Up North Surprise

Dragon Mood? -- pleased

Once upon a time ... a certain person's mother decided that the only way to fill the void in her life was to shop, buy things, spend money (she truly couldn't afford to spend) and fill her house with knick-knacks, geegaws and other useless decorative frou-frou.  Did I mention to the point of bursting?

This aging mother (I'll call her Ally) is now in serious financial trouble and may actually lose her home and be forced to move.  Ally vehemently denies being a hoarder.  I mean V-E-H-E-M-E-N-T-L-Y!   She becomes highly volatile and agitated  at any suggestion that she is responsible for the cluttered, claustrophobic condition of her home.

Imagine my apprehension then at S and my plans to drive to Ally's home, three hours away, and work with her to go through possessions, sort things into keep/donate/trash piles and possibly move some furniture.

My apprehension was not without cause.  Within 15 minutes of our arrival, Ally's face became suffused with anger over the alleged judgmental 'look' on my face, followed with the statement, "You can leave and don't come back."  (Breathing out slowly.)  Okay.

I became quiet and avoided eye contact, much like you would with a scary, threatening dog.  (The adjective, "junkyard" comes to mind.)  Thankfully, that was the one and only outburst from Ally.

From that point on, S and I were able to move (correction, barely move) a large, overstuffed sofa (big armrolls, fancy scalloping on the back and huge cabbage rose upholstery) out the front door and to the garage for temporary storage.  That is, after S removed the front door off its hinges.  And then we struggled afterward to remount the door because the hinges were never properly aligned when originally installed.  Sheesh!

But getting that oversized sofa out of the living room was only the first step.  We took out two upholstered white chairs, along with a big heavy oak entertainment center (thankfully equipped with rolling wheels), several dark, dated side tables, a magazine rack, some lamps, a large television set and four or five wooden and painted chairs.  Our piece de resistance was a double-size mattress and box springs that had been previously professionally wrapped and stored in a pole barn.  S and I used a heavy-duty dolly to pull them.  As she pulled the dolly through a two-track sandpile, I literally had to run to keep up with her, my task to hold the mattress and box springs upright.   But we did it and we made it!  YaY!

Ally, to her credit, had been working since our previous trip to sort and organize items.  She had almost a dozen grocery bags filled with unwanted clothing (mostly Grandma's) that she had washed, folded and packed.  Those all went out to the garage to eventually be loaded in our truck.  A tacky bathroom shelving unit stowed forever in the main hallway of the house went out to the garage for donation.  (It's amusing to me how getting rid of certain items carries much more emotional weight and gratification than others.  Who knew?)  Ally sorted and I carried boxes and bags of old magazines for recycling.  By midafternoon, we ordered a pizza and moved out to the pole barn in the backyard.

Hoarding is an odd, curious phenomenon to me.  Ally is the only person that I am intimate enough with to see it up close.  Certain things appear to hold an unusual attraction for her:  glass jars of all sorts and sizes, coffee makers, tiny collectibles (she has an entire case filled with miniature tea sets), certain magazines (National Geographic and Smithsonian being the preeminent ones, because of their 'educational' value?).  She has glass everywhere.  Cut glass, leaded glass, ordinary glass, old Cheese-Whiz jars -- if it's glass, she hoards it.

But, here's the good thing. For all of my apprehensions and S's apprehensions, we had an incredibly productive day, a SURPRISING day, a day (almost) without any emotional blowups, and we drove home late that night feeling pretty good about our day's work. Let's have a BIG SMILE all around!

QOTD - July 28, 2010

Dragon Mood? -- nodding my head in agreement

The only person who is with you your entire life is you. Make peace with yourself. (From @reneeludwigs)

Saturday reverberations

Dragon Mood? -- life-changing goosebumpy

Still catching up from the awesome news that my son, Josh, and his girlfriend, Leah, in a few short moments, made the life-changing, goosebumps transition from boyfriend/girlfriend to engaged or betrothed.

But first a message from our sponsor, on the origins of the word, "betrothed."

Origin:
1275–1325; ME [Middle English] betrouthe, variation of betreuthe ( be- be- + treuthe truth; see troth)

—Synonyms
1. engage, promise, pledge, plight.

To me, betrothal is an old-fashioneded word, almost verging on archaic(?). Nowadays, we refer to a couple as being "engaged" rather than betrothed. Curiously, the definition above left me unsatisfied, like a bad fast-food meal, so I dug a bit more and found some historical context for the "betrothal" at Wikipedia.

Historically betrothal was a formal contract, blessed or officiated by a religious authority. Betrothal was binding as marriage and a divorce was necessary to terminate a betrothal. Betrothed couples were regarded legally as husband and wife - even before their wedding and physical union

I didn't know that did you? So Josh, your proposing to Leah at sunrise on Lake Michigan was no hey-whaddaya-say sort of thing. It was the REAL DEAL -- and knowing you for the principled, responsible young man that you are -- as you were most likely well aware.

QOTD - July 27, 2010

Dragon Mood? -- pondering this

Optimism is joyful searching; pessimism is a prison of fear and a clutching at illusionary safety. ~ K.A.Brehony (thanks to @CoachCecily for this)

Replete with happiness

Dragon Mood? -- smiling, tickled pink, thrilled

This weekend I was unplugged from my laptop and as a result, the internet.  Since I don't have a 'smart phone,' I didn't have a chance to share with you the good news I got this weekend.

I was up early Saturday morning, dressed, with a cup of coffee in hand when my cell phone rang.  It was Josh.  I'm thinking to myself, what is he doing calling me at 8:15 on a Saturday morning (7:15 his time in Milwaukee).  Is everything okay?

After a little chit-chat (rain, sinkholes, really?), he told me that he had proposed to Leah.  And Leah, also on the phone, said that she had accepted.  Yay!!

I am so happy and excited for both of them!

Slyly creeping in when I wasn't looking

Dragon Mood? -- reflecting

Days and weeks are slipping by.  I have been unemployed or 'job seeking' as the (politically correct) career counselors would have me describe myself for 15 months now.  That's a pretty significant chunk of time.  In the moments when I'm not looking at job postings, exploring companies, networking with new and old contacts, I have time to think and to reflect.

And with my reflection, would you like to know what I realized?  (Drumroll, please.)   I am aging.

I can see it in my skin, most obviously on my face, but also on the backs of my hands, my forearms, even the skin around my ankles.  In all those places and probably many more, my skin is beginning to take on that 'old lady' look which I never imagined myself having.  Horrors!

For a year or two, I've been commenting about the blotchiness of my forearms.  My doctor informs me this is from sun damage.  While I like being out in the sun, I have never been one of those crazy people who oil themselves up and bake in the sun for hours.  Never!  Imagine my surprise at her diagnosis.

My face is holding up reasonably well.  Being overweight does have its advantages.  I have incredibly few wrinkles around my eyes.  I credit my mother (thanks, Mom) for the genetic benefits she bestowed on me with her creamy, wrinkle-defying skin.  I believe living with S and her easygoing attitude towards life has helped me immensely in letting go and not scrunching up my face over things with which I have no control.  I rarely worry and generally feel happy.  I take Bobby McFerrin at his word!

Happily, there are some things I'm doing right:

• drinking lots of water
• drinking lots of green tea
• not drinking excessive quantities of alcohol
• getting enough sleep
• applying sun protection to my skin when I know I'll be in the sun

My downfall?

• Not enough exercise
• Sedentary lifestyle (push away from the laptop, Mary!)

If anything is contributing to my aging process, I would guess it it's simply not moving enough.  Unlike some others, I don't believe that you have to whip up a drenching sweat at the gym on the cardio machine each day.  I believe that movement, whether walking the dog, running up and down stairs doing laundry, working out in the yard to name a few, will suffice.

Are you moving?  I'm moving, I'm moving!

Nailed

Dragon Mood? -- in pain yet remorseful at my murderous reaction

While trimming a wildly overgrown vine on the side of the house, I attracted the unwanted attention of an immense and apparently ANGRY bumblebee.

Bumblebee

This bee was so aggressive I presumed it was a male, but I learned later it was most likely a female I had threatened or perhaps even disturbed her nest. She was out to GET me! She landed on one gloved hand, I brushed her away and she went right for the other gloved hand. I watched as she landed and immediately felt her stinger in the back of my hand. She actually landed stinger first and stung me through a heavy work glove!  I knocked her down and (I hate to admit it) I stepped on her and killed her.

I kept working but my hand hurt.  I eventually came in, put some Benadryl on it and finished my job.  I stupidly didn't think to try to pull out the stinger (as if I could see one without reading glasses!) and within an hour or so, my hand began to swell and itch.  I did use the old baking soda paste remedy which 'cooled' it a bit, but my hand is still swollen this morning and tender to the touch.

I bet it's been easily twenty years, maybe even twenty-five years since my last bee sting.  I remember as a child my shock that a bee would want to hurt me.  I can't say my feelings have changed over the years.

Sorry, Lady Bee, I didn't mean to disturb your nest, much less destroy you.  I'm feeling bad about that.

Friday night dream #2

Dragon Mood? -- exhilarated

Have you read my first remembered dream of Friday night? I'm still feeling quivery from it, just reading and recalling it.

Here's how my second dream began:

I was feeling lonely and went to visit Caroline [my daughter] - except Caroline was not living in Madison but more like an English hamlet out of a Harry Potter book.

We were in her backyard. It looked a bit cluttered with chairs and a firepit and other nameless things.

I don't remember telling her I was lonely, but she seemed to know that I needed some engagement, some comforting perhaps.

Caroline took what looked like some remnant of a structure, some 2 x 4s and some plywood, nailed together, 'climbed aboard' it and had me climb on too. Then we began to levitate off the ground, me holding tightly to Caroline, because I'm afraid of heights. [Editorial note: these Friday night dreams seem to be preoccupied with my irrational fears and phobias.]

The first few minutes of flying, I was focused on my fear, making sure to keep a firm grasp of Caroline (some might call it a 'death hold'), her strength and her confidence. I barely remember the ride.

When we came back to the ground of her backyard, she hopped off and I began to levitate off the ground myself. The structural remnant was morphing at the same time into something that felt more like a 4 x 4 post or even a pole. At this point, I wasn't feeling fear but exhilaration.

At first, I could bare lift myself off the ground, hovering only inches above. Then I began to get more lift, the ground began to fall away and Caroline began to grow smaller. I tentatively flew in the direction of her English hamlet house, painted a deep yellow, with this curious sponge-like texture. As I got closer, I realized with surprise that her house walls were made of baked cornbread with little flecks of green and red pepper embedded in them. Imagine that!

My confidence grew and I made more turns and flew higher. Yes, I was actually flying! Whoo-hoo!

Now as I looked down, Caroline's yard looked like a square in a patchwork quilt, smaller and just one of many. All the lawn chairs and yard equipment were gone along with Caroline. Where did she go, I wondered?

There was a slight shift in my dream and I was flying lower again. Now there were people standing around in the yards, watching as I flew above them. I had the dawning realization that I was no longer flying with my arms and legs wrapped around a pole, but a broomstick, yes, an honest-to-goodness broomstick! These people must think I'm a witch! I thought to myself.

Flying lower and slower, as I whooshed by them, individuals in the crowd started reaching out to me, many with hankies or tissues in their hands. As I flew by, they moved to hand me the hankie or as to wipe something off of my face. What's on my face? What's on my face?

A man made a swipe at my cheek as I flew by him. What's on my face?

No one said a word, but continued to offer me help.

What's on my face?

End of the dream.

When I woke up, I felt like pushing my obsessive tendencies to the side and allowing the exhilaration of flying to return!

Friday night dream #1

Dragon Mood? -- just read the post and then you'll know

"Plain Jane" and "slightly obsessive" are the phrases I would use to describe my typical dreams. If I told you I had vivid dreams Friday night, would you believe me? Vivid, I tell you. Capitol V - I - V - I - D!

My first dream began like this:

I was in an unknown place, with too many walls, no natural light and full of 90 degree turns. There was a cat in my dream that appeared to be all by itself and very shy of humans, as well. I picked it up once and then set it back down.

More time went by in the dream and I picked the cat up once again. It was a short hair cat and it still had all its claws. The most remarkable thing about it was that its fur was comprised of stripes, tiny colorful stripes, and even more remarkable, there were blue stripes on this cat!

As I was holding the cat, I continued to admire its beautiful coloring. It lay still in my arms. Then it turned its head to look at me and I noticed its head was rather flat for a cat. Did this cat even have ears? I don't recall now. Its head actually had a reptilian quality to it. Then, as the cat turned away from me, I noticed that its head looked more like a snake's head than a cat's.

Dream or no dream, I hate snakes! I immediately put the reptilian cat down and it slunk away. Whew!

End of dream.

My Dragon Mood? -- Label me "totally creeped out"

Thought

Dragon Mood? -- reflecting

Thought for the day from an old spiritual journaling book I find cleaning out a closet entitled "In Good Company" from the Pilgrim Press. As to WHY it was in that closet is another question for another day!

Experience the inherent joy
....... in the uncounted connections
......... the chance meetings
.............. the daily encounters full of delight.