Elisa's first day

The sound of an alarm going off--over and over, for more than 30 minutes. Actually three diffferent sounds. I had been up for an hour or more, so it was only amusing. About 7, I went down and started getting things ready for breakfast. After a while, she showed up, dressed and pleasant. She drank orange juice and ate toast with peanut butter. I sliced her some bread for sandwiches and she chose ham and mayonnaise. Also a banana and a cookie. I managed to find the brown paper lunch bags.

We took Cameron and walked toward Valley's house. It was just light and a bit cold, but she didn't want any hat or gloves. It was a good walk. Valley and her Mom showed up in their little red car about 8, before we got all the way to their house. I grabbed the newspaper on my way back. Ray was just stirring as I got into the house, which meant he was very late.

After I got him out the door, I settled down to work, but my Dad called before long and then he came by. I started making some bread. With Elisa eating, I will need a lot more. I also looked at recipes for sausage, which I took out of the freezer to thaw. Most things need to thaw over night, but sausage is pretty quick. It can also go in the pan and start cooking, even it's not completely thawed. I hung out some laundry, too.

After my Dad left, I ate some lunch and settled back down to get my paper done. Surprise, surprise! On studying the syllabus, I realized I was confused about the due date. I have another week for that paper...of course, there are still this week's readings, which I mostly did for the rest of the day. When the sun is shining and it's warm inside, sitting on the couch (which reminds me of my Mom) reading is a very nice way to pass the time. I am often very inspired by what I read. I think, "yes, I need to do this work." In this case, it was about caregivers and how we can do better. It is rare for doctors and social workers to integrate care, of older people or anyone. It is not unusual for older people to have mental health as well as physical health issues. They are often most comfortable with primary care physicians, who sometimes know little about mental health or social issues, and are most llikely to prescribe medicine, and don't have time to listen to older people. A social worker could bridge that gap, but, for the most part, there is not funding for that sort of service. hmm.

A little after four, Ray came home. He had picked up Elisa. She watched me making the bread and was properly appreciative and interested. She chopped some carrots and peppers (the onions made her cry), and we made a soup with sausage and white beans that was excellent. We all had two bowls; I think Elisa had a third one. The bread wasn't quite finished baking, but we had a couple undercooked slices anyway.

Then she went upstairs to work on homework while we watched TV. I don't know anyone who ever worked on homework Friday night. I fell asleep about 10.