Jeremy bought the exact same shoes to replace the old ones that he had. We are creatures of habit.
I’ve been dealing with a homeless person who is sleeping on church property. She was there a bit over the summer, but then disappeared for a few weeks – so we thought maybe she’d moved on. But then about a week ago, she appeared again and was found sleeping in the memorial garden in the back of the property. I have spoken to her, she’s come to Sunday services and eaten food at the coffee hour, she’s looking for a “safe” place to stay. Now whether “safe” means a place that is not a shelter, I’m not sure. So I called the various agencies on Monday – one I left a message and no one called me back, the second, I called and was invited to leave a message, but the voice mailbox was full. So then, the next day, I drove over to the agencies and they told me that all the shelters are at capacity and that warming centers will open on November 1st. Should we house the person at the church overnight? I asked. The folks as the Homeless Diversion office advised against that as there would be difficulty in having her move on. Anyways, as the temperatures drop into the high 30s at night, it’s worrisome and makes me unhappy. I mean, I know there are lots of homeless people around, but somehow, this one feels like it’s my homeless person.
I’ve also been trying to place a food order from Wegmans for a party the church is hosting on Nov 21st for about 150 people. I’m struggling with this – mainly because we have vegans, vegetarians and gluten-free folks in unknown quantities. And I feel some food shame around this because….of the animals. But apparently not enough to be vegan.
The MoCo crisis center is not the only place where a phone call will go unanswered. I was referred to a heme/onc practice because I tend to trend low in my white blood count. I have for at least a decade and probably my entire life, but for a reason, I decided to see a hematologist now. I called the office. The recording said to fill out a new patient form online. I filled it out online and they called me back like 4 days later while I was in the middle of something, so I called them back which shunted me again to the recording. I decided to drive to the practice where I asked in person if I could have a new patient appointment. I waited for 30 minutes in the waiting room where everyone there had cancer of some sort or other and got an appointment. Then I went to the appointment which took like 2 hours of my life and I told the doctor, I think I’m going to be the easiest patient of your day. A bunch of blood was drawn, it turns out I have a slight elevation in some inflammation markers which may show I have some autoimmune issues. I groaned. I told Jeremy, I bet it’s a gluten intolerance. Ginny also decided she had a gluten allergy. So today I baked a gluten-free blueberry cake and we are going to eat it and decide if it remains super delicious or if gluten is a critical component for deliciousness. I’m also very happy that the doctor was like – I don’t think you have a blood cancer, so we won’t do a bone marrow biopsy. I was relieved.