I knew this week was going to be busy, but now it is down right crazy.

Weather turning colder, fall is upon us. Low 70s during the days, low 40s overnight. A hard frost will be upon us soon. Mary Beth had hers, in New Hampshire, just this weekend, so we are right behind. Our leaves are just beginning to turn. I made it a point to get Bruce out this weekend for some nice drives, as he does so love this time of year. I don't want us to be at peak and have him miss all the preliminaries!

I had taken two days off when Walter visited and of course, am paying for that at work. We switch over to a new computer system October 8th and it has been a flurry to get all our information to the programmers and try to trouble shoot some of this changeover.

Bruce and I did the BJs Thursday afternoon, since I could not go Tuesday night when Debi and Carole came to have dinner with him. Paperwork had backed up and I had to do some paperwork for my financial advisor. We also got the news that Kira needed some teeth pulled and I wanted that scheduled soonest as she had lost weight. Friday was a disaster. Bruce is still trying to get back into routine and Friday he was totally off. So for the weekend I stayed to our usual weekend routine, with some extra drives; knowing that next weekend I would be have to be available for Kira's recovery.

In typical Debbie mode, I sketched out our week and Monday morning 9am, Bruce's roommate arrived for a visit! He had planned it with Bruce, did not call me. Of course, Bruce did not tell me. It was a wonderful visit, as it always is. And Don is welcome here anytime, but I explained to him that it was 50-50 we would be here if he did not tell me. Its a long ride back to RI for nothing!

Bruce had physical today. His PCP is retiring in December. It was precious to see the two of them talking. They have been together 30 years. Bruce got a good talking to! I pray it helps. So, it will be a hunt to find a new one. This Doc is almost an hour away, so I am hoping Bruce agrees to have someone, now, closer to home. It was a rush to get Bruce into the shower and on the road, when I got out of work. Yesterday was the grooming day and that got put off. Tomorrow I am at work all day, except for a break at lunch time. Friday furnace to be cleaned and Kira to have her surgery. We pick her up around 4pm. Thank goodness for my caregivers. Erma will come early and take care of things here, while I take Kira and go to work.

So that leaves everything else jammed into Thursday afternoon. And it is a matter of deciding what must be done and what can be put off.

Bruce did take me to dinner tonight. He was so proud. He said to me "I think you should have a glass of wine!" You know, we do that so infrequently that it really is like date night again now. When we were both working 60 hours a week, we would plan out a date night. Usually one of us was interrupted from work anyway, but we tried so hard to make those rare evenings special. And it seems like we are back to that. Sit and talk, enjoy a good meal, get waited on, catch up with each other. I find we converse more now, talking about how we feel, the days events. Life seems more relaxed, easier. Part of that is feeling I have my buddy back on some level. That, in turn, makes me feel less anxious, less alone.

Any routine change brings consequences and more tension between us, more work for me. But I hesitate less, seem more flexible in trying new things because he gets back quicker. Yes, we still have bad and very bad days, but the stretches of good days are longer and he is acknowledging what is happening and how he feels, finally. Debbie