A Fortnight of Blessings

Wow, that title sounds like one from a Jan Karon book.

So...the past two weeks have been rough. I don't want to bitch and moan here TOO much (I so prefer to do that about little insignificant things like hard cookies and skinny jeans), but I'll just say that they were probably two of the worst weeks of my life, almost up there with half of 2005 until March 21, 2006.

I want to focus here on the good things...to remind myself that even through hard times, it isn't ALL gloom and doom, and that there are many pleasures to come despite the heavy cloak of Nothing's Going Right that we can so easily convince ourselves is taking over our lives from time to time.

++I saw this sign on the way to Youngstown last Saturday. I cropped it artfully to avoid the ugly strip mall below it, and there's a reason you don't see the actual street here (much less charming than the name), but I was totally smitten with the sign. I think I'll make a page someday with this, and a photo of Columbia's own "Short St." downtown:

++Darling Emily reminded me how good it is to call someone you don't really want to talk to, only to get their voicemail!

++I sent a message to Arye Gross on Facebook, just telling him how much I enjoyed his work, and he wrote back! I'm not sure if it counts exactly in my collection of Celebrity Touches, but I'll fit it in somewhere.

++Last night, I finished Breaking Dawn. Key word here: finished. I'm not going to spoil anything, but...MAN, Meyer. Man. Way to earn that "D" Entertainment Weekly gave you. Ugh, ugh, and double ugh. That took me about the full two weeks to read...definitely not a can't-put-it-down-er. But this list is supposed to be for good things, so...moving on.

{oh...wait, though...if you want to read a freaking gut-busting recap of the first part of BD, look no further than here...}

++I swallowed my pride and applied for a part-timer at DBRL. I doubt they'll consider me, given my no-notice leaving a few years back, but I had to try. And I think I'll keep trying even if I don't get it this time, just to show them I want it bad enough. No, it's not the best place in the world to work, but I would rather work there than, say, Country Kitchen. (And that's not a dig at waitresses...I know how hard the work is...I just think the tips would probably be pathetic at the CK, given my week-long stint at Steak n Shake with the continual disappointment of 5% left on the table for me.)

++I'm on Chamber of Secrets now. Obviously these don't fly as quickly as they did on a first read (and audio books, naturally, go a lot slower anyway), but I think I'm noticing little Britishisms here and there that might have been different from our Americanized versions of the books. I constantly forget it's Stephen Fry reading them, which isn't a bad thing or a good thing. You'd swear his Hagrid is Robbie Coltrane stopping in the audio-book-recording-studio for a minute. It's uncanny. I like to think the studio is equipped with a deep red leather chair, a fireplace, and a reading lamp. Also--do you think audio book readers practice the entire book before they record it? I guess they would have to, don't you think?

++I got a silly little fun job with ChaCha, a company who answers questions of any kind via text message. It's surprising the variety of questions asked (although every other one yesterday was about college football)--I get a kick out of editing the questions for the guides to answer, and wondering myself what the answer is. It's a free service funded by ads, so people even send in texts like "Have you been drinking?" and "Are you just sitting there looking up the answers on Google?"

++Becca and I taught Paul, Stacy, Mark, and Neil the game of Celebrity last week. Oh man, it was fun!! Paul was so screamingly unfairly good--I think he blew through 14 names during one two-word round. And it was his first time playing the darned game! We did girls vs. guys, which meant that all the Laura Ingalls Wilders and Jane Austens we'd put down were met with blank stares when the guys drew them, and their Ric Flairs and Joe Rogans were difficult for us to clue. So we discussed mixing up the teams next time. But I love my girls, so it will be with a heavy heart.

++Sean came with us to the Yo, and though he was terrified for most of the trip (see the black beard and his frightened eyes here, sitting in the car): he made it through okay, and was a big hit with the Dazets. I was surprised at how well they liked him!

++One of the major sources of stress was waiting for Paul's surgery to be complete. In my heart of hearts I knew he would be okay, but Wednesday morning had to be the longest few hours ever, waiting to hear from Papa that it was done. When the call finally came, a little earlier than expected, I exhaled the breath I'd been holding all morning. Of the three major things that have been going on lately, Paul's experience is the one that has us all concerned the most, so getting over that hurdle was a huge relief. He's in for some chemo to remove the last little bit of the tumor, but they were able to get most of it.

++The Mizzou football game was on ESPNHD last night, and I surprised myself by getting into it. Is it possible that someday I'll be a football fan? Can that even happen after so many years of hatred? I like that there are THREE (3) Chases on the team.

++We went to PP's (Paul's) church last Sunday morning--his last sermon for the next six weeks. As always, I love hearing him talk, and the fact that I'm sitting in a normally uncomfortable position (mentally) at a church service doesn't come into the picture. It's just PP, talking about his viewpoint, and regardless of whether I agree with him, he doesn't present it as something I need to accept or change. After communion (I think it's illegal for me to take it, plus--CARBS!), Vicki (awesome lady, with even awesomer hair that I want to emulate for the wedding) sat up there with him and asked if anyone who wanted to would come up and surround PP and pray for him. Of course everyone converged, a huge crowd, but Stacy had stepped out and wasn't back yet. I wanted her to be there, but didn't know where she had gone. Just as the first person started to talk, I felt hands on my shoulders and knew it was her. We shared such a lovely moment then, and it brings tears to my eyes that we were able to spend that time together. We all cried a lot and hoped and prayed, and stood silently thinking about how PP was going to get through this just perfectly. Every time I see Stacy, I love her more, and I know how lucky I am to be marrying into such a wonderful family--she'll be my sister! (Not to take anything away from you, Lilz. You are number one forever, and you dress much more fashionably than any of us will ever hope to.)

++Speaking of sisters, Lily says she and Gibbo are leaning toward Columbia for their next move! If it all works out, they may even be here by Christmas. Now we just need Steve to come back closer, and maybe we can actually have a Family Thanksgiving again!

++ Did you know there was such a thing as dwarf hamsters? Becca and I saw some at a Petland (along with dozens of puppies that kicked my Doggie Maternal Feelings into high gear) and they have got to be the cutest little balls of fluff you've ever seen, PLUS no icky pink skinned tail dragging behind them! I hope she gets some. Although, they would be very hard not to squish, as I used to do with those fluffy bird ornaments from Chinatown. I totally couldn't HELP it! They were just so soft! I guess I'm like that Lennie guy from Of Mice and Men, which I didn't read but was always planning to. Until one day, bored out of my BUTT while working at MBS, I picked it up from the shelf and for some godforsaken reason, read the last page. In the immortal words of Hagrid, "I shoudna done dat." But it's probably all for the best, because I only like happy endings. Only. (I don't like all happy endings, but I only like happy endings.) So please don't recommend The Notebook or that book they made a movie of with Keira "Bones" Knightley & Tumnus to me, or anything like those, because even though they may be good books for most of it, an unhappy or unsatisfying ending ruins it all for me. YES, I'm picky. I know. But I read books (and, for that matter, watch movies) for an escape, dangit! Not as a reminder that life sucks sometimes. BRING ON THE CHICK LIT, PEOPLE!
Shopaholic Takes Manhattan? I believe I will, sir.

++I sometimes think I don't have many good woman friends, that my propensity for being alone and my anxiety at social functions means I sacrifice the pleasure of having girl friends around to lean on when I need them. But lately, I've come to realize that, though I don't have a lot of girly Dessert Outings or quilting bees or Martini Nights, I do have wonderful friends. They may not live next door (with the exception of AGA, a couple miles away), and I may not see them but a few times a year, but they are there...and they are there for me...and they have infinite and wise words for me...and I love them. You. I love you guys. Thanks for listening to me cry over the phone, and vent through the written word, and letting me visit and play with your dogs or your kids, or distracting me with the crap that's going on with you lately (seriously, it helps!), or playing silly games, or sending me wedding-shoe ideas, or making me see the BIGGER picture in the face of what seems like a monumental disaster. I am amazed at how wonderful you all are.

++It's August 31st, which means my favorite time of year is almost here...four months of my favorite time of year! I can survive anything when it's a beautiful fall, right? And it isn't like it's been the usual miserable summer anyway. I was off for two months of it, and we never had the long stretches of high-90s temps we usually do. Some people are fearing a very harsh winter, but I'm living in the moment, dangit. I've done enough worrying this month to give me eleven heart attacks.

++I'm eating CiCi's tonight. I'm totally cheating. And I can't wait!