Happy birthday to me!

Yes, today is my birthday. It was a good day, a good weekend.

My friend Diane did her showcase in Bethesda at Igor's new studio. We had decided that we would pick her up after lunch in order to arrive early enough for me to rest prior to her dancing. I was excited as this was my first trip overnight away from home. I know the ride is only an hour away but I don't do well in the car. The continuous bouncing is very challenging to my equilibrium. So, we decided to break up the trip by staying over night at the hotel next door to the studio. It was OK. It was what they called a four-star hotel. There was no restaurant and the rooms were small. But, we had parking and could walk to the studio and to restaurants.

We arrived shortly after 1:00 PM. Unfortunately only one room was ready, so Diane came with us until it was time to go to the studio at 2:45PM. I did not get a chance to lie down, but did rest as best I could while easing her nerves for her performance. The performance went well and I saw a few old dancing friends. By 4:00 PM, I was ready to leave. I had had fun but I was LOOPY and tired. I had to return to the hotel to rest before going out to dinner. Diane was treating us for my birthday and we had reservations for 7:00 PM.

The previous two weeks, I had tried several new blood pressure medications (all disasters); so just before the week end I decided to go back on the least offensive one. At least I knew what to expect: extreme loopiness. Have you ever tried to function after having a few too many? I only did once. Well now it is 24 hours a day. I manage to walk straight. I can handle things with my hands with a little more time. But man, there is an electrical storm in my head. I can hear the static. So after a few hours of this, I need to be by myself and regroup, as Heather's riding coach would say when things did not go well. In other words: Stop, rethink, rest, try again.

Dinner was lovely. Peter had picked a nice Italian restaurant full of ambiance. The salmon with a lemon sauce was excellent. Thank you, Diane.

Peter slept OK. Diane says she was up and down all night. I was in a twilight. My senses had been over challenged - sensory overload.

Once home, I recharged. After lunch, we went computer shopping for me! I settled for one of those new fandangled touch-screen lap top can can change into a tablet. Peter is now setting up all of my accounts and hooking up to the wifi. It will take some getting used to this new gadget. I never like my present one, a Toshiba that gave me tons of trouble with the cursor running away wildly and re-positioning itself who knows where. I must say, I have always carried a lot of magnetism that disrupts electronics. Yes, and now that I am buzzing... hopefully the new machine will not be so sensitive to me. I have had a Dell that liked me once, but not the last one! Darren usually inherits my cast offs just in time as his dies.

So, I had a happy birthday and many good messages from friends. Tomorrow is another day. To other friends are coming to help me mulch two more perennial beds. I started a large pot of soup for lunch. Actually one of them left stuffed peppers on my stairs today. That was dinner!

And after a few more days of loopiness-peace, I will dare to try some new medication again.