Saturday morning I woke up with more cold symptoms, but not very severe. Dee says that this is similar to hers: changing a bit every day and never very intense--until it is. We skipped the sightseeing with other senior couples, as it would have taken hours and energy that I didn't have. In fact, I would take an hour nap about mid-day, which helped. By evening I was again feeling almost completely normal. Strange. So the day was spent almost entirely inside at home, which was nice. I did go outside to empty the trash and put some cardboard (cut up from the big Dell box of the new computer at the Institute) into the big recycling bin at home. In the evening I walked to Conad for some produce.
In the morning I backed up both of my laptops, as I do every two weeks. When I asked when I could also backup Dee's computer, she looked at me, a little exasperated at my regularity in doing this type of thing, and asked "isn't it boring to be so organized?" To be fair, it does require a bit of time from her, but if her computer ever crashes she will be glad that I am so obnoxiously consistent 😉.
I also made a couple of Facebook postings on the events from this week on the Institute Facebook page. It had been a while since I had posted anything, but the Halloween party photos deserved to be shared! Then I spent a couple of hours updating the Institute 2018 history document for August, September, and October. I only include events that are out of the ordinary in some way. This blog is extremely helpful in that process: I just walk through the blog entries each day and see what deserves inclusion, with a brief write up of the date and event, along with photos copied directly from the blog.
For the first time in weeks, there were no lessons or talks for me to prepare for Sunday. Ugo will be in town finally to take his turn teaching Sunday School. Given how I am feeling, that was a welcome break, but I do love teaching the gospel.
In the evening, I read a bunch of chapters from Gale Sears's book entitled One Candle. She and her husband served as a senior missionary couple in our Rome 3 ward a few years ago and made some great friends here; the book is dedicated in part to her "forever family" in our ward. It is a historical novel, based on Lorenzo Snow's mission to the Waldensians in the French/Italian Alps, starting in 1850, with end notes detailing the actual historical sources used. I am enjoying it very much and may read some of her other books. She sent some copies to Ugo for members of the ward, as well as several of her other novels to keep in the library at the Institute.
Cousin Jim reported that the batteries of all my in-laws's cars are dead since my father-in-law has stopped driving. Jim has had to move the cars from time to time. So I spoke with my in-laws (plus cousins Jim and Lynn, as well as Dee's sister Donna) about finally donating the cars to charity so that they won't be tempted to try to drive them any more. We came up with a plan, which I wrote up and emailed to everyone after doing some research. Life will be easier in South Pasadena when we get back, but we are sure grateful for what Jim and Lynn are doing in the meanwhile.
I thought I might take the Rick Steves audio tour of the Roman Forum by myself, but the threat of rain increased and I gave it up. It was overcast, but not cold. I was sorry to lose a golden opportunity to get out and see the incomparable features around here. I ended up having a little walk to the local Chinese stores and shoe store, looking for a waterproof satchel. No luck.
I also tried Olaplex, a product that is really popular online. My hair hasn't been as curly as usual, and this is supposed to restore it. I think it helped a little bit, but not as much as I was hoping.
I spent a couple of hours organizing receipts, but still haven't tallied them. I have three months to catch up on. I'm so grateful Doug does the history. I do not enjoy writing.
I sent some old family photos to our four kids and to Lynn. It was fun to share them, and I think they liked it, too. I also sent one to Kathy Roskelley, from a time when she was in a Relief Society play. Then we emailed each other for awhile. It will be great to see her when we get home.
While I was doing laundry and walking to stores, I listened to a podcast called Revisionist History by Malcolm Gladwell. The episode called Malcolm Gladwell's 12 rules for life was fantastic. Blew me away. Let me know if you listen to it.
We had so much left over baked french toast that we took some big slices to the sisters downstairs. Sister Maxfield is living there now! She used to be in Roma 3 and is top notch.