The past couple months I have had some nice times with friends. On March 1st, I helped organize a?birthday party for Cindy Chiu. Cindy is one of my best friends; she was the caregiver/friend organizer while I was on the waiting list for a lung transplant two and a half years ago. Back then, I really needed a lot of love and help and I will never forget how she cared for me during hard times. We went climbing at Planet Granite in Belmont, then went out to dinner at the Joy Luck Palace restaurant. It was great celebrating her special day. We ordered 12 different dishes, including “duck tongues.” I didn’t have the courage to try that one!
Dave has been off work, but he continues to get stronger and walk without crutches. He has recently started climbing, biking on a stationary bicycle, and hiking. We have spent a lot of time together during these months he has been on disability, including playing Scrabble. He has started to beat me, so I’d better study some word lists!
I have also been climbing with Rhona and her young twin girls, Maya and Zoe. They are all developing in their ability to climb harder routes. The girls now have harnesses, and have ordered shoes! I made little achievement charts for them to record their progress.
I have been climbing with my roommate Tyndall quite often. We sometimes climb the same routes at the gym. I have been working on mostly 5.10c/d’s but I got up to the top of a 5.12a overhang with only three rests on Monday night. So climbing is going well.
My latest joy was going over to the Levin family’s house to celebrate Joshua’s birthday, which was?back in February. I got him a light-up Frisbee, which we tried out after dinner, along with table tennis and Scrabble, around 11 p.m. (much to his mother’s dismay.) Dinner was delicious; it was made by Richard; it was a tasty orzo pasta dish. I had to have three servings of it, and skip the dessert. Later, Carrie beat me in both table tennis and Scrabble–I will have to practice more!