They are meant for sleeping, sleeping in. But for some reason I couldn't get to sleep the night before, even though I tried to numb my brain with a Mork and Mindy marathon that was playing on the sci-fi channel. Nanu Nanu!
Oh well. Went to bed at 2am. Got up at 6:30am. My friends with babies have no sympathy. However, I have no excuse like that, and at my age I really and truly need sleep. ACK! Maybe tonight.
So I managed to do a bunch of things in the morning, and then I saw Kris. What a nice visit we had! She had a fabulous Thanksgiving with her mom and her cat. She brings her to visit every Sunday and on holidays, and it literally makes Kristin the happiest person on the planet. We decided to spend some time with folks that don't get visitors. So, we cruised around the nursing home, sprinkling our happy dust on anyone willing to accept it. Turns out there were two gentlemen that were especially fond of spending time with us, and we enjoyed making them laugh, telling them stories of our mischievous childhood and finding out more about their stories. One guy, a 50-ish man from Lawrence, originally from Cambodia, was in the home because of a spinal injury. He was at home one night a year ago, sitting in a chair in his kitchen when and an scquaintance came in, grabbed him by the neck and flipped him over. Within an instant, he was paralyzed and will never walk again. Sadly, he is stuck in the home, even though most of his family have moved to the west coast. He only has one relative here, and he runs his business now (because he cannot) so he doesn't have time to visit. The man's name is Paul, and I told him my father's name was Paul and had recently passed away. He was pleased the name had meaning, and I assured him I would not forget him. His spirit was so calm, so full of joy. I asked if there was any hope in getting better, and he said no..he would be like this for the rest of his life. His dream is to be moved to a home on the west coast, which can happen, but not until the trial is over. He has to testify against the man who did this to him, but thanks to a slow justice system, it won't take place until January.
Imagine. One day you are sitting at your table and within moments, you will never walk again. Paul gets around very well in his wheelchair, and he has a unique range of motion in his upper body, which enables him to exercise in unique ways. He's thankful for this. And when he was able to shake my hand, I was thankful, too.
As is typical, the day continued with more visits and time with friends. How lucky am I?!!
Janet was up from Virginia, and Bill and I hung out with her. She's doing very well, and I seriously hope she can do her residency up here in Boston. We miss you, Janet!!
While visiting with Janet and Bill, Adam and Katrina stopped by, having been in Boston visiting the North End on sort of a "date day" away from the kids. What fun! Um, this is the second "Charette" visit in one week, and that's just amazing. Katrina is expecting their 3rd child, a baby girl. I first met Adam when he was 5 and began babysitting him and his two other siblings shortly thereafter....until 2 more came, and then I bailed (actually, I went off to college or something silly). So...how appropriate to see him one last time in my youth. Ah, yes....middle age is approaching! Soon after Adam and Katrina left, we raced to the airport to drop off Janet...after that, we met up with Meredith to eat SUSHI (yum), although she had already eaten, so she graciously blessed us with her presence. Bill hadn't been to Hanna Sushi yet. I think he's a new fan. We introduced him to something else tonight, but I will wait to share that....
Meredith and I wanted to see Slumdog Millionare. She suggested we get to the theater early because the movie is getting rave reviews and Oscar buzz. I felt she was over reacting to the holiday weekend hype, but it turns out she was absolutely correct. When Bill declined to see the movie, claiming he had "work to do", we practically pushed him out of the vehicle so we wouldn't waste time in getting to the show. He's fine. We got to the show exactly on time, perhaps 1-2 minutes late, but with previews it would have normally be fine. Unfortunately, the movie was SOLD OUT, and not just our show, but the show previous to it....so, it wasn't meant to be. 
In order to soothe our sadness about missing the movie, we stopped by Trader Joe's and picked up a stash of what Meredith originally got me hooked on at a previous visit to Hanna Sushi - MOCHI!!! I got my fav green tea, and Meredith got mango... 
Thinking Bill was hard at work, we swung by his place to drop off a mango mochi package, only to discover he had just arrived at home. Seems he took a detour on his way home, stopping at a video store to GET A MOVIE! So yes, he bailed on seeing one with us, so he could see one by himself. I'm not quite sure if we or the Slumdog producers should be insulted, but hopefully he got his "work" done.
Great visits and yummy mochi to complete the evening....
I slept well.
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