Old Friends

I have been reunited with some old friends through FB, but this week I was reunited with an old friend that I have wondered about and prayed over since 1981.

I am not sure you could call him an old boyfriend as we never really dated, but we were very close friends, and had a very special connection.  I met him through Art Club, and I was honored when he asked me to walk with him at graduation. 

The last time I saw him was after Raymond and I became engaged.  For many reasons it was a very hard goodbye, and I have wondered about him for years and no one I asked seemed to know what happened to him. 

The last I heard from him all those years ago he was in Pasadena, TX, and that was probably in 1983.  It turns out he is still there, married, and happy.

I cannot express how thrilled I am for him.  I always wanted him to find a love and be happy, and he did.  We are catching up through messages, and I am enjoying hearing about his life.  

There are only two or three more people that I have been worried about over the years.  Hopefully, I will find out they are well and happy too.

Roughing It, Well Not Really

When I came home for lunch today I noticed a small pond around my water meter at the end of the driveway.  Since it has not rained here in weeks, I was very suspicious of said pond. 

Once in the house, I entered the living room and I asked the youngest if he had seen the pond at the water meter, to which he replied "No, but we don't have any water." 

I immediately called the City and filed a report and after hanging up I started chanting "not on my side, not on my side." 

The City was very prompt in arriving at the house, and then calling me to say "Not on our side, it is on your side."  DAMN.

I called my regular plumber.  They were very nice but said they could not get here to even look at it until tomorrow.  I told them I wanted someone today, but if I couldn't find anyone I would call back.

I then called my friend Bryan and asked if he knew of another plumber.  He gave me Jame's number. I know James, he worked here during the remodeling. James answered me promptly, but with bad news. He had just accepted two jobs for the afternoon and couldn't get here until tomorrow night. I thanked him and said I wanted someone today.  He called another friend, but he wasn't available either.

I told the youngest to get on the local website and find me a plumber.  The first one we called said they could arrive during the 2-4 P.M. range today.  I agreed and went back to work.

Around 3:30 the company called to say they were delayed on another job, but would get there A.S.A.P.  They did get here, and it wasn't long after 4, so they were close on their first estimate.  Fortunately, the break was very obvious on my side of the water meter.  Even the repair cost would have been reasonable, if they had not had to pull a City permit.  That added 1/2 of the repair bill onto the cost.  YIKES!  Then the really bad news. They could repair the pipe, but they could not turn the water back on until around 9:00 A.M. tomorrow.  CRUD!  The cost was especially irritating because I know Raymond could have fixed the issue for less than $50.00.

You have no idea how many times you wash your hands until you can't wash them.  I told Loni she might want to spend the night at her house since she is a City girl and not used to roughing it.  The boys picked up some bottled water so I can take what my mom used to call a "spit bath," and my youngest has become a pro at filling the toilet tank up with just enough pool water to flush the commode.  

My oldest was concerned about putting salt water from the pool in the toilet.  I asked him how that could possibly worse than what comes out of us on a daily basis, plus it is  small amount that is going out immediately.  

So no showers here in the morning.  I guess it is a good thing I work by myself most days.  I don't know how that will be for my oldest by the time he gets up, goes to class, and then rides the train in over 100 degree weather to work in downtown Dallas.  

It sure would be nice to have grandma's outhouse and well pump right now. Of course there would probably be a skunk in the outhouse.

Kiln and Pottery Wheel for Sale

Blue Diamond Tru Mat TIc TM23-3 Electric Kiln

Top of Kiln

Inside of Kiln

Kiln Sitter Model LT3K

240 V, 45 amp, 10,500 Watts,

Kiln Stilts

Kiln Shelves

Lockerbie  Wheel

Extras with for Wheel

I am waiting on some information for pricing, but Deborah pass it on to your friend, and Serendippity - I no longer have a way to contact you, so see comment on post below to contact me.  I also have someone interested in the taking the wheel and the kiln together, but you all asked first, so you get first and second right of refusal.

Accomplishments #187-#191

Wow, it has been a very successful week here at the house.  I am purging stuff, and doing a pretty darn good job of it too.

I am giving the youngest extra pay to clean out our workshop, greenhouse, and green building.  He started on the workshop this week and along with that I began to get rid of items that I have probably held on to for too long, but I was waiting to see if the boys would need them.

• Big tools of Raymond's are going, big electric saw, drill press etc.  
• I hope to find a buyer for Raymond's kiln and wheel (well he bought them for me, but he ended up liking throwing clay more than I did).  I have decided to sell his hobby items to support my hobby of quilting.
• I have a building full of items that I am donating to Salvation Army like bookcases, mirrors, clocks, tables, lamps, etc.  Yes, I could have a garage sale, but I just think it is too much work for the small amount of money I get out here off the beaten path.  
• Books and magazines have gone to the library.  
• Bags of clothes are ready for donating.
• Garbage bins are full and there are bags and bags of garbage ready for pick up.
• Three trips to the recycling bins have been made with cardboard, plus my at home bins are full of other recyclables.
• The boys have gone through their stored toys and old software and have them ready to donate.

In addition to all of the above, I have vacuumed, dusted, put away extra items, and straightened several rooms in the house.  I have also washed, dried and folded seven loads of laundry since yesterday, and the boys have done some on top of those loads.  

I am really looking forward to completing the purge.  It will probably be fall before it is all done, but it will be done.  The only thing I am concerned about is selling the kiln and wheel because I don't like to deal with selling items.

Have You Ever Seen?

Have you ever seen someone that reminds you of someone so much that you just want to say
"You know you look just like ____________."

Well, I had that experience today, and I so wanted to say it, but I knew it would offend the loved ones of this person so much I kept my mouth shut.

I met someone's grandchild today and this baby looked so much like Wallace of Wallace and Gromit fame that it was all I could do to ask the grandmother if she had seen the show.  

Now this baby girl was adorable, and one of the reasons she reminded me of Wallace was because she would grin from ear to ear while she was playing, trying to walk, or looking at you.  Just a precious baby.  She is also pretty much bald, which makes her ears look big.  So every time she would grin at me I would think of Wallace.  

I just don't think the grandmother would have appreciated the comparison.

Counting to 10 and Beyond

I came home from work today to find a long faced youngest sitting on the couch talking to Loni.  As I started for the mail, I noticed an empty envelope addressed to the youngest from his college.  As I reached for the envelope, he informed me he had bad news.  He did not get campus housing, he is on a wait list.

This information would not have angered me if the youngest had turned in his housing application when I told him to back at the first of the year, or when I told him the second, third, fourth, fifth or sixth time.  If he had even turned it in the seventh time I told him, he would probably have had housing, but no, he procrastinated long enough that it was iffy he would get his housing stipend, and now he does not have housing.  

In the grand scheme of things, this is not even close the worse thing that could happen, but still, it was not in the plan.  

I am hoping that he will be notified of housing before classes start, but I am not going to hold my breath.  

I am disappointed because he won't have an opportunity to really make friends with his fellow freshmen, and get involved (not that he would do a lot) on campus.  

He is not going to be very happy because I will be breathing down his shoulder making sure has his work done.

So much for his plan to only come home twice a month.  

At least the letter didn't tell him that he didn't graduate and he wasn't a candidate for college.  

Accomplishment #183-#186

I did accomplish a few things over the July 4th long weekend, but not laundry.  Have I mentioned in this blog how much I hate laundry? 

In the last few days I have:

• Paid a lot of bills.
• Cleaned out the refrigerator of leftovers that were obviously not going to be eaten, or had frozen into a solid block because they were pushed to the back of the top shelf.
• Started purging the workshop, even though the youngest is doing the work, I have decided to let a lot of things go, some of them from my childhood, some from my life with Raymond.
• Cleaned the gas grill once the oldest had taken it apart for me. 
• Started on a new budget for the upcoming year.

The Conquering Hero

This weed has been the bane of my youngest's existence all summer.  It was growing out by our pool out of the weed barrier.  He finally weakened it enough with Round Up to be able to pull it out. 

Very Dear Friend

I have a very dear friend named Marie. 

I don't get to spend a lot of time with Marie, but I cherish every minute I do spend with her. 

Today we had a belated birthday lunch to celebrate her recent birthday.  I made her some pink coasters, since I know she likes the color.  

I hope she will think of me when she uses them, or when she throws them away.  It doesn't matter to me what people do with the things I give them once they are theirs.  (Except, I still won't make Loni the Halloween quilt she wants because I know she will display it all year, and that is just wrong.)

Accomplishments #180-182

Keeping track of my accomplishments keeps me from being depressed because I am not doing anything after work.  I do a lot, it is just at odd hours.

• Mail, lots of junk to recycle this week
• Laundry, washed and dried, not put away
• A couple of Thank You cards written
• Birthday gifts for friends wrapped, cards written
• Still working on my closet. It seems I decide to donate another shirt about every other day.  I am afraid to take the donation basket out of my bedroom because I know I will stop cleaning out the closet.
• Dusted art work 

Just Sad

This morning I was hit with an overwhelming sadness.

Part of it was missing Raymond, another part was I am just sad about my oldest.  

I don't like some of his choices lately.  He is not doing anything harmful or criminal.  He is a smart, hardworking, delightful young man and I very blessed he is my son, and yet that is the problem.

Because he is my son, I expect more from him.  I want him to have common sense, but I know he doesn't, never has, and probably never will. Since he was a toddler I have tried to teach him common sense, even though I know it is something you either have or don't have.

I have always had a lot of common sense, and I don't understand how I ended up with a child that cannot seem to at least use the common sense of others around him, and I don't mean just me.

He also is not very aggressive when it comes to standing up for himself, with me or anyone else.  

I need to learn to count my blessings with him, and I ask God every single day, and sometimes every hour, to help me to concentrate on all the good surrounding this wonderful son I have, but I need to dig deeper when it comes to this current situation.  

I am very afraid that this has caused a chasm between us and things will never be the same.

There is already a marked difference in our relationship.  Part of it is he keeps telling me he is trying to assert himself as an individual and be a man, and then turning around and not acting like an individual, and definitely not acting in his best interest as an individual.

The biggest blame (if there is really blame in this situation) is me.  I cannot come to grips with the fact that I have a child that cannot see the situation for what it is and then deal with it.  He could make it better by asserting his rights, or by turning away and going in a different direction.  Hell, he could even tell me to go mind my own F'ng business.

Unfortunately, the only thing he seems capable of doing is keeping the status quo and not realizing what it is doing to his self-esteem and his happiness. 

The only thing I can do about it is work on myself.  The problem with working on myself to accept the situation is that I am afraid that he will think I approve of what is happening, and I most definitely do not. 

So my solution...cry and be sad.