Today is Saturday, January 22nd

I'm playing catch up again...  Sometimes life gets in the way.  T & I are renewed.  It's terrible that death should be the harbinger for living consciously but so it is.  I guess complacency is the opposite and for us, just NOT acceptable.  Joan will be a part of us forever even though I've never met her... I feel like we would have been fast friends... now she is a part of our memory and we thank her for being a part of our experience.  Carpe diem!!!

Thursday is usually Brokers tour day but this week, T & I spent the day at Stanford after consuming a big breakfast.  We are blessed.  Tracy is treated so well (a bed so he could doze) as he is given 2 infusions of blood and I go off to get some stuff done.... never realized that an oil change for my hybrid would be 2.5 times more expensive than a gas powered auto but there you have it... the car and our environment are definitely worth it, with all the driving we do...  anyway,  I made a run to Costco & a few other stops and then, for the very first time... drum roll please... I found a 2 hour parking spot on Pasteur Drive, skirted the garage and the consistent $6 please for any parking under 6 hours.  I picked up a panini to split with my honey and T & I relaxed while he was given his last infusion....made it back to my car before the avaricious meter maid.  My broker had called with an REO listing opportunity on the Eastside of San Jose so, that would be our next stop.  It took about an hour to reach the very dense neighborhood off King Rd north of 680 and it was dark and a little scary.  I knocked on the door as my honey stood sentinel outside the door of our car (T was too wiped out to venture any further).  Since the man who answered didn't speak English and I speak enough Spanish to get the point across; this was definitely not a match made in heaven.  He claimed he didn't live there & no one else was home.  I left my card but I won't be holding my breath for a call back.  Unfortunate situation and T & I decided that we wouldn't pursue this one.  Too far from Stanford to make it manageable.  Next stop home in heavy but moving traffic and Michelle's veggie soup for me and chicken soup & pastina for T....

Friday was to be a day off for me.  Wow!!!  I took care of business, made a French toast & bacon breakfast for us and played hooky with my buddy, Marilyn.  We hiked 6.5 miles in Wilder State Park and it was glorious!!!  I had never been in the park and it is truly worth the trip.  It's just north of Santa Cruz and it straddles Hiway 1.  So scenic and peaceful; I only felt a twinge of guilt that I couldn't take Riley along to play.  Meanwhile our buddy, Gary Whitney picked up my honey and transported him to Stanford.  Wow!!!  Friends mean so much!!  On their way back they picked up Deb and in the meantime, I met Barry & Dottie at the office so they could accept the deal and release most of their contingencies.  It was a very happy day!!!  I was back home when T & co. arrived and we drank some red and ate some brie to celebrate.  I topped the day off with a relaxing soak in my way too big tub (when we were building the house, we climbed into it for a test drive in the Saratoga Plumbing showroom to make sure we both would fit in it together, never considering that it might be too big for just one).  I like it much better when we're both in it but right now with a PICC line, T is relegated to showers only.  Oh well... the bath was needed and I didn't drown..

Saturday dawned early and we ate scrambled eggs & bacon and set off for T's last trip to Stanford for the week.  I claimed a parking space on Pasteur Drive after dropping T off... I'm getting pretty good at this... and joined my T as we chatted with Joaquin & Jerry and waited for T's RN to magically appear.  Joaquin starts his transplant this week.  I have a good feeling for him... my hair stood up on my arms in confirmation....  We talked about the fact that they spent about $25,000 on Residence Inn while he has been getting treatment.  I wish I had met them sooner.  They could have invested in a condo and had something to show for it.... that got me thinking... a new potential project in the making.  Anyway, we beat the meter maid and sped off in the glorious sun and decided that this was a day for the beach.  Riley, T & me together on the beach again... just for a little while and then, on to Linda & Jim's to break bread and drink some red....    Night all...