Today was the last day of school for everyone, and a half day.  They were all soon off to various appointments and visits.  Soon S&S and dog will be here house-hunting, so it will be a full house, and L will have to learn to share space with another dog!  Should be interesting.

On the way over there this morning, I stopped at Value Plants, because they were having a BOGO sale of veggies.  I got to talk shop with a very nice employee who was also an elementary teacher.  I got some tomatoes, peppers, an eggplant (for me), zucchinis, a cucumber, a cantaloupe, and a watermelon, to supplement the very reluctant plants in the veg garden, where they now are.  This way at least we’ll have some to eat sooner.

I baked challah and made dinner for four.  Loucious would eat a whole challah if we let him.  Look at that doggy face.  How can you not love it!  (He was on top of me on the sofa, when we finally had a moment to rest.)

After my visit to Dracula’s Quest Lab for blood tests, I drove to Avdi’s and got more gardening done.  K and E came home early after their HS exams (all week), and E had a driver permit test.  I’ll be driving them back and forth all summer for summer school and theatre rehearsals, respectively.

In garden news, I cleaned up the 3 sisters and sowed more ornamental corn and sunflower seeds.  I cultivated the last of the veg garden, and planted a lettuce mix.  I weeded lots of flower areas around the veg garden and prickly pear/strawberry beds.  I set up an improvised bird bath in the planter in the shade natives.  L got lots of frisbee time.

(Yesterday I planted a row of marigolds on the outside of the veg., and a third purple heuchera (coral bells) in the hosta shade garden.  I transplanted some sun annuals to sunnier places, and liberated more spaces from weeds.  I weeded the whole veg garden.)

That’s it for now.

First, I’ll get this out of the way, so I can get back to more worthwhile topics.

Teen Gkids with xyz disorders.  RRR…not reasonable, rational, regulated, respectful…or even civil.  Their main vocabulary is fuck this, fuck that, fuck you, I’ll kill myself, over a bag of chips they didn’t get.

Or, Come get me now!  [Here.]  Oh not yet, I’m still with my friends.  [OK meet me at ___.]  A while later, Oh I’m home.

Or you accidentally glanced at them working out in the garage while getting something for someone, not knowing that wasn’t allowed, and caught hell, then got blamed for them feeling blamed??  Twisted.

Oh, and most of this is by texting, because in real life they won’t talk to you, even just to say hi back when I’m picking them up from school.  Like, I’m just the ride, so they don’t have to walk home.

That’s just a quick summary, lots more I won’t go into.  After a while, I just don’t want to be there in the firing squad.  I know, they have extenuating disorders and problems, but somehow I (or Avdi) get attacked for not knowing all the *rules*.  Like we’re at their beck and call for every impulsive “need” they have, that’s all grownups are for, right?  And all the indulging is never enough.

I know I’m from a different time and culture, but my parents probably would have thrown me into a mentally insane prison for much less, let alone cussing at them.  Respect and civility were expected.  I put up with it a lot with these kids, because different times and disorders, like I said, but it’s a lot to just absorb.

Anyway, that’s why I’m feeling very frustrated right now.  The kids, of course, will forget all about it until the next blunder we make.  I should mention that one of the kids is never like this to me (hint: K). We actually get along well.

And now back to saner topics.  I’ve gotten a lot done in the garden since the rain let up.  Weeding, planting, etc, to sum up.  Now I don’t feel like talking about it.

It’s been t-storming and flooding for days, so I didn’t have to water.  Speaking of which, I had been stressing over the leaky garden spigot plumbing, wasting water which Avdi pays for.  He replaced the attachments so it doesn’t leak at all!  This is what makes me happy.

The big news is Y’s 8th grade class promotion from Hixson MS to WGHS next year, where the big ceremony was held.  The gym was literally packed to the rafters.  Avdi and I attended, proudly.  S will go to Hixson next year.

I had more dental fun this morning, a crown and a filling.  I love the way the female dentist and assistant work together.  They told me my male dentist is gay!  That made my day.  The bills won’t be fun, though.  It will take me a year to pay them off.

I got to take two days of rest, which I really needed.  I’d be lying if I said I did nothing, though.  In fact, I got two big projects done that I’ve had to put off.

The first was my bookcases.  I removed the tchotchkes from the small bookcase, cleaned it, and moved smaller books to it.  Then I reorganized the large bookcase so it’s more logical, removing some books to give away.  Now my mind feels much less chaotic.

The second was my large plants area.  I moved the plants outside, gave them some rehab (along with me), cleaned up the room, and repositioned them inside.  In the process, I aired out the apt, sorely needed.  Then I turned on the AC for the first time this season, because it’s like summer out there.

I did less strenuous things, like continuing to delete computer apps, downloads, docs, photos, etc. that I no longer need or upload to iCloud, so I have more room.  I know that sounds primitive, but not everything uploads to my Google Cloud.  Still trying to figure it all out.

I still feel pretty congested, wobbly, and exhausted, but getting things more organized and downsized puts my mind right, at least.

I’ve recovered enough to do basic erev Shabbat preps.  The challah turned out perfectly, and the salad included greens from the garden for the first time.

It was one of those revolving door erevs, so we kept it simple.  E had his acapella performance at the HS, to which most of the family was going.  I wanted to, but with all the hacking and wheezing, also fatigue, I had to pass and go home.

Then typically, Y had missed the memo and had a friend over to do hair, after their school trip to 6 Flags, so I was called back to stay there until Avdi got home.  Loucious and I kept each other company, and he got more challah!

I didn’t do much in the garden except more weeding to liberate flower seedlings from the voracious green dragon.  I finished weeding the patio flower beds and the rock garden.  Much frisbee was played.

Gardening I did today:

• Prepped an area along the other side fence (near pool) and transplanted mint and ruellia from the poppy bed (next to the herbs) to it.  Then cleaned up around the poppies and planted lemon balm and lemon verbena plants.  (In the herb bed I had planted the lemon bush eucalyptus, so now it’s the lemony section!)
• Planted some annual vinca flower plants in Y’s rock garden and in one of the porch square beds.
• I temporarily placed the lithodora perennial (bright blue flowers) in the new planter.
• I weeded the square bed next to the veg garden and discovered the nasturtiums, coneflowers, and poppies I had seeded, plus black-eyed susan, all being overrun by the green dragon!
• I transplanted some bright annual flowers from that bed into other areas to get more sun.
• I was going to trim the huge cilantro and parsley going to seed, but I think I may just let them re-seed themselves.

I feel like I’m starting to catch up, after all the sick weeks.  Not quite out of the woods yet, but gardening helps me feel better.  L and I played a lot of frisbee.  We need some robotic sheep.

Whatever this is sure is persistent, but I’m trying to push myself.  I even dropped by VP and got a couple of plants.  In the garden, I had to pace myself and leave some stuff for another day.  But I got a lot done.

I used some old boards to make a boardwalk in the veg garden.  I turned the old fire pit into a large planter in the shade natives garden.  I transplanted the borage seedlings from the herb garden to the perennial apothecary garden.  In its place I planted a lemon bush eucalyptus plant.  In the hosta shade garden I planted a new purple heuchera.

E has been very busy experimenting with growing seedlings of all kinds in the “lab”, transplanting them to his “secret garden”, and constructing a poultry area and growing area with repurposed materials and lumber.  He showed me around and we talked shop; I was impressed with his resourcefulness and self-taught skills.

Avdi and I had postponed our monthly date to this evening.  We just ate nearby at Frisco Pub, because we were both exhausted.  I couldn’t even finish my excellent meal and beer.

It’s like Astrophage and Taumoeba (non-PHM fans look it up!).  This is only an analogy.

CLL [Astrophage] attacks and eats your blood cells that fight infection throughout your bone marrow, blood, lymphocytes.  Eventually your Sun goes out.

In this cancer, you’re supposed to wait and do nothing, monitoring blood test counts until certain symptoms and numbers indicate there’s been an escalation, or just kiss your ass goodbye.

But it turns out medicine has found some alt treatment options [Taumoeba, in our analogy] that can target, slow down, or possibly even kill (?) the evil cancer cells in the blood.   Sun maybe not go out yet!  Facts (not AI) you learn while sleepless in StL.

I was sleepless because a new symptom showed up last night.  Pain went from my (R) ear down to my neck/throat area, but not like a sore throat.  CLL cancer can affect the lymph nodes and glands in that area, or even allow a secondary cancer to get in, and that’s one of the first signs that intervention may be in order.

CLL is an autoimmune disease, so your resistance to infection is down, and severe viruses can’t be fought off as well.  I.e., do not get flu/COVID/ pneumonia.  My vax are up-to-date, but I just had two bad weeks of a COVID/ flu-type (non-diagnosed) infection, and now this.

This is an over-simplification of the disease, but you get the point.  I’m mainly logging this for my own reference.  I try to stay philosophical (fatalistic) about it, but sometimes it reminds me of my mortality.  I wish I had an Eridian (like “Rocky”) to interface with.

I finally ventured out of my quasi-quarantine to try to be useful over at the Avdi’s.  No one was home but Loucious, who had a lot to say about my absence: “You never call, you never play frisbee, WTF?!”  It was so pitiful.

I did some of the usual, then picked up Y, then came back home.  That was my day.  Pretty blahggy.

I’ve been so out of it, I forgot to mention that yesterday Avdi dropped by briefly to see how I was, the first time he’s been over in like years!  (It was mother’s day.)  He brought me some medicinal bourbon, which helped.