High tea

    Or I May Never Eat Again. Since my lunches started being nearly always vegan, I've been making it a habit to have something around 3 or 4 so I don't feel too hungry. Nothing gigantic as a rule; usually chips and hummus. Today, however, I had another factor: a recipe. A recipe that called for ripe bananas. And the bananas, finally, were ripe.
    So off I went! The recipe was for peanut butter chocolate chip mini-muffins, gluten free of course. My friend Michelle found it and shared it on Facebook. And heck, I had all the ingredients except for the ripe bananas! (And the vanilla, as it turns out, but I'll save that sad story for another day. I will gladly post the recipe if anyone is interested, but mine didn't turn out so great. The chocolate chips, even though I didn't have the full cup's worth either, overwhelmed everything else. This makes them hard to stop eating, but I could have just eaten the chocolate chips and saved a lot of time and cleanup. I can taste the banana and there's a hint of peanut butter, but so far they're a bit of a disappointment. Maybe with half the chocolate chips, or all of the vanilla, or even riper bananas. Ah well; I got over the muffin idea quickly and made a loaf with most of it, so at least it was a quicker disappointment than it might have been.
    But my go-to tea-time treat since Aldi came out with their excellent gluten-free bread is egg-salad sandwiches. It's like 2006 again! Michelle had a brilliant suggestion when I mentioned getting McCormick's garam masala, which was that it's yummy in chicken salad. Well it's yummy in egg salad, too! The quest to curry everything continues! But first, I have  to eat some more of these terrible muffins. Supper is unlikely to happen.

That one that isn't cognitive dissonance

    So Dad had his second care meeting today. And it was quite reassuring. He's doing quite a lot better rather quickly at his physical and occupational therapy. Meanwhile, as I mentioned the other day, he's calling Margaret rather frequently, particularly in the morning. All of this presents quite a different picture from what I get from visiting with him four times a week. We visit in the later afternoon, by which time he's pretty much tuckered out and mostly inclined to sleep. So it's really cool to see or at least hear about another side. I don't know what this is called except that it isn't cognitive dissonance. Perspective on the limitations of one's perceptions is not mellifluous, but more or less covers it.
    Since I was out there already for the care meeting and brother Malcolm is in town and available, I asked him to take Margaret out for her afternoon visit. I was able to run some errands and most importantly catch up on paying Dad's bills. Funny how easy it is to put stuff off another day because you've already missed the last pickup of the day. Maybe that's-- naw, that isn't cognitive dissonance either. Just plain laziness and procrastination.

Feets finally doing their stuff

    I mentioned at the time getting Superfeet insoles ($50) instead of new hiking boots (c. $150). I have been unclear ever since as to how brilliant an idea this was or wasn't. They seem like really good insoles, but I spend nearly every night with odd pins and needles sensations in my lower legs, especially the left one. I am a boy who has had entirely too many odd pins and needles sensations already due to decades of B12 shortages, so I haven't really enjoyed their resumption.
    However, it seems like it's more a hit-a-nerve kind of thing rather than a throwback to gluten-eating days. We find again that Johnny does not in fact know how to tie his shoes. ("Again?!" Again.) When I keep them slightly looser, whatever nerve was being hit is hit no longer, so I'm finally starting to feel normal(ly?) again in the pedal areas. Should still probably get new boots, though.
    By the way, there was an election yesterday. I'm still open to brilliant suggestions for emigration destinations. Slightly more so since yesterday. AmeriKocha is no place for me.

That famous river in Africa

    Look, I know I'm in denial; I've got no problem with it. Dad is probably not dying, but things are not likely to be the same again. However, I've been carrying around his shopping bag with a blanket and pillow that we took with him to dialysis three times a week for three and a half years. Well, not carrying, but it rides in the car with me. Now Margaret wants to do Dad's laundry all the time. Something about making sure there's fabric softener in there. Today, she didn't bring a bag and couldn't find one. So I went out to the car and found the shopping bag no problem. Quickly, it was an empty shopping bag. I may be in denial, but I'm not crazy. Much.
    Brother Malcolm is down to visit and we had a fun visit within a visit walking the grounds out there. We are endeavoring to get him weather that is at least as warm as Boston's. It's been kookoo lately, though.
    Also kookoo was the banana the Home served Dad with supper. I am an admirer of green bananas, but even I wouldn't have tried to eat this one. Not that it was all green, but it definitely is too green. No sweat for Dad; he didn't want it anyway. I brought it home to ripen. And generally he is pleased with the food service out there. And that's all that counts.

I want out! Oh.

    Amelia the cat has spent about 9 years indoors and more or less happy. Last night and again this morning, she decided finally that she was jealous of Harry's right to go out whenever he demanded, so she went out, too. On the night of the first freeze of the year. Not surprisingly, Miss Norwegian Forest Cat decided with great alacrity that indoors isn't so bad. Twice. I don't know if this will be repeated; given our climate, it's almost certainly going to be warmer again, so she can go out if she wants. I'll just get another jingle bell breakaway collar.
    Harry, on the other hand, spent ages outside, particularly this morning when it was definitely below freezing. He's the shorthair, so he ought to have more trouble with the cold than Amelia. On the other hand, he has a very high metabolism, or where does all this food go? I prefer that idea strongly over kitty bulimia. (Also, he sleeps on my legs and gives off a lot of heat.) I still think when it gets colder he'll adapt to being an all-indoor kitty. I still wish I knew for sure that he knows how to use the litter box. All will be revealed in time, I suppose.

Oh, a mixed bag

    Yesterday, Margaret called before going out to visit Dad and said that she'd been talking to him on the phone and that he was back to himself, talking clearly and making sense and also apparently up and ordering people around. So hopefully she and William found this to be the case during their visit. Unfortunately, it wasn't so much on our visit today. He was wrapped up in bed and very cold and was very hard to hear. Mostly back in sleepy guy mode.
    I had bought the iPad because my sister Anne had wanted to video call via FaceTime some Sunday. We did and it was pretty neat. But midway, I noticed that Dad didn't have his oxygen in his nose. The machine was still on, so presumably nobody had discontinued it. A member of staff was in the room to bring him ice so I asked her about it. She hooked him up; I wish I could say that he perked up immediately, but he didn't. Still, if he needed oxygen and wasn't getting it, that would explain why he was cold and his energy was low. We also video called via Google Hangouts on my phone, which was also fun. It was a big day for technology.
    Brother Malcolm is heading down roughly tomorrow. It will be good to see him. Hopefully, he'll be able to see some improvement during his visit. Knock on wood.

Snow? Seriously?

    Yeah yeah, where you live it probably isn't weird to have snow on November 1st. Here it's a record for earliest ever. The accumulations happened maybe 20 miles west of here, so "here" is here construed loosely. But the official weather station is at the metro airport and they got snow, so I think it counts.
    Here where I am no snow was to be seen except for a second on the windshield. Where they got it though, it even accumulated, up to 3 inches. Kind of weird to have that much so near and none here. Might be a heat island effect; might be that government weather control apparatus Art Bell used to talk about all the time.
    Anyway, it's nice it happened on a Saturday and doesn't seem to be affecting roads at all. There's a football game this evening which is likely to be pretty sloppy, but I like to think everybody will be safe. Because of football, I can't take Margaret to see Dad (or at least I can't and then ever get home) but William's car is newer and he's a good driver. I have high confidence that they will have a good visit. Only drawback: kids don't get a snow day! And I already have my gluten-free bread and almond milk, so I can't join the panic buying. Pretty minor drawbacks, I'm thinking.