A cancelled trip

Well, bummer. I was half packed to go to Frisco tomorrow for Christmas with Jamie, Mel and the girls. Jordan and Christian are going to celebrate their anniversary in Dallas, and I would ride back and forth with them, though there was a lot of controversy about where and when Jamie would have to pick me up and drop me off. He is frantically busy and finally called tonight to say, "This just isn't going to work." Maddie has a basketball game in the morning, Edie has a b'day party in the evening, he's still trying to get out of his old office and into the new one, the girls are asking him about putting up their tree, and he sounds like a pressure cooker, so I perfectly understand. But, yes, I'm disappointed. I don't guess I'll get the girls' Christmas presents to them before Christmas, and that's a disappointment. I called Jordan to tell her the wouldn't have to worry about me tomorrow. She called back in five minutes and asked if I wanted to go bar hopping with them--just kidding. But she said they would like to come for Sunday supper. A sweet, sweet gesture to make up for my disappointment, and I am grateful. My good friends, Jean Walbridge and Jim Clark, will join my church on Sunday, so now I can be there for them which is also a bonus. And I have page proofs of a novel to read, so I'll be busy. I decided tonight to leave unpacking the suitcase, washing up the final dinner pan, and all that until tomorrow when I'll have a lazy, lazy day.
Tonight I had a holiday supper for Mary Lu and Charles so that I could give them both their gifts. Fixed a sort of elaborate version of beets and greens and Dover sole, with orange dill gremolata. They both taught at the original Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine (now the UNT Health Science Center) where there is now a move afoot to grant the MD degree as well as the DO, so that gave us plenty of fodder for discussion. I am a child of osteopathic medicine--father, brother, ex-husband, countless uncles and quite a few cousins plus for years I worked in osteopathic colleges doing secretarial and pr work. It's a hard thing for all of us to hear, but tonight just before they came one of my former physicians who remains a friend (and who reads this blog) called to talk about it, and he said the most important thing to me: Fort Worth and Texas have to decide if they want to have the premiere osteopathic college in the country, producing fine family physicians who are desperately needed in Texas and elsewhere or an MD school producing specialists. In my mind I add a second-tier MD school, although I'm sure that's not what the current president believes. It made me think of TCU Press--I know we're never going to rival Oxford or Chicago or some of the other major presses, so I've worked to develop us into a big splash in a little pond and to develop areas of specialization where we can be outstanding. I think that's what UNTHSC should do. It will be interesting to watch this work out.
So here I am with a lazy weekend. I hope to make the laziest possible use of it.

The trip that wasn't and other things

Tonight I should be on a plane to Scotland. It left, without us, at 5:20 from DFW. By now I've grown accustomed to the missed trip and almost put it behind me, but the day does have a certain poignancy. Jeannie's husband is doing well, will be moved from ICU to Progressive Care tomorrow and probably to a rehab facility late in the week. He's out of the woods, and that is the greatest blessing. And, I must confess that excited as I was about this trip, I am not a comfortable traveler. It was a challenge for which I'd worked myself up, so now I have that feeling of "Whew! I don't have to worry about getting on a long flight across the pond." Granted, excitement over the trip was a much more dominant emotion that uncertainty about travel, but that element is still there. Jeannie said Jim looked at her today and asked, "Is this the day you were going to Scotland?" and when she said yes, he said "You'll go later." We will, and maybe the exchange rate will be better. Meantime I've got a new book to read: The Creaky Traveler in the North West Highlands of Scotland: A Journey for the Mobile but Not Agile. Boy, does that fit me!
I've read my first novel on my Kindle, amazon's hand-held reader, and I liked it a lot. I had stockpiled books on it in preparation for Scotland and now decided I should start reading them. So I read an Aurora Teagarden mystery called Real Murders and got hooked on it. Found the Kindle every bit as easy to read as a book, though I'm sure I'm underusing it. I keep meaning to read the directions but that hasn't happened yet. Also anticipating Scotland, I'd sloughed off on the projects on my desk, but tonight I worked on my chapter for Grace & Gumption: The Cookbook and tomorrow I'll get back to being seriuos about Scots in Texas. I don't like not writing. Writing is a whole big part of who I am.
My cat and I are at war. He wants fresh food every time he's hungry, while I maintain he should eat the perfectly good food that he left behind in his bowl. I even take a spoon and fluff it up so it's easier for him to eat. Sometimes he doesn't even check the bowl. He just comes to stalk me, sits at my desk and stares at me forlornly. If I get up for anything, he leaps head of me and heads for his food dish. Now I know he's old--sixteen, I think--and needs indulging, but he's carrying it way too far. There was a period when I thought he was fading--his once luxurious tail looked like a rat's tail, he was thin, and he just didn't look well. The vet couldn't figure it out. But I sent the fantastic pointsettia I'd had since mid-December home with Melinda for her to plant, and Wywy improved quite quickly. His tail filled out; I think he gained a little weight; he was interested in my tuna fish and scrambled eggs and almost anything I ate. No poinsettia next year!
Speaking of food, I was in the doctor's office last week and I've gained eight lbs. So I'm cutting down on the outrageous amounts of butter I've been cooking with and cutting out the chocolate sundae I loved in the evening. No more Girl Scout cookies in the afternoon. And pretty much I'm off red meat, though not a strict thing. I bought a ton of vegetables when I shopped this weekend. My goal is seafood and vegetables--sounds good to me. Oh, yes, I'm off cottage cheese. Once before I quit eating cottage cheese and lost so much weight my brother was alarmed. But these days I'm not eating so much of that for breakfast and am eating oatmeal, which is supposed to make you lose weight. If I'm gaining because of oatmeal, I'm going to feel really cheated.