10 Days

I am officially on vacation and have 10 full days ahead of me that I rule. 

I plan to only do what I want to do.  

So far my plans include:

• Finishing a quilt
• Quilting on another quilt
• Having dinner Monday night with J & G
• Baking barbecue buns for Thanksgiving dinner
• Spending lots and lots of time with my boys or boy
• Reading
• Making a list of gifts I plan on giving this holiday season

I am going to start my vacation tomorrow morning by visiting with a friend.

Woohoo!

Well, I am Going to be Up for a While

Loni and I have been catching up on the shows I have recorded on my computer.  Last night we watched "Once Upon a Time."  I really enjoyed it, intriguing and different.

Tonight we caught up on "Grimm."  Creepy show.  Although I do like the wolf sidekick.  

Now I have to stay up and watch happy shows so that I won't have nightmares. 

So Far Today Has Been Good

I am having a good day.

I spent two hours this morning watching a show that makes me cry, so I had a nice long cry.  I know some people find it strange that I enjoy a  day of crying, but it really helps me get through sometimes.

I scrubbed my bathroom.

I did a little dusting, make that very little dusting.

I emailed the wife of an old friend of mine who passed away earlier this year.  I wanted to make sure she knew I was thinking of her and her first holidays alone.  Even though you expect it, you are never ready for all the feelings that come up at each special occasion.  I have been thinking of him myself.  I remember last Christmas when he told me he knew it was his last one. I know he enjoyed the holiday, but I really cannot imagine what it must have been for him to watch his grandson open presents knowing that would be the very last time he would witness that toddler under  a Christmas tree. 

I have also been looking for a box I misplaced.  Not too hard though.  I am sure I will run across it eventually.  

Speaking of hidden boxes, I guess I need to figure out what I am getting the boys for Christmas.  I am hoping they will tell me over Thanksgiving.  At least my youngest has already ordered a game for  his birthday present.  I was going to give it to him early, but he said he wanted to get through finals before  getting into the game.  He is really doing great this semester, and I am very proud of his mature attitude about staying on track.

Tonight I will have dinner with the girls. Mexican food, you can't go wrong with that, unless you go to a sucky restaurant, and we know our Mexican restaurants around here.

I think I will go watch some more episodes of my show and cry for another hour before tackling the next project. 

I also need to start thinking about 2012 and what I hope to accomplish besides getting over my fear of traveling without my car so I can enjoy my trip to Alaska.

I might also want to start thinking about getting out of my nightgown sometime before I leave for the restaurant.

 

A Bus Ride A Long Time Ago

When I was a senior in high school, I took a field trip to Eastern KY Univ. with my Art Club. 

I am not sure what happened that day on the bus, only that it was magical.  

I just spent the last two hours IM'ing with a friend who was on the bus that day.  He also remembers that bus trip and said he has never forgotten it. Yet, other than a couple of small details, we have no specifics about the bus ride.

A few months ago I talked with another friend who was on that bus ride and once again heard how magical that day was.  

Three people on the same bus ride, coming away with the same feeling, and yet we cannot identify  why it felt that way.

I think it might be because we all became friends that day when we hadn't really known each other  before.  Friends that made such a connection on that bus ride we still are connected even though we haven't seen each other in years and years.

Very cool.

Hello Old Friend

Thanks to Facebook I have reconnected with another old friend.

Actually, this old friend was the reason I first set up an account with FB.  He was one of my closest friends in high school.  No, we never dated, we never wanted to mess up the friendship.  

I used to be able to keep up with him through my parents, but then they moved out of KY.  Then my in-laws would give me updates from time to time, but those updates ended years ago when my friend changed jobs and my in-laws did not cross paths with him.  

He did not have a FB account until the last week of October, and even though I am FB friends with his sister and cousin, I was not able to get any information about his life.  

Now we check in with each other to see how things are going.  He is happily married and a grandfather of 6.  I am thrilled that he is having a good life, because he has had some tragedy in his past.  

I feel very blessed to have reconnected with him.  It is nice to have someone that remembers you when you were younger.  A friend that, after all these years, still cares and knows that our friendship was special then and is special now.  

Hello old friend, I'm so happy to have found you again.

I'm So Happy

I sold Raymond's kiln.  Better yet, I sold it to one of Raymond's friends from pottery class.

Kathleen came by the other night and spent a little time with us after looking at the pottery wheel, which she is going to try to sell for me.  She was able to share a couple of stories about Raymond with Hunter and that made me really happy.

I know that Kathleen will enjoy the kiln, and I know she will enjoy it even more because it was Raymond's.  

It just makes me happy.

My Youngest and His Driving Adventures

My youngest son hates to drive.  He avoids it as much as possible unless it involves getting to play Magic, the Gathering.  Every time he does drive, he comes home with tales of what he witnessed other drivers do (you know that ever other driver on the road besides him is an idiot). 

He came home from a Magic event last night and told me had a rough night of driving. Said on the way to the shop the drivers were crazy, and that on the way back his car started making a odd thumping sound. Then to top it all off he was at a red light and a girl in the car next to him started waving at him and acting like she wanted to talk to him and he was so relieved when the light turned green and he could get away.

Of course, my ears perked up at odd thumping sound.  I started asking him questions about that and he couldn't answer any of them.  Then I asked him if he ever thought that the girl might be trying to tell him that something was wrong with his car and "Didn't he think he should roll down the window to see what she wanted?"

His response to my questions about the thump were vague, and the suggestion that he talk to the girl, well his colorful answer told me that evidently he would never do that.  He said he was pretty sure it was a "Hey I know you, roll down the window so we can talk wave."  Of course when I asked him why he didn't do that, there was the answer of "Why would I do that?  I didn't recognize her."

I guess today I will be going for a ride in his car to find hear the "thump."  His car that he has had since May and it still smells like he just drove it off the dealer's lot, and that is not because of an air freshener.