It was raining all the way to Richmond. We listened to several CD's of our second book on CD. We arrived at Dad's house around noon. Kurt and Patrick arrived soon after. I passed my EMF meter to Kurt. Dad and I started printer training. He was able to print copies of page 2 of his grocery list. We paperclipped them in sets with page 1 from the office store. But time got late and we had to leave for the restaurant before the training was complete.
Dad got in Chris' car and we drove him to Joe's Inn, arriving at 2. Faye and Kevin arrived with a birthday cake. Kurt and Patrick were there, too. We found a table large enough for all of us and William and Karen, too. But when William arrived, he said Karen wasn't feeling well.
It took some time to get a waitress and have our order taken. But when the food came, it was good. I got pork chops, which is what my mom always made for my birthday. Dad got the chicken Parmesan, which looked like a portion for at least two people. There was no way he could eat it all, so I gave some to Kurt who had a much smaller meal of meatloaf and mashed potatoes.
Before Dad was done eating, the waitress brought the cake and candles. Kevin had to remind me that I was supposed to blow the candles out. So I did. Then I cut the cake and passed out pieces. Dad requested only a token piece and I sent one home for Karen. Faye and Kevin gave me a card and two presents: a lighted seam ripper and a snake-light for my sewing machine. William and Karen gave me two bottles of essential oils: sandalwood and bergamot. We continued to talk as Dad ate. Finally he gave up on the mountain of spaghetti. There was not enough left to take home.
The waitress brought the checks and, much to Dad's dismay, we each paid our own. Then Chris brought his car to the curb and we loaded Dad in and took him home. Faye met us there, but did not stay long because Kevin needed to go home. He wasn't completely healed from his surgery. Kurt and Patrick came, too.
I'm a little fuzzy on what happened next. William showed me some sewing notions in a sewing basket that came with a pretty Singer model 66. Kurt packed and left for home. Patrick was still here. Dad lost a lens in his glasses. Patrick and I searched everywhere but did not find it. Eventually Patrick had to go home. Dad practiced his choir music to see if he could still use the glasses. It wasn't good. I looked at his anthem list and pointed him to the right anthem for this Sunday. It was better but still not good. I got out my tablet to use the piano app. It was not as much help as I hoped. Dad tried a different pair of glasses and that helped some.
We worked on printer training. But it did not go well. Sometimes the laptop sent the file to fax instead of the printer. Sometimes it printed blank pages. I tried to darn socks while instructing Dad. Chris came to look at what was going on and said Dad would have to change the settings between printing tab A and tab B. Finally I told Dad to take an unmarked copy of his master grocery list and use the 'copy' function on the printer. We practiced it several times and I wrote the directions on a sticky note stuck to the top.
I told my dad he needed a bath. He said he didn't have time for that, but he had wipes. I suggested he get in the shower and I would spray him down, then give him a soapy wash cloth, and spray him clean after he washed. Surprisingly he agreed to that. But first he had to lay out all the items in his pockets. Then he took all his clothes off. I led him to the shower and told him to remove his Depends. But he was uncomfortable with that. So I traded places with Chris. I checked my e-mail and wrote to my blog while Chris made sure Dad got clean and dressed, and laid out clean clothes for tomorrow.
I felt sick to my stomach and didn't know why, so I took some activated charcoal. I felt better as I wrote up the day. While I wrote, Dad drank jujube juice, then had a bowl of soup and some casserole. He was still eating when I finished my blog and went to bed.
* Faye - you light up my life. *
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