20 October 2024
I knew it was too good to be true. Yesterday afternoon my innards begin churning and around 11:30 last night they decided to empty with some force. I’m back on Depends and nervous anytime I have gas. What’s probably worse is the belching. I took the Walgreens version of Imodium and have taken one since. I got around 4 hours of sleep last night. I’ve spent most of the day in bed.
I needed groceries and put an order in through Instacart for Publix. It’s more expensive that way but at least I don’t have to walk up and down the aisles with my low energy state. Of course, I did buy some Halloween candy (only what I like: Butterfingers, Baby Ruth and Snickers) so that means I will not have any trick or treaters and my blood sugar will stay high for a few months.
My passport expires this November so I spent some time yesterday applying for a new one online. If you meet their qualifications, you can do everything from home. The only real problem came with the photo. It has to be “just so” and no more than 4 months old. I asked my neighbor Trevor to take the photo and after a little slight of hand with the editing, I finally got one that the government accepted (until it could be further reviewed).
I think I was upset I had to shave for the photo. You cannot smile and you cannot wear glasses. The government wants to see the color of your eyes (green) but I don’t know how you take a close enough photograph to see that. Maybe if I put toothpicks to prop up my eyelids. They were more than happy to accept my $130 for renewal.
The passport office, is, of course backed up and I should hear back from them in 4-6 weeks. You can sign up for email notifications if you so desire.
Happy Birthday to my cousin Jimmie! I won’t tell you her age but let’s just say we’ve been close for more than a few years. She was my first friend, playmate, confidant, and co-conspirator. It’s only luck we survived childhood from some of the stunts we pulled. We managed to stay out of jail (barely) and I must have married her twenty times (Sorry Stephen – now you know the truth – she’s a bigamist).
Her Dad chewed cigars (never saw him smoke one) and he saved the cigar bands and gave to us as “wedding rings.” We even had “official” ceremonies. We played hard and had an outdoor life most parents would be locked up for today. Our only rule put on us by our parents we had to been in by supper. We took that to heart.
She’s accomplished so much in her life (PhD) raised a great kid (who is not a kid anymore) and she and Stephen are doting Grandparents. Jimmie, here’s to many more years and many more cigar band weddings!
Stay tuned!
