Under the car

Monday morning Dee was coughing a lot, after sleeping again on the couch in the living room so as not to bother me. I didn't sleep all that well either, but there was nowhere for me to go because she was in with my computer. If this happens again, I will move my laptop to the back room. It is frustrating for her because she was doing so well all weekend. 

I went to the chiropractor at 9am for what is hopefully my last visit. My back is doing great, and I don't see the need for any other treatments unless something else happens. It is nonetheless great to know about her in case I need it. She said that my morning appointments were great for her, since the mornings are usually open -- Italians like to come in the late afternoon and into the evening. She finally had to tell them no for appointments after 8pm. The cultures really are different!

When I got home, Dee came out to help me reattach the rubber gasket under the front bumper of the car. The clearance there is very low, and the gasket can come out easily if you just pull right up to a curb. Anziano Balzotti always backs into parking spots with his car, and now I know that it is because he is tired of having to reattach the darn thing. It had been held in place for a couple of weeks with duct tape, which fortunately matches the color of our car ("duct tape gray" :). Between my back hurting, being really busy, and raining a lot, it hasn't been feasible to fix it until now. It involves lying on the ground, unscrewing about half a dozen screws from the plastic "expansion" plastic pieces which have ripped out of the bumper, then reinserting the plastic and putting the screws back in. Because there is so little clearance, it is hard to see and to turn the screwdriver. Fortunately we had a little stubby Philips-head screwdriver which did the trick. I brought out some cardboard to lay on, and Dee helped hand me tools. It is really nice to have it back in place, and I may start backing into parking spots now too!

After that I went in to shower, while Dee walked down to Conad and the Chinese store. She was kinda wiped out after all that. I offered to let her stay home all day to rest, but she wanted to do the FHE lesson and dessert, so nothing was going to stop her -- that's my woman! Dayquil helped her quite a bit. We have one box, thanks to April Parker.

Just after 6pm, the church FM folks delivered a very nice used desk for our new FamilySearch computer. It is exactly the right size, and the wood matches the color of our chairs. This is much nicer than that folding table we had it on temporarily, particularly because we need that table for Taco Tuesdays; the last couple of weeks we had to dismantle the computer on Tuesday. We had to bug them quite a bit to get it here, and they had to carry the thing a couple of blocks and up two floors, but we are delighted with the result.

There was nobody at all at the Institute for the afternoon, giving us some much-needed time to study and prep. We ended up with a good-sized crowd for FHE. Dee gave a good lesson, using a recent youth article from the Ensign, which she translated into Italian.  She got a number of the kids to share experiences related to her topic. Her Reeses bars (chocolate and peanut butter) were very popular. Then the kids played some fun games. 

 

Peanut butter chocolate bars, before cutting

The queen of the kitchen (regina della cucina) at work

  

 

With Sheyla there with her keys, we were able to leave early, about 8:30pm, which was nice for Dee. Once home, I took some tools over to the Thackers, who now live in the Knieses' old apartment just across the piazza. He had left some garden tools here a year ago which I have never used, so it was nice to give them a good home again. It was fun to visit with them, while Dee was at home getting ready for bed.

By the time I got home from Conad, I was pretty tired, with chills and a cough and it looked like a dreaded relapse. I was pretty sick all day, and never would have made it without Dayquil. I never tried it before, because I always look for twelve-hour meds, but it's surprisingly effective. I don't know why it felt more effective than taking the three ingredients individually, but I'm a fan now.

My FHE lesson was on a talk called "Missed shots and grabbing rebounds" in the October Ensign. It was a great platform for lots of discussion and stories. Riccardo, who is an inactive member and his nonmember girlfriend were there, and I think the lesson was suitable and not pushy for them, too. 

I vastly prefer the kitchen at the Institute, so I cooked up some beet greens for myself. They're a new favorite. I don't think I ever had them in California. You should give them a try. Then, I cooked some grains in the veggie water. Delicious.