Errands

Saturday was a P-day at home for Dee, and a day running errands for me. In the morning I walked up to Todis to re-stock on tortillas, as well as butter and some produce items for me. They have really good prices on some items, and it is nice having it close.

In the early afternoon, I went to Metro (cheddar, sour cream) and then the mall: Decathlon for weight lifting gloves, Auchan for a few toiletry items we were running low on, and Ikea for a number of items for us, the Institute, and the apartments we inspect, including an office chair for the Roma1 Anziani. I came back with the car loaded to the gills, in the rain, which was ok because the car needed a rinse. I also filled up the car.

 

There was so much stuff that I called the Sorelle to come help carry it all in. Only two of them were at home at first, but by the time I arrived and parked temporarily by the ramp to our place, all four were there and they got everything upstairs on their own! I came up empty handed. People are so willing to help with my wife's current handicap, and we feel blessed. While I was gone, Dee had rolled around the place in her chairiot, sweeping and mopping the floors. Dee writes: It was fun to see what I could do from a sitting position. I swept, mopped, cleaned the bathroom, did laundry and ironed. Doug was pretty surprised when he got home! He's doing a lot of extra stuff, so I want to do whatever I can. When the knee scooter comes, I should be able to cook and do other standing things. Stay tuned.

Later I went down to the Chinese store and Conad for a few things. Then I put together the clothes rack that I had bought at Ikea for only 13 euros. It will be useful for hanging laundry to dry, but also for guests to have a place to hang their clothes. Here is the photo from the Ikea website, and it was easy to assemble.

After all that I was exhausted, so then I sat at my desk for a good while. I called my mom and sister, and I also set up tour guides for Marilyn next month in Pompeii and Florence; still working on Rome. Dee is now sleeping with her air cast on, per doctor's orders, so we had to take the top sheet and blankets off her side of the bed. She doesn't want anything tucked in; thus we laid the twin bed covers there, which seemed to work much better for her.

At 8pm we had a video conference with Alyssa (Wes's girlfriend) and her grandfather in California. He was born in Italy and immigrated to the US in the 1950s. He still has relatives living in Italy, whom we will try to contact to set up a visit while Wes and Alyssa are here in July. What a cute family! There were Alyssa, Wes, Alyssa's parents Martin and Laura, and her grandparents Saverio and June. The grandparents are both 100% Italian. June's parents were both born in Italy. It was a blast to talk with them in English, since Saverio said he was pretty rusty in Italian. He told us some things about himself that were news to Alyssa, too. It was wonderful.

After a crazy week, it was nice not to have to prepare a lesson this weekend. In the afternoon we started our fast, asking for help with our GANS investigators and with getting the new, larger location. Fasting is always a physical challenge for me, but I love feeling the spirit more strongly when the body is weak.