I tried to sleep, fell asleep for a couple of hours, then woke up. I could not fall back to sleep. I came back down here to see if I could get back to sleepy time state.

Remember I have to be up for Holy Hour at Three.

Here I go again.

It has been hot. The AC has not been working optimally. The end of Summer has been quite robust. To cool down the other night, J wore a black camisole top with spaghetti straps. Quite sexy. I praised her to no end. It was a surprise. She hasn’t worn anything this overtly feminine in years.

Today she had her annual mammogram. She got the result by this afternoon. A negative. Everything is OK. To celebrate we went to Bone Fish Grill, where she had her favorite scallops and shrimp. I had fish and chips, in keeping with my Mancunian Wannabe sentiment. We are drawing closer, in a seemingly natural and effortless glide.

I have First Friday Nocturnal Adoration this morning at 4 AM. It seemed only fitting I had a chat with a woman after the AA meeting about things Catholic.

I have known TZ for several years. Attaining long-term sobriety has been elusive. This tenuous period, after a decade-plus of sobriety before her first of several relapses, has been her most successful of recent attempts.

I had not been to a meeting in several weeks. I had cookies to give away, so I went to this meeting, cookies in hand. There were cookies remaining after the meeting. I offered them to TZ and she took them.

She is handcrafting greeting cards and I bought one. It had a verse from Scripture, “For we see not with our eyes, but with Faith.” We got to talking. She had been raised Catholic, but has left The Church. I am a convert to Catholicism. She cited the lack of Biblical teaching in Catholic Schools. The Church had failed her in her spiritual formation, one of thousands that the Church has so failed. I told her my conversion was based on the great spiritual teachers of the Church, Teresa of Avila. Francis de Sales. Francis of Assisi, That moment of connecting after the meeting made my day.

After the meeting, I went swimming. I put in a mile. I came home, did a wash and waited for J.

I am tired. Today I got out of the house. I need to sleep. Adoration, you know.

Forget the worst Rogers and Hammerstein song ever written that contains that phrase.

This picture accidentally contains a few of my favorite things. 1). Flowers I cut from my own lame-ass climbing rose vine. 2) Using a Perrier bottle for a bud vase. I know. It’s so Eighties like Nancy Reagan’s couture fashions or Dynasty. 3). Local tomatoes. If this one is like its mate from yesterday, it will be delicious. 4). Imported Herbes de Provence that come in this cool stoneware crock.

This is a just a snapshot. I could crop it and make it all artsy, but that’s not me. This stuff is me.

Were I a true insomniac and cricket enthusiast, I would stay up for all hours to watch the Bangladesh vs Afghanistan test series taking place live somewhere in Bangladesh.

Alas, no. I shall pass. On the other hand it appears the house is cooling down after I turned the thermostat off for ten minutes. Sometimes, in order for these computer systems to reset they have to be turned off awhile,

Night, y’all,

This Labour Day I did my usual non holiday things, sleep, fix J’s lunch, clean a bit, go for a swim. I am loving the routine.

C, #2 son, is supposed to be by after his piano lesson with my sister. He is going to see if he wants some stuff of his I found when I was cleaning. I am excited about his visit.

It is a bit warm. We need to have the HVAC people look at the heat pump. But it isn’t miserable.

I swam today, loving every minute of it. I have lost six pounds (2.72kg) since I last weighed myself, all of it a result of working around here, cleaning the mess up.

Not much else.

Dinner. Slow Cooker. Ratatouille!!!!!