My sister and I talked about going shopping yesterday afternoon, but we were both tired. I suggested that we wait until this morning, and shop for about three hours. She picked me up at 9:30 a.m., and we headed to Wal-Mart. We both had a list, and expected to be in and out in about thirty minutes. That was foolish, I know, and it took more than an hour. I bought a new shower caddy (I bought a cheap one when we moved into this house, and it was due for replacement), chrome spice shelves, a new dish drain (the old one was fine, but this new one is red), a chrome corner shelf for one of my kitchen cabinets, sachet packets to put in the guest bedroom sheets to keep them smelling fresh, toilet bowl cleaner, and--most important--dog food!
We left Wal-Mart and headed to Goody's. There were two ladies selling jewelry at the front entrance, so we stopped and shopped with them before we headed into the store. One of the women looked very familiar to us, and when we asked for her card and saw her name, we realized that she and her husband had attended church with our parents. I spent more money on clothes, and then hit the Goody's jewelry clearance. I've cut my hair much shorter than I've worn it for the past thirteen or fourteen years, and I'm ready to change my style in earrings. From there, we went to Cato's, and two shirts and two pairs of earrings begged to come home with me.
We headed for the mall (to eat lunch at Ruby Tuesday's), and a shirt and sweater in Sears also begged to come home with me. Our lunch was lovely, topped off with a shared dessert. Our three-hour shopping trip finally ended at around 3:00 p.m.!
I unloaded my packages, and then went to work on my spice shelf. I think my darling husband bought either chili powder or crushed red peppers every time he went to the grocery store; I found about three jars of each, plus a couple of jars of meat tenderizer! I threw out old jars, and reorganized everything. I then moved on to a couple of the kitchen cabinets, and they're looking much better now. The shower caddy is now in place, and looks much nicer than the old one.
When we moved, my huge, hand-made jewelry armoire was moved with all the jewelry in it. It was held closed with elastic cords, and placed in the back of a truck. All of my jewelry--earrings, bracelets, pins--got jumbled up and dislodged from their individual compartments. I haven't cared anything about organizing it, but the hair cut seems to have been what was needed to get me moving. I went through every drawer this afternoon, throwing out junk, and matching up pairs of earrings. I think I can finally find a pair of earrings every morning, and won't have to wear the same three pairs that I wore for two months or more after DH died. I unpacked all the jewelry I bought today, and put on a new pair of earrings to wear around the house!
I finished up my work time by putting together the outdoor floor lamp that I bought for my deck. It is very heavy, and looks nice setting between my adirondack chairs, just behind the table that goes with the chairs. The weather is finally getting cool enough to sit outside in the evenings, and I think the light will be sufficient for reading or maybe even using my laptop out there. I've just watched the last two episodes of "Grey's Anatomy" from last season, and I'm about to watch the episode that I taped last Thursday night.
Saturday, September 29, 2007
Thursday, September 27, 2007
Football Season is Here
Football season in our state started at the end of August. DH was a BIG football fan, having played while in high school, and done public address and radio work for several local teams. We watched college games together every Saturday (while he wore his favorite team cap, that would be thrown across the room when things weren't going well), and listened to games that weren't being broadcast. Actually, he liked his favorite team's radio announcers better than any of the television broadcasters, so many times we turned down the volume on the television and listened to the radio guys. That was always interesting, since the radio guys were usually a few seconds ahead of the television...
When I was a child, there was only one television in our house, and my father controlled what was watched. You could either watch a football game with him (college or professional, and he had a very logical--to him--system of picking which team he favored in a particular game), or you could move to another room. Therefore, my sister and I grew up rather familiar with the game, and the players. After DH and I met, he was frequently impressed by my knowledge of the game...with one exception. He made the mistake of asking me if I knew what a safety is, what a touch back is, and there was one other question that I can't recall. I laughed, and called my father to tell him that DH had insulted my upbringing!
Fall has always been one of my favorite seasons, but this one has started off rather bittersweet. I think I am coming out of the state of shock that started with DH's death and funeral. So much time was taken up with things that had to be done, legally and personally, and now that most of those details are handled, I have moved to a new stage of my grief. I have wonderful, supportive friends and family, but sometimes I just have to sit and cry until I can't breathe. I ask God all sorts of questions, but I know I won't get answers until I see Him face to face. When my friend's husband died five years ago, her doctor wanted her to see a therapist who charged $125/hour, and was sixty miles away. All of her friends at school told her that we thought we could provide the same service for free, and one of our male teachers (one of the finest men I know...and I should know, since I taught him when he was thirteen!) told her that he'd come watch television with her for $5/hour, and let her be in charge of the remote! Now I suppose it's my turn for the therapy.
As my mother said, onward and upward...
When I was a child, there was only one television in our house, and my father controlled what was watched. You could either watch a football game with him (college or professional, and he had a very logical--to him--system of picking which team he favored in a particular game), or you could move to another room. Therefore, my sister and I grew up rather familiar with the game, and the players. After DH and I met, he was frequently impressed by my knowledge of the game...with one exception. He made the mistake of asking me if I knew what a safety is, what a touch back is, and there was one other question that I can't recall. I laughed, and called my father to tell him that DH had insulted my upbringing!
Fall has always been one of my favorite seasons, but this one has started off rather bittersweet. I think I am coming out of the state of shock that started with DH's death and funeral. So much time was taken up with things that had to be done, legally and personally, and now that most of those details are handled, I have moved to a new stage of my grief. I have wonderful, supportive friends and family, but sometimes I just have to sit and cry until I can't breathe. I ask God all sorts of questions, but I know I won't get answers until I see Him face to face. When my friend's husband died five years ago, her doctor wanted her to see a therapist who charged $125/hour, and was sixty miles away. All of her friends at school told her that we thought we could provide the same service for free, and one of our male teachers (one of the finest men I know...and I should know, since I taught him when he was thirteen!) told her that he'd come watch television with her for $5/hour, and let her be in charge of the remote! Now I suppose it's my turn for the therapy.
As my mother said, onward and upward...
Monday, September 10, 2007
Three Steps Forward, One or Two Back
I went to see my in-laws last Friday afternoon. They are always so happy to see me, and thank me for coming...and then I cry all the way home. I cry because we all loved DH so much, and miss him with every breath. I cry because I'm happy that I was given such wonderful in-laws, and I wish they lived closer to me so that I could do more for them.
We had a big weekend at my sister's house. My niece and her husband (and that darling baby) came over on Saturday, and then my niece's in-laws came Sunday afternoon to swim, eat, and mostly visit with the baby. They live about 70 miles away, so it wasn't a bad drive, and we all had a nice time. The baby is getting quite comfortable in the pool (with someone holding onto her FIRMLY all the time), and after pool time, she got to draw on the concrete pool deck with her lovely new sidewalk chalk.
I made two cheeseballs, cucumber dip, an almond poundcake, and cinnamon mini-muffins (all from Tastefully Simple mixes...wonderful and easy). My BIL cooked wings and smoked sausages on the grill, and we had boiled corn and slaw. DH was usually the "wing man", so BIL was a little hesitant, but he pulled it off in fine style. I manage pretty well in a crowd, but it makes me lonesome for DH. He had a VERY outgoing personality, and loved to cook and watch people eat what he'd cooked. The house to which we'd just moved when he got sick is set up beautifully for entertaining, and if he'd still been with us, we probably would have had appetizers at my sister's, and moved around the corner to our house for the main course and dessert.
Life is still good, and I have a lot to enjoy and for which to be thankful. I was sick for about two weeks with a sinus infection and a nasty cough that I couldn't shake, and being sick always makes me a little morose...onward and upward.
We had a big weekend at my sister's house. My niece and her husband (and that darling baby) came over on Saturday, and then my niece's in-laws came Sunday afternoon to swim, eat, and mostly visit with the baby. They live about 70 miles away, so it wasn't a bad drive, and we all had a nice time. The baby is getting quite comfortable in the pool (with someone holding onto her FIRMLY all the time), and after pool time, she got to draw on the concrete pool deck with her lovely new sidewalk chalk.
I made two cheeseballs, cucumber dip, an almond poundcake, and cinnamon mini-muffins (all from Tastefully Simple mixes...wonderful and easy). My BIL cooked wings and smoked sausages on the grill, and we had boiled corn and slaw. DH was usually the "wing man", so BIL was a little hesitant, but he pulled it off in fine style. I manage pretty well in a crowd, but it makes me lonesome for DH. He had a VERY outgoing personality, and loved to cook and watch people eat what he'd cooked. The house to which we'd just moved when he got sick is set up beautifully for entertaining, and if he'd still been with us, we probably would have had appetizers at my sister's, and moved around the corner to our house for the main course and dessert.
Life is still good, and I have a lot to enjoy and for which to be thankful. I was sick for about two weeks with a sinus infection and a nasty cough that I couldn't shake, and being sick always makes me a little morose...onward and upward.
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