I got up much too late this morning to go out for a walk.
I enjoyed this week's English speakers' meeting at WIZO. Several of us told interesting stories about Pesach (and even one about Christmas!) in our past.
For lunch, I went to Rachel Café and brought food home.
I did more work on my orchestral variations on HaTikva. I'm now working on the second variation, which uses a siciliano rhythm.
This evening, Hannah, David's physical therapist came to the house, and it was very helpful. She got him comfortable with using the walker, and she showed him an excellent exercise he can do lying down to strengthen his lower back and butt muscles, which will help him walk better.
Tuesday, March 31, 2015
Monday, March 30, 2015
Monday, 30 March 2015
I got up early this morning and walked for more than 45 minutes.
I taught 6 units of Berlitz lessons today: 9:00-10:30, 3:30-5:00, and 7:00-8:30.
I got some good work done on my variations on HaTikva for orchestra.
For lunch, we ate leftover pizza from last week that I reheated in the toaster oven.
I taught 6 units of Berlitz lessons today: 9:00-10:30, 3:30-5:00, and 7:00-8:30.
I got some good work done on my variations on HaTikva for orchestra.
For lunch, we ate leftover pizza from last week that I reheated in the toaster oven.
Sunday, March 29, 2015
Sunday, 29 March 2015
I got up early enough to go out for a walk this morning, but just as I went out the door from the building, it began to sprinkle lightly. I was worried that it might rain quite a bit more, so I didn't dare go walking.
I did the weekly grocery shopping this morning, including buying ingredients for the charoset that we'll make later this week for Pesach (Passover).
At 1:30, David had an appointment with the physical therapist at Maccabi in town. We took his wheelchair because there is no parking at all close enough for him to walk in from it. Just as we went out the door, BIG drops of rain began to fall, but we managed to get into the car (and get the wheelchair into the hatch) without getting too wet. Luckily, it was NOT cold. By the time we got to Maccabi, it had essentially stopped raining.
Hannah, the physical therapist, whom we had only seen once, before David's hospitalization, had already heard something about what had happened to him from a friend of hers who works at the rehab hospital where he was. But I took the release papers from both hospitals (regular and rehab) for her to look at and get more info. She made a copy of them, so she can look at them more completely at her leisure.
She was quite honest with us about the possibilities. She told us that the kind of dementia David has usually does NOT improve but, instead, gets gradually worse. This didn't surprise me much, though, because I have already observed it. David was also aware of it but perhaps a bit less acutely than I was. She also said that the best rehab for him would have been at the rehab hospital but that they will do the best they can for him here. He probably will be able to have a therapist come to the house a couple of times a week to see the situation here at home and to work with him here. I'm quite happy to hear that, although realistically we may not see much improvement.
After the appointment we drove over to Mercaz Big and ate lunch at Togarashi, an Asian place there. David had corn soup (which he loves!), I had Japanese hot and sour salad, and we both had pad-thai, although David ate only a little of his.
I signed up for a class on Udemy (an website with online classes) to learn Ruby on Rails, a programming system for creating web apps. I've seen jobs advertised for people skilled in this, so I know it's technology that's actually used. I hope that the lectures and homework will also be interesting.
I did the last two lessons of Hebrew Podcasts today, so I won't be able to do more until they release new ones, which they do about once a month, I think.
In the evening, David wanted ice cream, so I walked the 2 blocks down to the sweets store and bought us each a pint of Ben & Jerry's. Neither of us ate all of ours, though -- we're saving some for later!
I did the weekly grocery shopping this morning, including buying ingredients for the charoset that we'll make later this week for Pesach (Passover).
At 1:30, David had an appointment with the physical therapist at Maccabi in town. We took his wheelchair because there is no parking at all close enough for him to walk in from it. Just as we went out the door, BIG drops of rain began to fall, but we managed to get into the car (and get the wheelchair into the hatch) without getting too wet. Luckily, it was NOT cold. By the time we got to Maccabi, it had essentially stopped raining.
Hannah, the physical therapist, whom we had only seen once, before David's hospitalization, had already heard something about what had happened to him from a friend of hers who works at the rehab hospital where he was. But I took the release papers from both hospitals (regular and rehab) for her to look at and get more info. She made a copy of them, so she can look at them more completely at her leisure.
She was quite honest with us about the possibilities. She told us that the kind of dementia David has usually does NOT improve but, instead, gets gradually worse. This didn't surprise me much, though, because I have already observed it. David was also aware of it but perhaps a bit less acutely than I was. She also said that the best rehab for him would have been at the rehab hospital but that they will do the best they can for him here. He probably will be able to have a therapist come to the house a couple of times a week to see the situation here at home and to work with him here. I'm quite happy to hear that, although realistically we may not see much improvement.
After the appointment we drove over to Mercaz Big and ate lunch at Togarashi, an Asian place there. David had corn soup (which he loves!), I had Japanese hot and sour salad, and we both had pad-thai, although David ate only a little of his.
I signed up for a class on Udemy (an website with online classes) to learn Ruby on Rails, a programming system for creating web apps. I've seen jobs advertised for people skilled in this, so I know it's technology that's actually used. I hope that the lectures and homework will also be interesting.
I did the last two lessons of Hebrew Podcasts today, so I won't be able to do more until they release new ones, which they do about once a month, I think.
In the evening, David wanted ice cream, so I walked the 2 blocks down to the sweets store and bought us each a pint of Ben & Jerry's. Neither of us ate all of ours, though -- we're saving some for later!
Saturday, March 28, 2015
Shabbat, 28 March 2015
Last night I woke up shortly before midnight and noticed that David wasn't in the bed. Whenever this happens, I wait a few minutes to see if he's just gone to the bathroom. But it he doesn't come back reasonably soon, I get up to check on him. Last night, I found him on the floor near his desk in the living room. He must surely have fallen, but he wasn't hurt, and it was actually fairly easy, with the help of a chair, to get him back up and back to bed. I woke up very tired this morning (but probably NOT that related to getting up for David, since I had actually gone back to sleep quite quickly) and didn't get up until it was WAY to late to go out for a walk.
I did more work on my orchestral music today. In particular, I started writing a piece that is intended to be a set of variations on HaTikvah, Israeli's national anthem. Although I have written pieces based on HaTikvah before, for organ, I'm starting this one from scratch rather than simply rearranging previous work. It's rather slow going at the beginning because I have to decide a lot of things about it.
For lunch, we had leftover pasta from Il Pentolino (both yesterday AND the Friday before). It was good, but we STILL didn't eat it all up.
I did several loads of laundry today, so most of our clothes are now clean.
I did more work on my orchestral music today. In particular, I started writing a piece that is intended to be a set of variations on HaTikvah, Israeli's national anthem. Although I have written pieces based on HaTikvah before, for organ, I'm starting this one from scratch rather than simply rearranging previous work. It's rather slow going at the beginning because I have to decide a lot of things about it.
For lunch, we had leftover pasta from Il Pentolino (both yesterday AND the Friday before). It was good, but we STILL didn't eat it all up.
I did several loads of laundry today, so most of our clothes are now clean.
Friday, March 27, 2015
Friday, 27 March 2015
We set the clocks ahead here in Israel last night, but I still got up quite early, even by the new time, and went out walking for more than 45 minutes. Later, I also walked down to recycle cardboard, buy some more pudding, and buy challah for Shabbat.
I taught only 1 units of Berlitz today: 10:00-10:45.
For lunch, I ordered our favorites delivered from Il Pentolino.
I did some more work on my music today, specifically my orchestral arrangement of BaShana HaBa'a.
I also did one more lesson from Hebrew Podcasts.
Before the sun disappeared behind the Eilat Mountains, we lit candles, sipped sweet red wine, and ate a bit of challah to welcome Shabbat.
I taught only 1 units of Berlitz today: 10:00-10:45.
For lunch, I ordered our favorites delivered from Il Pentolino.
I did some more work on my music today, specifically my orchestral arrangement of BaShana HaBa'a.
I also did one more lesson from Hebrew Podcasts.
Before the sun disappeared behind the Eilat Mountains, we lit candles, sipped sweet red wine, and ate a bit of challah to welcome Shabbat.
אם-שמוע תשמעו בקלי ושמרתם את-בריתי, והייתם לי סגולה מכל-העמים
ואתם תהיו-לי ממלכת כהנים, וגוי קדוש
If you truly listen to My voice and keep my covenant, you will be a treasured possession for Me out of all the peoples, and you will be for Me a kingdom of priests, a holy nation.
Thursday, March 26, 2015
Thursday, 26 March 2015
I got up too late this morning to go out for a walk.
I was scheduled to teach 8 units of Berlitz lessons today, but one 2-unit lesson was a late cancellation: 9:30-11:00, 11:00-12:30, 5:00-6:30 (the cancellation), and 7:00-8:30.
I got more food from Buddha Burgers for us for lunch today.
I did quite a bit of work on my orchestral music today, mostly having to do with the positioning of the orchestral players in the hall and adjusting volume-related parameters to try to make sure that the final recordings will not be at too low a level (a problem with some of my organ albums).
I was scheduled to teach 8 units of Berlitz lessons today, but one 2-unit lesson was a late cancellation: 9:30-11:00, 11:00-12:30, 5:00-6:30 (the cancellation), and 7:00-8:30.
I got more food from Buddha Burgers for us for lunch today.
I did quite a bit of work on my orchestral music today, mostly having to do with the positioning of the orchestral players in the hall and adjusting volume-related parameters to try to make sure that the final recordings will not be at too low a level (a problem with some of my organ albums).
Wednesday, March 25, 2015
Wednesday, 25 March 2015
I got up early this morning and walked to the gym and back. I also went on the leg swing for a short time. I wore only socks and shoes, short pants, a t-shirt, and a flannel long-sleeve shirt (which I took off before getting back home).
Since I had NO Berlitz lessons today, I decided to spend some time getting back into working on my orchestral music. I didn't make much actual progress in editing, but I did get more organized and am trying to proceed in a careful way, hoping to make the final result as good as I can. Today, I worked only on "Esa Einai".
For lunch, we had food from Rachel Café: fettucine with rosé sauce for David and the Balkan platter (tomatoes, cucumbers, various cheese, and bread) for me.
In the afternoon, I watched 5 short films online (for free) from a British GLBT film festival. A WIZO friend (Sarah) had sent me the info about it. I liked the first 3 very much, the last 2 somewhat less.
At one point this afternoon, David told me that he had just had a seizure, but he was in bed and I was in my office (watching one of the movies), so I didn't actually see it (or hear anything, either). I guess it's a good thing that he was in bed. In fact, whenever he walks I have been helping him because he's been quite unstable.
Since I had NO Berlitz lessons today, I decided to spend some time getting back into working on my orchestral music. I didn't make much actual progress in editing, but I did get more organized and am trying to proceed in a careful way, hoping to make the final result as good as I can. Today, I worked only on "Esa Einai".
For lunch, we had food from Rachel Café: fettucine with rosé sauce for David and the Balkan platter (tomatoes, cucumbers, various cheese, and bread) for me.
In the afternoon, I watched 5 short films online (for free) from a British GLBT film festival. A WIZO friend (Sarah) had sent me the info about it. I liked the first 3 very much, the last 2 somewhat less.
At one point this afternoon, David told me that he had just had a seizure, but he was in bed and I was in my office (watching one of the movies), so I didn't actually see it (or hear anything, either). I guess it's a good thing that he was in bed. In fact, whenever he walks I have been helping him because he's been quite unstable.
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