Ten Good Things Weekly--Week Nine

Was it only a couple of weeks ago I was whining that there was snow in the hills, the wind was biting, and it looked like the sun was never going to come out? Here is yet another example of our wonky weather: Today, I had to tote my laptop to a spot in the shade with a breeze, because the mercury is expected to shoot up to 97° . The rain lost its grip on the Pacific Northwest, blew across the country, and grabbed for New England before it could be blown out to sea in the Atlantic. And there it has dug in its heels and is causing all kinds of havoc. I feel your pain, my New England sisters!

My life is in a pattern of tense idleness. If only I could will this café deal into moving along at greater than a handicapped snail’s pace. The seller is busy constructing another building, and while he’s making noises indicating he wants this sale to go through as quickly as possible, he doesn’t have the time to collect the information we need to complete the sale. We’ve offered to help as much as we can, but we’re still at the mercy of his limited availability. I know in my heart that it’s all going to come to fruition at some point, but the waiting is frazzling my nerves and giving me an ulcer. Patience is not one of my virutes, as I’ve mentioned scores of times in the past…

Well, at least I have more time to put together my "Ten Good Things Weekly" list for this week. Let’s see how quickly this one will come together. In no particular order:

1. I finished scanning pictures and cutting them out for my Mothers’ Day gift for my mom. There are "Cookie Lee" jewelry booths at some of the events we do, and I have discovered these great picture bracelets that my mom just goes ga-ga over. Cute, stretchy bracelets with little frames for half a dozen pictures all around. Perfect gifts for slightly addled little old ladies in Assisted Living apartments. For her birthday last October, I assembled one that had pictures of my dad and each of us five girls. The Mothers’ Day version was what I call the "dead animal bracelet"—the pictures are all of late, great pets. It went right on her wrist with the 96 other bracelets she wears every day. J
2. Spent another $150 on plants when we were down in Eugene this weekend. I purposely put aside a large part of my plant budget to take south with me. All of my favorite nurseries are down there, and I still haven’t found too manygreat plant places up here in the northland, even after five years. So, every year around mid-May, I trundle back up from Eugene with a car load of plants. This year’s assemblage is even now sitting at my feet in nursery boxes, looking up at me expectantly…
3. Managed to get our drip irrigation system up and running before we left town for the weekend. This is the system which allows me to be a successful absentee gardener. We were able to be away from the hose for 48 hours without doing any great damage to my tender, just planted gardens. They watered themselves while we were gone. Gotta love that.
4. Two days after getting home from our last event in Astoria, I came down with a crummy, sniffly cold. I fully expected to be sick for weeks…colds usually hang on to me like ticks on a coon hound. Lo and behold, the cold was dried up and gone by last Wednesday, barely a week into its stay. Woo-hoo! I must be taking better care of myself than I thought…
5. Property taxes 2005-2006 are now history. Paid the last of three installments this morning. Now I can wait at least a month before I start stressing out about next year’s tax bill..
6. With temperatures soaring into the eighties, I was finally able to dig out the summer clothes. And all my favorite little shirts and shorts that I wore almost to death last year still fit me. I don’t look too terrible for a broad of my age. At least I don’t make people gag and cover their eyes when I walk down the street in shorts and a tank top…
7. We went to the mall in Eugene just to go to the DMV and get some tags renewed. On our way out, we came upon a shoe store that was going out of business. I was able to score a really cute pair of Naturalizer pumps for $15. It’s always a good day when you get a great deal on a pair of cute shoes…
8. At the family gathering yesterday, I entrusted my $400 digital camera to my niece (14) and my sister’s grandson (7.) Not only did they not break the camera, but with minimal tutelage from me, they came back with some pretty awesome shots. Especially the 7-year-old. At his age, I was rarely allowed to lay a finger on a camera, and when I did, the resultant pictures were usually of headless figures with feet perfectly centered in the frame, or three quarters of a frame full of open sky, with disembodied heads lined up along the bottom of the photo. This boy ran around the yard taking shots of everything from pets to flowers to the other party-goers to garden art. We called him our budding Ansel Adams…
9. Speaking of my 14-year-old niece, I got to spend some time last night just fooling around and having a good time with her. She’s a neat kid, despite some of the crappy things she’s had to go through in her life. I think she’s going to turn out to be a worthwhile human being.
10. I shared with my husband how much I want this café deal to go through. I read him my journal entry of 5/12, as a matter of fact. He kind of sat there with his eyebrows raised. He had no idea how strongly I felt about it, and this was the only way I could think of to let him know. He called me "driven." Our family tends to the stoic side on matters of real importance. Maybe it’s a defense mechanism…if you let yourself get passionate about something, and then it doesn’t happen, it hurts that much more. But I truly feel there are times when you just have to allow your passion to burn, if you want something to happen. If you want anything to happen. I honestly wonder where we would be and what we would be doing, as a couple, if it was not for me breaking out of the mold and allowing myself to be "driven" from time to time. I think the only reason he wouldn’t still be working at the K-Mart where he was working when we met, is because they closed the store and tore it down about ten years ago. We haven’t accomplished an overlarge list of great things in our married life, but everything we have, every new place we have gone, is because I dragged us there. With mixed results, I’ll be the first to admit. It’s to be hoped that this latest venture will fall down on the "good" side of the results meter…

I want to thank everyone for your encouragement and positive energy beamed in my direction. It has really helped to know that there are people out there pulling for me. Just keep your fingers crossed for a few more weeks, and I’ll be able to invite everyone to my place for a latte or a glass of Oregon wine…