Camp NaNo

November finds many writers participating in NaNo--National Novel Writing Month.   I planned to write last November but developed bronchitis and an ear infection, so had to bow out.  In April and July writers can participate in camps.  Writers type diligently, obviously hiding their inner editor in a closet, and rack up 50,000 words.  4 more days until July Camp Nano!

Alzheimers

My dad  had wanted to drop some insulation off at my niece's house and play a round of golf with my brother.  My mother's home aide left at 2 and the other aide did not arrive until 3:00 or so.  He asked me to cover the gap.  Earlier my brother had called to let my dad know he had been working in the garden, lost track of time and would be late to meet my dad.  But with the Alzheimer's my mother understood that my dad was two and a half hours late.  She worried, I tried to distract her, but logic does not work with Alzheimers.  Diversion and distraction does.  When my dad came home, hot and tired after the golf outing my mother lit into him, "He was 2 1/2 hours late, he had a hot dog for lunch, he played golf at my niece's house.  The head knows that Alzheimers turns ugly, but the heart doesn't.  It is hard for me to sit and listen to my mother ridicule my dad. 

Hapkido

Tonight I decided to spar for the first time in a very long while.  The class is one half hour of sparring warm ups and matches and then I train in hapkido for one hour.  And tonight is running night...run with arms circling, run with knees up, run with feet high behind, run, run run.  I have dreaded Wednesdays and running night since I got sick with a bad cough last January.  This afternoon though I felt like running and did run for about 10 seconds.  So I went off to sparring and managed to make it through.  And then I ran and practiced agility drills and worked on forms which are floor routines.  At the end of class, I got my red belt with black stripe.  The next belt is my black belt!

On to other things

I attended a softball awards banquet for my daughter last evening.  It was a potluck, and we baked mac and cheese.  My little brain was too tired to figure out which dessert or the favorite kind of pop or the best salad to make.  And so it was mac and cheese!  Easy and very popular!  Gone in 3 seconds.  Today and tomorrow, thankfully, I have two days off work.  I am so grateful.  I've been busy with  my daughter's graduation party.  I enjoyed planning and preparing food and visiting with her guests.  Now, it's time to move on.  I have been online perusing ideas for beach-themed party gifts for my other daughter's bridal shower next month.  Individual, thoughtful gifts, not a plethora of starfish shaped bottle openers or votive candles in shells.  My idea is to buy 3 palm plants from the flower shop (closest thing I can get to the real thing!), tea towels with a nautical theme, those soaps that are decorative but not so great on your hands, body lotion, sea grass candles.  The idea is to stay within a budget of $3 per gift.  So, I will bustle about and purchase those.  Hope to be finished by the weekend. 

On another note, I have been writing and living vicariously in the minds of my characters.  Much fun.  The novel has a Latina flair so I enjoyed a conversation with a young man from Honduras who happened in to the store yesterday.  We chatted in both Spanish and English.  He was charming and said that he would come back. Hope I am not busy! 

Congratulations!

Tonight our youngest daughter walks at her graduation ceremony and receives her high school diploma.  Four years of hard work to get into a fine higher education institution.  Congratulations to her and to all her friends!  She would like to eat at a restaurant to celebrate her accomplishment and then she will head to an all-night party sponsored by the school.  Her sister flew in from DC and her brother is trying to get here from Chicago.  We will honor her achievement with an open house on Saturday and hope many family and friends come celebrate with us!  Once again, Congratulations!