Saturday, May 9 / Wednesday May 13

Hello, Again.

Jack and I had a busy day today. I slept restlessly and finally rose at 3am and started gathering thing for the yard sale begining at 8am. I got a bunch of stuff together and had a successful sale, netting a little over $250 for my efforts. Just as important, I got rid of the things that were clogging the garage entrance, the excess stuff that made opening napkin and tablecloth drawers a pain, cluttering the house and garage and patio, etc. So I feel good. I still have a acouple dozen books plus some china and knick-knacks, so if anyone wants to stop by and take home something, be my guest.

Jack had a teeball game, plus he went to see "Earth" with his teacher and friend Mac Mackinney. Lunch afterwards was part of the deal, too. Andrea's cousin Steve Gordon stopped by an hour ago and he and Jack are playing an educational (shhhhh) game on the computer that was a birthday gift.

Jack started something very different yesterday. He was playing with his Lego characters and started naming them, making up names and histories. I loved it. I should have written down the names and checked back with him, just to stimulate that channel of the mind.


I am booked for the week and probably the week after that and week after that. My landlord client Chris sent out emails to tenants and they have work for me, plus stuff at Chris' house. Then there's a bunch of stuff with other clients who are putting their homes on the market, and I haven't seen my elderly clients in San Pedro for weeks (but they know I can come asap if it's urgent). It's a little stressful, but the way the Economy is I am thankful to be working.

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Wednesday 5:30 am

How time flies! I can't believe I didn't get that post posted. Oh, well.

I am in a strange place sleep wise. If I don't take a pill I wake at 3 or 4 in the morning. I hate to take a nightly pill, but maybe I'll have to just to change this odd pattern. I stayed up until almost 11 last night (late for me), thinking I might make myself tired and thus sleep later, but alas. I woke at 3:30 again.

I am really having mixed emotions about writing a blog, but I will try and get over them and think of this as just an informational site for a small number of acquaintances, not a "look-at-me" experience.

Yesterday was a long day of work, a trip to the Y gym with Jack (they have childcare, then we swam together), homework supervising, a little cooking and cleaning. It may have been an ordinary day for a single parent. A pattern seems to be emerging where some things get pushed off to the weekend. I am going to try and NOT work so much on weekends. I will get word out on that.

The odd news is that I am now on Match.com partly through a mistake. I was getting ready to become a member and was going to wait a little longer, honing my bio in the meantime, but I found out that even if you don't pay your bio gets saved publicly, not privately. I really am not ready for anything, but I am a little freaked out by turning 55 in a few months. To me, 55 is more of a milestone than 30 or 40 or 50. You can get "Senior" discounts for some things at 55...go to Elderhostel, retire from some jobs, etc. Anyway, I want to make as much as I can out of the four remaining months that I am 54 and can sound a little younger. So once I discovered that my bio was public, I re-wrote and re-wrote and re-wrote it and added a picture or two to make it more respectable.

So. Who's responded? A handful of women, a couple of whom seem very decent and professional (political consultant, professor). No plans for any meetings at this time, but the usual coffee scenario may happen eventually. The idea that I could ultimately be a part of another household is so foreign, so life-changing, so enormous, it staggers me. How could I do that when it's difficult to keep things in this house on an even keel? Oh, the changes life brings.

I was at the Social Security office a few days ago, applying for Survivors benefits for myself and Jack. Ran into a what was apparently either a former corrections officer or Zombie. I am the first person to stick up for DMV personnel, Postal Workers, etc, but I can't recall having to do business with a person less "there" in years. No emotion of any kind. Nothing. Plus I had to go back home and get documentation for my name change 21 years ago, documents that were duly submitted to Social Security in 1988. You'd think a passport, license and Social Security card would be enough, but no. Oh, well. The good news is that some monthly benefits were approved, but not for 6 weeks. All's well that ends well.

And now may be the time to end this post. If anyone has any thoughts on the safety of publishing photos of Jack here, let me know. It seems okay to me in general, but maybe I'm overlooking something.

Best...