Another Interesting Day is in the works.

I want to start off today's blog by saying Happy Day-After Your 88th Birthday to Rusty Mason. He's amazing and an inspiration. We attended his party yesterday at his home, and we were treated to some excellent live music. Rusty has been a professional musician his whole life, so to honor him at his party, many of his jazz musician colleagues and friends (keyboard, 2 violins, 2 guitars, clarinet, string bass, trombone, maracas, several singers) turned out to perform. It was just awe-inspiring to sit there and listen to them improvise so many popular and famous jazz tunes.

Rusty's wife, Chana, has been a member of Mishkan Torah and a member of my choir there for a very long time. That is how I got to know them. She put this party together for her husband, and I could tell she was just having a blast snapping photos all day long! Kudos to you, Chana, for the great party you put together. Another friend of ours and choir member, Nadine, came and sang a song she composed for him. She called it "Rusty's 88" to the tune of "Route 66." She is a professional musician herself, and although she had planned to accompany herself, it was unnecessary. The whole combo backed her up. Unbelievably GREAT!! Rusty was grinning from ear to ear as he listened. It was just a warm, wonderful day. Thanks, Chana, for inviting us to be part of this celebration.

This morning Mark is preparing to go have a day all by himself. I think that's a good thing. He and I have been absolutely together 24/7 for literally months and months. It will be nice for him to drive off to Greenbelt and Bowie on his own to do his own thing for a big chunk of the day, like the "old days." It's also great that he and I both know that my health today is good, and I don't need him here with me every minute.

It has been his tradition since he retired to meet up with some of his former co-workers who are also retired for lunch, one Monday a month. This is the day, so he's driving an hour to Rip's, a very nice restaurant in Bowie, right near the Bowie Bay Sox stadium. He actually took me to that restaurant recently to have lunch and meet one of his co-workers and his wife. We had a lovely time. After he has his lunch, he's going to head to the gym in Greenbelt for his typical Monday workout before heading to Arundel Mills Mall for a little shopping and then back up to Baltimore. I hope he has a great day!

I am going to chill out at home (well, Cindy's home) alone. I have some Thank Yous to write, some paper work I want to update in my medical log book that we are keeping, some reading to do, and some TV to watch. I missed Amazing Race on TV last night, so I'm looking forward to watching that online later. I will also take a nice long walk by myself. Yesterday Mark and I walked 1.6 miles in 40 minutes, not fast, but it's still good. I hope to do the same walk again today, maybe even a little more.

The best part of the day will be tonight. My high school girlfriend Laverne and her husband, Kelly, flew from San Francisco (they live in Sonoma, CA) to BWI yesterday to visit her parents in Laurel. This has been an annual tradition for Laverne for years and years, and even though she is busy with her parents and her brother, she always finds time to visit me. Over the years, Mark and I have taken her to many restaurants in the area for dinner, or sometimes she and I drive out to the Frederick area to visit another mutual school friend, Don, who lives out there. Don has had sheep, goats, donkeys, dogs, and cats over the years, and it's always fun seeing the animals. This year we have a new restaurant to visit. All five of us are meeting at the kosher Chinese restaurant in Pikesville, David Chu's China Bistro. We love it because Mark enjoys the opportunity to eat meat. It's also fun to read a Chinese menu and know that everything on it is a possibility! So at 6:30 tonight, we'll be ordering some delicious, kosher Chinese food! Can't wait. I'm also going to pick up their carry-out menu because we plan to pick up the same kosher food next Sunday for my big head-shaving party!

It's also good to avoid thinking about the rest of the week too much. I'm trying to stay focused and positive that the next chemo session won't be any worse than the first one. There's a chance that it will be the same or better, and there's a chance that it will be worse. There is just no way to know until it happens. You know I'll tell you everything, good and bad!!

I hope everyone who reads this blog is also having a great day today. I never realize who that actually may be on any given day. This morning I got an email from some friends who live in Massachusetts and who I usually see about once a year in the summer. They told me they read the blog and are sending me wishes to "hang in there." I was touched because I didn't even realize they were following this blog. It's humbling to think that I write this, lately in my bathrobe in my little chair in Cindy's living room, and it goes out there into cyberspace, where I really never know who reads it. Every time I get some feedback from someone that they are reading it, I am amazed. I'm not a person who has ever sought an opportunity to be in the limelight (if you don't count conducting hundreds of public school concerts over decades of my career as a music teacher and synagogue choral conductor, LOL), so the thought that so many people read all my innermost thoughts now, and even more shocking to me, actually seem to enjoy it, is mind boggling. Thanks all!