Sweet air

What a thunderstorm this afternoon!  Lightning was almost continuous for about 20 minutes, with constant rumbling overhead.  Jerry spent the storm curled up on the sofa against Don, watching the rain.  I enjoyed looking at the downpour; it just seemed like a waterfall pouring down.  Reports are coming in that there were power outages, downed trees and hail damage.  Thankfully there was no damage downtown, and even my plants are safe.

Yesterday we decided to get gas and tomato plants.  Don decided to go as there were news reports that the price of gas was going to drop but then rise again before Sunday, as it’s a long weekend and he wanted to top up.  Sadly, the lines at the station with the cheaper gas were extremely long, so we ended up at another, slightly more pricy one.  Costco was jammed (no surprise there!) and sold out of tomato plants (they said they’d get more, but weren’t sure when) and we stopped at Canadian Tire, where the larger plants were all broken so we got some small plants.  Jerry was very excited to go for a drive (so was I, honestly; it was great to get out and enjoy the air)    When we got home around 8:45, I was exhausted and went to bed.  

This morning the hospital called to confirm that I’ll be admitted on Monday, although they will call to give me an exact admission time Monday morning.  As the date approaches, my anxiety and tension bounce up and down.  I’d like it to drop as I’ve been reassuring my father and aunt and everyone else that this is routine and there’s no reason to be concerned, but I remember my last chemo treatment (thankfully 3 years ago) and how I felt, so that causes the stress.  I’m working on managing it.  

My niece has acquired far too many of my characteristics for my comfort.  A few years ago, she banned me from buying any more cookbooks.  She hasn’t really eased off on the ban, but yesterday I asked for conditions for buying new ones, and she agreed after assigning me 2 challenges.  The first is that the prospective book must have a unique recipe that I’ve never tried before and  we (she and I) must try it out from the new book together.   The other condition is that the new book must not duplicate recipes that I already have — so if there are say, 50 recipes in the book, I must not have those 50 in my other books.  That would be challenging, as there are so many repeated recipes, especially in the dessert section.  If I meet both conditions, the book may join my collection.  I have a feeling that it will definitely winnow out a number of potential new additions!  The odd thing is that because my niece has set these conditions, I’ll listen.  I’ll listen to the kids and follow their requests, even though I’d ignore my adult contemporaries.  I also encourage them to try new things and to be adventurous, and we often manage to do new and unusual things — it’s a big deal for us all.  They and I find ways to support each other as we explore, “adventure, excitement and really wild experiences.”  That’s all!  Good night, all.  I’m going to try to get some restful sleep although I’m struggling with stress.  Take care.