Perspective

Sometimes it isn't just about having a bad week. It's just....blah. Last Thursday, the sky opened up and we had more rain in one day than Noah's forty days. CJ continued in his war of attrition with his class. I continued in my war with procrastination, and lost, and won, and lost.

I've had a sense recently that I'm not doing what I should be doing. The difference between this feeling now and three years ago (the last time it came) is that 1) I'm happily married; 2) I'm working with a group of people I genuinely like; and 3) I've finished the first draft of my book and am currently rewriting and editing. So to make a long story short (too late), on paper I am much further away from being in frustrating situations, and hopefully that much closer to the time in which I will be doing what I should be doing.

But I'm not there yet. And that little word "yet" makes me impatient. It is in human nature to want good things to happen NOW.

But sometimes the impatience is negated by cold reality.

Yesterday, I met T. She's a new coworker, and will be working in my department. She has two young daughters. One is four and the other is two years old.

T was so matter of fact, telling me and my other coworkers about her kids, that there was no question of dramatics, or exaggeration.

Her younger daughter was born six weeks early, only hours after her older daughter was diagnosed.

T and her family are waiting for 2017. That year, God willing, her daughter will be declared cancer free.

A blah week, a rainy day, frustration over a status in limbo does not matter.

Many people have had much worse days.

Music Monday - Skyfall

I was going to post this song today anyway, and the events in Boston seem to echo the lyrics to a certain extent. "Let the sky fall" indeed. We don't know what is coming tomorrow, or the day after that, or the day following after. Let us remember in these days the oft-cited and misquoted British phrase: "Keep calm and carry on."

May the victims rest in peace, and the wounded find comfort.

Fridays, Furniture, and Stan

It's a quiet Friday evening here at our home. CJ is doing his thing (relaxing by watching several videos simultaneously on his TWO computer screens). It's been a long week for him. Last week was spring break at his school, and his students came back this week....um, crazy.

It's been a hard year for my husband. He got one of "those" classes. Everything he knew about teaching for the previous decade went out the window with all the kids at his new school, and this particular sixth grade class. It's a difficult thing for him to go into work every day and not know if he's making any difference. We both pray for his students. Pray for them, will you? They need our prayers.

We did nothing last week on break. It was fantastic. The only work we did was a long-awaited change. We moved our bedroom into the old office, and the office into the old bedroom. Our new bedroom is much smaller and more cramped. However. It still has the bed, tremendously heavy dresser, and side tables in it - with room to move around!

I did not believe that the furniture would work in the new bedroom. But after we had crammed all the moving furniture into our already-small living room, CJ gave me a Look when I expressed skepticism. He said, "Trust me. This will work."

And ya know what? It did. The new office looks good too. CJ's big desk in one corner, the BIG beanbag chair next to it in the other (great for reading or even catching a nap), and my new desk under the window opposite the door. We'll be cleaning it up more tomorrow. Lots of laundry still on the floor. Oh well...

What have I been up to this evening? Nothing much. I worked on my book for awhile after Skyping with Mom this afternoon. I was in a zone until CJ got home. (Mom, I was five minutes off. He walked in at 4:25. When I told him I was expecting him between 4:30-4:45, he gave me that grin and said, "Do you want me to drive around the block for five minutes and come back?" I said no. :))

We went out to dinner, which has become our Friday evening ritual. We came back home, he relaxed in the office, and I've been watching the Cardinals game ever since. Shelby Miller!! Cardinals pitcher, retired his last 17 batters.

But the night belongs to the greatest Cardinal player ever, Stanley Frank Musial. He went home to his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in January this year. And he got to see his wife, Lil again. They were married for nearly 72 years. Yes. That is not a typo - they were married in 1940, and Lil passed away in 2012.

At the game tonight, there were lots of events honoring Stan. One of my favorites was when the crowd got up for the seventh inning stretch - during the sixth inning. Stan's number was #6. He was also a harmonica player. The crowd at Busch was given harmonicas. So during "Take Me Out To The Ballgame", thousands of fans attempted to play the song on their harmonicas. I'm sure Stan and Lil enjoyed that. :)

So that's our Friday. A good end to a long week.

Here's to you, Stan the Man. Aaaaaand....that's a Cardinals win! 2-0. Two runs and...six hits. :)