Just some random thoughts on a beautiful Saturday morning: the heat has finally broken, and last night was the first time in many months that we could sleep with the windows open and cool breezes blowing across the room.  I'd forgotten about the neighbors' two yappy dogs that start barking the moment they're let outside, but after a moment's irritation I feel back to sleep.  By the start of the week, it's going to warm up again, but I'll take the comfortable Saturday and Sunday.

The blog has reached well over 6,000 pageviews.  That's a gratifying number, and I still seem to have some faithful readers in Russia.

My health seems to have settled into a pattern of ups and downs that doesn't make for the most exciting reading.  The last half of the week wasn't great.  Yesterday, after eight full hours of sleep, I was energetic till 11 when I absolutely had to go back to bed.  I slept for ninety minutes, thought about food, but nothing seemed appetizing, and then went back to bed for another ninety minutes.  I had another decent few hours, but the hours between 5 and 7 seem to have become my worst time.  My stomach cramps, my energy sags, and the thought of food (reinforced by all the ads for restaurants on TV) is nauseating.  We needed to go to the grocery store, but I suddenly found myself with my head in the sink (it was closer than the toilet), and Mohamed went out alone.  I honestly don't know what I would do without sushi and the sushi bar at the grocery store.  It's the only food that is consistently appealing--small portions that I can eat at my own pace, rice, which seems to be okay with my stomach, and cool fish.  I can't help thinking of my mother before her cancer was diagnosed.  She had moved to Topeka--the same apartment complex, but on the other side--and every morning we'd drop Ryder, our cocker, off to keep her company.  Over a couple of months, my mother was getting thinner and Ryder was getting larger.  It took us a while to understand exactly why.

I feel guilty writing a paragraph like the one above because it makes things seem worse than they are.  Basically, my health is stable.  The ups and downs have continued for over a year now, and most of the time, I can live with them.  I'm not in any real pain.  I have incredible and unstinting support.  I sometimes feel frustrated, but that's a small price to pay.

Thursday was Mohamed's 33rd birthday.  I was a bad husband, and for the second year in a row, I didn't get him a present.  Sure, I have excuses: in his culture, they don't celebrate birthdays, we have every electronic gizmo imaginable, we had just gone clothes shopping, he doesn't wear jewelry, and I usually strike out when I do buy him gifts.  The power of the human mind to rationalize is amazing.  We were at least going to go out for a nice dinner, but neither Thursday night nor last night was I in the mood for food.  Tonight for sure!  In-sha'allah.

We did watch a couple of hours of the Democratic convention each night.  There were some great moments: Deval Patrick, Julian Castro, and of course Michelle, Bill (he does love to talk, but no one explains things better), Joe, and the President.  This is hardly an original observation, but the conventioneers looked like America--every color, every ethnic and religious group, and a vibrant LGBT representation.  What struck me was that while most of us looked at the convention and felt proud, I have a feeling that many Republicans who tuned in saw only their worst fears confirmed.