A busy week

Today is Friday And Hallowe'en. I went grocery shopping and almost fell. I caught myself on the shopping cart. But I am cooking a whole pork shoulder for church on Sunday and there were some things I needed to get. I am meeting with the surgeon on Monday. Hopefully she will tell me that she can fix my knee.

I do have to give thanks for the pain being much reduced by lidocaine patches. I didn't think they would work since all the damage is inside my knee joint and the lidocaine patches are on the skin, but they really do work. I am able to sleep without the pain waking me.

I had doctor appointments on a couple of days this week. Had a dental crown replaced. Got the oil in my car changed. I only worked one day this week because of my knee, and that day my knee gave out and I fell on one of my co-workers. But I'm going to work tomorrow because I need the money.

Oh, speaking of work, I am trying to become a private investigator. I had the first interview on Tuesday and had a second converstation today. They want me to go on a case with one of their people. It's nothing like TV show private investigators. Its 99% insurance fraud cases. But it pays well and will be easy on my knee so I hope I get the job.

On Wednesday I became godfather to a boy in our parish. WOW! The Baptism and Chrismation service is awsome. His name is David (for the Prophet-King). I'll take him to Communion on Sunday.

I carved my jack-o-lantern today. It is just a store bought pumpkin. Unlike past years, I did not go to Farmer Bob's over by the ocean. Hallowe'en isn't as much fun when there are no kids in the house. Son #3 sent me a picture of him, his wife, and my grandson, Oliver. They are Crayons. And my grandson's stroller is the box.

I did something to my knee.

For the past couple of months my left knee has been killing me. Last Sunday my knee started collapsing under me. I've been taking huge doses of ibuprofen and using lidocane patches. I've had two sets of X-rays and have seen three doctors but they don't know what's wrong with my knee. This week I have not been at work and have been walking with a cane and a knee-brace. An MRI is scheduled for 6 on Sunday morning. It is troublesome. About 12 years ago I realized I was no longer young and strong but, until this week, I never thought of myself as old and weak. And it is duck season but I am unable to go out to the blinds.

In other news, today Kathleen and her son, Maximo helped me with the first weekly "watering" of the fruitcakes.

A Fun Night

We don't usually make them this early but we made the fruitcakes tonight. My friend Jeff, with whom I started this blog more than 20 years ago and my son Basil helped me. We told jokes and stories. Drank mulled cider (no, it is not really cold enough), choped fruit, and baked the cakes. They just left. Now I have to do the laundry.

A Pilgrimage

Kathleen and I went on the pilgrimage to Fort Ross last Saturday. We rented a Chevy Silverado 2500 Heavy Duty 4x4 to pull our Yakima tent trailer. WOW! What a truck! It is the only vehicle I want to drive ever. The only complaint I have is that it has too many electronics. I prefer round analog dials, like an airplane or a old Mercedes-Benz, but this is 2025 and all vehicles come with lots of unnecessary electronics. But the truck drove like a dream. And it was great on the winding roads on the way to Fort Ross and back.

We spent Friday night at Stillwater Cove Regional Park and were at the Fort Ross for the Divine Liturgy on Saturday morning.

There were at least 6, maybe more, bishops present, including the metropolitans of ROCOR and the OCA. I got to see my old friend Fr. David Lowell and Kathleen and I had a chance to speak with our much loved retired Archbishop Benjamin (he baptised my youngest son). And I managed to get a picture of my Bishop, the Rt. Rev. Vasily of San Francisco and the West. I have never met him but I have been told he is very strict and full of love, exactly what a bishop should be.

After the Divine Liturgy (WOW! WOW! WOW! The two choirs were amazing!!! Someone told me that one came from an OCA parish in Sacramento and the other came from the ROCOR cathedral in San Francisco.) and lunch Kathleen and I went back to the campground at Stillwater Cove and took a nap. We woke up just before sunset and made dinner, and after dinner we made s'mores. That was fun. I hadn't made them since I was a Cub Scout leader more than a decade ago.

We came home Sunday afternoon and were at work this morning.