Tuesday, October 18, 2011

House Elves & House Demons


Remember "Dobby", Harry Potter's House Elf?  Cute little guy and pretty rascally most of the time. BUT---a more loving and loyal friend would be hard to find in the world of Muggles OR Wizards. 

Hear Ye, Hear Ye!!  I  have found not one Dobby, but a whole bunch of Dobbys.  They are everywhere!  Coming out of the woodwork and arriving at my doorstep! Their names are Susan, Jessica, Lois, Mary Ellen, Debbie, Maggie, "Church Ladies" and many others--please forgive me if I omitted your name. These House Elves come into my home and happily clean our kitchen, wash, dry, fold and put away our laundry, bring food, make me lunch, change the sheets on our bed, empty trash, play with our dogs and...well, you get the picture.  They are really part House Elf and part Angel.  I am so blessed that sometimes I can't believe it.  To have so many friends who are so concerned about me is a priceless gift--so priceless, in fact that I couldn't buy them, even with a MasterCard.  In fact, they don't even take MasterCard!  They do all this for free.


The problem is that their work often gets sabotaged by House Demons.  Let me show you what I mean:


My kitchen after a House Elf visit :-)
                          My kitchen the very next day:-[                              



















My laundry room after House Elf visit! :-)
Laundry appears the very next day! :-[



Where does it all come from 
the very next day???






 


















Empty trash can thanks to a House Elf















The only way to set a House Elf free is to give them a piece of clothing.  I'm not ready to give my "Dobbys" their socks just yet!!  I LOVE my House Elves!!!!

Thursday, October 6, 2011

The Double F

So far this month I've written about friends and food.  How about one more "F"? Actually it's a double F--Feelings of Frustration.  That's where I am today.  Every so often my pain and not being able to do things get all mixed up in my head and I become very frustrated.  If I hobble around the house to empty the dishwasher or load the washer or make the bed I feel like I've accomplished something but my leg really hurts and swells during and after.  That means I need to go lie down for a few hours before my leg settles down.  The doctor said I could be up for short periods in the house.  They really don't want me to be sitting all day long.  Too many problems come from that--DVT's, pneumonia, bedsores, crumbs in the bed and on and on.  

I'm not sure right now how to get past this double F curse.  I try to stay very positive for myself and my family and friends.  No one wants to be around a grouchy cripple and since I want my friends and family around me I try to be nice. The only really 'lucky' one to see the real me is my husband, bless him.  Last evening for some reason I was a first class "B" (another alphabet word) and since Dave was here (after all, he does live here) he got blasted.  I got mad at him because I spilled a full glass of wine all over the table.  I got mad at him because HE was cleaning it up.  Then I got mad at him because he made me sit down while he cleaned and then he made me supper!  Does that make sense to anyone but me??? 

There's a cloud over this whole recuperation period because of how I broke my bones in the first place.  I keep reminding myself that it is this prime example of how I can't do everything I want to do.  Freedom isn't the absence of restriction; it's having self-imposed limits that allow you to be all you can without overdoing it.  Just like kids, we need rules and guidelines in our lives in order to be truly free.  Kind of a weird concept.  So, where are these Fs of F coming from?  Probably all of the above: I'm overly-restricted right now so I don't feel free.  I fell because I loosened up some of my restrictions and I'm frustrated because I have to have too many restrictions.  The happy medium is out there right now.  Out in the nebulous "there".  I know I'll reach it again but in this season of mixed up freedom don't be surprised if I snap at you for a random act of kindness.  Just know that the real "ME" will return soon.
In the meantime, I'll just keep KNITTIN' WITHOUT NEEDLES!

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Comfort Food Day

It's raining in Fresno!!  Big news since we haven't seen it for months and months.  And I have on long pants and a long sleeved shirt.  That means it's cool outside and calls for comfort food, a good book and a snuggle with the pups.  I was going to take a pic of my other comfort food, buttered toast, but I ate it too fast.  All I have is the crumbs.  The thing that really tipped the scales for a great day was I heard about 5 seconds of thunder.  I really miss the rip-roaring thunderstorms we had in the Midwest so I covet each roll.  So, since I don't have anything better to do I'm hunkerin' down this afternoon.  I'd love to have company if anybody's free.  I even have some more soup and toast!

Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Treasured Friends

KATE. A FRIEND FOREVER
HALLE is so adorable.  I caught her eating--
it's the only pic I have of her!
She tried to hide from me when I had the camera!
























This past weekend was great!!! My BFF  came down to visit with her daughter, Halle. We grew up in Eureka, Illinois but for the past 20+ years have both lived in California. We live only a few hours from each other but it's been years since we've gotten together.  We were busy with kids and life and her daughter is still young (junior high) so she's still busy!  You know how it is when you don't see a good friend for a long time and you get back together?  You don't miss a beat.  That's how it is with her.  We have a 55 year history together so we go waaaaaaaay back.  We know each others' families, warts and all (Well, my family had warts, not sure if Kate's family did, but we got them burned off.....ha ha)  The love that we share is rare because of all we've been through together.  From grade school tribulations to high school tragedies (I don't have a date for Prom!!!!!) we saw each other through.  Kate and I were a part of the BIG THREE.  Our third friend was Nancy who still lives in Illinois.  We were never seen apart and there was nothing the three of us couldn't conquer.  I really don't know how I would have made it without them.  I think I'd be a different person today if I had never met them.  I would probably even be a bit quieter...we could, and still can, make a lot of noise!  In fact my son commented during Kate's visit that this has been my loudest visit yet!  We admit it, we're loud.  Dave kept telling us to use our "inside voices" but we don't have inside voices.  No off button..don't even try!

So I've been thinking about friendship--the kind of friends that we are.  We grew up in the 50's and 60's when life was a lot different.  Our parents weren't afraid to send us to the grocery store on our bikes or even to let us ride all over town.  Everyone looked out for everyone.  That works the other way, too.  If we did something naughty our parents would hear about it before we got home.  It was really difficult to hide things from them.  My parents knew all my classmates and most of their parents.  That at least spared my dates having to come in to meet my dad.  Chances are they had already met or our dads were friends or co-workers. All the moms in the neighborhoods were friends and the kids just went from one house to the next feeling just at home next door or down the block as in their own house.  I stay in touch with several of these friends and love getting together with them when I go back to Eureka, but my BFF's are almost like sisters.  It's a different kind of closeness and I will always marvel at how fortunate I am to have them in my life.  Even if years go by without seeing each other, we know that the other is there and sometimes that's enough. We always worried that we'd forget each other when we went off to college...that we'd meet our best friends in college.  That didn't happen.  We stayed close through the years and I treasure that.  I love knowing that there are a few people who "knew me when" and still like me!  We've changed for sure but that little spark of who we once were is still there, just under the surface.  I love my friends, especially my two BFF's.  That term wasn't around when we were kids.  I guess we just said the words without the initials...Best Friends Forever.  They're one of the very best things I have taken from my childhood!