8-17-99
(8am) Another morning of yard work. (Today I am weeding the strawberry and flowerbeds.)
(1pm) Well the thermometer is claiming it’s 101 outside today. (Yech!)
Dad is talking about selling the farm again. (I don’t know if that is a good idea or not. (It has been a place he could retreat to and commune with nature, kept his body active, and provided a lot more social interaction than he gets sitting around the house.)-(His wife worries about him being out of touch while he is there and someday he will have to give it up. (I just hate to see the day come. (I worry that once that is gone and he is just sitting around the house, he will start dying inside.)))
(3pm) It rained for awhile. (Now the humidity is skyrocketing. (Double yech!))
The DOW keeps on going. (Today it closed at 11,117.)
(9pm) One of the most frustrating things about being away from home is someone else controls the remote. (Normally I watch a lot of comedy, but they almost exclusively watch news.)
The second most frustrating thing is that I have to go outside to smoke.
8-18-99
(3pm) Well, today I picked the rest of the peaches, and sprayed the roses and tomatoes. (That was a dilemma for me. (My garden is organic, but dad is a firm believer in chemicals, so I went along with his wishes without arguing about it.))
My dad’s wife says he has been worse lately than when he got back from the hospital. (We think it’s depression.) (He just isn’t used to being limited and having to take it slow.) (We did get him to the mall for a walk. (He has a definite limp that became more noticeable as we walked.))
(4pm) Aunt Faye called to let us know that she finally tracked down Uncle Edward’s son Stuart. (Stuart told her that Edward died three and a half years ago. (Edward was so hostile towards everyone in the family his kids didn’t bother to contact us when he died.)) (They brought him back to Kansas and buried him in a cemetery overlooking Clinton Lake.)
Stuart is back in Stillwater, OK after nine years in the Marines and is going to school to become an accountant.
Edward’s daughter lives in Arlington, TX. (Two kids and a husband.)-(They got Edward’s truck Lucy and restored it.)
After his car accident in ’91, arthritis had gone into overdrive. Stuart says it was the high quantities of painkillers and steroids the doctor gave him to deal with that pain that killed him.
(6pm) I stopped by an old friend’s house, but no one was home. (Tis sad to lose touch with old friends!)