For the second morning in a row Tom has gotten me up a LOT earlier than I really wanted to be up. It's 5:30 a.m. now.

He whistled "quietly" (I bought him 4 referee's whistles so he'd have them available to call me, loud for an emergency, more quietly if he just wanted me) and I came downstairs. His quilt was at the foot of the stairs -- a LONG way from his bed. He was "up", dressed and in his wheelchair. And said he needed help. So I turned on the lights, which alone was a lot of help. (For me, too.)

He said there was a lot more stuff in the room than when he'd gone to bed. Well, no... Everything was just as it has been for the past two years. But...well, he's been in the hospital for a week and a half.

His bedside basket was on his bed, the pill case on the floor, one of his flashlights on the other side of the room, his heavy shirt on top of his glass of water (but the water not spilled), his battered box of kleenex was on the bed instead of on the floor next to it. He didn't think he had been in the kitchen (he needed help getting his wheelchair to the table which is closer than the kitchen in our open floorplan), but there were several things scattered on the floor.

Last night after our late supper (after I got home from the shanty sing) he pulled the slipcover off the folding chair at table because he thought it was something he was looking for. (I was in the next room -- he COULD have asked me, but he hadn't wanted to "bother" me).

He's okay. I just brought him the coffee I just made and turned on the radio.

I'm STILL exhausted. I'm taking a large cup of jasmine tea upstairs and going to read my way into the day and try to pretend life is more or less normal.

I'm going to try -- desperately -- to try to recoup my resources of energy...patience...sanity...today. I really need some down time and today looks like the only available time in the near future.

Would I be a horrible wife if I put Tom in Depends and duct taped him to the wheelchair in front of NHPR?

The jasmine tea is calling...

Linn