Thanksgivings

You know, for someone who is a fairly traditional person... for someone who was raised with something of an Norman Rockwell mentality... I have had some pretty odd Thanksgivings.
Back in the day when my kids were less independent (a.k.a. before they were grownups) we had what I called even and odd years. On the even years, we were all together: my kids, my folks, my siblings - everyone. It was great. It's always great when we are all together. I am/we are so blessed. And then there were the odd years. My kids were with their dad, my siblings were with their in-laws, and I was... mostly left to fend for myself. Those holidays were certainly odd. I've made some interesting choices.
There was the year that I was invited to spend Thanksgiving in Louisville. I got to spend quite a bit of time with T. and Marty, and meet T.'s family, which was great. And Louisville is beautiful. (My joke with T. is: I'd love to see it some time!) I had a nice solo ramble through a neighborhood cemetery. And I saw Churchill Downs from the airplane window. Mostly, I was indoors with a lot of cigarette smoke. But it was great. Also: a little weird.

There was another year, also with T. At the time he had a lot of friends in the Folsom (gay) leather crowd. We went to a woman's house in Dublin. Her name, I was told, was "Mama", and she takes in all the orphaned gay men and their friends for the holiday meal. I did a big number on my own head before I even got there. It was fairly ordinary holiday gathering. And it was quite a trip.
The most incredible holiday meal I have ever experienced was with my kids in Seattle. There was to be a gathering at J.'s friend's house, pot luck. We arrived on time, sweet potatoes in hand. Counting us, there were 6 people in the house. The TV was on, tuned to something bizarre (maybe that was just me), and everyone in the house was turned towards the tube. There was no table. All attempts at conversation fell like a lead balloon. It was the longest two and a half hours I have ever spent. Ever.
This year was a bit odd, but pales in comparison to anything mentioned above. I was sick with a cold, so I spent the day all alone. I just couldn't risk infecting anyone - especially Dad - with my cooties. And ya know, it was fine. I slept in, snacked a little, talked to my son, my daughter and T. on the phone, made a little thanksgiving photo album on facebook, watched a lot of TV (mostly The Waltons), baked a pumpkin pie without a crust. And when the day was over, my mom dropped off a huge tray of leftovers from the family dinner.
So blessed, am I!

&**%$##!!!!!

Cussing.

We all have different ways of using the language, don't we? Profanity is pervasive in our society, and the tolerance level for the words has risen to the point that it just doesn't matter to some people. A righteous and upstanding citizen can let a blue streak go - and yet, no harm is done. No lightening strikes.

Things certainly have changed. From HMS Pinafore's "damme" uttered by Captain Corcoran in 1879, to Clark Gable's "frankly, my dear..." in 1939, to current film and television, society's tolerance and understanding of swearing has changed dramatically. I might be a little behind the times. An example: the now-defunct "Six Feet Under". It was a fun, quirky show about a family of funeral directors. I liked it, but I have to admit that when I watched it I was pretty appalled by the language. I actually counted during one episode, and if I recall correctly there were 23 F-bombs in those 55 minutes. I'm not a prude by any stretch of the imagination, but I think that is excessive. I'm not a fan of the casual use of expletives. In many cases - as my ex-husband used to say - swearing only serves as proof of a limited vocabulary.

I remember learning all of the words and what they meant (more or less) when I was a young lass in middle school. And I used them, boy oh boy. In fact, I was able to achieve grammatically correct, multiple four-letter word sentences on a fairly regular basis. Never in front of my parents, of course.

she doesn't LOOK like a potty mouth, does she?

That is, until that one day when Dad heard me drop an F-bomb while I was playing outside with the neighborhood kids. You might wonder what his reaction was - but I can't tell you, because when he bellowed my name, I flew inside the house and disappeared into my bedroom as fast as I could! I don't think I came out for a week. I suppose Dad thought that my obvious shame and self-imposed grounding was punishment enough! By the time I reached high school (at the ripe old age of 14,) I realized that what I had was a bad habit. I swore reflexively, without thought or moderation. And so I decided to quit. To this day, I've learned that because I cannot seem to exercise moderation in this area, it's either complete abstinence or fairly "loose lips". I've chosen abstinence, and I don't swear freely any longer - well... hardly ever.

Like many instances of personal freedom, I don't really mind if you swear. I mean, sure - gratuitous, casual cussing won't necessarily endear you to me. And if I hang out with you on a regular basis, I might inadvertently pick some of that up from you. That would bug me; it would disturb my soul, and I'd have to re-moderate myself. (But that's my problem, not yours!)

My current stance: these are real words, not evil or even necessarily harmful. As long as they are not turned into weapons, what do I care?

****to be continued****

on the bright side

On the day before Thanksgiving I was at work, doing my usual stellar job of tending to the eyeball patients. A "frequent flyer", a blind woman who is in the midst of multiple surgeries, came in for her pre-op exam, and her young-adult son accompanied her. I ushered them in and shut the door, and only then did I notice that he was sniffling and snuffling and then SNEEZING and COUGHING without covering his face. In a very small space. Just spitting it out into the air we were all breathing.

Yuck.

I left the room momentarily, and brought back a mask for him to put on. He sneezed a few more times before he got it on (I should have just put it on myself!) It was too late, of course. In exactly 3.2 days, I had his cold and it was kicking my butt.
Thanks, dude.

++++++++++++++++++++

Okay, but here's the thing. I decided I was not going to let this get me down. Rather than dwell in the misery of it all, I started thinking of the up side:

• I was not sick for Thanksgiving.
• I may have been sick on December 1st, but that will be long gone by December 21st.
• I have so far, through the intervention of many, many foreign substances, managed to avoid any respiratory infection. It's just a cold.
• While I was not able to call in sick any day this week (long story) my boss sent me home early on Tuesday and Wednesday, so I didn't have to kill myself (much) working while feeling like crap.

And ya know what? It helped. I'm still really congested, but I worked a whole day today and then went to get some dinner and do some shopping. I'm really tired, but I made it. And tomorrow will be fine, too. I may not get to go to the Advent festival AND the progressive dinner, but that will be okay.

see? not Grumpy!

I just love it when that happens.

None of the images in this post are mine. That should be obvious, but now I've confirmed it. Thanks, Google images!

Lenten update, week #2

There was a minor setback when some sort of wimpy flu bug grabbed hold of me last week. How is it that, every single time I have worked up some good resolve to change my ways, my physical plant shuts down and/or revolts? Hmm... Well, I shall not be moved: I have resumed making some modest progress. Not only that, but I've not had a "wasted day" since I got back on my feet last Wednesday. Yay me!

So here's the list, last posted 8 days ago, with progress noted:

upload the last 4 weeks' worth of photos from my camera... tend my very neglected garden... embroider Max's onsies... (Note on 2/28: these are almost done; just have to embroider the cute little accents on them. Will show photos when they are finished! wrap Emilie's gift and give it to her parents ... write the minutes from last month's Worship Committee meeting... read and highlight and/or redline the recently completed Mission study... clean the bathroom... fix the (collapsed, egads) interior of my craft cabinet... laundry... find out why the engine light went on in my car ... tie and hem my picnic blanket... figure out how to use my new iHome machine so I don't have to wear the earbuds to bed... make a new holiday-related craft. (note on 2/28 - the holiday has passed. Do I still make these, or wait until next year?) ... change the sheets... make a new bedspread... go outside and take photos... make and market and sell my photo cards (ahem)... take a walk... bake off the rest of the gingerbread dough... take out the garbage... vacuum... put the dates (birthdays and such) in my 2010 calendar... learn how to crochet a ball (maybe a few for Max and one for Emilie)... bake something for tonight's OMN@B... make a craigslist ad for the Calie Celae Calaei that Irish celebration at the church... learn how to spell it Ceili! ... pay the February bills... do my taxes... plant stuff into the now-cleared out garden (note on 2/28: this has begun but has not been completed)... edit those 4 weeks of photos... watch as much of the Olympics as I can (which is good for the onesies project, too). (note on 2/28 - gosh I enjoyed these Olympics) ... get the Advent/Christmas banners back from wherever they are right now...

New for today/this weekend: Write an article for the church newsletter as assisgned by my (More Light) Task Force (I missed the March edition deadline!)... make a poster for Sunday's committee fair... arrange the Sunday flowers... deal with the piles of stuff in my bedroom... fix the sewing machine (broken for about 7-8 years, but I've had the part I need for that long, as well)... grocery shop... put away the groceries... get a haircut... order prescription refills... figure out what it means and how to manage the fact that I agreed to be the church webmistress... reschedule a Worship Committee meeting... schedule a Task Force and an OMN@B meeting...

Oh, and take a nap!

Granted, it would appear that great progress has been made... and some of these items are long-range things, have been on my mental to-do list for years now. But before I go patting myself on the back, I also need to remember that this started 14 days ago, and ... well, okay. I'm not going to beat myself up. Onward! And thank you, God!

updating the list

There has been progress, albeit small! I am beginning to get things done:

(Feb 14)
Here is a list, in no particular order, of the things I would like to accomplish in the next day/days/week/weeks: upload (or is it download?) the last 4 weeks' worth of photos from my camera... tend my very neglected garden... embroider Max's onsies... wrap Emilie's gift and give it to her parents... write the minutes from last month's Worship Committee meeting... read and highlight and/or redline the recently completed Mission study... clean the bathroom... fix the (collapsed, egads) interior of my craft cabinet... laundry... find out why the engine light went on in my car (this is new, and it will be addressed before I drive any further, I promise) (note on 2/20: one oil change, one air filter, one air flow sensor and $300 later, this has been taken care of!)... tie and hem my picnic blanket... figure out how to use my new iHome machine so I don't have to wear the earbuds to bed... make a new holiday-related craft... change the sheets... make a new bedspread... go outside and take photos... make and market and sell my photo cards (ahem)... take a walk... bake off the rest of the gingerbread dough(note on 2/20: I threw it out - it was from December - there are no eggs or dairy products in the dough and was probably okay, but I threw it out)... take out the garbage... vacuum... put the dates (birthdays and such) in my 2010 calendar... learn how to crochet a ball (maybe a few for Max and one for Emilie)... had enough? At least my Christmas decorations are put away.

There are things added to the list, now....
bake something for tonight's OMN@B... make a craigslist ad for the Calie Celae Calaei that Irish celebration at the church... learn how to spell it... pay the February bills... do my taxes... plant stuff into the now-cleared out garden... edit those 4 weeks of photos... watch as much of the Olympics as I can (which is good for the onesies project, too)... get the Advent/Christmas banners back from wherever they are right now...

Mostly, I am happy that there is, at last and for now, forward motion. Keep it comin', Lord!

random musings whilst waiting for the oven to finish

I decided to bake up some pumpkin bread for open mic night tonight... it's in the oven with about 10 minutes left; I should be there in 15 minutes; it will take 30 minutes for the loaves to cool enough to slice. You do the math. ;o)

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I wonder why people think President Obama hasn't done enough in his first months in office. I think the changes that have transpired are amazing. In the time it takes for a human to go from embryo to newborn, he has begun to reverse the effects of 8 previous years of disaster including:

• the standing of the US in the international community
• two wars
• averting a depression, making the way up out of a recession
• turned the national debate to health care reform
• stayed cool throughout attacks on his character, racial slurs and other ignorant obscenities - from his fellow Americans
  

Keep on going, Mr. President, and may God protect you and your family.

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Oh, and about that "healthcare debate"? I wish to God that the discussion would differentiate between health care and health insurance. Seems it all gets lumped into one thing, and that seems to confuse many a good point. I also want to research health insurance company profits in the last decade. I'm certain that they eclipse any profits made by physicians or hospitals by billions of dollars. People in the medical community do NOT go into the field to become rich anymore, I guarantee you!

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I've had a birthday since my last post recently. I am now in my extremely late forties..... ;o)

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Oh, it's time to change clothes and get going. Thanks for reading!

Autumn commences

(Ah, it's been too long again. My life and mind has been in just get through it mode. Again. Overhwelming... and astoundingly mundane at the same time, how is that possible?)

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Meantime, the season has turned again. It is Autumn. My favorite time of year, really, and I wish it was longer... or perhaps I wish that we could languish in the season for a longer period. Here in paradise, we have only about 3 weeks between Indian Summer and Let's Get Ready For The Holidays. I sometimes wish we celebrated Christmas in February, at the real* mid of Winter. Heresy, I know. But to relish the crunch of the leaves, firesmoke, thick sweaters and picnic blankets for a little longer before the holly jolly pushes in and breaks the delicious, amber-lit, pumpkin-and-spice season would be heaven. Ah, well. I will enjoy it while I can!

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I am going exploring today, with my camera. Maybe I'll find some quiet - jackhammers are my background noise just now, while the pool is being refurbished. 'Tis time for reflection, a walk, a change in scenery.

Will try to be back, soonest.

Much love, KQ

*Autumn's end, for those who do not keep track of the solstices and equinoxes, is December 20. Winter then commences and stays until March 19.