And then something happens that reminds us that time has truly moved along. The little girls your son started kindergarten with are pledging sororities in college...and HE'S a college freshman too. Someone you've worked with for years just moves on to something different...and you're happy for the person but realize that it has been a very long time since you've heard of anyone changing jobs since everyone has been so grateful just to be employed. Maybe it is an empty nest...or you're planning to help one of your kids figure out what they want to do after college graduation.
College graduation...for one of your KIDS. (How. Is. That. Possible? on one hand and on the other hand...WHOO HOO!! almost off the payroll!)
Yes. Time marches on.
But instead of feeling down about it...I've tried not to worry and just appreciate the good things that are happening. If only the "good things" would cooperate with me just a little.
See, this week has been more than a little bit of a pain in the behind. Some weeks are like that. Of course, I am not battling serious illness, trauma, or even serious drama. I just seem to be living on the corner of Aggravation Avenue and What the Heck? Boulevard.
This week has had the following "fun" so far:
My haircut from Greg the Miracle Worker has me looking a little bit like Tommy Shaw.
Tommy's the one in the upper left hand corner. Former member of the band Styx and Damn Yankees. Okay, Tommy was born in Montgomery, AL and has far better hair than I do, but whatever. Actually, again using Tommy as a model...this is what my hair is SUPPOSED to look like, but alas, no.
Okay, maybe not so much curl on the sides...but yeah, he definitely has a better haircut than I do right now.
Anyway, Dixie is in "season" and Rebel has exhausted himself following her around and being on alert for any male dogs who might dare to come into our yard. He is currently passed out on the floor beside me snoring. I think today was the first day he has eaten all week. Apparently, the moment has passed or he just doesn't care anymore. Probably the former.
Dixie's preferred status (because everyone is hesitant to let her out of the house because in spite of the invisible fence...she might just bust out of here and find a rogue rottweiler or something) has meant that I've spent the past 72 hours cleaning up "gifts" that she has left in the living room. I have to believe that this is some kind of protest...but I'm too tired to ponder why she has turned a "sit-in" into a ...well, never mind.
The 95 degree weather has coincided with my "personal summers" which have decided to make a comeback this week for some inexplicable reason. They've meshed beautifully with the ragweed allergy that has had me in bed by 9:00 every day this week (until, obviously, tonight.)
I'm 48 and I feel like I need Clearasil because of said hormonal activity, my sensitive skin, or just because the moon is in Leo. I know not. What I do know is that this totally does not rock.
I started eating really healthy again this week. That means that I get to listen to my son whine about things like whole wheat pasta and a lack of butter in the house. I'll get over that soon enough.
On the bright side, I am styling in a rented Impala right now with 26,000 miles on it. The last time I drove a car with 26,000 miles on it was the last time I rented a car. The last car I owned with 26,000 miles on it was in 2001. I'm not kidding.
College football starts this weekend, and I'm assuming that sometime in the next three months, I'll walk outside and won't feel like I'm about to pass out or be a victim of spontaneous combustion.
Those three months will go by quickly...and before I know it, I'll be wrapping Christmas gifts, scraping frost off the car windows and taunting Alabama Power with my lower than they expected power usage.
I hope so anyway.
You know...life is a beautiful thing. We tend to hop from big rock to big rock when it is the sparkling stones of the everyday things we do in the pond of life that make it so much more interesting. I believe that it was John Lennon who said, "Life is what happens when you are busy making other plans." I'm not 100% sure of that, but it sounds like something he would say. To me, it makes perfect sense. And it is very, very true.
Think back three years and try to recall what you were doing at that time. Me? I was dealing with my first child out of the nest. Today, she's a senior. Three years from now (Lord willing) her brother will be a senior, and she will probably be employed and probably thinking about getting married at some point in time.
I don't know about you, but there are days that I want to hold in my hands and never let go and other days that I'm perfectly happy to let slide on by. But every moment that we are drawing breath is precious...whether we are celebrating something phenomenal, or we are dealing with something that we hope will be over soon. For me, right now, that something I could do without is this blasted heat and ragweed season. And not necessarily in that order.
Tomorrow is a new day...and if we wake up and the world is as it should be...then we need to remember to say "thank you" to the one who is giving us the opportunity to do something worthwhile or participate in a miracle. When we are grumbling (as I have been doing tonight)...we aren't saying "thank you" now are we?
We never really know the full effect of those whose lives we touch. Sometimes we just feel invisible or overwhelmed. That's okay. Just assume that you are an integral part of the future big picture...because if you are still here...you are. That's what I tell myself anyway.
And I do believe it's true. Even when I'm cleaning up "gifts" in the living room. (I can only hope that this is not my only purpose for being here!)
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