Friday, May 22, 2009

Friday All Day Long!

From Friday Fill-Ins. Click the button on the side bar to join the fun!

And...here we go!

1. Moving is hard work.

2. The best things in life are free. Except chocolate. That is not usually free.

3. My best quality often remains hidden.

4. I am good at handling all of the details.

5. In nearly 10 years, I might be a grandma.

6. Sleep is what I need right now!

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to relaxing at home, tomorrow my plans include shopping with my daughter for quilt fabric and Sunday, I want to take a nap!

Thursday, May 21, 2009

Stolen Meme

On my bedside table: Ensigns with quotes or pictures that I want to take out before I throw them away.

On my TV: The last season of The West Wing that we need to finish.

On the menu for tonight: S is roasting a chicken on the grill. Rice pilaf and a tossed green salad on the side.

On my To Do List: Buy groceries and return cans and bottles.

New recipe I tried last week: Actually, K made hummus for the first time. Yummy!

In the craft basket: K wants to make her first quilt. We are shopping for fabric on Saturday.

Looking forward to: Not having to work on Monday.

Homemaking tip for this week: Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without!

Favorite blog post of the week (mine or other): This was totally hilarious. The Lawsons Did Dallas is always a great read.

Favorite photo from last week: There is no photo.

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

A Random Ten

Today I'm doing a random ten because the topic today (a few Tuesdays ago when I actually started this post) at Ten on Tuesay is 10 awesome bands. Huh? Well, uh...there's The Eagles and...uh...The Beatles and um...well, you get the idea.

1. My daughter just got home from her first year at college (1600 miles away, as anyone knows who read this blog. Oh, never mind.) And can I just say, because nobody else will, that I did an awesome job sending care packages. I sent one every month. And for holiday months (Halloween, Christmas, Valentine's Day, Easter) I also included little treats/favors for all of her roommates (and she had five roommates) and for her visit teachees as well as plenty of chocolate to study by. Yay for me.

2. I had two baby showers to shop for yesterday. Two Target gift registries to juggle. Two lists to keep tallied in my head. Can I just ask when diapers got so complicated? I was mind boggled by how many varieties there were of Pampers alone. One whole side of one whole aisle there were a different kind of Pampers every two feet. Yikes!

3. I went to a concert the other night of a men's choral group to which a friend belongs. They sounded wonderful! A very strong, rich sound. An eclectic selection of music. My daughter went with me. We went to the following reception to tell my friend how fabulous he is, and it was all very nice. I didn't run out of small-talk or anything! It was perfectly lovely.

4. I didn't know how much I needed to write until I started blogging. It is very satisfying. Very cathartic. All of those soliloquies running around in my head now have a place to go! Both blogging and writing in a journal have been essential in processing recent events.

5. There is a stand of trees, a kind of woodsy area, next to my office. I have been trying to do a four seasons photo study of it. Autumn went really well. I took tons of pictures. Not so vigilant the other two seasons so far, but I have taken a few pics.

6. This is my only five day work week in five weeks. Hopefully I can get caught up a little and maybe even have time for some of the long-term stuff.

7. I am feeling quite pathetic in the friendship department. I could go into details but like I said, pathetic. My last attempt to take a sort of casual friendship to the next level? Pathetic. The current offer of friendship isn't going to go anywhere either. Pathetic. Sensing a theme here? I could go on but, you guessed it. Pathetic.

8. Some days are diamonds. Some days are more like today. Did I mention that my mother-in-law is coming over for dinner?

9. Monday I am the only one in the family to have a day off. I will also not have a car for most of the day. I am going to go do a couple of things early and then will be home for the rest of the day. I should have a couple of stretches of "me" time in between everyone else coming and going. I am hoping to have a productive, restful day.

10. There is no ten.

Friday, May 15, 2009

Good-bye, Dear Jack

Today was the memorial service for Jack. It was sad. Necessary but sad.

Tonight I am doing what I need to do to mourn for Jack. To get it all out there. To seek closure. To make the way to move to the next part of my life. I have written quite a bit in my pen and paper journal but I want to do this as well.

If I were to stand up in front of a group of people and talk about Jack, this is what I would say:

I was drawn to Jack because he was:

Intelligent
Funny
Charming and
Kind.

He showed us many kindnesses and reached out to us in different ways, sharing magazines, cartoons, quotes, articles. When I read the magazines he sent over, I would on occasion, find little notes he had written to me in the margins. I had never met anyone quite like Jack.

He loved reading and never stopped learning. He had a wonderful way with words. His writing was eloquent and entertaining.

Jack and I shared an unusual relationship for neighbors who lived just across the street. He wrote to me: Thank you notes for any small favor, funny observations, and little notes about things going on in the neighborhood. He called himself our self-appointed neighborhood block watch captain. He added appropriate comics and little quotes which I understand have been christened “Jackisms.” And whenever he wrote to me, I wrote back, and so our correspondence and friendship developed. He never failed to cheer me up and bring a smile to my face. I kept everything he ever wrote to me.

He was always kind, always polite, always wanted to help. He was very conscientious about fulfilling any perceived obligation.

He loved the four seasons in Michigan even if it meant putting up with the Michigan winters. When he was able, he would be out in his driveway several times during a snow storm, shoveling or sweeping away the snow, setting a good example for the rest of the neighborhood.

In closing I would like to share the following quote:

“I am standing on the seashore. A ship spreads her sails to the morning breeze and starts for the ocean. I stand watching her until she fades on the horizon, and someone at my side says, ‘She is gone!’ Gone where? The loss of sight is in me, not in her. Just at the moment when someone says, ‘She is gone,’ there are others who are watching her coming. Other voices take up the glad shout, ‘Here she comes!’

“And that is dying.”

So I am very happy for those who have seen Jack coming and take up the glad shout, “Here he comes!” I am comforted to know that I will see him again. And I am happy for Jack to be in a place where he can be free of pain and free of the restrictions of a tired body, but I am sad for those of us here who will miss him so much.

I love you, dear Jack, and I will never forget you.


And that is what I would say. I don't think there will ever again be anyone in my life like Jack. I am so thankful that I was able to know him and be his friend.

Monday, May 11, 2009

A Sad Sunday

My friend Jack passed away Sunday morning.

I was with him on Saturday, and I knew that he would not be with us for much longer.

Not the happiest of Mother's Days, but my family did their best in spite of my tears.

More later.

Friday, May 1, 2009

Fun Day Friday

Finally, another Friday Fill-In. Click the button on the sidebar to join the fun!

And...here we go!

1. The first rule of working in an office and getting along is be polite.

2. I like fried clams.

3. When I think of carnivals I think of blog carnivals.

4. Daffodils are my favorite spring flower.

5. Things on my desk include a water bottle and an electric calculator.

6. Seeing the empty house across the street makes me wanna cry.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to relaxing in a hotel room, looking at the waves, tomorrow my plans include shopping with my daughter and eating in a couple of fun restaurants and Sunday, I want to have a picnic with my family looking at an amazing engineering feat (a long suspension bridge) at a historic fort!