A Good Day

I remember the day that Bookworm talked about how she was having an unusually happy day. That's the way I feel today--unusually, unpreditably, for no particular reason Happy. I'm as Happy as my granddaughter looks in the picture above. I got a great recipe from Fossil Guy today, it was gloomy and drizzly and I didn't care, we laughed lots at work, I got to go straight home from work, nobody got kicked off of Idol, Simon liked everybody, I lost another .5 pound, took a catnap at lunch, but none of that explains why I woke up singing (and dancing even) and nothing has changed that all day. Do endorphins creep into your system sometimes, in the middle of the night, and allow you to wake up as though you are Cinderella in the old Disney version with the mice singing and the birds flitting around putting ribbons in your hair? It's inexplicable! In my old age I have learned not to question such days. What's the point in that? Might as well take them and make the most of them, for tomorrow who knows?!

Proof!

See, I told you I was there!

A Birthday Party of Note

Saturday we had a birthday party to inaugarate the FGuy/BWorm's new deck. It was auspicious and "of note" because it marked the 73rd and 63rd birthdays of FG and Mom, respectively. Many pictures were taken, some of them shown here. I really was there, but because I was behind this particular camera and I drank too much great dark beer to remember to have somebody take my picture, I appear to be absent. However, other cameras were clicking and so other blogs may show that I was, in fact, very much THERE.

It was a small party, unlike some years when there have been 50 or more people in attendance to adore and gift us. We ate salami, lovely cheeses, the aforementioned dark beer, wine, champagne, strawberries, grapes and chocolate cookies. Since that was not nearly enough, we had Boston Cream Pie later. Jim and I received accolades and gifts--I particularly liked my Estee Lauder DayWear face cream which smells like cucumbers and will help my "aging" skin. I believe Jim very much liked the lawn/deck chair that was given to him by No Apologie's parents and was already fantasizing about lounging on it, in the sun (which WILL come!) and reading mystery books BW gave him, not to mention the silly other book she gave him, which he began quoting from immediately, eliciting groans from all.

Jim's charming, tanned, fit sister, Doris, was with us, too. I have been seeing lots of Doris lately, since seeing her at the hospital the day FG had his biopsy. I am liking this trend of seeing Doris. She is what I would call a "Great Gal". Very no-nonsense Eastern Washington person--lots like her big brother. She adds a lot to a group of Unitarians who tend to go off on tangents of esoteric bent. My Mate, The Republican, also helps to keep us in line. We had a most interesting and lively discussion about Life After Death on this party day. Not at all maudlin, just fascinating. There was one of us who believed whole-heartedly that there was a Heaven of some sort, there was one of us who wanted very badly to believe that there was something After, and there were three of us who believed in nothing of the kind. A consensus was not reached. We all know where we stand now!

I like the pictures I took even though FG may comment that some are a tiny bit out of focus, but what can you expect from somebody who was full of good dark beer and forgot to turn her flash on. I liked the day, too, and hope to have another "fun time on the deck" when the weather is warmer. The deck is devine! Next up? The painting of the interior of the house while FG lounges on the lawn chair, well away from the fumes.

Now and now and now

THEY always say, "Live in the Now". It sounds so simple, but damn it's hard to do. I find myself looking into the future as if I can really tell what's going to happen 3 months, 6 months, 1 year from now and already being worried about what might be happening that far in advance. What a waste of energy. This kind of characteristic really causes havoc when your oldest male friend is diagnosed with cancer. It's freak-out time. I'm not like Bookworm, in that I don't rush to offer advice or movies or books or any of what she is doing, but I am decidedly feeling like I MUST DO SOMETHING!!!!! AND I MUST DO IT NOW, BECAUSE WHO KNOWS??!! I am pretty sure that my freaking out is not being noticed because I'm only doing it in my head, at night, in the morning, when I can't sleep, when nothing else is taking my attention. I can't seem to pull it back and LIVE IN THE NOW. I am grateful for BW and FGs blogs that are telling us, "it's okay. we are doing okay." It helps me more than it helps them, maybe. I need reassurance that I am not needed 24 hours a day, that I may be able to think about other things rather than obsessing about how my two friends are doing. That one day in the real rather than imagined future I will be needed for more than hugs and emails and "check ins". But for now I can actually live my life and they can live theirs and we will overlap in a relatively normal fashion....and not be frantic. I hope I can do that. I'm trying.