Snippets from the past few days
This has been a week where I danced to the tune of someone else’s piping. There were a few items that I got to schedule, but my choices were limited by the many things where I had to adhere to someone else’s schedule. On top of that were the last minute occurrences which required shifting to accommodate. All that and I’ve only reached Tuesday evening. It has been a busy two days in which I did not have time to think long and luxurious thoughts. I could only grab snippets.
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The trees we planted 12 year ago when we moved in to this house are now mature. We finally have shady canopy over most of the yard. At this season of the year our yard is completely carpeted with fallen leaves. When we rake, we will have some truly epic leaf pile jumping. Hopefully we’ll get a couple of nice mild days to dry the leaves out and make them crackle again. Thanksgiving is a great time for raking and jumping. First I’ll need to re-locate all of the rake handles which were pressed into service as staves and walking sticks during the summer.
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Dear Doctor,
You are a responsible medical professional and I don’t think you meant the words the way that I heard them, but no I do not want to pick a medication for my daughter based on what will “calm her down.” I like her energetic. I love the way that her brain fizzles with ideas and she learns a mile a minute. What I want is a medicine which will give her the ability to steer so that she can direct her life toward whichever bright future she chooses. It is possible that none of the medicines will provide that, in which case we will do without. The point is to help her grow strong and healthy in mind and body, not to make my life easier.
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Had my first church Activities Committee meeting tonight. Came away from it with a new list of things to do and a list of things that I don’t have to worry about anymore because other people are going to do them. I also realized that one of the primary purposes of a church party is not the party itself, but the group effort and cooperation required to make the party work. Working together builds connections and friendships. This is what I failed to do with the Halloween party. The Christmas party is on the right track.
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During the committee meeting, Gleek and Patch were sent upstairs with instructions to “find something quiet to do.” Before the meeting was over they came sneaking back downstairs to show me how they had made their very own worry dolls using bits of wood, feathers, string, and tissue that they rummaged from odd corners of the house. I’m not sure what prompted this action since it has been years since we lost the little bag of worry dolls given to us by their Grandma. Now Gleek has a worry doll tucked into her backpack, specifically for school. Another is tucked under her pillow. The rest are in a little pouch on her neck that she made from a scrap of fabric. Patch only made one doll, but it has its own pouch too. Gleek gave one to me. I shall have to find a special place for it to live and carry my worries away. I could use more of that.
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Even before the gifted worry doll, I don’t have as many worries this week as I did last week. People have been buying boxed sets of Schlock Mercenary. This is wonderful because now I have the financial resources I need to manage upcoming expenses. It is one of the miracles I needed which has arrived.
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Link had some friends over the other day. They were using a camera to make silly movies. I listened to the rowdiness and realized that my son was the instigator. He had the plan. He called his friends and made it happen. Somehow in the social lives of these boys (there are about five of them) Link is the one who organizes and calls everyone together. This is not the person I expected when I worried about my non-verbal, socially-awkward son 6 years ago. I’m happy to see how far he has come.
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Kiki, Howard, and Gleek all make time in their day to sit in the garage and pet the cat. Then they come into the house and lint roll thoroughly to remove allergens. I love that the cat came to us. I love that we get to keep her. I love that allergic reactions have not prevented this.
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This week the live action version of Inspector Gadget is Link’s very favorite movie. Showings have been almost daily. It may be a while before Netflix gets it back. Link deserves to have a fun movie this week. He has been working really hard on multiple scouting merit badges which have been full of character building experiences. He is feeding his brain and learning a lot, but not always in the ways that he would prefer.
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Howard is home. He was gone for five days, but he is home now. This makes me happy. His luggage is not home yet. It decided to take a trip to New York without him and stay over for an extra day. Perhaps it took in a show or two. In theory it will arrive in Salt Lake tonight and be delivered to us. The adventures of Howard’s luggage have had no impact on our well being or happiness. He has plenty of clothes here. It’ll show up eventually. I’m too busy being happy that Howard is home to spare any of my brain for worrying about luggage.