Got up latish, got phone calls from the hospice people, Oldest Brother officially started hospice today and I had some decisions to make. I hope I chose well.

Showered and dressed, and we went out to run errands. Started by lunch at an Indian restaurant, got the lamb curry lunch special and a mango lassi.

Then we went to Trader Joes and did major shopping. Then we took the bus to Stop and Shop and did more major shopping.

mashfanficchick asked me to stay another night so we can start early tomorrow, and get the Very Last Boxes out of the house and to the storage unit with the driving help of zer friend Liz G. And I agreed, so I'm staying tonight.

Got back to zer place from Stop and Shop, stopping at Starbucks on the way, and heard from RK that he was available to help tonight getting stuff from the house that isn't going into the storage unit. We took his car over, and got the stuff back here. One big box broke open on it's way in, but RK picked it up.

Then we went out to California Pizza Kitchen and got take out. I got the Wild Mushroom pizza. WE went to RK's place, and after we ate we played a game of Dominion. RK won, I lost rather badly, but I am beginning to understand how the game works.

Then he drove us back here, and soon it will be bed time.

Gratitude List:

1. The FWiB, even though we didn't get to Skype.

2. Oldest Brother in hospice care.

3. Dried apple slices.

4. The Kid has a job interview.

5. RK.

6. Friends.

Got up and went to my Al-anon meeting by bus after having breakfast and coffee, and showering. The meeting was smaller than usual but good. I chaired again.

Got a ride to the diner and had a bagel with cream cheese and lox, and iced coffee. Got a ride home from L, very nice.

Got here in time to see the last two seconds of the credits of the Starsky and Hutch episode. Oh well. Had fun at the chat, though. I put in a Shipt order while we were chatting,

We chatted til about 5:30. Then I killed time puttering on the computer, until 7:00 when I Skyped the FWiB. We talked til 8:30.

mashfanficchick texted right when we got off and we discussed tomorrow. I'm going to go see Oldest Brother, then decide if I'm going over to zer or not.

After that I got something for dinner, and went into the bedroom to play solitaire.

Did that til pet feeding time, then I fed the pets and here I am.

Gratitude List:

1. The FWiB.

2. My meetings and the people there.

3. Beautiful weather.

4. The Starsky and Hutch fandom.

5. Relaxing day.

6. Shipt.

But I got up at 10:00 anyway and ate breakfast and had coffee and showered and dressed, and then went to see Oldest Brother. It was a good vist. I stayed a little more than a half hour.

AS I was leaving the nursing home I got a call from the hospice person. There may be a glitch, the hospice only covers the cost of the PEG feeding if it's related to the diagnosis. They are reviewing his medical stuff and will let me know.

After that I went to mashfanficchick's place and called the Kid about it. She says not to worry about it until it's actually denied.

mashfanficchick and I went out to dinner at Bareburger. We walked there and took the bus back. Dinner was delicious.

When we got here I Skyped the FWiB on my phone and we talked til 8:00 when we watched 911 followed by Dr. Odyssey. 911 was... traumatic. No spoilers though.

I called Middle Brother. He is doing well, went out to a game arcade on Monday.

After that we watched a couple of episodes of Will Trent.

Cousin Sue Facebook messaged me. She and Danny are coming tomorrow to see Oldest Brother, and we will have dinner with them. I texted the Kid, and when she didn't respond I called, to let her know. She is busy tomorrow but I hope that she and her boyfriend will have tome to join us.

That's about all. Getting ready for bed now. Obviously I'm saying over again.

Gratitude List:

1. The FWiB.

2. Good TV, even when it's sad.

3. Oldest Brother is doing OK.

4. Also got a text from Eva R asking how we were doing.

5. Yummy dinner.

6. Middle Brother is doing OK.

I got phone calls in the morning, and to make a long story short, I have hopefully arranged for Oldest Brother to be in hospice care at the nursing home. I got the notice that he was moving today, and I got the call that he had been moved later in the day.

I texted Linda, she reaffirmed that they are coming tomorrow but didn't know when.

I got up and had breakfast and coffee, and showered and dressed, and then I got Middle Brother's Easter basket ready. I packed it in a box, addressed it, and headed to the post office.

I missed the bus stop. And it was the 44, so although I got off at the next stop it was farther than I wanted to walk back, so I took another 44 bus back to my stop. Wasted of money. But I got to the poist office, and sent my package, which should arrive Thursday.

Then I took the bus into Flushing and went to Duane Reade to pick up prescriptions. They couldn't find them, and I had to wait while they refilled them. Annoying.

Then I went home, and lay down for awhile and fiddled on my phone. Eventually I got up, and ate something, and puttered on the laptop until 7:00 when I Skyped the FWiB.

We talked for an hour, until my Al-anon meeting at 8:00. The meeting was good.

Then I had dinner, and went and lay down again. I called mashfanficchick to see how ze was doing. They are done clearing out the house except for the garage and part of the basement.

We talked for about a half hour, and then I played solitaire until pet feeding time. I fed the pets, and here I am.

Gratitude List:

1. The FWiB.

2. The Easter basket is mailed.

3. Got my scrips.

4. My meetings and the people there.

5. Linda and Steve coming tomorrow.

6. John and denise next week.

Woke up a bit after 10:00, Cousin Laurie called as arranged around 11:00. We had a nice talk, about an hour actually. After we were done I called Middle Brother's group home and told them the situation. They said they would tell Middle Brother, and I said that was good.

Then mashfanficchick got up and we went to have breakfast at Dunkin' Donuts. I got the $6 meal deal again.

Then we went to the house and worked. Got a few more boxes of things packed, and are almost done now.

At 4:30 we went back to zer apartment, and I Ubered to the hospital to see Oldest Brother while ze went to zer father's to go to a seder.

Oldest Brother was pretty good, actually. More verbal than he has been, and he even managed to make a joke. When I told him that it was Passover and mashfanficchick was at a seder, he clearly and distinctly said "Oy vey". Thus showing that he understood what I said, and was capable of responding with humor.

I stayed about an hour and a little more, than took the bus home. Everything was OK when I got here.

I Skyped the FWiB, and at 8:30 I called Middle Brother and talked to him. He's taking it pretty well. Then I finished talking to the FWiB, and had dinner.

Tomorrow is the final push in finishing off the house. The movers are coming back in the afternoon so we have the morning to finish things up. I will get up early and go over.

Gratitude List:

1. The FWiB.

2. Oldest Brother seemed good.

3. Middle Brother OK.

4. The house almost done.

5. Family.

6. Bed soon.

Started by getting up at 10:00, expecting to hear from my therapist. She did call, a bit before 11 and I told her everything that was going on.

Then I had coffee, and showered, and mashfanficchick ordered food to be delivered to zer mother's house, and we left for there. It was raining a little.

Cousin Linda had texted me yesterday asking me to call her so I did, and when we eventually got to talk, she wants to come visit Oldest Brother, along with Cousin Steve. I said I would ask Oldest Brother if that was something he would like. She also filled me in on the family doings. Rick and Martha are expecting another baby, and Erika is getting married.

I also called middle Brother's group home twice, and there was no answer either time. Very odd, i hope the phone isn't out of order, which has happened before.

Anyway, after the food was delivered and we ate, we worked in the house. RK brought over some packing stuff mashfanficchick ordered from U-Haul. He stayed for awhile.

We left at 5:00 because I was supposed to meet the Kid and her boyfriend at the hospital at 6:00. I got there a little after 6"00 and they were still on the way.

Oldest Brother has been moved to the hospice unit. It is very peaceful, and the room is very nice, with a couch and a chair. He was about the same as he's been. The Kid and her boyfriend arrived somewhat after 7:00, and we had a lovely visit, really. The visiting hours seem to be different, they didn't make the announcement that they were over til 9:00. We stayed til the end, and sang Happy Birthday. He seemed to enjoy our visit.

They Ubered home, I took the bus. I got here in time to Skype the FWiB. Then I fed the pets and made dinner, and then called Linda back.

And now mashfanficchick is calling about plans for tomorrow.

Anyway, one other sad thing, my friend Lynn S, the one Chris and I went to visit last fall, died last night from the pancreatic cancer. The same thing Oldest Brother has. I emailed Chris to let him know. I knew Lynn wasn't doing well but I didn't think it would be this fast.

Gratitude List:

1. The FWiB.

2. Linda and the rest of the family.

3. Smoked salmon crepe for lunch.

4. Oldest Brother seemed to enjoy himself.

5. mashfanficchick

6. The Kid.

Got up this morning when mashfanficchick came in from an even earlier run to the storage unit to put the locks on. Ze brought back food so I had a South American beef stew for breakfast. It was very good.

Then I showered and dressed in time for us to meet up with zer Uncle David at the house. He took some stuff he wanted and left, and I collected some stuff I was taking, and we went back to zer place.

Ze canceled our flights for tomorrow, and put in for the flight insurance. Annoyingly, it doesn't look like ze will get refunded but I should as my claim is based on Oldest Brother being hospitalized, whereas zer's was based on Dani having pneumonia and zer doctor not want zer to stay with her.

I called the Kid and spoke to her about Oldest Brother and some other stuff. Then eventually we watched two episodes of Will Trent.

Then I Ubered over to the hospital and saw Oldest Brother. He is about the same. My psychiatrist called while I was there so I talked with him.

I left with enough time to get home by 7:30, feed the pets, and Skype the FWiB. Then at 8:00 I went to my D&D game. We fought mummies.

Then I had dinner, and fed the pets again, and started here.

Gratitude List:

1. The FWiB.

2. The day off from the house.

3. Good TV.

4. Oldest Brother is OK for now.

5. The Kid.

6. My pets are fine.

Got up this morning and didn't have breakfast or coffee because I had blood tests scheduled. I showered and dressed and packed, and killed tme til i:30 when I Ubered over to the lab and they did my tests.

After that I walked up to Dunkin' Donuts and had the $6 meal. Pretty tasty actually. I like the Dunkin' sausage, egg, and cheese sandwich much better than a McDonalds egg mcmuffin.

Took the train from there to mashfanficchick's and we went to the house and worked for several hours. Then we came back and I Skyped the FWiB while ze watched the Mets game. Then we had dinner, Chinese rib ends, fried rice, and egg drop soup.

Then we started watching Will Trent and sort of got carried away, and now it is late. Time for bed.

Oldest Brother supposedly had his MRI today but I didn't get any results.

Gratitude List:

1. The FWiB.

2. Blood tests are done.

3. Missed the rain.

4. Mets won again.

5. Tasty food.

6. Good TV.

Started out this morning getting up at 9:00, having breakfast and coffee, showering and dressing, and going to my Al-anon meeting. I thought I was going to be late, but I wasn't.

It was a bit smaller than usual, maybe because the weather was grey and damp, and when we went to the diner there were only three of us. I got a ride home with C.

Got home and my new Mets cap that I ordered the other day had arrived! Very fast delivery.

I went down to the laundromat and picked up my laundry and brought it back, then I packed my backpack for an overnight at mashfanficchick's.

I went to the hospital to see Oldest Brother. He was awake and aware and doing OK. I talked to a doctor who told me that he's supposed to have his MRI on Monday now. They have him on antibiotics. I stayed somewhat over an hour and then took the 65 bus to Flushing.

I called mashfanficchick and we discussed what to do. Ze had access to Mets tickets from zer friend Larry. So we decided to go to the game tonight.

So I took the train to Citifield and waited there for zer. We got food and took our seats, and watched the game. It started out pretty bland, but picked up and by the end of the game was very exciting. We won 3 to 2. It was a lot of fun.

Then we came back to zer place and had hot drinks to warm up, and now we're going to get ready for bed.

Gratitude List:

1. The FWiB.

2. My meetings and the people there.

3. I got to wear my Mets hat to a game.

4. Mets won.

5. Oldest brother doing OK.

6. The rain stopped in time for the game, and we got back here before it started again.

I got up this morning somewhat after 10:00 and had breakfast and coffee, showered and dressed, and went to mashfanficchick's place.

From there we went to the house and worked. While I was working they called from the hospital. Oldest Brother is not getting out today or tomorrow, they want to gove him an MRI to investigate his pancreas more, and also they may do a procedure to drain infected fluid from his abdomen, and they think he has an infection in his sacrum.

So tomorrow he gets the MRI, and we'll see.

Anyway, we worked in the house til 6:00, about four and a half hours. Then we went back to mashfanficchick's place, and at 7;00 I Skyped the FWiB til 8:00 when we watched our TV shows, 911 and then Dr. Odyssey.

I called Middle Brother at 8:30, he is fine, nothing much new.

After that ze went back to the house and I helped zer carry stuff over. Then I Ubered home. The driver didn't know where the hell he was going, and I had to direct him. Weird, he didn't have the GPS thing that they normally have.But I got here and all was well/ I fed the pets and started here.

The FWiB wanted to Skype again for a bit so we just did.

And now it's time for bed.

Gratitude List:

1. The FWiB.

2. The staff at the hospital taking care of Oldest Brother.

3. Middle Brother doing well.

4. Moving along in the house stuff.

5. Good TV.

6. Bed soon.