Some weeks, I feel like I’m ceaselessly running in the same old hamster wheel- -yard, workouts, writing, researching. But sometimes, it’s a different kind of week. Like this week.
It’s funny how unusual activities often surface within a short time frame. A friend and I who’ve been planning to have coffee with since February 2020 finally got our schedules in sync and met up this Monday. Another friend who moved to a different state last fall is in town for a short visit; we met for coffee on Wednesday.
Those sound like fun things to do.
Definitely, 9. Hmmm. Sounds kind of pathetic that fun things fall under the heading of “different.” What I mean is, having two fabulous coffees with friends in the same week is unusual. Also, I scheduled an appointment for the Subaru this Thursday morning, the first slot available to get some ceaselessly illuminated and highly annoying dashboard icons addressed. This was different as Thursday morning is an iron-clad (in my mind) lap swim time from 9:30 to 10:45. Hoofing it to and from the Y and the mechanic’s garage added a 2.5 mile walk to my swim.
Obviously that didn’t kill you, so it must have made you stronger?
With the aid of an Off The Farm meal replacement PB & Jelly bar, it did, Lily. The return trip to the mechanic’s was especially entertaining. The wind had picked up, enough to blow my sun hat off a couple of times. And when I sipped my “to go” Americano, purchased on the way, drops of it splatted me in the face!
Provisions for a different kind of week. . .
The PB & J part sounds okay, anyway.
But here’s what’s really made it a different kind of week (cue theme music from Psycho). This week, my Medicare card arrived in the mail!
Ohhhhh noooo! You are so ooooold!!!!
Like Norman Bates’s collection of taxidermized* friends, I prefer to think of myself as well-preserved. Hanging out with you two and spending many hours a week working out makes me feel like I’m 30, but hiding from my Medicare card would be counter-productive.
Reading material for a different kind of week.
Next week is sure to be a different kind of week as well, because I’m meeting with a Medicare expert at a local insurance company to talk about my options. To Plan B or not Plan B? That is actually a series of questions, including whether it will cover my membership fees at the YMCA. Another topic is the cost/benefit of a Part D prescription plan.
As a different kind of week bonus activity, last night I attended “The Tale of Two Houses,” a Museum After Hours presentation at Fort Walla Walla Museum. The talk was given by local historians Susan Monahan and Steve Wilen, and featured (you guessed it) two Walla Walla homes with fascinating histories. The overall approach was “Then and Now.” This format reflects Susan’s 2022 book Past & Present Walla Walla (Arcadia Publishing). Steve provided the Then and Now photographs.
Lecture for a different kind of week: The Tale of Two Houses at Fort Walla Walla Museum.
Full disclosure: most weeks I actually do have some fun betwixt and between writing, workouts and gardening. Acknowledging that I’m a grown-up by wading through the Medicare registration process is truly what makes this week a different kind of week, but I’m confident the condition will not last. Once a new foundation of health care coverage replaces my current plan, I will happily return to my person-half-my-age hamster wheel and keep on rolling!
*Vocabulary fun– -this is a real word!
