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We need to assimilate a weird mixture of energy today as relationship issues stew in the cosmic pressure cooker. However, the Moon escapes into intellectual Aquarius at 1:34 am EDT, reducing the emotional tension. Nevertheless, the willful Sun is engaged in a tug-of-war with transformational Pluto, triggering unpleasant competition to establish control. We are caught in the middle of powerful interpersonal dynamics that impact everyone involved.

Everyone expects you to deliver on your recent promises and you can't afford to drop the ball before fulfilling your commitments. No doubt, there is plenty of hard work in front of you, and you are uncharacteristically compulsive about handling your responsibilities today. Nevertheless, don't allow anything to pull you so far off course that you lose track of what you initially set out to do. Getting started while the cosmic forces are with you empowers you to accomplish superhero acts.

I went to sleep at 2:00 am and woke up at 6:00 am. The four hours of sleep were not enough apparently because I went to my desk and soon fell asleep again. I woke up at 9:30 am after the DVD movie called Snow White had played completely. It was not much to show for myself being out of my bed for so long. I need to quit the habit of sleeping at my desk because Peter thinks of it as not wanting to sleep with him.

There are reasons why I wake up and leave the bed. One of the reasons is that I don’t have enough medication for pain. Another thing is that my medication for pain needs to be changed somehow more than the third of what I should be taking. I went to a pain clinic in the first place for the medication I do have but now pain clinics are for only cancer patients. That means I can’t go to a pain clinic.

The second reason I wake up and leave the bed is that we have an invasion of bed bugs. The little insects cause me to have a painful reaction. I think I am allergic to their bites or to something that accompanies them. It isn’t possible for a bed bug to crawl on my skin without notice. Even the littlest of them causes me a painful reaction to their presence. The bed bug infestation goes on from one place to another despite our best efforts so far.

Every day and especially nights, I keep catching bed bugs either on the carpet or on myself. My feet have many little wounds from the ones that try to suck up my blood. Because I am on blood thinners, the bed bugs swell up until they can hardly crawl away. It is easy for me to catch the slow swollen bed bugs that overfill on my thinned blood.

I haven’t been able to count the number of bed bugs I have caught. Most of them have been put into the toilet and flushed. If I use a piece of toilet paper to catch bed bugs and put them into the toilet, I call that ‘white water rafting.’ It makes both Jessica and Peter laugh when I explain that to them.

Jessica has taken to steaming the couch with a steamer that works very well. The steam drives the bed bugs from deeply hidden places to the front of the couch. The intent to clear the couch of bed bugs has become more realistic with the use of steam. The steam machine had cost merely sixty dollars or so. It was well worth the price and cleans almost everything, including couches.

The expedition of the day started off at about 8:30 pm. We had readied ourselves and started off on our electric wheelchairs for the mall across the street. Peter had to go to the bank and the Independent grocery store. I waited outside the mall entrance while Peter busied himself inside. I read on my phone until Peter joined me outside the mall.

Peter and I rolled on to the Pet shop at the west end of the mall. There were two kittens left in the show window. Inside the Pet store were a number of birds, fish, and puppies being offered to the public. While interesting to view none of it was interesting enough to us to buy, Our next stop was the Walmart store. We shopped in there until just before they closed the doors to the mall at 9:00 pm.

Peter and I went outside the mall to where we could see an amazing display of colours brought on by the setting sun. A storm of clouds to the north provided the backdrop for changing colours of sunset. It was so beautiful a display of nature. We sat on our electric wheelchairs for a time before we left to head for home.

At home I settled down at my desk while Peter put things away and started supper. An hour later we had our supper of burgers with fresh tomatoes. It was a delicious meal. It was so filling that I couldn’t finish eating my burger. My leftovers were put into the microwave oven for later. More often than not Peter would eat the leftovers.

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We’re not satisfied with the status quo today, so we may stir up a bit of mischief as the assertive Aries Moon connects with flirtatious Venus and jovial Jupiter. However, we might be too quick to go out on a limb before we test its strength. Meanwhile, we’re willing to fight for our freedom of choice while Venus in whimsical Gemini dances with sexy Mars and potent Pluto. Exercising a touch of self-restraint prevents trouble down the road.

People may seem overly assertive today, prompting you to question everyone’s motives. However, their behavior might turn passive-aggressive, denying that they expect anything from you. Although you can see through their claims of innocence, you really don’t want to confront anyone further and end up in a protracted confrontation. Take a few steps back now and reestablish your emotional boundaries. Author Mandy Hale wrote, “Pick your battles. You don’t have to show up to every argument you’re invited to.”


Today started off at midnight when Peter woke me up to take my pills and talk to Mom. I took my pills before Peter retrieved my phone for me in bed. I began talking to Mom. We actually talked for over an hour while she did most of the talking. Mom knows where most of the relatives are buried and includes where she will also go. I am not that lucky, I suppose.

I frequently get UTI’s which doesn’t help much. The antibiotic is something I am starting to get reactions to. For now, I sleep a lot and feel doped up and sickly. I am allergic to a whole lot of things but I still take fifteen prescriptions daily. Most of it is for pain which without them I would be in a catatonic state deeper than sleeping. Believe I take my prescriptions religiously because I want to live a reasonable life. I do have to quit smoking.

Peter's daughter Jan, and her family of husband Mahvin, daughter, Victoria, daughter Jessie, and son John, all came to Ottawa three days ago. They toured around Ottawa and visited with us twice. On Friday afternoon at 4:00 pm, they left in their van to go back to Toronto. We don't see them often enough but we do have a great time together. Peter is happy that we have such a great connection to them all.

I am glad I an writing this out because I wouldn’t be able to explain it all as clearly as what I am doing with writing. I can’t keep my thoughts from wandering because of AS, ADD, PTSD, and so many memories to remember. I have had a busy life and that is all for the good to think about. Despite my troubles, I have a good life that anyone would enjoy, especially me.

I slept off and on through the morning. Peter slept right through until noon. We were sleepy when we woke up but we were willing to go and do something. It was a matter of doing things around home before we could go anywhere. So, what with all of the little things being taken care of and fresh coffee made, it was soon time for us to go.

We didn’t really have a plan when we left home. I was only of a mind to go to the Ottawa River. How we got there and where we went from there was not a concern to Peter or me. We actually had been going out almost every day and this was just another day with no appointments in it and we feeling well enough to do something.

We started off heading for the Rideau Canal. We followed the Rideau Canal to Dows Lake and turned north at the rail line. The rail line took us past the last train station and on to the Ottawa River only a little further. Our hikes had allowed us to cover most of the Ottawa area so we wanted to do something different. We turned left at the river and headed west. We went as far as the Hoodoos where an artist piles rocks all summer long to make little statues and markers of an artistic sort.

The Hoodoos became famous over the years as the artist practiced every summer. The winter ice would wash away the creations and a fresh batch of Hoodoos would be made the following summer. After a few years, the artist applied for a grant to do his creations and get paid for it more than just donations to support himself. This year was particularly wet, so the river was higher than normal for decades. We came along and the whole area of the Hoodoos had a flooded beach.

It was disappointing to see the flooded beach. We didn’t want to go further west because those areas were also under flood conditions. So, we turned around and headed back the way we came. We still had a great day that had included a little adventure. We were out in the sun on a summer day and we had great tans to show it.


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I am sorry we haven't connected lately and I have been very sick. I am on antibiotics for ten days to quell an Urinary Tract Infection and a very painful right side of my abdomen. Hopefully it will fix things for me. Meanwhile I am sleeping a lot. I am reacting to the antibiotics in a bad way so sleeping is keeping me on them and still out of the hospital.

Would you be able to tell me where Chris is buried so that we might visit. Peter is legally blind so he uses GPS and his experiences of living in Toronto to get around. Would you be able to get a Google Earth marker for him? For that matter, would you make one for yourself for when we make it to Toronto. It would make things so much easier in navigating. We would want to visit with you too.

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