Daily Update, June 20, 2023

    Today was the monthly picnic. I finished sharing yesterday's update and read a few articles while I waited for the van. It eventually showed up and took me to the most common park we meet at. I had a nice talk with the gal who drives it on the way down, too. {Smile}

   The picnic went very well. We caught up with folks, including one fellow who'd returned after an absence. The food was good too, but I really enjoy the company. This group is so inclusive, you don't have to be out unless you want to be out. the van driver always sits a bit apart, but one guy comes with his nurse, and more than one brings family members, and they're as included as they want to be. {Smile}

   The leader too me home, along with one fellow we dropped off first. That let me move to the front seat, since he got that first. We had a lovely chat all the way home. {Smile}

   I had dinner with Mom and read to her before that. I started with scripture and thoughts about it. Then I continued with more from her niece's long family Christmas letter from 2021. After that, I showed her the rest of the pictures in _The Picture Book of Vintage Vogue_. I continued telling the month and year of each cover when I could. they don't all have a date on them, but most do. I also tried to describe each picture a little. After that, I read "Florida man Pays Past Utility Bills for 114 Families," from _100 Uplifting Short Stories for Seniors_. He wanted to help more families through tough times in 2020. He was able to help so many because many of the unpaid bills were small - but still hard to pay. Then I read the June 20th story, "The Bee's Song," a poem about honeybees who just want to gather honey without being bothered, from _366 Stories for Bedtime: A Tale for Every Day of the Year_. Then I finished by showing her the front cover of the next picture book I plan to start tomorrow: The Calming Cat Book. Mom enjoyed both reading and pictures. {Smile}

   I did my walking, arm swinging, and the standing arm resistance and arm weight training exercises after dinner. Then I did my head exercises, the sitting resistance exercises, and the sitting arm resistance exercise during lulls in City of Heroes later in the evening. I also did just about 6 1/2 minutes of salsa dance, but I was rather shaky... not exactly steady. So I decided to stop and talk to my therapist tomorrow before trying more. I think our head nurse was happy I stopped before I got hurt again when I told him my decision. I think I am, too. {Smile}

   I hopped into City of Heroes: Homecoming after some personal chores after getting home. There I found Perogies and Kitten on a full team. (No, you can't tell if it's the same team without asking, but I asked, and it was.) Only one of Perogies accounts was on it, since he now has two. On his not-teaming account, he told me Kitten was showing him a fellow who farms on five characters at once. About the time a slot opened on the team, Perogies offered to team with me, but I just had to see this fellow play five at once. So, I joined them, and we did a few missions together. The others all left at once, about half an hour before I normally read to Mom, so I took care of Val, and then worked on paperwork that had piled up in the farms. {Smile}

   After dinner and the walking and standing exercises, I hopped back on City of Heroes: homecoming. Kitten wasn't there, or the others I most commonly team up with, so I started on paperwork while I considered whether to look for a Pick-Up Group, or what. Kitten came on, and we got together. They urged me to work on a badge I found rather daunting, saying one step at a time, and they're right. However, Phonso came on, and we joined him in three task forces in a row. Then as he was leaving, Kitten suggested we join another task force that had two slots left and was leaving soon. We did, and it turned out to be run by one of my newer friends, a fellow who streams on Twitch under the name of Mollymauk76. He followed that with a high-level story arc. Next he wanted to do a run of his favorite strike force. I bowed out to salsa dance. When I couldn't safely, I went back but they were well into it. I waited, and joined the next run, though Kitten bowed out for it. Somebody else on the team wanted to do a quick task force next, but I bowed out to write this and do a bit of paperwork before bed. {Smile}