982 words

It's always the same - when I know I'm going to have to get up early, I wake up even earlier than I need to. I'd set the alarm for 6.45 and was awake an hour earlier.  I'm still ploughing on with the Forsyte Saga (and still spelling it Sage) but not enjoying it so much.  Long purple passages are there to be flicked through, and there was a truly dreadful bit about the thoughts and emotions of the very young Jon.  Still, within a hundred pages of the end (on the phone they are very small pages, 2647 of them), I shall finish it tonight.  There must be another whole book though, there's too much story to go for it to be finished in a couple of chapters, from my memory.

I have written my speech - that is, I started with last year's first and last two paragraphs and written the middle section new.  It is not impossible that the Sage might decide to come along.  I suggested it, expecting an excuse, and he's asked what time it will take place.  He's welcome, but it's fine if he doesn't.  We're fairly laid back about these things.  I did once tell him, rather forthrightly, that I had never received any support when I have to take a lead - he protested that he'd applauded, at a lecture when I'd introduced the guest speaker.  "You could hardly not applaud, when everyone else was clapping." I pointed out acidly.  "Besides, they weren't applauding me, they were welcoming the guest." He argued no more, he knew it was true, and remembered to wish me well next time I was going to do a similar thing.  It's not that one needs a hand held, but a friendly gesture would be nice - I've been so self-sufficient, it's not surprising that it didn't occur to him.

Gill did come to church this morning.  It's all going to take a while.  They have still not found the cause of the original illness.  I'm not sure how badly affected he has been by the stroke, she said that he's struggling to manage his mobile phone to ring her.  She thinks he will not be able to resume his former demanding job and will have to take early retirement, or at least work part-time - too early to tell.  They have eliminated various causes - she was slightly startled to be assured that the test for HIV was negative; that is, she wouldn't have expected it to be anything else, it was the test that surprised.  Anyway, at least he's on the mend.

This afternoon, I turned out a small cupboard, which I'm going to use to keep the children's games in.  They are fond of board games and jigsaws now, and I've been keeping some of them in a box and some just in a pile.  Unfortunately, I've now a boxful of the stuff I've taken out of the cupboard to go through.  I may hide it until the new year.

982 refers to the words in the speech, not in this post, which is shorter.