Saturday Morning

It's raining, a good thing for the green turned brown foliage. I am still trying to heal from the oral surgery. I have over 40 essays to grade. I am attending a wedding this evening that my husband will probably not enjoy. Looks like the weather is the high point of the day.

The Dentist Can Be Fun

I just got home from the dentist. A simple proceedure, they said. I can return to work. But they did not mention the tylenol with codeine--no driving on that. Don't worry the wound with your tongue, another directive. But I am still a bit numb and my tongue feels 3 inches wider than normal since the shots and two hands, a foot, and various equipment pushed it around. How do I control it? Then there is the restricted diet--cold and soft. Suddenly all I can think of is ice cream, which is so not on my diet. What a fun experience:)

Hot

99 degrees in the shade on the back porch. Need I say more?
Will this be the summer of the national heat wave? People in Houston and Oklahoma are laughing at all us tenderfeet (tenderfoots?) in the Midwest who are complaining after only a week or so of the blistering heat. They have been in the grip of 100 degree days for at least a month. So are Alaska and Canada holding back? They need to share even th weakest of cool fronts.

Dusting

In this current funk, for months I have not wanted to do housework. One might ask what is wrong with me. I would like to propose that a sane person would ask, "You liked doing housework?"

not much

Life has been complicated by the bipolar stuff. I don't have the emotional or physical energy to post much, or do much of anything else.
I will say that for a city where fireworks are supposed to be illegal ( in undesignated areas like alleys and yards) there sure was a lot of very close noise well into the night on the 4th. I'm glad the landscape was wet.

A Dance

I was just reading my eldest daughter's blog and felt inspired. I am actually inspired by all of my daughters in different ways. But about the eldest--I am in awe of all she manages to do and to do well. From quilting to knitting to rearing wonderful children. But sometimes I think she feels the need to justify herself to me. Maybe I make some random comment about some toy in her living room and she says she has not had the time to pick up the entire downstairs, which is where her two year old stays so busy with everything. I don't mean to confront her housekeeping skills. How she keeps her house is up to her, and she has three kids who move from room to room dropping detritus. That' just what it's like to have children, happy children. The funny thing is that in this dance we both join, I feel like I want to justify myself to her. Mentally ill (God, that is a horrible term), I often lack energy, lack the will to be creative. And I want her to understand that I am not lazy so much as very emotionally tired. Maybe she already understands, but I decided to write about this since I doubt I will ever be able to say it out loud.

Flurries

I am up and dressed early today--a good sign. Some mornings present more demons than others do. But today is cold and gray. Through the window by my computer I can watch white particles of snow float to the ground. It will not accumulate today, a pity. But the black limbs of a naked tree and the stark gray-white sky make the perfect backdrop for the precious few flakes. Others may dread days like this, but I am energized.

Washing Clothes

I love doing laundry. Years ago, my family and I were visiting the godparents to our third child. They lived in California where we had lived for a second a couple of years previous to the trip. I made some comment about it being easier to be the visitors leaving since we had the goal of driving cross country while Ed and Virginia would have the empty house (possibly a blessing now that I think of it). Virginia answered that she would do laundry, the sheets and whatever else was dirty in the house. She was the mother of seven grown children, none at home or even in the same town but all at least occasional visitors. So I listened as she wisely explained how fulfilling laundry could be, that it was not really hard work but there was so much to show for the effort. She was right, of course. And I have often thought of her as I folded towels or hung shirts on hangers. I guess this all ties in to the new year. No wonder we say things like a "clean" break or a "fresh" start. A wise woman indeed.