Saturday, November 22

Anna texts me early and we decide to the grocery store later than usual, around eight thirty.  It turns out we both spend the extra time in bed, enjoying the warmth to be found there. She was waiting for a sunbeam to come and slowly warm her face,  I was waiting for it to make its way across a picture on my wall.  We get out and get our shopping done just in time. Anna will make it to her pilates class right before it starts.

Soon after I get home my friend Alice arrives for a visit.  She is in town for the weekend, visiting her parents.  She lives on a farm in Maine, and can't often get away.  There is always so much to do on a farm, and since she works a nine to five job during the week, the weekends are an important time to get caught up.  Her parents are aging though, so she has been trying to get down to visit them more often.  I also benefit from these trips. It has been years since we have spent so much time together.

We go to Wayland Square to get some lunch at Teas and Javas.  We had intended only to get something warm to drink, but the food looks so good, we decide to have lunch.  Alice gets a beautiful roasted vegetable salad, while I get a Black Forest Ham Panini.  The food is good, the company better.  We continue to catch up, stopping by Books on the Square so I can start some Christmas shopping, and take a short walk on Thayer Street. We used to take a bus here when we were in high school, going to the Avon Movie Theater or shopping.  Of course, it looked very different then.

We come back to my house, and talk until it is starting to get dark outside.  We have spent the the better part of the day talking, and I feel like I have been on a vacation.  We finally say goodbye, and hope to get together soon.  Some time in the near future I hope to go and visit her farm.

Steve makes dinner, and Dan, Dave and Walter join us.  Once we are done, they leave to watch movies at Adam's house, and I am home alone. I am always invited along, but I enjoy these evenings to myself.  It gives me the opportunity to get a few things done.  I may lose an hour or so on facebook, but this seems to be the cost of doing anything on the computer. 
In trying to research my sloshy toes, I discover that the way I have found to cope with my feet and fingers is the opposite of what is recommended on some cancer websites.  I use heat, they recommend cold.  This seems insane to me!  I can't imagine anything more painful than cold on my tingly fingers and toes.  I wonder if they have different tingles than I do, or if I feel this sensation in the opposite.  Could it be they live in a warmer place?  I don't get it.  I will have to ask more people about this.