And last night was simply horrible.

I went upstairs to bed shortly after Karen and Mom went to bed, probably 22:30 or so.

Tried to sleep for probably two hours, but I couldn't. If I left my arms out of the covers, they got too cold, and if I put them under the covers my hands started itching. And it just wasn't possible to just leave my hands out.

And no CPAP. And I was worried about that a lot, too.

And I had this song running 'round my head... you'll see it soon on the country charts... so I decided to get up before I forgot it.

I sat downstairs for about two hours after I'd written the song down on the PDA, playing solitaire and thinking that would make me sleepy. Finally I went out to the car and got a hooded sweatshirt... yep, arms covered up, hands out in the cold, don't know why I didn't think of that sooner, what can I say.

So, then, you'd think that I went right to sleep. Nope, didn't work that way. It was 05:30 the last time that I looked at the clock.

And when I finally *did* get to sleep, weird dreams. Some way or another, there is a new sport, one that uses five balls under a large tarp. The balls are tethered together and they can be levitated, and some way or another the object is to make a tent-like structure that will teleport people to other planets where they can join other teams and come back.

Yeah, well, maybe I didn't understand the rules very well, it was only a f&(*$#& dream, people, cut me some slack here.

Anyway, I woke up, or rather Karen woke me up, around 09:00 or maybe 10:00, I've not been doing well with clockwatching these last few days, heh.

Went downstairs, ate breakfast, shaved and put on a clean shirt and tie.

Cleta, Reta's twin who I seldom get to see, came over around 12:30 or so with many provisions for the get-together following the service.

We got to the graveyard right on time, and there were about 12 people there and the preacher, who had never met Aunt Bea, but he did do a pretty good job. I was disappointed that he was unable to come over to Mom's after the service, I so seldom get a chance to convert preachers... that's a joke, Mom.

Or maybe not.

So Cleta and Mom and Karen and I met up with Steve and Cathy and their two very attractive girls at Mom's house after the service and had a nice time visiting. Steve is Don Mitchell's son, Uncle Don and Aunt Bea were under his able care from the time that they left Lahoma, near Enid, when Don had his first stroke.

I had only met Steve and Cathy once before, when their oldest, Amber, was but a mere bit and the younger, who is in high school now, hadn't even been though of. I really like him, and I appreciate him and his family and all that they have done for Mom over the years... and that includes, of course, taking care of Aunt Bea.

We finally had to leave about 16:45, and we were gassed up and on the road at 17:00... and in Topeka at about 20:30. Best time that I've ever made it from Enid. We stopped just twice, once so I could drive (Karen has a mild form of night blindness) and once to get some coffee. I had doubts about getting coffee but I really wanted to stay awake whilst I was driving.

So... we're back home again, and it is nice. I will never, *never* forget to take my CPAP with me wherever I might roam.

Back to work tomorrow, it seems really odd and, well, just plain *wrong* to have a day off in the middle of the week. Seems like I should be watching a Chief's game tomorrow, heh.

O'yeah! Happy birthday, Beethoven! And thank you so much for Fur Elise!