my heart's not in it

I couldn't resist that title. Actually, my heart is in it, sort of. I woke up to a sweet card on the nightstand next to me.

Forrest and I are on a different tack as usual. He's up and off to the club early. He gets the garbage and recycling out. I add to it from my office after he's gone. I pick up the can when I come back from the club and the recycling box when I come back from South Austin.

I get over to the club at a pretty reasonable hour for my workout. For a while the 45+ minutes on the bike had gotten easier. I'd started slipping the resistance up slightly more of the time. Seems to have been hard the last couple of days, though. I've been sweating profusely. Felt OK after though. Maybe it's this vague illness. I've had, um, some digestive upset. Today I did my leg machines, too.

After my shower, I went to see my friend in the hospital again. She got up in a chair to eat her lunch. She's been walking. She'll probably go home tomorrow. Her husband is nervous about taking care of her at home. Again, I tell them to call on me for anything at all but they probably won't do it. Or they won't need anything I might provide. One wants to do something, though.

I decide to go to South Austin. I have my Dad's tax stuff. My CPA offices over some of the weird shops on S. Congress. (SoCo to you hipsters.)

So. I get down there and it's lunch time. I'm supposed to call her on the cell because she might be at San Jose Motel doing some work. But I figure she'll be at lunch. So I go to Texas French Bread and have a half of a pimento cheese sandwich and a cup of tortilla soup. It comes with chips and hot sauce and I get pretty full. I read my book and drink coffee and water.

It's raining kind of hard when I finish and I go sit in the car and read a little, waiting it out. FFP calls on the cell and says Carla has to go somewhere at 2:45 and I should get there before then. "I'm here," I say. I call her and we meet in front of her office and stand in the mist talking about tax time and Valentine's Day celebrations.

I shop the stores on the way back, looking for a gift for someone who is leaving Austin and going back home, back to San Francisco. I also look for other things that might be interesting gifts or decoration. I don't buy anything but I take back a couple of ideas as to what the gift should be to try on FFP. I check out Terra Toys and not just because of their sign. Sometimes I find things my great nephews might need. They are having a drawing for a miniature White House for President's Day. And they have Presidents paper dolls. Hence the comment about the underwear. And, yes, I'm considering the George and Laura paper dolls for that gift.

I go home the slow way...up Congress, then over to LaVaca and on to campus and Guadalupe and all the way north to 45th. It's slow and with the notoriously poorly-timed lights I'm able to continue reading my book, which I'll finish at home. I like finishing books and starting new ones. It's a thrill. I'm still doing poorly keeping up with the newspapers. I suppose I should get out of bed in the morning and read them early but, so far, I never do. I'm up by eight, usually before, but I sit in front of this computer (sometimes doing this journal) or I'm off to the club.

I finish the book, download the pix I actually took today, discuss a few things with FFP. We have some food so we won't be hungry at the Austin Cabaret Theater concert where we are going tonight. I have a bowl of salad with cheese, broccoli, carrots, green onions, Romaine, spinach and Thousand Island dressing. When I first got home I downed a Cherry Coke. I need to stay away from sodas. I am still losing weight, I think, my one and only accomplishment in retirement. But it's more exercise than dietary change as you, my readers, well know.