I'm counting down the days until I enter a new decade. It sounds really old, but I'm okay with it. Everyone who lives this long is like a family of survivors - extra nice to each other, sharing those blood pressure readings and sleep patterns, laughing at the things we have discovered about our bodies that we just have to accept.
I have almost the whole month of September to enjoy being 79, and I'd love to do some special things that make it memorable. I won't do many earth-shattering things, but I might do a few things I can look back on and say it was special.
Yesterday was September 1st, and it seemed to be the first day fall was in the air. Sweater weather. Light sweater, but nevertheless, you needed what my mother-in-law called "a sleeve." When I got into the car to go to Mah-Jongg, a light breeze ruffled my neglected hairdo. It needed to have been cut a month ago, but I let it go, and it got to the point of being just perfect for a few weeks, still not requiring anything but a quick brushing in the morning and tolerance of the messy look the rest of the day.
We had a group of 7 today - 3 at one table and 4 at the other. Sharon, Connie, and I played at the 3 table. It usually takes me a game or two to relax and get into the rhythm of the game, but the tiles were there, and the jokers were falling, so I won the first two games. Those jokers! Sometimes I go whole games and see maybe 1 but not today. Once I win a game, I feel more relaxed and don't get anxious about the luck of the draw and especially not about my expertise. Connie won the third game, and being a fairly new player, it was doubly exciting.
As we ended the 3rd game, Abbye got dismissed from her table for winning every game over there and came to make up our fourth. Unfortunately for her but lucky for Sharon, her luck ended, and Sharon won the last 2 games. Connie had brought some of her homemade limoncello for us that she makes from her own lemon trees - in Scottsdale, AZ, where she lives most of the time. She visits here a lot because of having a good many family members, mainly grandchildren, here. I'm not familiar with that drink or vodka at all. It was nice and refreshing but a little sweet for me. It was so nice of her to share that treat with us.
We start back this week with our usual Thursday group. Summer is hard to get the ones with children and grandchildren and the travelers together, but we should settle in now. I notice we have 4 so far that have signed up.
When I got home, Katherine was there. She had gotten off the bus at her bus stop and walked here, and we had just the best afternoon. She talked some about her 6th grade experiences - how someone had noticed her Southern accent, and she told them she was 85% Southern. I'm not sure how she gets that. She's finding it easier to talk to strangers now and enjoying some new acquaintances, even though her best friends from last year aren't in many of her classes. She has a sweet heart and such kindness. She had a snack and part of my supper and then was enjoying a cup of mac and cheese and a game of Rummikub when Ryan came by to get her. It's been a joy seeing her so much these past few days. I wish I could even catch a glimpse of Graysen sometimes, but she's totally wrapped up in school and sports and just finding time to relax and read.
I had an appointment with Dr Gil scheduled for today. I do not like going to the doctor, although it always ends up being nice, especially if all labs check out and nothing else is wrong. She listens so well to my ramblings, and we reached a perfect agreement that maybe after all these years, I do need an anti-anxiety medication for my happiness and everyone around me. We're thinking about that and a few other things. It was good to have a normal-for-me blood pressure and no other problems. I had lab work done but haven't seen the results yet. The phlebotomist is so good. I wish I could have him do my blood draws every time I needed them. Thinking of the time at my oral surgery appointment when 3 nurses/techs could not get a drop of blood and were thinking of going to a nearby clinic to borrow someone. It worked out, but it wasn't my best experience.
As I was leaving the doctor's office, Noreen texted to see if I wanted to get lunch since we were both up and dressed by noon. One of our rare spontaneous decisions. She suggested Caadxi Oaxaci in downtown Snoqualmie. The drive was nice, and it was fun to be out without doctors or PTs involved - just food! I had never been there, and she told me how it was pronounced. I forgot exactly but similar to cod-see wa-hata. She got a little plate of tacos, and I got chicken enchiladas, enough for me to bring home another meal. It was quiet, and the food was good. We got to eat out on little (screened?) porch add-on.
I think I'll have the rest of the day to myself and not sure what I'll do. I'm drinking a good cup of coffee right now and feeling just a little bit cool. I think I'll take a walk before it starts to rain. And practice Mah Jongg a little bit. I have to be ready for tomorrow! Two cats are snoring in their beds, and Bowie is out roaming.
I just started a new book this morning that seems appropriate: Still Life at Eighty. The Next Interesting Thing by Abigail Thomas.
It's more poetry than a novel, I think. Lots of good thoughts and good truths. She's reaching back in her memory to pull up things and writing them down. I'd love to do that when I think of something I think the girls would like to know about me when I'm gone. My life couldn't have been more different than hers: Married 4 times and a "stage seductress," she has quite a few tales to tell that I couldn't begin to imagine. Sorry, but I've been boring most of my life!
