$100 bills it ain't!

My mother hoarded $100 bills.  My Dad, Sister, Brother and I found them all over the house after she died. All we could figure that was a child of the depression was making sure there was enough money around--just in case.


Well, I have found Mary's stash! And, it is not her approximately 60 pairs of shoes (I have lost count, actually).  I don't know if 60 is excessive or not but it kinda seems like a bit on the long side except for Imelda. Comments?  


So what is Mary's stash?  Money? No. Drugs? No.  Food? No. What could it be?


Well, here is a picture of it. Much to my amazement, I found 12 bottles (containers?) of deodorant.  

Only two of these have been opened.


I checked a recent shopping list and on it was "Mary's Deodorant" so clearly she was still acquiring this precious commodity right to the end!  Why, I have no idea.


I guess I am changing my brand for the next-oh let's day 18 months--until this is all gone.


Ingrid came over today and I had her try on some blouses, slacks and shorts. Many fit and many did not so she took the items that worked for her. Frankly, I'd rather Mary's clothes go to friends who knew and loved her rather than to some of the charities where Mary would only be a "donor."


I haven't written much this week. It was a combination of writer's block, incredibly busy at work, busy with my bicycle riding and my new iPad.  I just installed the blogging upload software so I should be more active this next week.


I heard from an old friend, Frank P, who was a college buddy. In fact, Frank, Mary and I were often found together as a trio doing stuff in college.  As I recall, Frank was often in the passenger seat of my Mustang while Mary sat on the transmission tunnel and I had to shift my 6 cylinder, 3 speed transmission with my hand/arm resting on Mary's leg, knee or umm, whatever.  Drove Frank crazy as I recall.  I should note that my Mustang was purchased new in 1967 and it was a stripper. No central console, just carpeting between the seats with the three speed mounted on the floor.  In fact, I think Mary sat on the carpeting whether there was anyone in the bucket seat or not!  Ah, the days before the safety czars!


Anyway, Frank missed the recent developments with Mary's health and when we did the Remembrance in St. Paul I did not run the obituary in the Minneapolis paper--only in the St Paul paper.  Frank missed all of that, I am sorry to say. I am also concerned there are others who missed because I didn't run the obit in the Minneapolis papers.  My apologies to all. I didn't run them in Phoenix either and Mary lived there from 1974 though 1994.  I have received notes from some of her Phoenix friends as the word gets around.


As for me, I have been on my bike all but two days since Monday. Today was a bit too much. Our temperatures exceeded 90 and that was just too darn hot for me.  I biked to Farmers' Market, met Ingrid for lunch and then biked home.  Ingrid brought my groceries in her car.  Ingrid went off to take care of a client and during that time I cooled off and showered.  Several hours later Ingrid returned and we did the session trying on Mary's clothes.


Let's see, what else is up?


I am trying to arrange sending my three iPhones to Reenie, Tom and Kamie once I get my iPhone 4. Unfortunately, negotiating ATT's upgrade policies is a lot like trying to create the peace process between Israel and the Arab nations.  I am sure that no matter what I do, its going to turn out to be the worst thing I ever did!  The problem is that the latest iPhone we own is Mary's. For my regular readers, you may remember she bought it as a reward for surviving the liver surgery last May.  Ah, the old 24 month contract.  More that a bit of a bummer, Hal...There are no contracts on the other two iPhones.


Anyway, I am hoping ATT has a clause addressing dead people--and that it turns out to be favorable for those left behind.  I know, I am Pollyanna!


Shawna successfully completed her medical treatment for her cornea problem.  Basically, it can happen to any old dog.  The doc put in the equivalent of Novocain, then took a Q-tip, rubbed the problem membrane off of her eyeball, took a needle and punched a bunch of tiny, tiny holes into her cornea, installed a contact lens to protect it, told me to dump antibiotics in three times a day and it worked!  Her eye is better.  He told me the right eye will likely have the same problem within the next year or so.

As for my cataract surgery, my eye changed a bit more again.  When I took the new prescription into the the optician, they said the fee is $0.00.  I could not believe it.  So the four pairs of glasses I had made right after the surgery are now being changed to the latest prescription without a nickel of my money. How nice! I have one pair back and the acuity is amazing. The other part is that since this was my original "bad eye" I really don't need to wear glasses at all for most things.  That is sooo strange for me!  For example, I am not wearing glasses while typing this blog entry. 

Work continues to be hectic.  I have four areas of responsibility and typically one or two are kinda quiet. Right now, they are all at full tilt boogie. One will finish in ten days. It is the conference I run that is called a World Tour. I did Tokyo, Taipei, Xi"An China and Singapore. I have skipped Bangalore India, Jerusalem and Treviso (Vence) Italy.  The largest of the events will be in Santa Clara in 10 days or so and then it goes quiet until November. That is one of the four areas. The other three are on full boil and I am working hard to keep up and stay ahead. 

I have signed up for two grieving processes. One is being done by a local non-profit that benefits from Applied's giving programs so there is no charge to me. I am also signed up for a grieving session at Stanford and I plan on continuing with both of those for a while.  You may or may not know that I went through therapy from 1989 through about 1995 with a psychologist--primarily for my divorce and then for my overall mental health. I have already met with that same psychologist and based on that work, continuing in a grieving program is probably a very good thing for me.  

San Francisco's American Conservatory Theater (ACT) invited me to lunch and to catch the last production of the season on Saturday (the last performance is in a week or two).  I haven't seen a play since Mary presented her symptoms in March of 2009.  In fact, we didn't buy season tickets for 09-10 and I zeroed out ALL of our charitable donations until we understood the cash flow issues with costs of all of Mary's treatments. The ACT staff was most gracious and the play/musical was great. I ended up as the play ended sitting and crying while everyone else, it seemed, was leaving the theater.  Perhaps my emotions are a bit raw (he said perhaps?) but the story line of a couple who did not reconnect and did not have the love and joy and happiness that Mary and I had our 2nd time around really made me sad.  The play is called the Tosca Project and it was written about the history of the past 80 years in San Francisco and placed in a local bar. I found it absolutely enjoyable and emotionally stimulating.  

After the performance, I was invited to a post-performance reception where I met all the actors and chatted with several of them. It was a grand time.  And, in the back of my head was the recurring thought that Mary should be here with me.  She needed to experience this closeness to the theater. 

When we were in college, Mary introduced me to live theater.  We were fortunate to have the Tyrone Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis and they offered a student rush just before performances.  Mary and I saw many plays that way.  The old theater had a projected stage and the student rush tickets tended to be behind the actors but hey, the price was right.  More importantly, Mary introduced me to the theater. From that introduction, I have consistently attended theater for the past 40 plus years. Thank you, Mary! 

I did an IM chat with Reenie today.  It is always good to catch up with folks.  We chatted about Mary's last years and how great it was that Reenie and Mary reconnected after some distance for many years before that.  

Last Thursday on my way back from an after work bike ride, my son Chris called. We had a nice chat as I walked my bike up the 50 foot hill to our house. After I have been riding for a while, there is no way these legs can to that hill on a bike--29 gears or not!