The Brightest Spot of My Week
Sat., September 20, 11:33 AM
It has been one of those weeks when I feel stymied. It isn’t one single thing as so many little ones, like when you’ve just finished washing the dishes and the sink is full again. Monday was just too hot and heavy. Except for some progress on my basement project, I didn’t feel that I had accomplished anything — other than the usual medicate him, feed him, clean up, rinse and repeat.
On Tuesday Husband had a routine doctor’s appointment. These are important, as they link him to the medical center, including getting his prescriptions filled. But it’s always a project, including pulling U.D. out of work, because it takes both of us. She drives, I push the wheelchair; we dare not leave him alone because we don’t know what he might do. Including going for a walk and getting lost while I’m in the ladies room. The only advantage to a doctor’s visit is walking so far, while maneuvering a wheelchair, that I get my day’s exercise.
Wednesday morning the phone call from day care was not “we’re on our way to pick him up,” but instead “we are short-staffed and will not pick him up until ten.” Not having enough drivers to pick him up at nine also translates into bringing him home early. Basically, he went out for a long lunch. I couldn’t start changing his linen until he was gone, and then my groceries were delivered. I had my own lunch, and bingo, he was home. Pfft!
The day care center was still short of drivers on Thursday (and they expect to be next week as well!), but once Husband was out of the house, I got ready to ride the trike. I had not ridden since the previous Thursday, when I went to the Bookmobile. However, that was the source of the brightest spot of my week.
A year ago I wrote about reading Guardian of the Horizon, one of the Elizabeth Peters books about the Emerson family. Last week I found The Serpent on the Crown, which picks up where I had hoped the last book would do. When the real world intrudes on the fiction, certain things become inevitable. As the series advanced to the time of World War I, having some characters working for their respective governments was no surprise.
Similarly, the appearance of a real historical figure, like Howard Carter, piqued my interest, only to be submerged by other drama. Now that the war is over, I have expectations. The Serpent on the Crown is a good mystery on its own, but it also points to where I was anticipating, with a logical — if uncharacteristic — explanation of why it would play out that way. So I am eagerly looking forward to The Tomb of the Golden Bird, which is advertised as “the eighteenth Amelia Peabody book.” Naturally, I went looking on the net (’cause I’m not paying retail), and I found out that the book was published in 2006 and is available for very good prices. And then I remembered, I do not necessarily have to buy the darned thing; I printed out the information and will ask the Bookmobile staff if they have it.
I have lost a lot of riding strength, but I can read. Savor the silver linings.
