Monday, I spent most of the day reading for class, doing laundry, & getting the screened porch fixed up. We had moved the furniture to the basement when the porch was painted last summer & never got it back out there. So, I wiped down all the surfaces, mopped, & put all the furniture back out. It looks great out there again! I am so glad I took the time to do it. In addition to the loveseat & chairs that had been out there before, I stuck the flaking pink wooden chair I have been hanging on to for several years out there. It looks perfect in that context! J & I had fun at the grocery, then I made chorizo & cheddar breakfast burritos for our dinner, after which we had a bit of t.v. & reading, then to bed.
Tuesday morning, I had an eye exam. I hate, hate, hate having my eyes dilated! I don't mind the drops so much, but I hate the blurring & tearing. I was smart this time, though, & picked out my frames before the drops. I am back to oval frames. I hated the rectangular ones. Too harsh in terms of looks & too limiting in terms of vision. My prescription hasn't changed at all & I have no signs of glaucoma or anything like that. I aced the fields of vision test, so my peripheral vision is top notch. Has to be, when you're a parent! After the exam, I exchanged some jeans & got J a caramel pear candle & brown leaf-design saucer for our 3 year & 8 month wedding anniversary. Then, I met Brendan for Thai & theological discussion. Well, we probably talked food at least as much. The afternoon was spent helping boys with homework & grocery shopping. It was pouring rain & I was glad of my sandals. It was the kind of weather where you need either sandals or boots.
J loved her gifts (I added a dozen pink-tipped yellow roses to the candle) & card. She made flat-iron steaks & penne with vodka sauce for our dinner. While she was cooking, we played Trivial Pursuit, just like in the old days when we often got out board games while cooking. It's nice having the table so accessible from the cooking area.
Yesterday, I took Boot to his counseling appointment very early, reading a book on the Bible in English translation while I waited for him. After taking him to school, I read & had breakfast, then went to Bible study. We talked about John 21 & about how often Jesus was found nourishing his people, not just spiritually, but physically, too. My grandmom surprised me by wanting pizza for lunch. In all the time we've been having our Wednesday lunches together, pizza has never even been suggested. Her appetite has been so puny, lately, too. But, she wanted pizza & we happily went along. We had a very nice lunch & she ate almost all her personal pan pizza with ham & pineapple. It's great to see her feeling better.
I caught up on e-mail & helped bitties with homework yesterday. Pie brought a worm home from school to draw & then release. He loves stuff like that. I also spent some time in front of the t.v., which is almost never on before 6 or 7. I just had to see the news on the hurricane. New Orleans has always been very close to my heart, even though I've never been there. I have friends who live there. I know all but 1 are safe. But, I haven't heard anything from her at all. Last I heard, she was going with her daughter & daughter's fiancé to his place across the lake. Of all the times not to evacuate! I hope they changed their minds & headed into Texas after all. My other friends have all come to this area to wait it out. Jessica & Mike are staying with her mom, just down the road from my grandparents, until Slidell is inhabitable. Kyle, who lives in the French Quarter, is staying with his folks for the duration. It will be nice to see him Sunday, but what circumstances! Seeing the footage of the city was just too much. I am so heartsick for all those people who make it their home. I am also sad, selfishly, to think that the New Orleans I always planned to visit will not be there. This is just awful. I will never forget visiting my dad in Miami a year after Andrew & still seeing so much devastation everywhere. And this one looks to be much, much worse. It makes me want to vomit. Gas prices here are up to $3.09, yet it seems stupid & petty to complain when so many people have lost everything. And now, of course, one of the fundie groups is blaming New Orleans' toleration of homosexual depravity for the disaster. I can't get over the number of people who call themselves Christians & are so opposite of what Christ taught. First, Pat Robertson's call for the assassination of Chavez and Fred Phelps' God Hates Sweden website & protests at military funerals, now this crap.
When J got home from work, we took the boys shopping for a new bed (Boot, who found a couple, but both were $399 just for the frame, so we're looking other places, too, before making any final decisions) and a new bike (Pie, who wasn't in the mood to shop & decided to like nothing). We had dinner at Frisch's since it was getting too late to cook & we were all hungry. This wonderful old man, who looked like he might have been through the Holocaust when he was young, stopped by our table & did string tricks for us. We were enthralled & the magic of it (both the great tricks & the interaction with total strangers like that) made me tear up. Maybe he was an angel. I think so.
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