A nice day

"Nice" is a significant word in my special vocabulary. There's a whole category of movies, for example, that I classify as "nice" movies, translated, perhaps, as "feel good" movies done well, as opposed to mindless tearjerkers. A "nice" movie is one that makes you think that maybe the human race is redeemable after all. The mindless tearjerkers, on the other hand, I classify as "sincere" movies, so when I call something "nice" it's definitely a good thing; when I call it "sincere," you're supposed to hear the irony underneath. (Nonetheless, a sincere movie can make me cry real tears at the same time that I realize how shamelessly the filmmaker is manipulating my emotions!)

I refuse to buy sympathy cards where the text is "With sincere sympathy"--like there was some other kind! In fact, I usually just take a very pretty floral notecard and write some words of my own, which I think is a lot more meaningful.

All this has been a lead-in to what a nice day yesterday was. In the morning, before Sears opened, Marty figured out how to find out whether optical department was open on Sunday (the information wasn't on their Website, and the phone number got you into an automated system that didn't have the information either), as Donna needed his help (she was off on Saturday but working on Sunday). Once he ascertained that they were open (starting at noon), and that I could get someone to stay with me (Judy, who is often available and apologetic when she isn't--I always tell her not to apologize), he left, after giving me my breakfast and getting me set up in the living room. I was quite comfortable, even before Judy arrived--I had newspapers to read, and put on NPR to listen to the car guys, who always crack me up. Judy arrived just as "Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me" was starting--she was happy that I was listening to it, since she had been listening in the car on the way over, so we listened and laughed together. Last week was a great day for "Wait, Wait" material--the governor "hiking the Appalachian trail" will provide comedic fodder for a long time!

I'd had a light breakfast (biscuits again--Marty stocked up when he was at Popeye's, and they seem to keep pretty well) and was hungry, so Judy heated up the rest of the chicken pie from the other day, and cooked some carrots, and I devoured it. There wasn't much to watch on TV (the news stations have become Michael Jackson all the time), so we talked some, and I read some. The sun was trying to come out, and Judy said that in fact it was rather hot and muggy out, but I was comfortable with just the fan going (if it does get too hot, I can rely on the very powerful air conditioner in there that cools off the whole living room/dining room area very quickly).

My friend Dan called, and said that it was a good time for him to stop by, and that he was going to bring another friend, Ken (who is someone Marty and I both knew separately through work things, as Ken is involved both in anti-psychiatry stuff and in Israel/Palestine peace issues), so Judy said she'd just clean up stuff in the kitchen and leave once they arrived, as Marty had called and it sounded like he'd be home in a few hours, which she did once they arrived and we did a round of introductions. We then spent an enjoyable two hours or so talking about all kinds of stuff. I was feeling good--the pain had gone back to one small spot and is just annoying rather than being seriously draining, and sitting in the lounge chair relaxes my whole body. Lisa showed me a very easy stretch when she gave me my massage on Thursday, where I put my arms over my head and lightly hold the back rail of the chair, so I did that several times, which felt really good and put just the right amount of pull on the sore muscle, which is what everyone has concluded it is.

Marty got home not long after they left. In the morning, we had realized that we'd never even looked at last Sunday's crossword puzzle, so we started on that, but then got involved in watching one of our favorite movies, North by Northwest, on TCM, which was doing a Hitchcock day, and which shows movies without commercials. We both know the whole movie, even chunks of dialogue, but it's still fun to watch because it's so well-constructed and stylish. As a result, we never did get far on the puzzle, and we'll have a new one with today's paper, so we'll need to find some serious crossword puzzle time this week!

I'm not sure if I've written anything about the war that's broken out between my cats, who are usually best buddies, but for the last week they have been hissing and growling at each other, with Gilbert, the smaller, younger, and usually more submissive cat definitely the instigator! A few times he's chased Oliver under the bed when Marty is trying to give them their breakfast, or the cat treats they get in the evening, and since Oliver's medicine goes along with meals, it's made it hard on Marty, who has had to lure him out to make sure the medicine got into the right cat! I called the vet the other day, and while I never spoke with her directly, got a message relayed that perhaps Oliver's thyroid is out of whack and Gilbert could be smelling some indication of that, so Marty now has an appointment to bring him in on Monday morning, although our regular vet (who adores Oliver) will be on vacation and he'll be seeing a substitute. I guess they will do some blood work and possibly adjust his medication--at least, I'm hoping it's that simple. I'm very attached to both cats (who are both very loving, and adore being petted and tickled) and get very anxious even thinking about anything bad happening to them. Oliver is fourteen, which is getting up there for a cat.

As I expected after my huge lunch, I didn't get super hungry for dinner, and asked Marty to heat up the the one leftover slice of pizza from a few nights ago, which I had with a beer. We watched some TV (I was doing more reading than watching), and ate some watermelon which Marty cut up into chunks and eventually moved back into the bedroom, intending to do some more work on the crossword puzzle, but I fell asleep on top of the covers almost immediately and slept for close to an hour, and then after a bit went to sleep for real. I guess I'd been sleeping for a bit more than an hour when some music worked its way into my dream, and I woke in a state of confusion. Marty, who had also been sleeping, had come awake because he wanted to watch Rear Window, so we both watched for awhile, and had some ice cream, but neither of us could stay awake, so it's a good thing we both know the movie pretty well or we'd be wondering how it ended.

Unfortunately, I was awakened later in the night with a really bad aching in both knees, and early this morning I took some morphine, which seems to have it under control, but I'm getting quite worried my knee and hip pain may be coming back. It's been just about two years (it was mid-July) since I had the radio-frequency ablation procedure that put an end to more than two years of miserable, nagging pain; at the pain clinic they told me the effects of the procedure would last a maximum of eighteen months, so I've certainly had a good run. They told me they could repeat the procedure when the pain came back (which they said would happen eventually), so if this continues I will certainly give the pain clinic a call. The last thing I need right now is to deal with really bad pain! Right now, with the morphine, it's under control, so our plan for the day is to go to Sears, and possibly stroll around the mall, and have lunch at Legal Seafoods. I'll have morphine with me so I should be all right in terms of pain control.

Here's hoping for another nice day!