Woke

 It was a fairly nice day today, and Houdi began getting antsy to go outside, so I let him out. It was supposed to be a cold night, and I was curious how he'd behave once it began to get cold outside. 

Tim has not been sleeping well at night. We are not sure why. His 'restless legs' have become restless arms and legs so he does a lot of twitching and moving, which means that I'm not getting a lot of sleep either. The Hydroxyzine prescribed for his legs does not seem to be effective anymore. The night before last he did not fall asleep until between 4 and 5 am. Then we both slept until 10 and were walking around like zombies for the rest of the day. Appropriate for Halloween, doncha think?

My daughter-in-law checked in to see how we were doing. I told her about the problem we were having and she said, "Has he ever had his magnesium levels checked?" She explained that low magnesium can cause muscle twitches and sleeplessness. I went through his blood work and there was no numbers for magnesium. I messaged his doctor to explain the problem and ask if she thought it might be worth it to have that number checked. In the meantime, we stopped and bought a bottle of magnesium supplements, the smallest bottle, just to see if it might help while we were waiting for the doctor to message back. 

Last night, Tim did not twitch. He slept most of the night, although he did get up for about an hour. He got his shower, and I helped him get dressed. By the time that I was finished with my shower, he was asleep on the couch. 

"Nope!" I said, and got him up. "You can't sleep all day. We need to keep you busy." 

He wanted to price a new cross bow. I needed a phone card. I needed to pick up some bread flour, being all inspired by Suffolk Sue. I promised Tim cinnamon rolls. Little errands, which I stretched out as long as possible. He didn't go in all the stores, but he stayed awake in the car waiting when he didn't go in. He wanted to stop into an antique store where he saw a Wolfshead five gallon oil can for $45. He needed to drop off a receipt. We kept busy for most of the day.

I got home and threw together my dough. A friend popped in just as I was pulling the cinnamon rolls out of the oven. "That was perfect timing," I said. 

I knew that Ray would keep Tim awake. 

I was right. He sure did. 

Ray was holding forth in the livingroom about Biden opening the border to the illegal aliens because he needed their votes. 

"Bullshit," I said. 

Ray looked surprised and outraged.

"Number one: you apply for asylum by entering the country and requesting it. That's the way it is done. It always has been, so there is nothing illegal about what they are doing. Number two: you cannot vote for a president unless you are an American citizen. All the damn bullshit going on in the country, and you're going to pick something that is provably untrue to get your bowels in an uproar about."

He said, "So. Tell me. You'd vote for 'Bite-me Biden'? 

"If it's between him and Trump, I sure will." 

He threw up his hands. "Ah, laaaaaaady....." 

I said, "You asked. Don't you come in my house, ask me my opinion, and then fight me about it."

Tim was wide awake. He threw in a couple comments to make it clear that we were both of the same mindset. 

Ray sat in stormy silence. 

I googled on my phone. 

Tim watched football. 

Ray tried again. "Well, you're right that there's a lot of crap going on. I don't even bother to try to keep up with it." 

I said, "Well, the truth is there. If you can't be be bothered to look for it, you're part of the problem.  Don't come here spouting your Qanon crazy if you don't want it countered with fact." 

He sat quietly and watched the game with Tim. 

"When you went to England, did you feel afraid?" he asked.

"No." 

"There weren't any A-rabs or mideastern guys on your flight?"

"Yeah. But everyone I met was very nice. I certainly didn't have a single reason to be afraid." 

He digested this. "My sister-in-law is going to Ireland with the marching band. My brother said he's got no intentions of getting on that plane."

"Well, everyone I know who's gone on that trip has had a great time. I'd do it in a minute." 

He pondered this, watching the game. Finally, he said, "Well. I guess I'll be heading up on the hill. I'm getting tired." 

We walked him to the door. I sent him home with some chicken and biscuits and some cinnamon rolls. 

I went to the back door and called for Houdi. He came right in without hesitation. I opened a can of catfood for him. I shut off the lights and headed back to the livingroom.