11/22/2019: Anniversary of Pop's passing. Up about 5 AM.
Prayers, catechism, Bible. Got dressed. Now it's about 6:50 AM and I'm ready to
go get lottery tickets: decided to go whole hog and get Powerball,
Mega-millions, and TX Lotto. Still have $2 for the collection. Taking both
canes to help spare my right leg.
Well. For all my fancy getting dressed and trussing up my
legs, when I looked out it was raining. So, I didn’t go. So, I made some ramen
and crackers, and settled in. Over the day I got up to 20 script pages, but
when I tried to send it to John it seemed Microsoft 365 wasn’t letting it go
through, or John’s service wouldn’t work. After several tries, I think I
finally got a version through, but it exhausted my ‘juice’, with which I was
hoping to finish up the draft tonight.
Kam came home about 4 PM, while I was letting the Chis
out. He had groceries again, of which I wanted to take some cereal and oranges
but only took some expiring Italian sausages. Boiled and ate them. Prayed my
rosary. Watched most of “Soylent Green”, and now “Jason and the Argonauts” is
coming on.
11/23/2019: Prayers, catechism, and Bible. Made olive oil
Pastaroni for breakfast. S&A went off in the morning, and I got an orange
and one of the PB Cup cereal boxes. They took Cricket for her neck thing, and
she seems to be doing ok. They spent most of the day cleaning out the storage
shed. I did a whole lot of relaxing (with my right leg in constant pain from –
walking? Eating a lot of sugary stuff? Deep vein thrombosis?); anyway, no
writing. Maybe I’ll finish off Chapter Two after church. At lunch I had
stuffing – to which I put twice as much water than needed, having unthinkingly
doubled the recipe (stupidity? Brain farts?). S&A gave me some towels and a
pillow from their cleaning in the evening. Prayed a rosary (with a decade
dedicated to opposing the Satanic Mass in Houston this evening). Made some
ramen. It’s now 9:30 PM and after I eat, I may try to hit the hay again. Oh
yes, finished Stephen Leacock’s Sunshine Pictures.
11/24/2019: “What color is this paper?” he asked. “It is
red,” I replied. “Look closer,” he said. “You will see by this one spot that
the paper is white. It is the color of the ink with which it is stained that is
red.”
Up at 6 AM, dressed, prayers. Left at 7 AM; weather clear
and not overbearingly cold. Service today by Father Tony, who covers the
circuit when necessary. Christ the King. Afterwards we were all given a free
book, “Why It’s Great to Be Catholic.” At collection, I only gave $1 as there
wasn’t a second collection as I expected. Mike Stewart and his wife gave me a
ride home, which was providential, as my right leg problems continue. Also,
Mike’s wife was gathering up some money for a needy family, so I was able to
contribute my other dollar, so that fulfilled my conscience dilemma.
After I got home, I read my catechism and Bible. Took a
nap, went in for ramen, and saw S&A working on the shed again. Straightened
up the house, read Imaginative Conservative essays.
“She found her husband’s broiling soul/ (Ding, dong, all
come to the grave)/ And drew it out with a washing pole/ (something like “All
men need their soul to save”)” – A part of a poem I wrote in high school based
on the Dutch painting of Mad Meg – I remember Fleming reading it out loud with
a rather fierce expression.
Just watched “The Simpson’s Thanksgiving of Horror” and
found it to be void of humor and content. Sigh. It’s been going downhill for
years, and I’ve watched it less and less, but this must be a new nadir.
Now my chest hurts. I wore my copperfit knee things all
day and I just took them off and now my chest hurts. Connected? One good thing
is that the little skin tag under my right eye that’s been annoying me the past
few days has fallen off. Had an apple for supper. Made it through the rest of
the animations, then had an hour and a half gap until the new Rick and Morty.
Set alarm then watched the show rather sleepily then went to sleep again.
11/25/2019: Wow. The year hastens to its end. Up a little
before 5 AM, prayers, catechism, Bible. Right leg still hurting. I guess this
is my life now (such as it is). Had the heater on all night. Beautiful weather
today. Kam is off school this week. Did no writing. Felt okay in the morning,
but after I took an afternoon nap felt worse as I struggled through the day as
I finished my wash (3 loads, with the new-old towels Susan gave me). Made cucumber
salad, couscous, and their fish for supper. Attack on the computer, perhaps the
first all year; shut it down and rebooted. Fell asleep after my ramen couscous
supper about 5:30 PM and woke about 7:30 PM. Feel no better. My plan: wash up
at 8 PM then rosary.
Andy asked me if I wanted Kelsey’s old plastic drawer
thing that she took to that training camp. Kam called me at 9 PM for supper.
Spent time cleaning the stickers off drawers and cleaning it up (it smells
vaguely of cat pee, probably from its night on the porch). John reacted to the
script at last, and pretty positively. He had been busy painting their living
room all weekend. Tis now slightly after midnight, and I must hit the hay soon.
11/27/2019: Such a perfectly fallish day I had a little
trouble doing anything, especially since I didn’t have to get Kam off to
school. Mild weather, falling leaves. Prayers, catechism, Bible. Despite my
lassitude I managed to get through Rose’s backstory in Chapter Two. Blah, blah,
regular Tuesday stuff, aside from having to pen up the Rotts at 2 PM for the
pool guy, who came for – extra maintenance? Rosary. Hit the hay at about 9 PM.
A night of dreams, of which I record a fragment: being a part of a team of dead
men working underwater (don’t have to breathe) cataloging a sunken city,
disturbing some kind of monster that comes to attack us.
11/28/2019: Up at 5 AM, prayers, catechism, Bible. Washed
dishes, got dressed. Caught up diary. It’s now 6 AM. Said Rosary about 7 AM.
Wrote up to where Mr. Frobisher is introduced. Went in at 9 AM, made ramen,
boiled eggs, made pea salad, peeled eggs in my house. A little after 12 PM went
in and made devilled eggs; S&A came and took Kameron to sell his cocoa mix.
When came back home I made him bacon and eggs, then started the cheesecakes.
Found out I overcalculated the stuff needed. Finished at 3 PM. At 3:30 PM
started supper (chili, rotini, corn on cob) and grassed and fed Chis. Finished
by 4:30 PM and took my supper in and watched The Flintstones. Ate an orange. I
feel one big push would finish the Script; can I do it tonight, or should I try
tomorrow morning? Church tomorrow is not a day of obligation, but it does meet
specially; can I take it? In at 8 PM to wash dishes, then to bed at 9 PM.
11/29/2019: Up at 4 AM to write down Goku dream; finished
about 5 AM (it was a detailed dream). Prayers, catechism, Bible. Wrote up to
Frobisher leaving. Showered, got dressed, still trying to decide whether to go
to church, and the next thing I know I’m walking down the street by
Wells&Fargo. A nice couple picked me up by Nolte Furniture and take me the
rest of the way; we’re the first people there. Spend much of the time praying
the rosary on my fingers. Had a nice service with Fr. Greg, who still seems to
be having a little trouble after his fall. Afterwards we sang the Gobble Song
as a bit of whimsey, changed the missalettes, and got to pick some produce off
the Table of Plenty for our Thanksgiving feast. I got an orange. Walked back
(picking up an acorn along the way). Home a little after 10 AM and had the
orange for breakfast.
We headed out to John & Amy’s at 1:30 PM, with a little detour to get gravy at DG. We got there and found Donna’s brother already arrived to see her father (who had recently been placed on hospice). We took the pea salad, devilled eggs, and cheesecakes in, and after a bit we ate, John leading us in prayer. It was wonderful; turkey, rolls, mashed potatoes, great dressing, cranberries, green bean casserole, little pecan pies. Chris was a pretty good fellow, and as we all avoided politics, we had a fine time. Afterwards we browsed around on their big TV, looking at family pictures, videos (disasters and accidents), and ended up watching ALL “The Phantom of the Opera”, after John just wanted to use it to demonstrate the amazing picture.
Then we played a couple of games of Scattergories. We packed up and said
farewell and got home at about 11 PM. Along the way I couldn’t remember the
name of the movie “Stripes”, and it didn’t come to me until the very second
before I started typing in Bill Murray. I think my brain might be slowing down.
11/29/2019: Up about 5:30 AM with a cramp in my leg that
made me wonder “Is this it?” I straightened out and lay still a while, and it
felt better, and I got up about 6:30 AM and started the day. Dressed, prayers,
catechism and Bible. Watched Perry Mason. Watched “The Song of Bernadette”. Transferred
ceramic Santas into tall thin dresser and my papers into the three drawer
plastic drawers. Went in at 9 AM and got a stuffing sandwich and some ramen. At
10:30 AM got more ramen and a cheesecake, then sat and napped. Up at 1 PM when
Kam called me to let the Chis out. Cricket very sluggish and didn’t want to
move. Fed cats early. Worked on making two new documents; one for Chapter 3 and
one for notes on Chapter 3. At 4 PM I fed the indoors and let the Chis out
again, this time carrying Cricket out, still sluggish, but she peeped and
finally managed to poop. Wrote S a note about my concerns for the dog. Made
myself another stuffing sandwich. All day long it was drippy and grew warmer
the later in the day it got. Said rosary. At 7 PM A came out and told me the
rest of the Thanksgiving leftovers were for me. I went in, and S said that
Crick was doing fine, and asked me to make the cheesecake for K&RH (they had
got a crust, and there was all that filling left over). I told them I had not
had a chance to check the porch for mail because of the weather, and A looked
out and sure enough there were packages. As I was headed back to the guest
house, I almost slipped on the porch going down the stairs; luckily A was there
to help me by carrying the plates; otherwise, I would not have had a free hand
to catch myself. Came out and ate turkey, stuffing, devilled eggs and a little
cheesecake. It’s now 9:16 PM, and I’m ready to wind down for the night.
Christmas specials already popping up everywhere of course, but at least now
it’s a little more understandable. I wonder sometimes if John and Kenny are
just humoring me about the quality of my work, afraid that it will be too
depressing or divisive if they gave me any serious criticism, or perhaps they
are just too close to be clear-eyed about it (I can’t tell myself). Still, the
book did get published, so it at least met the very minimal requirements, I
guess.
11/30/2019: Up about 5 AM, to write up a dream, then an
idea about flipping the perceived script on Harry Potter and seeing the
Wizarding World as a metaphor for Christianity in a secular world. Dressed,
prayers, catechism and Bible. Dipping around the internet and TV as usual: I
seldom record all the snips I look at all the time. A little pain in my chest:
heart burn or heart trouble? Will I join the Holiday Death Toll? Not quite 9 AM
and I’m wondering when they’ll head out to help Kelsey and Ryan. At least it
stopped drizzling.
I hit the hay about 10:30 AM and woke to the noon bell. I
lay a while then got up. Went in and got cucumber salad, sausage patties (2 I
made in sandwiches of cheese and Miracle Whip), apples and oranges, and ramen
with bread. I ate most of it as quickly as I could. Fred dropped in in the
afternoon but finding nobody here he left (he set raccoon traps). It’s about
2:40 PM and I’m ready to sleep again. Warm and mostly sunny.
Went in at 4 PM to grass the Chis and feed the pets and
found that Kam was still here! S had told me last night that he was going with
them, but apparently not. Swept the kitchen porch. Grabbed another ramen to eat
later. Dipped in and out of The Great Race on TCM and a Dead
Like Me marathon. Almost 6 PM and I getting ready to turn on the back-porch
light and the safety lights. Still feeling a little off balance and occasional
chest pains, probably gas.
At about 8 PM Andy showed up and told me they were back; he also brought me a half of a burrito, some fajitas, and a flour tortilla. He said K&RH were doing well and seemed happy moving into their new apartment. Prayed the rosary at 9 PM. Want to lay down for a nap and then up at 11:15 PM for The Mask of Demetrios; we shall see.
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