Thanksgiving Week

My roommates left this week. One went to Florida, three to Utah, and one to Washington, leaving me to roam the apartment alone. I did homework, went to the library, watched a movie, and visited the nursing home. There is a blind man, Harold, and he was a judge here in Rexburg for thirty years. He authored many books on education and he loves poetry! I spent an hour and a half reading to him and talking to him. He listens to devotional on the radio every Tuesday and he wants me to come and listen to it with him this week. I'm excited to do it! My roommate, Kendra, went with me on last Tuesday and talked to a woman name Phyllis. They have a lot in common, Kendra is an art major and Phyllis is an artist. Kendra is going to take some of her works for Phyllis to look over.

I rode my bike a lot and explored Rexburg. I have these great gloves, so even if it is really cold outside, I can still go out on my bicycle because my hands don't get cold!

Thanksgiving day came and I made a blueberry, raspberry and blackberry pie. I think the crust is the best crust I have ever made. Then, I went back to my homework and completed an annotated bibliography. After that was finished, I peeled potatoes, cut them and carried them to my brother's apartment to cook. No one was there, but the door was unlocked. So I went inside and put some water in the pan and started to cook the potatoes. Dennis never showed up! So I called him where he was (at a friends apartment) and told him that I was at his apartment. Why? Well, he'd told me dinner was at five, so I got there to cook the potatoes. Silence. Then he told me that he'd already eaten. Oh well. Could have been worse! I'm planning on having a real "Thanksgiving Dinner" with my whole family come Christmas.

So, yesterday I went to give plasma. He put the needle in with nary a problem. The plasma went out, the red blood cells were returned. The plasma went out but when the blood cells were being returned, my arm started to swell. So they wiggled it around to see if they could fix it and it started to swell even more; hence, they switched it to my left arm. They returned the red blood cells and started the process over. Upon the second return, my arm started to swell again! So, they wiggled it around to try and fix it and again! they made it worse! They guy took off the bandage on my right arm and found a different vein. This one held and I finished after two hours and forty minutes. I was expecting rather large bruises, but because I iced the needle sites, I haven't a black-and-blue mark!

I am no longer alone, as Kendra arrived last night. We got up this morning and, according to the established tradition, ate waffles. It's nice to once again have her company!