Two Recommendations

When I was in junior high or high school, my mother suggested that I read Up a Road Slowly by Irene Hunt. I didn't then, and that probably wasn't the worst thing. I probably was too much like the character to understand it. But one of the students I was coaching for a speech meet read a selection from it. She did a wonderful job and I wanted to know the rest of the story. So in one night, I read the entire book, laughing and crying and completely engrossed in the life of a girl growing up and learning to live for someone besides herself, learning what love means, learning what life is about, and it was really good. It is written at a junior high level, and it would be a good book for them to read, but it is also one that I related to not only as a girl growing up, but also as a teacher and sister watching other girls grow up.

Tonight Thomas watched a movie that I didn't want to, so I watched Julie and Julia. It is a movie about cooking in some ways, but it is more about loving and living with purpose and resolution. It is about dreaming and making mistakes and how love covers a multitude of wrongs. It was a good movie, maybe not my absolute favorite, but definitely one to recommend and one to help fight any disillusionment and cynicism that I may have about my life and dreams.

Stuff

I know Thomas does/did "Stuff of the Week" but here is my take on the past few days.

Conversation: Thomas and I had a great one about all sorts of things while he was smoking his pipe. It was Chelsea Morning tobacco, which happens not only to have a great name, but also a lovely smell, and pleasant taste from his reports. I don't smoke a pipe. Smoking, drinking beer, and swearing all seem to me completely within reason for a man to do occasionally, but very distasteful when a woman joins in, besides the fact that I don't like beer.

Movies: Thomas got me to watch the new James Bond movies. They actually weren't that bad, though I did leave during the torture scene in the first one, and didn't feel nearly as satisfied after the second. I did think that the poker theme of "Casino Royale" held the movie together. Besides being a plot point, you felt that Bond played his life with the same risks and tricks as he played his poker game.

Game: El Classico - between Barcelona and Real Madrid, the top two "football" teams in Spain. They have very different styles and, on the day, Barcelona proved the better team. Although I was cheering for Real Madrid, Barcelona have some amazing players and they work together beautifully. But losing to Barcelona doesn't mean Real Madrid is as bad as some of the commentators would like to make them sound. They had been on the top of the charts for a few weeks before the game. And they are fun to watch.

Book: I reread "The Horse and His Boy" again. Each of the Chronicles is my favorite when I read it, but I think this one stands out from the rest. It has always captured my imagination in a very special way. I can see Tashban and the Hermit's shelter; I can smell the fishy breeze off the sea and sweat of the horses as they cross the dessert; I can almost taste the ices of Tashban and the breakfast of the dwarves. And I feel Shasta's pain as he has to run beyond the Hermitage to find King Lune and his despair as he crosses the mountains, but also his joy at seeing Aslan. I hope this story is never made into a movie unless I am the designer.

Smell: Everything. I now know what it is like for poor Thomas who is very sensitive to smells. I can smell the candle across the room, the slightest whiff of onion, as well as the dusty carpets and today, the odd smelling walls at school. I like being outside because then the smells are a little more diluted. I think my favorite smell recently was the tea Thomas had tonight - pomegranate oolong.

Sound: Thomas' voice always gets the best sound in the world vote, but besides that, I have enjoyed hearing the birds sing in the morning.

Sight: Again, Thomas' eyes melt my heart every time I look at them. (Sorry about the mushyness, but it's true.) But the daffodils, forsythia, plum blossoms, and grape hyacinth at my parents house get second place. And third goes to the amazing tropical flower in my dad's office. Its leaves are dark green and the flowers right at the center were pale orange and yellow. They looked like someone had shoved plastic flowers into the plant, but they were real and so delicate the closer I looked.

Well, that's all for now. More again later.

Blessings in Disguise

You have probably heard or seen or read interactions where one person says, "That was a blessing in disguise." And their partner responds, "Some disguise..." The last few days have been one of those moments in our lives, and we are left praising God and being thankful that he knows what he is doing, even when we don't.

My parents are taking care of my grandparents as they are too forgetful (etc.) to stay on their own. It is a beautiful challenge and it gets more exciting when my parents go away. Then they need to find replacement grandparent-sitters, usually in the form of us grandkids and a sweet lady from our church. My first "shift" was from Wednesday 6:00 am to around 3:15 pm, when I had to leave for voice lessons, and my sister-in-law was going to take over. Wednesday morning, besides being crazy early (I live a half-hour away from my parents house) and the two spiders in the kitchen sink (which I thought was a bit much for 5:00 in the morning), went very smoothly. They had breakfast, made cookies, had lunch, took naps and as they read and wondered about the house, I even got to practice and warm up for my voice lesson.

Around 2:50 or 3:00, Grandpa wanted to go outside to get the mail. This is one of his "chores" which he takes great satisfaction in completing. I watched him go out, but rather than checking the mail, he got in the car. I had the keys with me, so I let him sit in the car, with the door open for a little bit. When he shut the car door, I knew he would get too hot, so I went out and tried to persuade him to get out of the car. You can't really reason with him because his brain doesn't work logically anymore, but you also can really tell him what to do because that gets him mad. So finally, he asked me what I wanted him to do, and I said that I wanted him to either get the mail and come inside, or to come inside and get the mail later.

He went off and got the mail. He makes a little circuit: out the driveway, down the side of the road, up the stairs by the mailbox, and then inside. I knew he was a little upset, so I didn't want to aggravate the situation by standing there, so I watched from inside. He made his little circuit, but instead of coming inside, he did it again. And then again. On the third time around I called to him, but he continued with his path. I then saw he was having trouble with the stairs so I took his cane out to help him in. I tried to persuade him to walk up the side of the road, rather than use the steps, but he kept trying anyway. I tried asking him to tell me what he was doing and why he was doing it that way, just to see what he was thinking, but he couldn't tell me that either. I finally got him off the steps, and as I looked up to see my sister-in-law driving down the road, he started bending over as if he couldn't stand up, and then started shaking.

After that, things started to get crazy. The first thought was heat exhaustion, so we brought him water and a cool washcloth. We knew we had to get him inside, but we also knew we couldn't carry him. We were able to set him down on the steps beside the mailbox and let him rest there. We couldn't get ahold of one of the neighbors, a gentleman who usually is able to come help, but we were able to reach the other neighbors, who came over and helped us get him in a car and then in the house. I had one arm, one of the neighbors had his other arm, I lifted one leg, while the other neighbor pushed his other foot forward in steps. We left a message for the doctor and for mom. We gave kept giving him water and once the excitement settled down, and my brother was on his way to join his wife, I left for my music lesson, about 45 minutes late.

The nurses called back and said that they should call an ambulance because he might have had a minor stroke, so they did and he got taken to the hospital that evening. Meanwhile, I called my husband to let him know that I would be late to voice lessons, where we were supposed to meet. He informed me that he wouldn't be there, because the car broke down, but he had taken it to a garage and could borrow the Press truck to get home. We planned to meet at a friend's house for dinner.

After that I about lost everything and wanted to cry, but I got to my voice lesson and my teacher was so understanding and the song we worked on was "Oh Rest in the Lord." How appropriate. It, by the grace of God, soothed my soul and gave me strength to continue with the day. However, on my way home, Thomas called again and asked me to pick him up because the Press truck was giving him trouble. It had died in the middle of an intersection, and though he was able to get it started and home safely, he didn't really trust it that much. We later found out that it just does that every now and again.

I picked him up, we had dinner at a friends and since Thomas had a pretty bad headache, he dropped me off to teach my prayer meeting class. That was enjoyable, though I had two extra older students. Praise God I had the cookies from earlier in the day so I even had snacks for everyone. Finally I got home, took a bath and went to bed.

Blessings? where are the blessings? Well, because Grandpa was in the hospital, we didn't have to worry about washing him, dressing him, making sure he didn't run away, or eat stuff he shouldn't or anything. We also had something for Grandma to look forward to in the afternoon and to do in the evenings (visit Grandpa in the hospital). Those can be difficult times to explain why they can't go back to the farm. Also because we rented a car, it didn't break down on the way to GA last week. And we had one of the parents cars for this weekend, so we were never completely without a car. I also felt like the week brought my family closer together, gave Mom and Dad a break, and let Thomas and I understand how we can help and pray better for them.

I am sure there are lots more blessings too. I just haven't discovered them yet.

P.S. Grandpa is coming home from the hospital today. He is fine, they couldn't find any evidence of a stroke, as far as I heard, but were most concerned about his irregular heartbeat - which is actually normal for him. Mom was able to persuade the doctor that it would be better for her to give him 24-hour care rather than put him in a nursing home, where he wouldn't have nearly as much attention.

Dress

I did it. I finished a big sewing project for someone else and she was lovely.