03-24-2025 Walk

Woke up feeling off-sorts, had a bit of a sore throat and felt like I was coming down with a cold. Not great. The night had been interesting, there was a really large thunderstorm that came through the area, but it was done by the time I got up. Mom was up early, turns out she didn't have a good night's rest. I went for an extended walk when it was still dark out at the beginning, walking through the neighborhoods on the south side of Foley Rd and listening to episodes of The Daily. I got back and met Bridget, one of the home healthcare aides watching Mom on weekdays. She is nice, very caring and competent, and throughout the day she took time to do some laundry and clean the dishes. Mom had a rough morning, she was having some trouble taking breaths. I eventually got her to drink some coffee, and that perked her up quite a bit. She started to behave more normally, and I decided to go ahead with plans to meet Mark for lunch at a salad restaurant, Salata, on Heights Blvd off I-10. We had a good discussion, mostly about Mom's current and future situation, including disposition of the house and all of the stuff in it. I think he and I are pretty much on the same page, but there could be some disagreement with Ben and Ross about the house regarding timing and putting in money to fix it up. He also shared a little about how things are going at home and with his adjusting to retirement. From there, I drove back to the lake house, talked to Mom for a little bit, then had a nap. In the late afternoon, I drove over to Ben's house through rush hour traffic on FM 1960, and that was pretty miserable. Then he and Abigail led me over to Matthew and Lauren's house for a family gathering, with all Ben's kids and their kids as well as Lauren's sister Amber, her husband, and their son Roman. Lauren's dad and stepmother were there as well. Was a little awkward for me initially, but I jumped in and it ended up being a nice time. Got the chance to talk more with Rebecca and Hannah, both of whom have a lot going on these days. I was really glad I went, although it made for a long day, including the drive back from his place to the lake house.