Busy Week
Here's my sometimes strange, but certainly full last 7 days.
Last Friday night I had dinner with a friend and went to see Le Miserables. Finally starting my attempt at seeing the nine movies up for oscar nomination of best picture this year. It was wonderful. Love Hugh Jackman, and knew he could pull it off since he had done so much Broadway before the silver screen. Plus I knew he could sing. Anne Hathaway I was more concerned about. I love her work, but was afraid like many of the critics that maybe she couldn't do this justice. She did. As a side note my companion said she enjoyed the second half of this one, and the first half of Gerard Depardieu's version from a few years back.
After the movie we had a some drinks and I headed home around 1am. A few blocks down from my house I noticed lights on at the home of an elderly woman whom I'd never met. I knew this to be odd and it drew my eye. Then I see her front door open and something laying on the front porch. She didn't have a porch light on, but clearly this was unusual. I drove around the block for a second look. After finally pulling into the drive of an empty house next to her I was able to figure out there was a woman laying on the porch. After calling 911, the arriving officer confirmed she had died. Again, not someone I knew, and I was careful not to get a good look at her. This is the sort of thing that has the propensity to put me non-functional for a few days. I prayed about it, and realized this, though traumatic, was not mine. I did what I was supposed to do, but that is all.
Saturday began a day of work starting on the church retreat I took last year in April that I will be working on the team with this year. This is something I've wanted to do since the moment I finished my own time last year. I was so happy to be included, truly if I had had a tail it would have been wagging the whole time. I get to work with a hand selected, like minded group of individuals that is going to seriously effect my life for the next few months at least. This makes me happy.
When I got back home, Kate had just arrived to help me clean out my achilles heel, the spare bedroom. That we did for hours on Sunday. The room is clean, the stuff dispersed except for what remains in my vehicle to be taken to the second hand store tomorrow. Exhausting work, physically and emotionally in some cases. Kate did too much of the heavy lifting and I was able to get rid of things like funeral bags. You know, those zippered briefcase sized bags that have bad memories in them. I took out a few pamphlets and let myself actually throw the bags away. I now have no emotional bombs untouched in my house. Things I have decided to keep have been defused and dealt with. Big thank you, Kate, I would never have finished it without you! The room is now empty except for cleaned out dressers and a day bed ready for a room mate. If that falls through February 1st, then I will get busy making it a comfortable guest room.
Then, the car battery that was telling me for weeks it needed replacing decided to totally die. Again, Kate to the rescue! Because she was here and able to stay until Monday morning, she could help me jump the battery, get it to the radio station Sunday night and take me to work before she left Monday morning. Putting me in a perfect place to get the battery replaced Monday afternoon. How very Rhiannon of me to have an emergency when there was someone available right then to help me take care of it!
Monday night I was able to exchange the last of my Christmas presents. Jeanie, pregnant and due February 5th also managed to get sick over the holidays so I was avoiding her until she was well. It was good to spend time with her while she showed me the nursery and all her preparations. It's fun to fold and oohh over tiny outfits, and pick out what the little Jaguar will wear home from the hospital. His name is Jagger, but the first time she told me that I heard Jaguar so of course, that's what I call him.
Thursday I had both an annual eye check up and then a dentist appointment. I had totally forgotten that the hygienist had made plans last time to numb an area in the back near the sensitive tooth to give a more thorough cleaning. Damn receding gum line! But, getting a shot of novocaine may indeed be better with little time to worry about it. Both appointments came out fine.
I finished up Thursday watching oscar nomination number two, Beasts of the Southern Wild. A strange indie film about desperately poor people living in the washtub(?) area of rural New Orleans. Though they don't mention Hurricane Katrina by name, it is the event they live through. The movie is through the eyes of the young girl, Hushpuppie, who has an excellent imagination. Still, a little too surreal for me.
Finally, today's nap brought an odd Preston dream. I sometimes recognize in dream that I'm having what I refer to as a wrong dream. Not really a nightmare, but just wrong. Preston dreams are always wrong because they are never something we did once, they are always as if he just walked back into my life. This time he and I ended up arguing over whether or not it's a dream. He was winning too when I woke up.
Last Friday night I had dinner with a friend and went to see Le Miserables. Finally starting my attempt at seeing the nine movies up for oscar nomination of best picture this year. It was wonderful. Love Hugh Jackman, and knew he could pull it off since he had done so much Broadway before the silver screen. Plus I knew he could sing. Anne Hathaway I was more concerned about. I love her work, but was afraid like many of the critics that maybe she couldn't do this justice. She did. As a side note my companion said she enjoyed the second half of this one, and the first half of Gerard Depardieu's version from a few years back.
After the movie we had a some drinks and I headed home around 1am. A few blocks down from my house I noticed lights on at the home of an elderly woman whom I'd never met. I knew this to be odd and it drew my eye. Then I see her front door open and something laying on the front porch. She didn't have a porch light on, but clearly this was unusual. I drove around the block for a second look. After finally pulling into the drive of an empty house next to her I was able to figure out there was a woman laying on the porch. After calling 911, the arriving officer confirmed she had died. Again, not someone I knew, and I was careful not to get a good look at her. This is the sort of thing that has the propensity to put me non-functional for a few days. I prayed about it, and realized this, though traumatic, was not mine. I did what I was supposed to do, but that is all.
Saturday began a day of work starting on the church retreat I took last year in April that I will be working on the team with this year. This is something I've wanted to do since the moment I finished my own time last year. I was so happy to be included, truly if I had had a tail it would have been wagging the whole time. I get to work with a hand selected, like minded group of individuals that is going to seriously effect my life for the next few months at least. This makes me happy.
When I got back home, Kate had just arrived to help me clean out my achilles heel, the spare bedroom. That we did for hours on Sunday. The room is clean, the stuff dispersed except for what remains in my vehicle to be taken to the second hand store tomorrow. Exhausting work, physically and emotionally in some cases. Kate did too much of the heavy lifting and I was able to get rid of things like funeral bags. You know, those zippered briefcase sized bags that have bad memories in them. I took out a few pamphlets and let myself actually throw the bags away. I now have no emotional bombs untouched in my house. Things I have decided to keep have been defused and dealt with. Big thank you, Kate, I would never have finished it without you! The room is now empty except for cleaned out dressers and a day bed ready for a room mate. If that falls through February 1st, then I will get busy making it a comfortable guest room.
Then, the car battery that was telling me for weeks it needed replacing decided to totally die. Again, Kate to the rescue! Because she was here and able to stay until Monday morning, she could help me jump the battery, get it to the radio station Sunday night and take me to work before she left Monday morning. Putting me in a perfect place to get the battery replaced Monday afternoon. How very Rhiannon of me to have an emergency when there was someone available right then to help me take care of it!
Monday night I was able to exchange the last of my Christmas presents. Jeanie, pregnant and due February 5th also managed to get sick over the holidays so I was avoiding her until she was well. It was good to spend time with her while she showed me the nursery and all her preparations. It's fun to fold and oohh over tiny outfits, and pick out what the little Jaguar will wear home from the hospital. His name is Jagger, but the first time she told me that I heard Jaguar so of course, that's what I call him.
Thursday I had both an annual eye check up and then a dentist appointment. I had totally forgotten that the hygienist had made plans last time to numb an area in the back near the sensitive tooth to give a more thorough cleaning. Damn receding gum line! But, getting a shot of novocaine may indeed be better with little time to worry about it. Both appointments came out fine.
I finished up Thursday watching oscar nomination number two, Beasts of the Southern Wild. A strange indie film about desperately poor people living in the washtub(?) area of rural New Orleans. Though they don't mention Hurricane Katrina by name, it is the event they live through. The movie is through the eyes of the young girl, Hushpuppie, who has an excellent imagination. Still, a little too surreal for me.
Finally, today's nap brought an odd Preston dream. I sometimes recognize in dream that I'm having what I refer to as a wrong dream. Not really a nightmare, but just wrong. Preston dreams are always wrong because they are never something we did once, they are always as if he just walked back into my life. This time he and I ended up arguing over whether or not it's a dream. He was winning too when I woke up.