Today is Friday, May 20th

We are evolving...  Tracy went to Stanford yesterday with John and it was a long day for them since T needed blood and some how his typed blood wasn't available immediately...  Thank God for friends!  I went on broker's tour and put SOLD signs up at 605 Laguna since it closed yesterday!!!!  Yahoo!!   I was burned to a crisp so I went home to rest until T & John arrived.... reminiscing about days gone by as John drank full octane brewed coffee and T drank protein drinks.  T seemed exhausted and needed his bed so, we retired early.

This morning was a full tilt Santa Cruz County Assoc. of Realtors Board meeting where we were filled in on our Realtor fight to maintain our market on the state and federal levels as our membership keeps dropping.  Very interesting and frustrating because it seems our business is being negatively impacted by the banks in so many ways.  They want to only lend to buyers with very low debt to income ratios and with a full 20% down and also restrict conforming loan maximums to $625,000.   The home mortgage deduction is also being attacked and the maximum deduction may be reduced to $500,000 which will also negatively impact the real estate industry.  The middle class is being squeezed yet again.

While I was at my meeting, Mike Ditrich came by and installed a grab bar in the water closet for T and turned our mattress... what would we do without our friends?!!!

I left the Assoc. after trading in a malfunctioning lockbox and ran to Nob Hill.  I'd had a dream last night where Mom told me I should make a strawberry rhubarb pie so, when I saw those gorgeous strawberries and rhubarb & couldn't resist.  Couldn't get an internet connection in the store so, I called the office and asked Kristin to look up a recipe since I had no idea what I was doing & had never made one before...   Got snapple and a few other temptations for my honey and ran to the office and the bank and then, home to make lunch for T.  Mark, the Physical Therapist, arrived shortly afterwards and it's obvious he'll help T use those gorgeous legs again.  He was very patient with T and watched and listened.  He'll help T transition back to full mobility.  A little while later, the Palliative Care & Support team, Dr. Bill Morris and Marg arrived.  They did a work up, checked T's list of meds and checked his vitals.  We talked for awhile and at last, I feel as tho' there is help out there.  Ideally, this team would meet with a patient & caregiver when the diagnosis is made initially but we'll take it now and be thankful.  Finally, T took a nap and I started preparing the ingredients for the pie.  That's when I realized that I didn't have enough rhubarb... off to Deluxe where I ran into Marilyn & a cancer survivor. who mentioned a book that might be helpful.  Upon getting out of my car at home, I heard a loud whistle and realized it was martini time in Tuscany... I caught up with Jim & Linda and then, Pamela & Tom and finally, went home to make my pie.  Man, I'm not a pie crust maker!  I screwed it up royally and T jumped in to try & rescue me but I can tell that this pie is going to be a disaster.  We'll see tomorrow when we venture a bite.... the best part of my pie debacle is Tracy pitched in... he was present and in the moment!  Yahoo!!! Who gives a damn about the pie????!!!!!