Daily Update, August 13, 2023

    Since it's Sunday, I contacted Uber after breakfast, and they took me to church. I started particularly late, so I was surprised that they got me there during the announcements, before even the first hymn. They were blessing a large bunch of donations on the steps in front of the altar that were collected for folks on Maui. I sat alone, since Auntie Barbara was busy with the Sunday school. She was excited to have four students today. {Smile}

   I sat with her during lunch, which worked out nicely. While getting ready to leave, I learned from another friend that we are losing our organist. Next Sunday is his last day with us. I mentioned it to auntie Barbara, and she said he and his family are moving to Washington, and he's got a job with an Episcopal church there. {Smile}

   After lunch, auntie Barbara stopped at Island naturals because it's customer appreciation day. I hoped to get some peanuts, but they were out of plain ones. There were salted ones, but I'm watching my salt intake, and they didn't even say *lightly* salted. I just went back to the car, and she took me home, and came inside to visit with Mom before leaving. We sang a few songs, which is always nice. {Smile}

   Auntie Barbara suggested, as she usually does unless Mom is particularly tired, that I call Mom's sister, my Aunt Valerie so they can talk. I did call my aunt, and we had a nice talk, but just as I was about to suggest she talk to Mom, my aunt remembered a chore outside that she wanted to do before it got any darker than it was already. She said she would talk to Mom next time. {Smile}

   I ate dinner with Mom and read to her before dinner. First, I read scripture and thoughts about it. Then I continued with a birthday card from church, a Christmas card from her cousin's granddaughter, and an Easter card from me. Next, I showed Mom the last several pages of pictures in _1940's Fashion in Pictures_, reading her each caption as I pointed out each picture, then finishing by reading the blurb on the back. She does seem to like mid-20th century fashion. Then, I read a few illustrated poems from _Mother Goose Treasury_, starting with a long one, then reading a few short ones until I reached another long one. that will be for another day. After that, I finished out with the August 13th story, "The Apricots," from _366 Stories for Bedtime: A Tale for Every Day of the Year_. Mrs. Dingle was old, and lived alone, but her neighbor, Katy, a young girl, often helped her. One day, Katy brought a big basket of apricots to Mrs. Dingle from her family's yard. Mrs. Dingle said she'd like to borrow them until tomorrow. The next day, she gave Katy four big jars of apricot jam. {Smile}

   I did my arm swinging exercises waiting for a strike force in the early evening, and my walking exercises, leg exercises, arm resistance exercises, and one sitting arm weight training exercise while waiting for Phonso's task force late in the evening. After his task force, I did my salsa dance, first the warmup, then the less structured set, so yes, I did over 20 minutes, my new goal. I did my head exercises after the salsa, as a short break while writing this up. I didn't' get the standing or the other three sitting arm weight training exercises done, but that's all I missed today. {Smile}

   I read comics after Auntie Barbara left, then called my aunt, then hopped into City of Heroes: Homecoming. There, I did some paperwork, worked on a badge for my second-best badge collector, and looked around. I started talking with Ulty, who was working on a badge for the character we play together on a lot. The character I use a bit low-level for that badge, so I got the badge for my second-best badge collector and found a higher-level character who'd begun work on Ulty's badge, but hadn't gotten very far, and I joined her. I ended up making a lot of progress on that badge. So did Ulty, I'm happy to say. Eventually Ulty decided she should leave, so we said goodbye. She hoped to be back later, but I never did spot her again. Anyway, I started working on another badge for my second-best badge collector until it was time to read to Mom. {Smile}

   After dinner, I didn't find anyone I particularly like to hang out with. Well, the leader of the task force last night was on, and advertised for a different task force, but it filled before I'd finished typing a request to join. So, I continued working on the badge I'd started working on before dinner. I got bored, and noticed a strike force I could join on my highest villain. Then I discovered it helped towards a badge my fourth best badge-collector is working on and switched to them to actually run it. When I was done, I did a bit more paperwork, then continued working on the badge I'd worked on twice before today. It was late enough that I was surprised when Phonso asked if I'd like to run a task force. but with only 20 minutes of salsa dancing needed, I hoped I could squeeze it in. It made me just slightly late for starting salsa, but I got over 20 minutes done with time to spare, so that worked well. 

Daily Update, August 12, 2023

   I got a text from the housekeeper saying she was coming this morning. However, later I found one apologizing because she was helping a group that was working to send stuff to Maui, to help people affected by the wildfires around Lahaina. I offered her moral support. I'm sure she'll get back to us when she can. {Smile}

   I ate breakfast and dinner with Mom and read to her before dinner. I started with scripture and thoughts about it. Then I followed that with the last part of her niece's long family Christmas letter from last year. After that, I showed Mom more pictures in _1940's Fashion in Pictures_, reading her each caption as I pointed out each picture. She does seem to like mid-20th century fashion. Next, I read several illustrated poems from _Mother Goose Treasury_. I finished with the August 12th story, "The Sand Castle," from _366 Stories for Bedtime: A Tale for Every Day of the Year_. Alison and Roger went to the beach, where they set out to build a fine sandcastle, decorated with shells. As they finished, their mother suggested getting ice creams. They found some friends to play with at the ice cream van. The tide had washed away the sandcastle when they finally returned, but Roger said they'd make another tomorrow. {Smile}

   I did my arm resistance exercises, leg exercises, arm swinging exercises, walking exercises, standing arm weight training exercises, head exercises, and two of the four sitting arm weight training exercises after the trial in the evening. Then I did my salsa dancing, first warmup, then less structured dancing. I finished with the last two sitting arm exercises. {Smile}

   I finished sharing yesterday's daily update in the morning and read articles and such before lunch. Then I hopped into City of Heroes: Homecoming, where I did some paperwork, then got together with Perogies. We joined a task force and ran it together. Then he was really in the mood to watch a show together. We watched a short film, tried a second that he didn't like, so we stopped partway through, and watched another instead. That took us up to time to read to Mom. {Smile}

   I found a note from Ulty after dinner saying she was making an early night of it. So, I looked around... I didn't find a friend to team with, but I found a task force that looked promising, so I joined it. Then I did a bit of paperwork and tried to join a trial. The leader said they were full, but the leader of the task force I'd run asked if she'd gotten my spot and insisted on me taking her place. So, I did, and ran the trial, following it with the exercises. I talked a little with one friend just before the exercises, and a fair bit more with Perogies when he came on late in the exercises. {Smile}

Daily Update, August 11, 2023

    I called the veterinarian after breakfast, and actually got the office. I reminded them that our attempt to test his blood sugar failed, because it fell off. I also told them that symptoms of his diabetes had improved when we started him on insulin, but not as much as I could wish. They suggested bringing him in, and I agreed, expecting this. He's got an appointment for Wednesday after next. {Smile}

   I called my financial adviser... and called again just before closing when she hadn't called. She sent me what she has on the budget I asked for and will send it again when she's finished it. Even preliminary numbers are helpful at this point. {Smile}

   I ate breakfast, lunch, and dinner with Mom and read to her before dinner. I read scripture and thoughts about it first. After that, I read more from her niece's long family Christmas letter from last year. Next, I showed Mom more pictures in _1940's Fashion in Pictures_, reading her each caption as I pointed out that picture. She seemed to like it, pictures and all. Then I read several poems from _Mother Goose Treasury_, and all of those are illustrated. I finished with the August 11th story, "Peter's Fish," from _366 Stories for Bedtime: A Tale for Every Day of the Year_. Peter was a little boy who made himself a fishing pole He used to fish in the pond in the garden. He actually caught a fish he hoped to give his mother, but the fish looked so sad, he took the pin out of its mouth, threw it back, and picked some flowers for his mother instead. {Smile}

   I did my arm resistance exercises, my walking exercises, my arm swinging exercises, my leg exercises, and both standing and sitting arm weight training exercises after playing in City of Heroes: Homecoming in the evening, with a couple of pauses because doing all the arm weight training in a row is tough. Maybe I should work on that, too. {Smile}

   I read articles and comics in the morning and hopped into City of Heroes: Homecoming after cleaning up after lunch. I looked around, and found no one, but I did find a Task force being advertised that contributed to a badge my fourth best badge collector is working on, so I ran it. I still didn't see anyone I like to talk to, but I realized it was almost time for the later long, large-group event, so I joined it on the same character. I enjoyed the event. I also got to talk with Perogies at the end, when they come in and said hi. {Smile}

   After dinner, I hopped back into City of Heroes: Homecoming. I found Ulty, and we were just starting to figure out what we wanted to do when Perogies came back in and said hi. The three of us teamed up for missions with light role-playing, which I think we all enjoy. We did the last mission of one of my contacts, and a couple of missions from another contact before Ulty said she had to go to bed. Perogies thought it was a good time to go to bed too. I did bit of paperwork that had developed from our playing. Then I broke to do my exercises, followed by my salsa dancing. I said goodnight to Nox, who I'd forgotten to talk to earlier, during my break in my salsa dancing. After salsa dancing, I meant to write this up sooner, but got distracted by shopping for some stuff, and videos that caught my eye on YouTube while dancing. I'll get this shared in the quick places, but the slow will wait until tomorrow. {smile}

Daily Update, August 10, 2023

    I found a note from my counselor about her bill and got that sorted out after breakfast. I'm embarrassed it slipped by me. {smile}

   I tried calling our former nurse around dinner time, but he was busy. He promised to call him back. I called back after dinner to let him know that I can't hear the house phone while I eat dinner, so my cell phone is better. He said he'll call tomorrow (Friday). {Smile}

   I ate lunch and dinner with Mom and read to her before dinner. I started with scripture and thoughts about it first. Then I read more from her niece's long family Christmas letter from last year. After that, I showed Mom the front and back covers of _1940's Fashion in Pictures_, reading her the blurb on the back. Then I read the first few pages of the book. She seemed to like it, pictures and all. Next, I read several poems from _Mother Goose Treasury_, and all of those are illustrated. I finished with the August 10th story, "The Old Days," from _366 Stories for Bedtime: A Tale for Every Day of the Year_. It described harvesting corn by hand, with men, women, and children each doing their part in the harvest. {Smile}

   I did my walking exercises and leg exercises right after dinner. I did my resistance exercises and my head exercises during lulls in City of Heroes. I did over 20 minutes of salsa dancing, including both warmup and less structured dancing, after I finished playing City of Heroes, and I did my arm swinging exercises and my arm weight training exercises after the salsa dancing, I guess as a kind of cool down? Though not really, since they work the arms, which don't get much of a workout in the salsa dancing. I concentrate on the legs in the dancing. Yes, I really got them all done. Some were late, but after yesterday, getting all of them done feels good! {SMILE}

   I read articles and looked around online for dance in Hilo after getting the counselor's bill sorted, right until lunch, and I read comics after lunch. Then I hopped into City of Heroes: Homecoming. I found Kitten, and we teamed up. As we were getting going, Perogies joined us, too. I picked a task force I hoped would get a badge for my best badge collector. We made it to the end, but we couldn't do the last mission. It was made for a larger team. We broke team, and tried a story arc, with a friend of Kitten's joining us. I did get a badge, but not the badge I hoped for. We got the story arc almost done by the time I like to read to Mom. Kitten and Perogies sounded tired when I left. {Smile}

   I came back on City of Heroes: Homecoming after dinner and looked around. I did some paperwork, and saw Mysty, so I tried to get together, but she wasn't feeling well, and left to rest. Next, I looked for a group to join, but little was happening. I tried to convince myself to start a group, but I really wasn't in the mood to lead a group of strangers. So, I ended up working on a couple of badges on my second-best badge collector. She actually did get two, but the second was one that came along with one of the ones I was working on. I made progress on the other, but I will have to finish getting it some other day. I did chat with Nox a bit on the chat server while working on the badges. Eventually, Kitten spoke up on the chat server, and I got them to come in. We finished the last mission in the story arc we'd worked on right before reading to Mom. Then they suggested starting another story arc with my best badge collector and a character they're still developing. This way, their favorite character is free. I have so many characters, having one stuck isn't much of a problem for me. Yes, we had to do this story arc through a system that doesn't let them do other stuff as well, nor can they add other characters along the way. Then we broke so I could do my dance. My other exercises followed, then writing this up with some research into dance classes in Hilo. I'm still hoping to find more. I'm sure I've seen and heard of more over the years and suspect I just haven't found some of it. {Smile}

Daily Update, August 9, 2023

 Wednesday, Auntie Barbara and Michele came to the house a bit before lunch. Auntie Barbara visited with Mom, singing songs, while I fed Val... well, while I tried again to feed Val breakfast, because he'd flat-out refused the one I'd given him at breakfast time, and I didn't notice sooner.

Then we joined Michele in the car and chatted on the way down to Kamana Senior Center. We enquired about activities, but Auntie Barbara wants to find a senior center closer to where she lives - there's one in the nearest town, and one in another town in between, so she is planning to check those. As for me, I'm 54, and until I turn 55, I'm too young to get into any of their classes, even the ones that start in the first couple of weeks of January, since my birthday is January 25th. I'll just have to wait until the next session starts in March. but then I can see what they're offering, and whether it includes any dance classes I can join. {smile}

Next, we went to Island Naturals, where I got some salmon pasta, and an apple/spinach/macadamia nut salad. We drove to Liliu'okalani gardens and found a spot to park. Every shaded table had a person sitting at it, so we ate in the car, enjoying the view. auntie Barbara was fading, but had time for one stop, so we went to the YMCA, where I learned that the relatively modest membership would go down a few dollars at 55, but you can start before. And I might get fees reduced or waived by my insurance if I check. There are also class fees, but they're even smaller. It's the most promising and the scariest. They have a couple of line dances, but one is too soon after church, and the other too early... but two hula classes look well timed but... can I do it? I have had promising interactions with hula teachers, but also very discouraging ones with other hula teachers. It's... going to feel risky, reaching out, and trying to figure out if this will work. It would be so much easier to try for an adaptive class, but... I didn't see any of those which were ethnic dance. Then Auntie Barbara and Michele took me home after the YMCA. {Smile}

I ate dinner with Mom and read to her before that. I read scripture and thoughts about it first. Next, I read more from her niece's long family Christmas letter from last year. Then I read the last few pages in _Movie Stars: Memory Lane_, showing her the pictures, and finished that book by reading the back cover. She seemed more engaged once she had pictures to look at, and that included the next two books, too. For after that, I read a few poems from _Mother Goose Treasury_, and all of those are illustrated. I finished with the August 9th story, "Lady Scarecrow," from _366 Stories for Bedtime: A Tale for Every Day of the Year_. The farmer was disgusted with the crows in his crops, so he hauled the old scarecrow out of the barn. The mice had taken their old clothes, so he dressed it in a hat and coat of his wife's, sure that would scare them into thinking it was her. One crow investigated, and reported to the rest of the crows that it was just the scarecrow. The scarecrow was terribly embarrassed by their laughter, until the crows begged the scarecrow to be their friend. {Smile}

I did my arm resistance exercises, and half my arm swinging exercises. I also did at least 5 minutes of walking while out with Auntie Barbara and Michele, and probably less than 5 minutes of salsa dancing. Unfortunately, the salsa dancing ended when I got entirely too dizzy, and I couldn't fix it easily. I should have done arm weight training too, but the head, walking, and leg exercises were cancelled due to dizziness, as was half my arm swinging exercises. At that point, I was uncertain about my standing weight training, and just didn't continue while I had time. {small smile}

After getting home, I read comics and articles, really longer than I meant to. I eventually hopped into City of Heroes: Homecoming. I didn't find anyone to team up with, but I noticed it was just before the later short, large-group event, so I joined that. I discovered bowlofdro was there, too, so we chatted a bit while we played. When it was done, I moved on to join the later long, large-group event. The paperwork from that took me to time to read to Mom. {Smile}

After dinner, I contacted Ulty and Kitten, and we three teamed up. However, Ulty left because she was suddenly tired after one short mission. Then, I switched characters, and Kitten and I ran a few missions. Perogies joined us, helping us with the last mission before I tried to break for salsa dance, but that didn't work out. I got too dizzy, and it didn't recover. I found Kitten on a team that was trying to add Perogies, too. I think I helped them work that out, and we ran a couple more missions. I also did what exercises I did get done, which weren't quite all I could have done. Then I worked on writing, this, and got distracted with articles, which pushed things late enough, i still didn't get this fully written until the next day. {smile}

Daily Update, August 8, 2023

    Today I finished arranging by text with Auntie Barbara to go out for a picnic and to check out the senior center and maye a few other places tomorrow morning. {Smile}

   I ate dinner with Mom and read to her before that. First, I read scripture and thoughts about it. Then I continued with more from her niece's long family Christmas letter from last year. After that, I showed Mom some more in _Movie Stars: Memory Lane_. Next, I read several poems from _Mother Goose Treasury_. I finished with the August 8th story, "Gino's Oasis," from _366 Stories for Bedtime: A Tale for Every Day of the Year_. Gino, a young Genie only knew a few tricks, not like his father, a big strong genie. Still, his magic teacher gave him a test: a handful of date, a flask of water, and a question: how long could he last in the desert? He dug a hole, put the dates in it, covered them up, and poured the water on them. Overnight, date palms sprang up. Then he dug a hole to reclaim some of the water, making a spring. {Smile}

   I did my head exercises, arm swinging exercises, and leg exercises during lulls in City of Heroes. I did my arm resistance exercises, my walking exercises and what arm weight training exercises the arm that had the flu shot yesterday thought were a good idea after Phonso's trials. I did my salsa dancing, later, both warmup and less structured dancing. {Smile}

   I finished yesterday's daily update after breakfast, then read some comics and articles up to and through lunch. Then I hopped into City of Heroes much earlier than usual. I did find Perogies, and we started to get together, but he had to break for family. I like it when my friends put family first. So, I worked on some more badges for my fifth best badge collector. I was happily surprised at how quickly Perogies came back. He claimed to feel guilty, and wanted to do my story arcs, when before he'd wanted to break for the early long, large-group event. We started a mission, but Chili Bear was leading, and having a lot of trouble getting enough folks in that event. So, I suggested we help him, and we did. afterwards, Perogies and I got back together, and started running missions. Then Ulty came in, and I invited her to join us, which she did. We played until Perogies got so tired, he had to quit, and Ulty said she'd better break, too. I realized it was early enough, that after a bit of paperwork, I took a long break to clean myself up, and got done in plenty of time to feed Val before reading to Mom, which was perfect. I think I even slipped a little more paperwork in. {Smile}

   After dinner, I found a note from Ulty that she had another early morning, so was having an early night. Sure enough, she was not in City of Heroes: Homecoming when I joined and didn't show up all night. However, Perogies was there, and Azurette, and the three of us teamed up, planning to do more missions. But we bumped into Chili Bear, who wanted to show off the progress on one of his bases, especially a new restaurant. So, we joined him. We were winding down when Phonso invited us to a trial. Perogies said he was too tired, and said goodnight, heading to bed. Chili Bear declined, too, but Azurette was up for it, so we joined Phonso, myself switching to my fourth best badge collector so she could work on a badge. Phonso recruited the trial quickly, and we ran it with less trouble than sometimes. Then Phonso switched characters, and so did Azurette. the rewards are best the first time, but the badge my character is working on kept me playing her as we ran it again. Then Phonso left to find food, and Azurette decided she needed a break, too. So, I worked on my exercises, with paperwork on my breaks. Then I did some badge collecting on my fifth best badge collector again, since I realized she could own that distinction better with some more badges. I also did some paperwork, and wrote this up, but I'll only have time to share it in the quick places before bed. The rest will have to wait until tomorrow. {Smile} 

Daily Update, August 7, 2023

    Monday, I contacted Uber, and got a nice gal I've ridden with several times. We had a particularly nice chat on the way down, I think. {Smile}

   She took me to Safeway to pick up the medication I didn't get yesterday, and I found one more ready than they'd mentioned yesterday. I also asked about shots. My Covid 19 shots were already up to date, but I hadn't had this season's flu shot yet, and my Shingles vaccine was so old, they didn't even have a record of it. A newer, better one has come out more recently. So, I had both done. Then I walked over to HFS Federal Credit Union. To my surprise, the walk only took 12 minutes. I think standing in line and doing the banking I wanted to do took almost as long. Then I walked over to Enjoy Comics and took significantly longer browsing comics. I finally picked out two. As I left the store, I realized I hadn't noticed how long the walk over had taken. However, the walk to where I order Uber took another 4 minutes, so I gave myself about that much. I'd been thinking I might get the forty minutes of walking that gives me a day off, but I didn't even get the full 30 minutes my therapist said was a day's exercise. that's okay. Over half was outside, in the heat, so I'm probably better off not doing too much. {Smile}

   I contacted Uber, and a fellow picked me up. He was quiet until I tried talking to him, and tried again when he didn't respond. He apologized, saying he thought I was phoning someone, and we had a nice chat the rest of the way home, mostly about comics, which I'm into and he used to be. {Smile}

   I ate dinner with Mom and read to her before that. I first read scripture and thoughts about it. I continued with more from her niece's long family Christmas letter from last year. Then, I showed Mom some more in _Movie Stars: Memory Lane_. I stopped abruptly when she seemed times and moved on to a few poems from _Mother Goose Treasury_. I finished with the August 7th story, "Pom's Big Catch," from _366 Stories for Bedtime: A Tale for Every Day of the Year_. all the bears were fishing, but Pom, a bear cub, was having trouble. He either scared the fish away or fell in. Then he scared some fishermen away, causing them to drop their fishing rods. He tried a rod, and caught six fish in one day, impressing all the other bears. {Smile}

   In addition to the 20 minutes of walking, I did 8 1/2 minutes of salsa dancing, my full warmup. Then I did my walking exercises, my arm resistance exercises, and my head exercises. At that point, I realized I was tired, and stopped. Between the salsa dancing plus the walking being a bit over my daily goal between them, and the shots, I think I won't feel too bad about not finishing up. {Smile}

   I finished up yesterday's daily update after breakfast, and before going to get the medicine and other errands. Then I read some comics and articles and didn't get into City of Heroes: Homecoming until I suddenly realized it was later than I thought. Once in there, I quickly found Perogies. He warned he'd be leaving early because he was tired. We ran several missions, and he stayed until time to read to Mom anyway. {Smile}

   After supper, I hopped into City of Heroes: Homecoming. Finding no one I often team with on, I did some paperwork. I also contacted Ulty on the chat server, and she came in. We started roleplaying with our favorite pair of characters. Phonso invited us to do a task force, but we declined. Ulty thought it was late for her to start that particular one which can be long. Ulty and I kept at it, mixing roleplaying with out-of-character chatting, continuing long after Phonso's task force finished and he left, but she eventually left when she felt herself fading. After Ulty left, I worked on my exercises, though I didn't get them all, despite having less to do. I also did some paperwork, and worked on this daily update, though I ended up making notes and finishing the next day. {Smile}

Daily Update, August 6, 2023

    Today was Sunday, so after breakfast, I contacted Uber, and a nice, chatty driver took me to church. It was later than I like, but the car was only a few minutes away, so I still got there before the first hymn. I sat with Auntie Barbara, who was sitting with a family she's adopted much the way she's adopted me. There's a mother who brings two little boys to church. I occasionally hear about the husband and father, but I don't think I've met him, and he and his wife have different, full work schedules, so one of them can watch the boys when the other can't. {Smile}

   I sat with Auntie Barbara during lunch, and we had a nice chat with the others around us. Then we went to the car, and I called Safeway to see if a prescription was ready. It was, as were two more, but they were almost to their lunch break. Auntie Barbara suggested picking them up later this afternoon... if I hadn't been so busy, I would have. {smile}

   Anyway, Auntie Barbara took me home, and came into visit with Mom. We sang a few songs, and, since Auntie Barbara had asked about the song and finger game, and since our main nurse had been off when it happened, and wasn't now, I told them about the song she'd remembered three of four lines of. It was "the Itsy-Bitsy Spider." Auntie Barbara wanted to sing it today, and with auntie Barbara leading, Mom remembered all four lines. {SMILE}

   I ate dinner with Mom and read to her before that. I started with scripture and thoughts about it. Then I continued her niece's long family Christmas letter from last year. Next, I showed Mom the front and back covers of _Movie Stars: Memory Lane_, reading the back cover, then reading and showing her the first few pages of that book. After that, I read some poems from _Mother Goose Treasury_. I tried to sing because it was a song I used to know, but I could not remember the melody well enough to sing it. I finished with the August 6th story, "Where's the Wolf?" from _366 Stories for Bedtime: A Tale for Every Day of the Year_. A rabbit was waiting for his otter friend, who was late. Looking out the window, he spotted his old enemy, a fox. He got dressed up in a wolf skin, and scared the fox away when he answered the door in it. Then his otter friend came, and he got scared away when the rabbit opened the door still wearing the wolfskin. {Smile}

   I did my walking exercises, leg exercises, arm resistance exercises, and arm swinging exercises right after did. I did both my standing and sitting arm weight training shortly after with the new, adjustable weights, once I'd gotten them adjusted, and while waiting for Kitten to be free. I did my head exercises when Kitten still wasn't free. Yes, I did over 20 minutes of salsa dancing, including both warmup and less structured dancing. {Smile}

   After I saw Auntie Barbara up, I cleaned myself up. Then I hopped online and finished yesterday's daily update and shared it. Then I read a minimum of comics to catch up with that and hopped into City of Heroes: Homecoming. There, I found Ulty and Kitten eager to team up. As I was arranging to team with both of them, Perogies came in and wanted to join, too. We did, and chatted a bit, especially Ulty, Perogies, and I. Perogies asked if a friend of theirs could join, and I added them, too. Then we teamed up for the rest of my afternoon, running missions together, and chatting both in-character as roleplay, and out-of-character, as just us. We went right up to when I broke to read to Mom. Ulty did warn me that she probably wouldn't be on after my dinner, because she had an early morning. {Smile}

   After dinner and most of my exercises, I hopped back into City of Heroes: Homecoming. I found Kitten, but I didn't notice they'd said hi at first, and by the time I did notice, they were halfway through a closed arc. We tried to catch each other when it ended, but I was so busy doing exercises while I waited, my character looked inactive when Kitten tried to talk to me, so they joined another round, which filled before I knew about it. So, we had to wait again. This time, after I finished my exercises, I collected badges on my third best badge collector to make sure she was active. This did help Kitten and I get together, though we dithered a bit to both of our frustration before figuring out what we wanted to do. We ended up doing a story arc I had that I think had reset to the beginning at some point. Then we did a few missions of another story arc I had, until it was time for me to exercise. I missed talking to Nox on the chat server, but Kitten and I chatted on the chat server between my sets of exercise. {Smile}

Daily Update, August 5, 2023

    Saturday, the housekeeper came a while after breakfast. The house is definitely better for her efforts. {Smile}

   I texted Auntie Barbara after dinner, and she called me back. We had a nice little chat. It was nice talking with her. {Smile}

   I ate breakfast and dinner with Mom and read to her before dinner at about my usual time. I started with scripture and thoughts about it. Next, I started her niece's long family Christmas letter from last year. Then I showed Mom the rest of the pictures in _Exploring Kittens_. After that, I read some poems from _Mother Goose Treasury_. I sang two because they were songs that I remembered the melody to and did one finger game. An early finger game I didn't do... I don't remember it from when I was a kid, so I didn't think Mom was likely to, either. But the second we did often, so I did it for her, and she watched. I finished with the August 5th story, "The Windmill," from _366 Stories for Bedtime: A Tale for Every Day of the Year_. A windmill was bored. There had been no wind for three days, and he had nothing to do but watch the sparrows. A sparrow felt sorry for him and got a bunch of sparrows together. They all perched on a single arm of the windmill and got them turning. The windmill thanks them, and they said it was fun, and wanted to come back tomorrow. {Smile}

   I did my walking exercises, arm swinging exercises, and arm resistance exercises before reading to Mom. I did my standing exercises and one of my sitting arm weight training exercises between reading to Mom and dinner. I did a head exercise during a lull in City of Heroes. I did over 20 minutes of salsa dancing, including both warmup and less structured dancing, after Kitten and I finished teaming for the night. I did the rest of my head exercises and the rest of my arm resistance exercises, both standing and sitting, around the same time as my salsa dancing, too. {Smile}

   I finished writing the day before's daily update after breakfast. Then I caught up on my comics and hopped into City of Heroes: Homecoming around lunch time -- yes, even earlier than yesterday. Still no sign of Div again, but I found Kitten, and they let me do some paperwork before we teamed up. I found Perogies, too, and said hi, but they seemed busy in a farm. We teamed up with me on the mid-level-ish character we teamed on the day before and started doing missions. Not long after Kitten and I got going, Perogies said hi and asked to join, which I was happy to help with. He was on the villain, but particularly liked the level I was working at, so we teamed up, and kept going until it was time to read to Mom. {Smile}

After dinner, I found a note from Ulty, and one from Kitten, both on the chat server.  They prompted me to hop into City of Heroes: Homecoming, hoping to see them. I saw Ulty, but not Kitten, so Ulty and I started to roleplay. Then Kitten came in. We shifted to roleplaying-in-missions so Kitten could join us. Perogies came in and joined us too. Then another friend I teamed with a few nights ago came in and joined us as well. After a while, Ulty left, with Perogies so leaving so close after, it was essentially the same time. I changed characters, and Kitten, the other friend, and I teamed for a couple of missions before the other friend left. Then Kitten and I kept teaming right up to time to exercise. {Smile}

Daily Update, August 4, 2023

    Today, I contacted Uber, and went down to Petco at Prince Kuhio Plaza, and got every non-Friskies treat with a hard shell and soft center. Then I contacted Uber again and came right back home. Val really loves the one I'm trying first. I think I was right: somehow the Friskies I'd replaced the Purina with - and maybe the Purina too - were upsetting his digestive tract. I'll know for certain if the borderline diarrhea he started having last weekend disappears. {Smile}

   I ate Breakfast, lunch and dinner with Mom and read to her before dinner, though later than I meant to, because I lost track of time while playing city of Heroes on Homecoming. maybe that's why she was less responsive than sometimes, though she did surprise me at one point. I started with scripture and thoughts about it. After that, I continued with Christmas cards from her cousin, her nephew, church, and another cousin of hers. Then I showed Mom several more pictures in _Exploring Kittens_. Next, I read some poems from _Mother Goose Treasury_. I sang a few when they were songs, I remembered the melody to, and this is where she surprised me. When it came to the Itsy-Bitsy Spider, Mom sang along, remembering three of the four lines. I ended my reading with the August 4th story, "The lake Fairy," from _366 Stories for Bedtime: A Tale for Every Day of the Year_. A lake fairy got caught out late at night, visiting her forest fairy friend, and was in danger of turning into a waterfall if she didn't' reach her home in time. She tried following a friendly tortoise, but the animal moved so slowly, she wasn't getting back in time. At the last moment, she wished on a star to get home in time. the star shot across the sky, she followed, and was back in her lake in time. {Smile}

   I did my exercises, though some were late to very late, others weren't. I did my arm swinging early, when I was waiting for Uber to come get me to go to the pet store. I did my head exercises and one arm weight training exercise during lulls in the game in the evening. I did most of the arm weight training exercises, both sitting and standing, my arm resistance exercises, my standing exercises, and my walking exercises after Kitten and I broke for the evening. However, I did the last of my sitting arm weight training exercises too late. Still, I got it done. {Smile}

   I wrote yesterday's daily update after breakfast, before going to the pet store. After I came home and had lunch, I hopped right into City fo Heroes: Homecoming, hoping to catch Div, since it was an hour earlier than usual, and half an hour before the time they said they're out by at the latest. No such luck. So, I did paperwork until Kitten and Perogies both hopped in about half an hour later, kitten actually excited to see me on earlier. I teamed up with them, and Perogies picked the mid-level villains again. We ran the next arc until I suddenly realized I should have stopped to read to Mom a while back. {blush, rueful smile}

   After dinner, I hopped over to the chat server, and let Ulty know I was going into City of Heroes: Homecoming. Then I hopped into it. Ulty wasn't there, but Kitten was, so we got ready to team up on a slightly lower-level character than the one I usually roleplay with Ulty on. Ulty came in just as we were getting going. I greeted her, and asked if she minded if Kitten teamed with us. She said Kitten was more than welcome, so the three of us got together, with Ulty and me on our roleplaying pair, and ran several missions. Suddenly Ulty declared she'd hit a wall, and she'd better quit. So, we said goodnight. I switched to the character I'd been going to team with Kitten on before Ulty arrived, and Kitten and I ran another mission. They admitted after a mission that they were tired but didn't really seem to want to leave. Since they did perk up after that, I figured we could continue. So, we ran a few more missions before they admitted they were too tired. We said goodnight, and I finally got serious about my exercises. After most of my exercises - but somehow not quite all - I did some paperwork and worked on this, doing a mix of true writing and notes to write it properly from the next day. I read barely any comics at all, all day. Tomorrow will have to be a catch-up day. Fortunately, there are no errands expected tomorrow, though I do expect the housekeeper, a personal chore, and salsa dancing. {Smile}