So, when we left our story, we were hoping for a new mechanical addition to the family. But this didn't solve the problem of the Yellow Daisy Festival, or Taste of Smyrna. (Well, if I knew then what I know now about Yellow Daisy...but...) I spent time on Amazon, but by the time James said he might not mind one of those rolling walkers with the seat (they're called "rollators," and that may be capitalized), it was too late to get one from Amazon Prime before Sunday. So on Thursday during lunch I drove to the local medical supply store and ordered one for him. It cost more than on Amazon, but that included overnight shipping and assembly, and the people at the store would properly adjust it for James. When I got home I also ordered a cane seat for me; it's a cane and it opens into a stool, so when he stopped to rest at Yellow Daisy, I could sit, too.

Friday started out fine until I got a peculiar pain in my stomach. I've had this before when I ate things that bothered my digestion, like sausage, but never on just a plain old workday. All I'd eaten was oatmeal, yogurt, some milk, and a granola bar, so the worsening of the symptoms was puzzling. I thought it might have been because I was hungry, so I had my chicken sandwich. That definitely didn't make it any better; I should have had some plain broth. Finally I just asked to go home and ended up asleep for the rest of the afternoon. James called in for Chinese; I just ate a big bowl of wonton soup and a couple of chicken wings, still feeling a bit sore. We went to bed early.

Wasn't feeling 100 percent this morning, but we did go to the Farmer's Market with Tucker in tow. It was a lot busier than last time, and he didn't know which way to look, or sniff for that matter. His nose was moving like a rabbit's and filled with the scents of vegetables and fruit, breads, pot pies, bacon and sausage, desserts, chocolate, grains, dried pasta, honey, shea butter, lemonade, almond butter, pastries, and people, people, people, many with canine companions. It seemed like every ten steps we ran into someone with a dog; several we encountered twice. The tiny, almost humorously aggressive Yorkie wasn't here this week, though. We bought a cucumber, some tomatoes, sweet corn, chicken salad, dog biscuits, and two chocolate chip brownie muffins. James used "Topper" (I figured if he was being "Hopalong," his trusty "steed" could be "Topper") the rollator, and said it did help him stand up straighter and it was good to be able to sit down when the pain was too overwhelming.

We actually didn't do anything after that but come home and have breakfast. I was still a bit nauseated and felt a bit feverish; when I took my temperature I did have a low-grade fever, so I stoked up on some ibuprofen and stretched out under the fan in the living room until it was time to leave for supper.

We usually go to Longhorn on the last day of DragonCon, but we were so wiped this year we passed on it. Instead, James decided he would like to go to Outback, and we sent out an e-mail asking folks to join us if they were so inclined. Juanita and David, sadly, got stuck in traffic on the way back from Athens, but we still had a nice crowd: the Boulers, the Spiveys including Aubrey with her newly-dyed purple hair, and the Boroses. We tried the bloomin' onion; frankly, it's overrated—we had some super, golden-brown sweet onion rings somewhere and no one's been able to top them. However, the steak was delicious, and James had a side of shrimp with his. I enjoyed the potato soup, though, although the potatoes seemed a bit scanty! Salad was okay, too. The best part was talking with everyone, and we had a great waiter, too, and tipped accordingly.

We had stopped at Bed, Bath & Beyond on the way there to pick up a new Misto; after the dinner broke up we went to Michael's to spend a coupon. I was going to buy a poster frame for the Doctor Who poster James brought me back in February, and I found them on a super sale. (I'm now kicking myself for not buying two more, because the poster frame around the autumn poster in our living room is falling apart, as is the one surrounding "the Wizard of Speed and Time" in the foyer.) I got a poster frame and an 8x10 frame for the Andy Runton Owly Doctor Who print and the new "Christmas Ideas" and two items for a project for less than $20. And then we had a nice drive home through the park, and watched last week's "Into the Dalek" (so we could actually hear it; I missed the Fantastic Voyage joke completely) and "Robot of Sherwood" before bed. (Enjoyed this serio-comic ep, although the Doctor and Robin Hood in a "pissing match" got old fast.)

7:45 a.m. came much too early this morning, and we still weren't on the road officially until nine, since we had to stop for gasoline and for cash. However, the freeway was freewheeling out to Stone Mountain, so it was a quick ride.

We found out when we got to the Yellow Daisy Festival site proper that they were renting scooters and James was sorely tempted. But he toughed it out and tested out the rollator under field conditions. He admitted it was convenient to sit when he needed to, but it was hard slogging for him.

Had it been about sixty degrees with a bit of a breeze, I think we both would have ended up in better shape. He had to stop every hundred or so yards due to the pain, so we seemed to crawl past the sales booths. While the trail through the woods where the booths are located is paved, it's bumpy and hilly. And when we eventually arrived at the "end" it turned out that we had missed an entire trail, which was important because we wanted to buy more "Smack Yo Mama" barbecue sauce and that's where they were located. (We also didn't see several favorite vendors, the person who sets up near "Country Pickins" with the jellies who has a "pumpkin pie butter" James loves, and the woman I call "the mint lady" because she carries the most delicious mint jelly with bits of spearmint leaves in it.) So I went back on a scouting mission and found them, of course, on the summit of the hill. It wouldn't have been so bad if I hadn't been so thirsty and damp all over—we're used to it being hot on Yellow Daisy weekend, but hot and humid was just misery on top of it. We stopped for some ice-cold lemonade and also had water, and it just wasn't enough. Also, I liked the cane seat, but I hated carrying it around, and the slower I walk, the worse my back hurts.

However, there was a bit of serendipity on returning from my "seek and ye shall find" barbecue sauce mission. I had picked up a gift for someone, James had found sugarless taffy, and we got the first of our fall fudge for the year. (They had peppermint fudge...yes! but alas, no orange-flavored dark chocolate like last year.) We tasted innumerable soups and dips, a good thing, too, because we hadn't eaten breakfast. And as I cut through the back of the booths to get back to James with the barbecue sauce, I came past a jewelry stand that we had passed earlier. I don't usually look at jewelry vendors because there's nothing I want and most of the time the pretty things I want to buy for friends are too expensive for our budget. But I was arrested by a plain black headband that had blue- and clear-beaded decorations—including a blue Police Box. Yes, I did buy it. Now with my TARDIS headband and TARDIS necklace, I will be well-dressed for Anachrocon and Timegate. :-)

The last obstacle was the big meadow in full sun. Since the radioactive iodine treatment, I can't stay in the sun too long and the minute it hit my skin it felt like I'd put it on a sizzling skillet. We therefore headed for the car as fast as James could limp. The air conditioning in the truck felt so good!

We had a late lunch at Panera, which got some nice salty chicken soup and some ice water into me and perked us both up enough to drop off the fudge and go to Kroger for the weekly shopping. And since then we've been chilling, literally, under the ceiling fan on high watching Rehab Addict (except for the thirty minutes when an ominously charcoal grey sky burst into drumrolls, flashing lights, and finally a deluge of rain). James finished his sandwich from Panera for supper and I had a bowl of Cheerios because I wasn't about to provoke Tummykins again, and the peppermint fudge for dessert was a delicious coda.

Now we're watching a new special about the Palace of Westminster.

Labels: Doctor Who, events, food, friends, health, shopping, television, weather

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