November 8, 2015

On a Sunday morning, at 6:41, I was up.  When I realized, however, which day it was, I fell back asleep with such passion and joy, that I cannot even begin to explain it.  Really, I fell asleep passionately. 

The first thing on our list was to see Sophia, but visiting hours weren’t until noon, so Brian told us to hang on, thus the next thing on the list was…Costco…on a weekend…in the rain.  Those three points together are near cause for head explosion, especially for someone like me who enjoys walking quickly and getting things done.  It was so crowded inside that within minutes, I was going crazy.  The Boy didn’t find any “winter clothes” he liked, there were no available food samples to appease Maggie, so we left.  The kids both swore up and done that they never wanted to go inside that store again…and I must admit, my attitude must have had something to do with it.  I have simply never found anything I really like in there that is worth the headache of the crowds other than the optical service.

 

Next on the list was Old Navy for Mags, then REI so I could return the Yeti icepack, which melts faster than the cheap ice packs I bought.  Then, when we couldn’t agree on food , we headed up the hill.  Sophia was home and we wanted to check on our favorite girl.  Connie and Rodger were there, too, which is always wonderful.  Little Sophia was a doing well.  Fortunately the doctors were able to rule out septic arthritis or juvenile rheumatoid arthritis.  The kids all had fun playing with ChinChin, the chinchilla and I had a wonderful time talking with Brian, Lindsay, Connie and Rodger.

 Back at home, we started a quick pack up session and it was here that THAT BOY almost drove me to wit’s end.  Clothes I had purchased for him months ago suddenly didn’t “fit” him and he told me that obviously I didn’t understand his growth spurt.  Well.  Unless that “spurt” has affected parts that I do not know about, then I beg to differ, son.  After tempers were cooled, he and I left to free the ratmouse and get his jacket and boots – dad gets to supply jeans (which were already too small after a few months).  What scares me is that he is really about to shoot up and out.  I need to find cheap clothing until he is stable.

Home for more packing up, then Who and Office on tv.  This is their last Sunday night here and I am kind glad, though I really wish I had some help packing more stuff up.  The shed is already pretty much boxed up, but I will need a truck to transport some stuff from point A to point B and make a dump run.  I learned a lot this weekend about attachment to stuff (although yes, that cardigan I donated could have been worn today) thus it is much easier throwing stuff out or donating.  I want a fresh start at this new place.  Yes, it is twice as big as this house, and yes, it is in a “normal neighborhood”(first one I will have ever lived in), but I do not want to be impeded by Stuff the way I was here.  There is a great deal of Change whirling about me – a lot of Death, Lives forever altered and New Lives just beginning.  As I sit here at night, listening to sound of the gently dripping rain through the open window, I open my heart and jump emotionally into the Future Unknown.

Pictures:  RAIN!  The glorious Nectar of Life; The kiddos having fun with Chinchin; I, apparently, am The Chinchilla Whisperer...; Also, I seem to meditate with them...it must be a spiritual thing.

November 7, 2015

I heard nothing, yet this is what I woke up to....  By his account, Ethan had quite an active session last night, first petting the deer mouse then capturing him, then chasing the second one, swinging the broomstick: deer mouse jumping out of a drawer and running around the room before also being captured by Ethan.  This note was written before the second one was captured and the good thing is we later set them free.  The bad news is deer mice are carriers of Hantavirus which can be fatal to humans (38% mortality rate).  Let’s all hope the mice were not carriers.  

The biggest goal of today was to get additional boxes to storage facility and have our storage sale.  We raced over to get Mags a donut (I had promised, Ethan and I had eggs), then I realized I had the keys for the facility on my bus keys, so I raced back (at a very careful speed), grabbed keys and we were off!  The facility only had a few stalls being used to sell items, and we were given one, ourselves.  I had no table, brought no tarp…, but before we even had stuff set up, I was selling items and the pace was fairly consistent all day long.  The valuable items I had didn’t sell, but that’s ok because I donated them to the charity this facility is supporting in which 2 young sisters, Charlotte and Gwyneth, have a rare disease, so my items will hopefully help these girls.
http://curebatten.org/

We were HUNGRY, but the first plan was to set the mice free.  I found a field and we released them, then headed back to Deb’s Frosty where I had the most delicious carnitas tacos I have ever had.  It was incredible, sitting there with my two kids, laughing together after a long day at the storage facility.  We fit very well together, these kids and I.  It was here, after texting a request to a friend that I learned they were in the hospital with their daughter.  So quickly, as has been happening for weeks – life  changed again, taking a sharp left.  There is a very discomforted feeling in the air, a very Dark Night sense of foreboding. I describe it as such because for some reason which I cannot explain, when I think about dark nights and bathtubs when I was around 5 or so, I get this really creepy feeling.  This doesn’t make any sense, but I needed to write it, because this is the feeling I have.

 

We stopped by the storage facility quickly, then dropped the 3 boxes remaining from the sale off at hospice and headed to grab a few things for dinner.  Chicago’s “You’re the inspiration” was playing and Mags was not very amused at my dancing and singing along in the store, but as the songs changed, she was soon joining me and there the three of us were, dancing in the store to some rockin’ tunes.  Maggie got her dessert (ice cream), Ethan  wanted dry ice, instead, and I was fine knowing I still had CC in the fridge,  We headed home.

  

At home, my friend called and my heart stopped, fearing hearing some horrible news, but he just asked what I was up to, so we chatted for a while;  we’ll visit the hospital tomorrow.  Ethan and I made chili and soon we watched Doctor Who before a game of Catan.  We enjoy it, but I haven’t quite understood the strategy-aspect of it yet.  I may not be the right type of person to play such a game as I’m not very strategirical

Pictures:  Ethan's note, on top of the cast iron griddle/cookie sheet; Hanging out at the storage facility; Caught and released; Years of Mother Hips ticket stubs; a frozen lemon, courtesy of dry ice. 

November 6, 2015

Fast 5aD because it’s late, I’m tired and we have the storage/garage sale tomorrow:

Woke up on time, but still rather late.  Next thing I knew it was 7:10 and Mags and I had missed having her to school in time for her early morning volunteer work at 7:15.  C’est la Vie.

Came back home and got busy with CDs and packing different areas – laundry room, closet, etc.  Spoke with financial advisor, sealed the deal with the house (we get keys the 16^th) and got tickets for Hipsmas!  Thrilled about that because this is hopefully my last one (meaning I hope CH works out).

I wrote out checks…and one was a very special one to a guy who loaned me money for a bus ride many, many years ago from Arkansas back down to Texas.  I was broke, but I was alive and grateful.  Around the time that it needed to happen, I headed to work, made some calls, then headed to school where I picked up the kids.  I drove them to the new house in about 7 minutes and showed them the outside.  They were squealing with delight from the onset, which made my heart smile, and before I knew it, they were jumping with joy on the trampoline.  They can’t wait to move here now, and that makes my heart so very happy.

We headed to Uncle Jeff’s to wish him a happy birthday and present him with the fudge Mags made, but first, I headed to ER to check on my precious client who was in a car accident.  All was good, but I’ll tell you – so much car stuff happening (bad, bad energy):  3 of our people at work have been involved in car accidents this week – a friend of so many was killed 2 weeks ago and 2 kids from Union Mine were killed Tuesday.  So many drivers have almost hit me in the last few days…I hate this – so much death and destruction.

Then, dropped kids, off, back to work for client, then picked up kids and we had dinner to celebrate nacho day and Friday.  Here, Maggie questioned me on whom I would considered to be my best friend since I don’t really have one…a few days ago she questioned me on men and said "I don't understand why your aren't dating anyone."   I’m concerned she’s going to have me evaluated.  Next was home, where we had great fun with the mouse traps (I pinched my finger once; then scrapped my arm when I screamed and jumped back in fear from the trap snapping).  We were playing Catan when we heard the trap, but nothing…until we looked in the back of the stove and there sat the deer mouse (a rat)– about a foot long from  nose to tip of tail.  So we got out the  trap, which makes sense as to why none of the mouse traps have been working.  We have mice too though, because I got one the other night.  The house is infested and I am counting the hours til we head to Europe.  I’ll let the landlord know and he can do stuff while we are gone.

 Pics 'n Flicks: Ethan balancing...the kid is good; Time to pay it back; Trampoline Joy; Violet loves that I finally turned on the heater yesterday; Kyle the deer mouse; How we catch rats in this house.

November 5, 2015

Dark-thirty as I stumbled into the kitchen…I was the interruption, so it casually rambled back behind the built-in counter, filled with holes and plenty of escape routes: a mouse-rat the size of a small rabbit.  Good god…is my coffee ready yet?    After I dropped the kids off at school, I had an appointment with Lizzie, so we headed to Breaker Glass, where Kevin, told me it couldn’t be done (the windshield gasket) – there was too much other stuff that needed to be looked at first, so after a stop at the bank, I went to the auto-body shop, set an appointment for the 16^th, then off tooooo…..

Storage, where I saw Ricky, a friend, who also happens to be a mover (!).  Problem 2 was solved – after I get back from Switzerland, I will spend the next 2 days moving into the new house with Rickey’s help (though he’s a pro, so it’ll probably just be one day)  I love Universe [putting what I need where I need it (the mice are also a huge incentive…I am counting the days).   

Headed home and started to try to stop the mice from entering, but the problem is this – they have a HUGE city commune thing happening behind the dishwasher – I can’t take the dishwasher out (well, I could but the 2 weeks isn’t worth it for me).  I looked at the corners I had stuffed with steel wool and next to the corner is a good 6 inches of an inch entrance into Who-Knows-What.  How the hell am I supposed to block that??  So, more traps, more peanut-butter   yet last week after the mice-capture…I had just finished reading about bubonic plague being transmitted by fleas and rodents.  I do not want that.  I also made up with Landlord guy.  When I returned with Lizzie, he was building a fence between my house and the house next door and, since I was happy about having a gorgeous new house (and he had given me a great recommendation), I decided we were all happy again.  

 

Time to head to work for my one client, though I had been there earlier to make some phone calls.  Recently, I have begun feeling much more grown up and “official” than I often feel.   I actually understand, more often than not, what I am doing and what needs to be done. I know this will soon change and I’ll be completely overwhelmed again, but it’s a good feeling while it lasts.  The session ended and I was driving off to meet pick up my kids in Camino when Ethan texted and said they were being given a ride home.  Awesome.

I beat them by moments and we had a fabulous crockpot dinner with homemade garlic mashed.  I’d had my chilisalad for lunch and a was feeling quite good...until I started making dessert (guess what that was).  My ass started hurting again as if it was growing and I wasn’t even putting anything in my mouth.  Imagine what’ll happen later when I eat it.  . After dinner, and I packed up a bit while Ethan did homework and we danced to Lionel Richie.  Be Tee Doubleyou – I know these are often slapped together, often (usually) without any editing and are at times quite dull….  I do think of all sorts of things during the day yet often can’t jot notes down and then forget.  And sometimes, Life is without any chaos – which is awesome.   No real point to what I just wrote, so now I’ll take my contacts out and rest, hopefully mouse-free.

Pics'n Flicks: Annie eating her lunch at the table, "proper-like" ; So full...; I gave my Charles White lithograph of "Diablo Hills" to my sweet neighbor Brent; Tennis after bible study, anyone?; The sound of mice, working on their home....