"That drunken bastard!"

Well, I had a good time with my aunt.

I woke up early, took a shower, got dressed.  I had a pretty nasty headache so I took some Excedrin.  I waited on my antidepressant even though I really needed it.  My aunt arrived right on time, I got in, and we left.

We stopped to get me a couple diet sodas.  I do love my diet soda and nothing says good family time to me like a cold soda and some conversation.

Her GPS had her taking a route I'd never heard of, but I was game, especially since it went through part of Acres Homes, where I've done a lot of handouts.  The neighborhood was a wreck, dead drywall and insulation piled next to mounds of rotting carpet.  They can clearly use some ministry, but we had to turn before I could tell if they had finished fixing De Soto or not.  If God wants me out there, He will let me know.

We only got stuck in traffic for a little while, it wasn't bad at all.  We arrived early.  My "copay" (bagged candy) was a big hit with the staff.  The waiting room was packed and it looked like they would be working through lunch.

A medical student with a logo emblazoned on her white coat led me to the back.  Doc discussed things with me.  I complained a little about the hand tremor.  It gets old.  He knew I was just whining and didn't expect him to "fix" it.  He asked about Ron.

If you recall, last time I told Doc Ron was a "major alcoholic".  I related the head-stuck-in-the-wheelchair story and said he was about the same.  It's true.  He's just as bad as he was 3 months ago, and certainly no better.

Doc got back to me and gave what I consider "The lithium lecture" to the students (2 of them).  He said nice things, like I was "very stable" and "Doing very well".  Nice to hear, especially considering my circumstances.

Time to go.  We went out to lunch at Red Robin.  Last time my aunt got this awful, grilled, salad.  It was horrible.  This time she got a nice hamburger and fries.  She fixed it up the way she wanted.  I liked the grilled cheese, but they don't call it that.  I think they call it a melt.  At any rate, very good.  I had that.  Today was cheat day.  I didn't get anything else.  Just a lot of diet soda.

We left and went to Ikea.  It was fun to walk around.  I found it amusing to consider how long each couch would last in my home.  For a lot of the items, the answer was "not very long".  My 3 cats have their claws, and enjoy using them.  I actually got my chair and loveseat (for the front room) from Ikea.  They have done well.  I laughed out loud when I saw the $1300 leather couch.  No way.

Ikea was having a sale, 15% off, for everyone, because of the flood.  Nice.  I found a nice metal cart on wheels.  It has a couple of shelves, with edges, so stuff won't fall down.  It looked pretty cute, and, as my aunt noted, "Sturdy".  True indeed.  I considered picking one up for Ron to use next to his bed.  It looked rugged enough not to break if he got drunk and fell on it.  But would Ron want one?

At this point in time, I had ignorance.  I could blissfully assume Ron was at home reading the Bible or playing with the cats, sober as a judge.  I didn't have to deal with him, drunk.  I decided not to call and burst my bubble, because, as I said yesterday, Ron tends to get very drunk when I leave for the day.

We continued shopping.  I saw some cute kitchen tables but mine works OK.  It is dirty because I feed the cats on it but it holds up the cat food just fine.  I normally eat in my chair.  But the tables were nice.  I like the unfinished wood, solid pine.  It would be fun to stain and finish if I had the energy.  I went through a big wood-stain phase back in 2006 before I was diagnosed and medicated.  It was fun.

We continued.  I got a little nervous near the stairs, I'm scared of heights, but made it down just fine.  We looked around some more.  I found some huge tote bags with zippers.  They were very nice.  I grabbed some.

We looked at bedding, and I laughingly related Biscuit's proclivity to puke in the bed.  So, bedding was out.

Carpets, Ron would trip and the cats would rip.  Funny how my life is limited in some ways, by those I love.  I found a huge sisal rug.  The cats would love to scratch on it.  But it was too big (4x6 feet) for my home.  I don't have that much free space.

"Why not get one of these doormats?" my aunt suggested, showing me a sisal doormat for $5.  I picked one up.  The cats would love it.  I took it with me.

I found those carts again, the one I wanted to get for Ron, and decided I wanted one after all.  If Ron doesn't use it I can put it next to my chair.  They were only $25, not counting the sale.

My aunt found a few things she wanted, and took some photos, on her shopping.  We checked out.

I had a horrific dry mouth; I had taken my medication, all of it (including the antidepressant) with lunch.  I desperately needed a drink.

My aunt stopped at a pharmacy and I got a couple cold bottles of Diet Dr Pepper.  I drank them on the way home.

I came home to find the yard mowed.  Our yard guy must have come by.

My aunt dropped me off and left.  I went in the house.  Ron was passed out in bed, snoring.  Everything looked the way I'd left it.  Good.

Ron woke up after I came home and we talked a little bit.  He'd slept through the yard crew.  I took a nap for about an hour, then we talked about our trips for tomorrow.

The cats investigated the new doormat, and Biscuit had fun sharpening his claws on it.  Good.  That's the idea.  I plan to scold them now and then when they sharpen their claws on it, just to make it "forbidden".  It's like the laundry room.  The cats can go anywhere in the house, except the laundry room.  So where do they want to go?  The laundry room.

Ron was very drunk, but pleasant.  He asked me to play him some music.  Since he was nice, I did.  He enjoyed that, and asked me to look up random things on Wikipedia.  I did that.  We had fun.  He kept going back for more drinks, though.

He was most upset to discover he had already eaten his Denny's takeout from last night.  "That drunken bastard!"   He found something else to eat instead.

Speaking of food, it was dinnertime, so I fed the cats.  Torbie had been very into the old tuna leftovers so I gave them some more tuna.  Biscuit and Baby Girl don't seem to care what they get, tuna or salmon, but Torbie really likes the tuna.  So I feed it.

I'll have to get more, the next time I go to Walmart.

Ron finally went to bed.  It's pretty late, for me (almost 8 PM), so I plan to go to bed soon and get a good night of sleep.  I had a hard time with the headache last night, so hopefully I will be headache free this time.

Although I did eat a chocolate pastry (I said it was a cheat day) on the way to Doc's so I may get a headache from that.  It was pretty good, but not as good as the old ones the first company used to make.

I plan to eat clean from now until my birthday.  I'm leaving an option open for dessert on my birthday, just because I haven't had a "real" birthday dinner in a couple of years now.