John's busy day

John is proud of how much he accomplished today. He got forms and wrote out the kids' quarterly taxes (something I didn't think worth doing), he made an appointment with a new Parkinson's specialist (a partner of the one who moved away), and he had a student come to do yard work for an hour. Now he is working on buying tickets to go visit our daughter in April and has called me to the other room several times to help.

He is making an effort to do more, and I'm glad of that. He's also focusing more on what I wish for, that he would take more responsibility for his own quality of life (as long as he can). I need to be clearer in my own mind that I don't so much want him to help me with what used to be tasks we shared as to do things for himself. I think he would be happier and keep a better quality of life longer if he exercised more, did more things with friends, and found more support (eg. by talking to a minister-friend).

What about my day today? I had a good run this morning--I've been careful about stretching and the knee pain I had Monday was almost gone. I checked some bills from the trip over Christmas and sent a fax to my mother. I talked with a stockbroker and made an investment decision. I prepared and taught my course. I had coffee with a friend who is struggling with post-cancer issues. I found out how to appeal for insurance to pay for out-of-network therapy for our daughter and sent an email when I didn't get the person I needed to talk to on the phone. I answered emails, mostly from students. I worked on travel plans for two trips for myself and one for our daughter, though I didn't get tickets bought. I wouldn't call that a particularly productive day, though that is partly because I started more things than I finished and I find it stressful to have so many balls in the air.