Rain and retirement

I am so tired of gloomy weather. We haven't seen the sun in forever, and every day it rains just a bit, enough to dampen the ground and my spirits. None of this is helped by the fact that I have to go to the dentist tomorrow (three small cavities) and then take my car to finally get the top-down mechanism repaired. Jacob will have dinner with me, so that brightens the day.
Today I think I made steps toward mastering retirement. Slept as long as the cat would let me--almost 7:45--but it was ten by the time I did my free writing, rode the stationery bike, showered, shampooed and dressed. What a luxury! Worked for a while--I'm editing that memoir of an old friend--and went to lunch to celebrate Melinda's b'day. Staff meeting and then home again. I cancelled the pot-luck happy hour for tonight--several people sick and too gloomy for a porch picture. Need to reschedule. But I've had a pleasant day, working, napping, and eating leftovers. At lunch I was coughing more than usual, and by mid-afternoon my chest felt tight. I thought a cold--or the dreaded flu--was coming on, but then I told myself that would be what my brother calls "a self-fulfilling prophecy." So I napped--and lingered in my cozy bed long after I woke up (which meant I missed Megan's call with her report on their trip to Italy). But the tightness was gone and I feel fine.Colin called with a report on Jordana Alter's wedding in New York and the fabulous time he and Lisa had.
I may have fallen into the self-fullfilling prophecy trap because at noon, when we ordered, the waiter was hunkered down by our table when he suddenly looked away with a vacant look on his face. Melinda said after that he was shaking and clammy, but he said, "Sorry, folks, I suddenly felt sick." Well of course after that we didn't want him near our food. Jim said he was hoping the poor guy would pass out so they'd give us another waiter. In fact, other people delivered our bread and lunches, and we didn't see much of that young man, although when he came with the bill, he assured us he was fine. Jim was still muttering about H1N1.
Nothing else new--I'm lost in someone else's childhood in Iowa, though it is funny that his grandfather graduated from Cornell College, where I went for my first two years, and it turns out we had some long-distant friends in common. The last few days I've corresponded with someone from Sisters in Crime who had posted that she grew up in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood--turns out she went to the same grammar school I did, knew exactly where I lived, etc. Lots of fun to share common memories.