It was my birthday yesterday. Robert and I were under the weather with a fast-moving, fairly harmless bug that left us both feeling tired. So we were home. RP brought in wood so that we could have a fire, and made dinner out of two dishes that I really really love, and gave me some fun presents.
One present was a documentary about meerkats that a friend had recorded, so we went upstairs, huddled under our sleigh blanket with the cat, and watched it. Much as I love meerkats, they were eclipsed by footage of the babies which are round and furry and fall over when they try to stand on their hind legs. And also -- there were pictures of an odd mammal, a pangolin, which looks a bit like an anteater, has a foot-long straw-tongue for scooping out anthills, runs around on its hind legs like a kangaroo, and is covered with huge scales. Here are some more pictures of pangolins if that one taste wasn't enough. And in case you haven't seen enough of 'em, here are some pictures of meerkats.
I have a few birthday mates and I checked in with them.
DC had a rough upbringing and seems to have found a lot of peace and happiness with her husband. She wrote to tell me of the latest antics of her father, recently widowed, who quickly remarried; the marriage ended after eight weeks. She tells the story better than I do, but I wish she'd write some of these stories down. Anyways, she seems to be in a good place.
Sue's husband died rather tragically a few months ago (he was recovering from being sick, they gave him one more treatment as "insurance" and he had a bad reaction, prompting deep feelings in me of life not being fair). She had retired to take care of him and also to join him in his retirement after a life of hard work. Yesterday, she sounded to be in fairly high spirits, rather amazingly, though she did not gloss over the fact that the last few months have been devastating. She's thinking of going back to work part-time and delights in the company of her foofy (but sweet) little dogs.
GrandMarvin is Robert's step-grandfather. He and R's grandmother lived in a retirement community for more than a quarter century, steps from downtown Santa Fe. He's now in the medical care wing amidst folks who don't really know who or where they are. He's quite aware, though, and somewhat mobile, enough so that his walker has an alarm to signal his caretakers when he's wandered out of bounds (again). He's the darling of the staff there and has been elected President (no one has ever said of what), which makes him very proud; he mentions that he's President nearly every time we speak.
When we called, we woke him up from a nap, and he didn't quite catch who I was. So he was being his usual polite, charming self and invited me to his 97th birthday party yesterday afternoon. I said that it would be a little hard to get there because I was in Massachusetts, at which point he said "Is this Liz? I thought you were one of my girlfriends! How's Robert?" He really perked up then and we had a good chat. He wished me a happy birthday too.
A good day all around. And now back to "real life" which is also pretty darned good.
Plans are to see a concert performed by the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra tonight. Tomorrow, I go off on a two-day trip with my company. They're taking us on a little vacation to a ski resort; nor sure if I'll end up skiing or just swimming and hanging out. Despite my long tenure in high tech, this is my first company non-work trip. Should be fun.
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