Friday, May 6, 2005

 

Hail fellow well met!

    Am I out of the habit? Yeah, I guess. I continue to put off journal entries not because my mother's and my conjoined lives are stressed but for exactly the opposite reason. Which probably underlines the fact that my primary habit is to use this journal as therapy. Lately I haven't needed therapy. I do, though, several times a day, find myself forming incidents and conversations in preparation for entry into this journal then, well, I find it more tantalizing to live our lives than to write about them.
    Finding the time to devote myself to journal entry hasn't been a problem. Our lives continue on a leisurely track. We've added some activities. We're reading again in the evenings. Not every evening and not always for very long, but reading, nonetheless. That began a few weeks ago when I decided to cart by the book section of Costco to see if anything looked interesting enough that I might decide to attempt reading on my own, again. I noticed a peculiar looking book with an equally peculiar title, only one copy on the table: Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell. Since I've been out of the flow of book publication for some time I knew nothing about it. I picked it up, read the back cover, read the inside coverlets, noticed the enticing Dickensian illustrations throughout the book, spot read intriguing sentences as I leafed through the pages and decided this might be a good book for us to read aloud. Since, I've discovered that it has an apparently cultish following as evidenced by its web site, which it deserves, I might add. I'd describe it as Harry Potter for adults, which is a relief because, despite the fascination many adults have developed for the series, I couldn't get past the first half of the first book in the series. Despite the fact that I usually love juvenile literature, including a selection of books for very young children, I consider Harry Potter a bit too juvenile for me. Jonathan Strange, though, is wonderful, both in style and structure, and we're having great fun with it. I, of course, do all the reading. The reason we haven't got very far in it is that it is impossible for us to read this book aloud without frequent discussion of phrases, ideas and personalities in the book.
    Mom is still thawing. Our spring has been cool and wet this year, loaded with passing fronts. Mom prefers to weather lows low, so that's what we're doing. I still occasionally worry that I can't get her moving as much as I'd like but I've (almost completely) stopped harassing her. Maybe once a week, on a warm day, I manage to get her to do an abbreviated therapy routine. I've gotten her in the car to the store twice in the last month (which means she walkers in, sits on the front bench to do some intense people watching, then walkers out with me when I've completed transactions), which is an improvement over winter. She is sleeping, right now, maybe 14 hours a day including napping, sometimes more if a low is directly on top of us and I'm not baking (so I've been baking a lot, lately). She is happy and satisfied, though, awake or asleep. Her attitude and appetite remain hearty. As well, I've been so much less stressed and stressful that although it appears as though little has changed, much, in fact, has changed.

Miscellaneous Observations:    And, yes, I continue taking stats on an abbreviated basis but haven't gotten around to entering them. Anyway, I'd continue writing but being up at this hour is uncharacteristically late for me anymore. Lately I've been getting up much earlier (which I love) than previously; thus, I've been retiring earlier, often at the same time as my mother, usually pleasantly exhausted from our full, easy days. My intention has been, through these breaks, to report more than I have been but there always seems to be something else to do...and now that item is sleep...to the rhythm of yet another somnolent rain storm...
    ...later.

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