Monday, December 29th
After giving M his ‘new’ iPad that my sister had wrapped, we started thinking about a movie. We started with Jack Nicholson, and I mentioned The Shining, which I knew was available on Criterion. Mom thought it was his best movie, but since it was over two hours, that wouldn't work for us right now. M suggested What's Up, Doc? and I perked up and mentioned it was also available on Criterion. We tried to watch it, but random movies are scrambled so that they are unwatchable. I need to make a complaint about that.
So instead we watched this selection. It's a film from 1960 that was written, produced, and directed by Jerry Lewis. He had just finished shooting the film Cinderfella, which he thought should be released at Christmas time. Paramount would accommodate him if he gave them something else to release in the summer. He was doing a gig at the hotel in Florida, so he quickly wrote and shot this movie so it could be released in the summer. This was his directorial debu,t and it is a testament to how popular he was that the movie made $10 million in the US.
As the introduction tells you, there is no plot and no story. It's just a series of gags showing the life of a bellboy. Most of the jokes you can see coming a mile away, but there are a few laughs. Stan Laurel was a friend of Jerry Lewis and might have helped shape the movie. In any case, I thought it was an interesting study of a major comedian. Mom was bored.
Tuesday, December 30th
I had my last massage of the year with D this afternoon. Mom has another new person lined up for next Tuesday, but D is at the top of our list right now. It's good to have a backup. The massage always seems to come unexpectedly, but it is important, and I enjoy it.
Wednesday, December 31st
I forgot to mention that my neighbor got her newest Covid vaccine on Sunday. I thought I would get one as well, but they don't give them out to everyone at once, so they can monitor how people tolerate it. I got my shot on Monday, and everything was fine until today. I got very weak and was barely able to move my left arm.
My stomach felt queasy, and I had no interest in drinking water, so I got dehydrated. I also didn’t have much interest in eating. My sister stopped by for a few hours and brought good things to eat. I ate some of them and saved a package of sushi for tomorrow. I did eat the ’So Delicious’ chocolate ice cream with a caramel swirl and enjoyed that!
My CNA made sure to get me to bed by 9:30, and I fell asleep early.
Thursday, January 1st
I was definitely better than yesterday, but still weak, so I didn’t do much. My mom stopped by, and she tried the non-dairy ice cream and found it to be a perfectly acceptable alternative. (As I am writing this, I am realizing I have forgotten about the ice cream. I will have some for dessert tonight!) Generally, a quiet day of nothing. I ate half of the sushi for dinner and wished I could've eaten more, but I didn’t want to push it.
Friday, January 2nd
I woke up feeling back to normal! That being said, I still spent the day doing nothing. I looked at the leftover sushi and ate one piece, and then threw the rest away. Two days is too long to save sushi, even if there isn't any raw fish.
I opened HBO and watched all three John Wick movies in a row. The third movie is pretty much nothing but fighting, and it got a little repetitive. I'm really hoping they show John Wick 4 soon, and that was why they showed it to me.
Saturday, January 3rd
My sister stopped by after lunch, and we watched a MobLand, which we had not done in a while. It has actually gotten more interesting as I am able to follow the storyline better. I should have had some more ice cream, but I forgot about it. There isn’t a time limit on the freezer like there is on the refrigerator, because not many people put things in the freezer. Also, the ice cream would probably be gone if my sister took it home. That's understandable as it is so good!
Sunday, January 4th
Mom stopped by after church and gave me lunch. I was hoping the new iPad cover would get to Mom in time for her to bring it tomorrow. That's a bit iffy. Oh well, we shall see. I was thinking about a quick essay idea for January. Once a month didn't seem too quick, but in reality, it seems like I'm done writing one essay and I have to start another. And yet, there are still things I have yet to document. Argh! And I have end of the year financials to finish. So much to do!
My sister, my mom, and I all want to thank the CNAs for all the hard work we know they do every day. My sister looked up New Year’s traditions for Filipinos and found that they make a basket of 12 round fruits to represent abundance for the new year. She went to Whole Foods and bought apples, oranges, pears, a papaya, a persimmon, a pineapple, and a bunch of different berries and grapes. She had a basket and went to Mom's, and they arranged everything very nicely and then brought it to the hospital along with a Japanese good luck/New Year’s sculpture.
I hoped everyone would finish the fruit before it went bad, but I shouldn't have worried. I think the fruit was gone before midnight. There was nothing left for New Year's Day. Nice! I also had my sister take a picture of my wall, as it is now pretty much completely filled. There are small gaps that I want to fill, but there are no large blank spaces anymore. Great! I am going to go back and collect all the photos of the wall to create an animation of it getting filled up. Fun! I hope everyone had a safe and happy New Year's! Have a great first week of 2026!
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