IT'S FRIDAY

 

It is being a  challenging week. Emotionally and literally.  I am really missing Jopa and Scott and Jimmy.  I get to see them so seldom and when they are here I don't seem to get to know them well enough at all.  Jeff I get to see more frequently; he is having car and job troubles and it is hard to know how to be positive, loving, and supportive.  He is doing wonderfully well  in the positive department.  A role model for many.

Monday.  What happened to Monday?  I don't quite remember.  There was Spanish class. I remember that.  And I did not do too badly.  But now I am supposed to be preparing an essay for NEXT Monday and, damn, it's half way here and I haven't even started.  I guess I had better make that part of the weekend priority.

My deskmate at work went home violently ill on Tuesday and I was left with the wondering if I was next.  So far not.  And she was better on Thursday.  Bill seems to be getting better also.  Such a long slow healing.  Of course, the fall down the stairs on Christmas Eve did not help his other health problems.  His cough and lack of energy seem to be on the mend.  That's uplifting for me.  I was beginning to get VERY dragged down by his slow recovery.

Wednesday evening was the gathering of the two Episcopal congregations that worship at Grace.  At our "1st Wednesday" gathering, I experienced a Bible study that went sour.    Have never experienced that before and it has left me with a very uneasy feeling.  I am still trying to work through all of that.

Going into the weekend I am looking forward to the gathering of the new Shawl Ministry --  maybe some solace and peace.  And then Bill and I will take off for an adventure just for the two of us.  Maybe a picture taking opp or maybe an IKEA shopping tour.  I am really needing a decent chair.  We'll see.

Life is interesting.  Life is good.  Bring on the weekend.
 

OLD OR OLDER?

 

My eyesight is still very good -- with the aid of glasses, of course.  I spotted this skeletal fragment on the ancient bricks in front of the shed.  The snow has finally melted away and there it was.  I brought it up onto the deck to show to Bill.  The piece is just over three inches long and I have looked at it the other way around too -- upper jaw bone or lower jaw bone?.  When I went to Ladies' Lunch that day, I drew a rough sketch on a napkin.    It was thought that it might be a jawbone of an opossum.  Hmmmm..... It has been a very long time since I have seen an opossum around.  That, of course, does not mean that they aren't.

And then the question for me was how did this skeletal fragment get there?  And where was the rest?  And what happened?  I guess this is the curiosity that inspires archaeologists.  Following my curiosity is not going to happen.  I'll leave that for others.  But it was sure enlightening and thought provoking to find such a relic.
 

WHEN IT RAINS .....

 

The Morton Salt girl is still happily walking in the rain under her umbrella with her box of salt freely flowing even in the dampness.  Some how the expression "When it rains, it pours," always meant that when troubles came, there were going to be a LOT of troubles.  Then comes the Morton Salt girl making light of the expression. 

When my washing machine went this morning, I thought of the expression.  There were still wet clothes with which to contend.  There was a time frame within which to work it out -- not.  Bill was not in a mood to deal with it.  The repair service could not schedule me until way next week and then not at a good time. 

The church newsletter was giving me agita.  Paying the monthly bills was more agita -- more imagined than real, actually.  It's just the principle of the thing.  Money going out as fast as it comes in.  Then the camera batteries were low -- again.  And the SD card didn't seem to be downloading properly.  Time is running out for a needed grocery stop. 

All little annoyances in the big picture of things.  Perhaps that is why the Morton Salt girl smiles.  She knows the secret.  Don't sweat the small stuff.  Suck it up.  Move on.

 

SISTERS ARE THE BEST



Happiness is getting a phone call from my sister.  Jac does not do AIM or FB  chat.  So once in a while we use the landline.  And it is a great hour of talk, catching up on what is happening to us, how we feel about all of that, and how we think about it going forward.  And she can say whatever she wants, and I will accept that.  AND I can say whatever I want, and she will accept it.  Does not make a difference whether we like it, love it, condone it, hate it, doesn't matter.  We listen.  What a lost art it that?  Listening.  There ought to be listening courses.  No one knows how to do that anymore.  THESE sisters do.  We listen.  We love. Doesn't get any better than that.

 

SOME DAYS ....

 

Yup, some days  just don't turn out the way one has anticipated.

  

 

LONESOME

 

Family gone.  House is empty.  Quiet.  Really enjoyed the young voices and their activity, even their banter.  Jopa left behind the remainder of his peanuts from Five Guys.  I finished them.  Now all I have are the empty shells which are pretty much like the empty house -- stuff to tidy up and put away to get it back into the semi order that we like to live in.  The shells will go on the compost pile to settle into plant food.  The pillows and blankets and air mattresses will once again be stashed into the closet to await the next visit.  Sheets and towels into the laundry.  In a day or two it will be like no one was here.  But not quite.  I have all the good memories of us being together.
 

THE FUN CONTINUES

 

Jopa and Gabriel are getting reacquainted.  We are all reacquainting and having great fun.  Off to the Beardsley Zoo and the Barnum Museum today.  Hoping for some fun pictures.  Family dinner tonight.  Grandma is a happy camper.