The evening news

Went to the hospital about 3 pm. Stayed till 8 pm. Vlad's weaker and today was a tiny bit cranky. But for pete's sake, he's entitled. I helped him shower and served him snacks -- 2 containers of Dinty Moore beef stew. He's officially out of snacks now. So after I left, I went to HEB for some refills. It appears his appetite shall not wane. Even so, he's lost 16 pounds to date. His BP was good tonight, something like 111/75, blood sugar in the 220s and his pulse is consistently a bit high, around 115 tonight.

Mom continued to dust and such while I was gone. Got her some tacos on the way home. My grocery shopping has been pretty nonexistent and there wasn't much to eat. She's practically a prisoner with the broken gate.

I need to be at the hospital early tomorrow. Conlon showed up today (Thursday) at 7:40 a.m., earliest time yet. We've got a big Easter weekend and a lot of questions.

Gary finished the Sheetrock and looked at the fan/vents on the roof. He said all three need to be replaced. They were all installed incorrectly. This would explain some leaks that seemed to have no source. What is it about contractors? So many bad ones. We're so lucky to know Gary. He builds houses so he knows a lot about everything in construction and likes to take odd jobs between the big jobs. Anyway, he'll do that bit tomorrow. How much is all this going to cost? We don't know yet. Keeping fingers crossed.

Bill is returning this weekend to help. Yay! There will be some blinds-cleaning and some hauling of stuff to Second Blessing, the second-hand thrift shop we donate our stuff to. And other duties. Moving furniture around and all that rot.

Alex was still feeling no pain at 6 pm after his dental surgery. He was being pampered by Lana and John, who know very well how to pamper.

Karla called tonight and it was great to chat with her. About halfway through the call my brain short-circuited. She probably understands. I'm finding myself mentally exhausted a lot these days. I should have a code word for friends when my brain decides to log off, like "scrambled eggs" or "control-alt-delete" or something, so they'll know it's not them.

It will be slightly complicated for Mom in the morning with the gate broken. I will be at the hospital. Gary knows how to get around it, but I need to catch the pest control guys before they get here. Unnecessary stress is a real pisser.

I guess that's enough. Forgot to take photos today.

Control-alt-delete, y'all.

P.S.: Today was the first day of spring. I was reminded of that by looking at the chron.com/houstongardening page, which my supervisor, Jenny, is handling in my absence. The page looks so great. The Lazy Gardener, Brenda Beust Smith, wrote about spring yesterday and it reminds me of a commercial from like 20 years ago. It was one of those Bartles & James wine coolers ads. Two crusty gents in plaid shirts, looking like they escaped from a "Newhart" set, talking about why you should drink Bartles & James. They said something about it being spring. They looked on the calendar and saw "Vernal Equinox." One said, "Well, we went to school with Vernal, and ... " Ha!

Maybe you had to be there.

Scrambled eggs.