Cleaning Up

I'm in the process of cleaning up the house for the upcoming visit of my mother-in-law from India. She'll be here with us about five months. Did I mention that I'm wrapping up the end of the year with the kids' teachers? And that I'm still planning activities and getting my hands on books so that they won't be stir crazy or telling me every five minutes that they are bored? I can make it. I can make it. Sigh.

Buddies.

When I was a little kid, I played with a lot of boys. Most of the cousins my age were boys. My closest godsibling was a boy. This worked for me, because most of my female cousins were into frilly stuff and makeup and while I liked the idea of lipstick at the time, all of that other stuff was way too much work. LOL. My god brother's name was Kevin. He was really nice to me. He played with me, and was nice, not too boisterous like my cousins who were all convinced they were going to be sports stars. Between you and me, most of them are still jerks. Then again, I can be jerky too, must be a family trait.
My parents were his godparents and his parents were my godparents, so we were good buddies. My mom has a photo of us hanging out at the park. Life looks so simple in those photos. Hanging out in the park, staying out of trouble, eating barbecue, eating watermelon, grinning for the camera.
Mom told me today that Kevin is dead. He got hit by a train on the way home from work. He had a new wife and a new kid. I don't know what else to say about it, but it is really really sad.

Tomorrow.

is Dad's surgery. This should be his last procedure and I'm praying that everything goes well. So it will. I'm so thankful that my Dad has been given a great prognosis. It's still going to require a period of recovery though. I've had my own issues to deal with, but they just seem so insignificant next to what my folks have been going through. On the brighter side, we are supposed to get snow this week. We went from sunny days with light jackets to be ready for the snow. How can one not keep a sense of humor about weather like this?

It's almost volunteer time at school again.

Oh joy.

You say goodbye. I say hello.

Have you ever felt like everything you were attempting to do was
totally misunderstood? Yesterday I was just trying to learn to do some
things and that process got me labeled as ungrateful. I try to be a
fair and decent friend and person in general, but folks were seeking
to tap dance on my last good nerve. All on holiday weekend, too.
Although I have noticed that I have a lot more challenges to maintain
a positive attitude since I decided to make the effort to improve
myself in that area. I will not give up.