Fridays

"Nothing can bring you peace but yourself." Ralph Waldo Emerson

Well it finally arrived, Friday, and it has felt like a long week despite the fact that we had Monday off as a holiday, and that I was off work for 4 days last week.

There was quite a bit of work for me to accomplish this week and I succeeded in reaching all the goals I set for my work week. For that I feel quite good.  I still have a lot of work to do next week and for that I feel thankful.  I have been feeling very satisfied with my job.

That is not to say that I am totally looking forward to the weekend!  If it is not raining on Saturday I will be out in the yard working on the gardens, but I am also looking to just sit and read some and enjoy some movies with my daughters.

I plan on having a peaceful weekend.  I am finding the way to inner peace,  I am not sure how it has happened, but things that I used to find very stressful, suddenly don't seem to bother me so much.  I am still a worrier, however.  Until my girl is fully recovered from the surgery she had I am going to worry, but somehow the peace that I am feeling currently is tempering the worry  some.  So I awoke this morning, thinking of her, waiting to talk to her today and feeling, well, peaceful.   

For all that I have I am truly thankful.

Some things are essential

"I've learned that a fulfilled life is not possible without friends."   " The ornament of a house is the friends who frequent it." Ralph Waldo Emerson 

Well I am back to work, back to my more normal routine.  It was nice to be able to stay home and take care of my girl as she recuperated from the surgery.  She is doing so well, and now she can take care of herself while she keeps getting better and better. It is nice to see her smile again, even though she is smiling with a swollen face!  Her eyes are lighting up again and the smile and light comes through her beautiful eyes.

This experience has taught me many things.  One of the most important, and one that I have always really known, is how important it is to have friends.

I am passing along another of the wonderful "I've learned" quotes from my little book.   I've always needed friends. I didn't make everlasting friendships in high school, as some people do. Most of my high school friends, I barely remember.  I have moved around so much that I lost contact with old friends.  

The lasting friendships I have made in my adult life. My hours of waiting in the surgery waiting area at the hospital were made easier by friends.  Two of my lovely friends showed up with hot coffee and muffins for me. I was sitting alone, with my book and journal and crochet work, having to interact some with my ex- husband, worried about what my girl was going through when my delightful friends arrived and just made my morning. 

It was so grand to have them there and to talk to them, if even for just a few minutes.  They had taken time out of their work day to take care of me. I hadn't told anyone where I was exactly and after stopping at two of the possible places I could have been, they were persistent and found me on that 3rd floor waiting room.

I have not had coffee that tasted so good! 

While I was off taking care of my girl I received e-mails from several of my friends asking how she was doing.  When I got back to work my dear friends took time to ask about her and to listen as I carried on and on.

Good friends listen when you need to talk.

I can't imagine a life without friends.

After the Surgery

"Eating everything you want to is not that much fun. When you live a life with no boundaries, there's less joy. I f you can eat anything you want to, what's the fun of eating anything you want to?" Tom Hanks


Well, the surgery was on Tuesday and today is Thursday. So far everything is going well. I have been vacationing at my girls apartment.

It was a 3.5 hour surgery that began at 7:27am. We arrived at the hospital at 5:45am. After they took her to surgery I didn't get to see her again until 2:00pm. The recovery time was from around 11:00am until just before 2:00pm. That was the scariest part for me, waiting, just waiting. There was nurse who kept me updated and Dr. Sabol came out after the surgery to assure me that all went well. It was just the long wait unitl I could see her again that was agonizing,

Then when I did get to see her she was still very medicated and not quite awake all the way. She looked so exhausted and frankly speaking just plain bloody! She woke up gradually while I sat with her and seeing her fully awake allayed all my fears.

She had to visit the Dr.'s office for an xray before we could bring her home, well I mean to her apartment. She preferred to sleep in her nice double bed as opposed to come to our home to sleep in the small twin size bed. Besides, all her things are at her apartment. So, I am vacationing at her place for a while.

The poor dear girl must be on a liquid diet for 6 weeks. Right now that doesn't feel so bad as she can't get her mouth open anyway due to the swelling. She told me she now feels like the Godfather! The doctor said the swelling would reach it's maximum point on Thursday and he was right! I can't imagine the swelling to be much more. I am joining my girl on the liquid diet for the next two weeks, and maybe more depending on how strong I feel. When it comes to food, I am week. So far it isn't too bad. I am finding out that you can puree almost everything. I made her favorite carrot coriander soup last night and tonight it will be homemade veggie soup (my recipe) only this time it will be pureed and creamed! I began the process by promptly burning the carrots and potatoes! Her stove works really quickly! So I will begin again afresh and have some delicious soup for supper.

The best part will be the chocolate milk shake at the end of the evening!

I am certainly glad the surgery part is over and we are on the road to healing!

A most special day

"Live in the sunshine, swim the sea, drink the wild air..." Ralph Waldo Emerson

  

"Make the most of yourself, for that is all there is of you." Ralph Waldo Emerson

May 19, 1986 turned out to be one of the most special days of my life.  My beautiful daughter decided to come into the world a whole month earlier than we expected her.  Of course at that time it was not the norm to get a sono and find out the gender of your child.  So, when I felt those first signs that she was ready to be born I did not know that the baby was a girl.

The drive to the hospital took about 15 minutes.  On the way, I happened to see a Pileated Woodpecker in the woods along the edge of the highway, so I felt something very special was about to happen. By the time we arrived at the hospital, my girl was ready to be born.   The entire process took 2 hours total, from that first feeling to seeing that beautiful face.  At first I was frightened and in denial because she wasn't due for another month!   Everything happened so quickly, the fear and denial faded  and at the end of the journey I had the most beautiful little girl.  

She had a whole head full of hair that was red on the ends and really blonde at the roots.  She was absolutely gorgeous.  We became totally bonded the minute they put her in my arms.  

Today she turns 22 years old.  Last weekend she graduated from University.  Tomorrow she faces some surgery.  It has been a whirlwind week, both exciting, happy and a little bit scary.

So I am sending  her  some thoughts from my favorite author, Ralph Waldo Emerson.

I am sure that her future holds wonderful things in store.  I am looking forward to watching her shine for the next 22 years!

Graduation

Well my girl graduated from University!  What a whirlwind.  Where did the time go?  It seems like just yesterday she was a little girl, and now she is about to go out into the world and make it a better place.

The ceremony was beautiful, but not as beautiful as my girl.  The weather did not cooperate, it was cold and rainy, but it did not dampen our spirits.

We got to share the day with my dad and we had a marvelous day, despite the weather.

We had a party on the day before and the weather was absolutely beautiful.  I will share some from that on another post.  

With all the activity, I have barely had time to breathe, let alone write.  I couldn't be more proud of my girl, and yet feel just a little sad for myself, as now I will really lose her to the world!

Comfort

"There is nothing like staying at home for real comfort." Jane Austen

Snuggling up with a warm blanket and a cup of tea and a good book, on a cool spring, fall or winter evening is one of my favorite comforts in life. Have you ever felt just so comfortable and all your worries seem to fade away, if even just for a while?

Well that is the feeling I was experiencing last night.  You see, my youngest, J, moved back home from the dorm yesterday.  I experienced such a comforted feeling not being totally alone in the house for a change.

I was fairly tired after working all day, and went to bed around 10:00pm.  It was so nice to have someone say goodnight to me again. Then she said, "I am going to be banging around a bit will it bother you?  You see her room is right across the hall from mine, and she couldn't even get to her bed until she unpacked a few things.  So I said it would absolutely not bother me!  It is just so nice to have her home for the summer,  there won't be many more.

So I promptly feel asleep, happy and comfortable and never even heard her make any noise!

Balance

"So divinely is the world organized that every one of us, in our place and time, is in balance with everything else."  Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Driving to work this morning, I noticed how beautiful the rows of pink and white tulips in the garden of the house of the President of the University of Illinois looked.  They were so amazingly cheerful and lovely that I could not help but smile.

I imagined how lovely a vase of these would look on the table full of delicious delights I am planning for my daughter's graduation.

I love to throw a party!  I don't do it often, as it is rather expensive, but hey my girl is graduating from University.  I have taken the day before the party off work, I have made my lists; the menu and a shopping list.  I can hardly wait to get to the store to purchase the ingredients.  The only part of the whole affair that I don't enjoy is dusting and sweeping the house.  I don't mind the mopping,  just don't like the dust and dander that comes from having 5 animals in the house!  Who by the way will take up residence in my bedroom for the party, snacking and watching Animal Planet!

So, I don't always feel balanced in my place in the world, but today I do.

Ridiculous

Okay, I have now heard one of the most ridiculous things on the radio that I have ever heard.

First I should say that I detest developers. I think development has gone rampant and is not healthy for an area.

A developer from Los Angeles wants to build a water park with misters where they can project images in, of all places BAGHDAD!   Just what they need water parks, amusement parks, and upscale shopping centers,  all western (material) culture areas.  The fool even used the term "sex appeal" to the mayor of BAGHDAD.   I just had to laugh aloud.  Bombs are dropping in this area daily!  Women and children die daily.  Just what they need entertainment!

I am sick of these money grabbing developers!

Impending Storm

"Barometer, n. An ingenious instrument which indicates what kind of weather we are having." Ambrose Bierce

Driving to work this morning, I noticed the clouds in the sky, and how still everything was.  Not a branch was moving on any of the trees and the air seemed to be waiting, holding it's breath for something big to come.

The local weather forecast for our town today, is mild with  temperature around 75 degree F. with increasing cloudiness and rain coming our way later in the day, with wind gusts up to 30 miles per hour.  Then tonight chances of thunderstorms.   There is something rather exciting about an approaching storm.  Rather frightening too, thinking of being all alone in the house.  I enjoy a storm when I have someone else to experience it with.

The flowering trees have been so beautiful this year, I fear a lot of beautiful petals will be on the ground after tonight.  The redbud trees in my yard are not finished blooming.

Whatever happens with the weather later today, the stillness around me this morning was so calming.