Weekend Assignment # 33

Each stage of my life has had a favorite song or theme.  Oh!  I loved Janis Joplin singing "Piece O' My Heart"  Reflective of how I felt in the 70's, I thought that's what the world wanted from me.  Scratchy, gravelly voice, that woman sang my soul.  Of course, always a day late and a dollar short, I didn't discover her until she was already dead from an overdose.  No matter, I idolized her anyway.

Today may songs lean more to church service than rock & roll or metal. I still love folk songs and oldies take me back to that Janis time. I always wanted to sing just like Joan Baez.  I would listen to her hour after hour and my daughter and I still sing "Let Us Break Bread Together" a couple of times a week.  Gratefully, no one is judging the performance.

 

Riches

It seems I am always complaining 

About one little thing or another

I stubbed my toe, I broke my wrist

It’s tough being wife and mother

 

If the truth can be told . . .

And I’m good at this

My complaints can all fit

On one short list

 

I love my husband

More than I can tell

Whoever picked him

Did the job well.

 

I only have one child

Left to raise

She good, she’s wonderful,

Worthy of praise

 

The grown kids have,

As you might guess

Lives of their own now

I must confess

 

I’m proud of them all

Young and old

They’re my kids

And I’ll be bold

 

No grandkids are smarter

Or cuter - not one

If they were closer

We’d have lots of fun

 

So when I’m grumpy

And starting to bitch

Remind me, dear friends

That I’m rich, oh! So rich!

 

Thanks to the Lord

Who loves us so

I have these riches

Wherever I go.

 

Penny

 

The Drabs

Back from the doctor, it's kind of a gloomy day outside.  The trees even seem depressed.  There's no breeze blowing and branches seem to sag with the weight of a morning dew not yet burned off.  For some reason, even the birds are quiet.  None is at the feeder we have set up.  In my mind's eye, I can see them huddled together against the chill, beaks chattering a bit and each one hoping someone else will go and get food to bring back to the branch. 

Cars whiz by on the avenue.  I have the door and curtains closed against the damp and have waited past noon for the sun to peek out.  No such luck.  There's no heater in our room and I'm wearing my jacket still.  My fuzzy shoes are great and though I've thought of jumping under the covers for warmth, I'd have to shed them first.  Andrea has her little hands stuck in warm dishwater.  She doesn't seem to suffer from the cold like I do.  She a ray of sunshine even when the sun doesn't come out. 

Robert and I both have some kind of virus.  Sore throat, icky ears, stuffy nose and body aches.  Just have to let it run its course, but I sure hate it while happening.  I have no energy.  Glad that puppy isn't here yet. There's a beautiful siamese cat outside that I guess belongs to the neighbors.  She's cold, too and looks longingly at the door and gives a pitiful meow.  When we went out to go to the doctor, she came up to me and did the purr-leg rub-front end lift and looked at me with soulful eyes.  I know she went to sad kitty school and got an "A+"  I didn't let her in, however.  Two birds and a kitty doesn't work well.  Besides, she's not ours. 

Had a quick IM with my daughter this morning.  She's having a tough time.  I hate it when she's bummed out.  I feel so powerless. She wants to know why God isn't helping if He's all that great and I tell her that some things He leaves for us to do and that the results are up to Him.  She's not pleased with my answer, but I know what I'm talking about.  I've been in and through the fire on enough occasions. Unfortunately, that's no comfort to her.  I'll just keep on praying.  That's something I can do. 

I also got to meet Krissy online this morning.  What a delight to chat with her.  We have many things in common despite our age difference.  I'm enjoying this j-land experience now that I'm getting the hang of it.  Making new friends.  I like that.

Refrigerator Boogie

Saturday morning and we have spent the better part of it cleaning the kitchen and refrigerator.  Ugh!  What a job!  Since I broke my wrist, I haven't been able to do any deep cleaning and although Robert and Andrea help, the are surface cleaners for the most part.  Robert will dig in, but it's tough to get to that point. 

It's also hard because Hank's kitchen is so poorly laid out.  We have no room to work or store things and most of it ends up sitting on the counter.  Hank is truly a confirmed bachelor.  He uses what he needs and drops stuff all over the place.  No amount of mopping will clean that ancient floor.  Those not wearing shoes do so at their own risk.  The cabinets have been painted about 50 times.  They get scrubbed, but never look clean.  Hank is talking about replacing them.  He talks a lot. The wallpaper was put up in 1978 and has just been left to rot.  If Hank ever hopes to get married, the he'll have to make an effort to fix that kitchen up.  She may never cook in there, but she'll want it nice anyway. 

The poor frig had been neglected.  We didn't have to throw much food out, because I check it every day for that, but someone had spilled a chocolatey mess in ther and it had dizzled to the bottom.  Bottles were stuck to the glass.  I totally emptied the shelves, depending on Andrea and Robert to take out anything heavy or that needed two hands.  Then the scrubbing started.  Robert would take a chisel, but I just used hot water and soap.  I wish I had gotten to it sooner.  It was embarrassing.  It's not even my frig, but after all, we live here.

Now that the refrigerator and kitchen are clean, I can sit down without guilt.  My darling hubby is watching college football and I am at the computer, nearly my favorite place.  I have many things to do today, including writing the weekly letter for the ministry.  I'm just waiting for my friend to let me know what has happened there.

Hank took Andrea to the open market in town and there bought her a purple stuffed gorilla.  He really spoils her.  He's a good room-mate for us.  We don't seem to get in his way and he loves having a clean house for the first time in years.  At times I feel funny about living here because we should have a place of our own, but I guess it's all in God's timing.  Venturais a pretty spendy place to live.  We are on a fixed income.  Rob needs to get counselling for his PTSD and we just have to stay put for a while.  Tough for me.  I'm a very independent sort.  Guess I just need to stay flexible.

Well, off to fold laundry and figure out the rest of the day. 

 

A great kid

We just got back from Andrea's school meeting.  She's doing so well and her advisor is pleased.  Andrea started to do the word find while we were there and found every word.  I am so proud!

I guess what happened at first was this:  I never struggled in school.  Nothing was hard for me.  I was reading before kindergarten.  So when I saw her struggling with what I thought were simple concepts, I was frustrated.  None of my kids are average intelligence.  They are all waay above the norm.  This is not to say they all have what I call walking around smarts, but they are bright.  Then came Andrea who struggles with everything.  She is bi-lingual and can effectively translate for someone, so I just figured she'd also do well from the get-go when I started being her teacher.

Was I in for a surprise!  I never took into consideration the fact that she was born prematurely in a country where moist preemies don't survive or that she was starved for the first 8 months of her life.  These things affect learning on a grand scale.  Now I'm not blaming myself, but I can see that I was expecting too much.  When we dropped back to simpler things and she began to have success, we began to see a difference.  There's so much for her to learn.  Don't get me wrong, but Mexicans are not truly a literate people.  Sentences never end, they use no capital letters, don't care how it's spelled and the hand-written word runs together in a very confusing way.  I'm a stickler for grammatically correct phrases and good punctuation.  That alone should stupify my 10 year-old Spanish-speaker.  I just had to chill.

We both did.  Andrea's first few weeks were tear-filled days full of frustration for both of us.  Teachers in Mexico tend to call a kid "bad" if their work has mistakes.  Truly great for the self-esteem.  So everytime I pointed out a mistake or had her re-do something, she cried and asked, "Did I do bad?"  Getting over this hump has been horrific.  She just wants to be a good girl for us.

Andrea is a wonderful girl!  She wants to hear the word good, but so many descriptives fit her.  She is bright, pretty, full-of-fun, helpful, outgoing, friendly, slender, brave, determined . . .well, I could go on and on.  I'm so glad I have this opportunity at this time in my life to raise another child.  She's a great kid.

Memory lane

Just took a little trip down memory lane.  A friend sent a link to me and unlike my normal, I decided to click on it:  http://www.thestatenislandboys.com/U_thrill_me/index.htm

Wow! Did my past come up and hit me on the behind!  I loved the music and the read.  Thought you might too - especially if you yemember as much as I did.

This is it!

This is it!  If you haven't already done so - got VOTE!  It is such a privilege to live in a country where you can be a part of your own future. The air that we breathe is different because we are free.

How important is that to you?  Do you realize what a great country you live in?  What's the best part for you?

The best part for me is that I'm free to take a stand - any stand -  anytime.  My voice can be heard.  And for us here in the U.S.A., it's more than freedom; it's our right. 

When is the last time you took a look at the Bill of Rights?  Look at it again.  http://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/constitution.billofrights.html#amendmentx

There's not another the same anywhere.  And it's ours. 

What a country!  What a time to live!