market with someone else doing the production work. Not much profit, but it will get my name out there.

So the chores I planned to do? Finishing re-reading the second Susan Hogan book (to be called either The Mystery of the Women or The Perfect Dog, the latter since it’s a sequel to The Perfect Coed and if I can do it, I’d like to set “Perfect” titles as a model for that series). My other chore was to send the last title to be digitized—Murder at Tremont House is available on Amazon in digital form, but I need to get it to Draft2Digital which will put it on other platforms. Did I do any of that today? No, not much (does that sound like a ‘60s song to anyone but me?)

Tomorrow is another day but another busy one. That’s good.