Today I celebrate the return of my little Netbook computer. The little monster kept displaying an error message whenever I turned it on saying 'Insert Boot Disc'. I'll remind you that on a Netbook there is no boot disc and nothing to insert it into. Well, after a call to customer service and a $30 recovery vacation via UPS to Texas, Little Acer is back home with a new hard drive. The homecoming was actually two days ago, but it has taken me two days of error messages and security certificate warnings for every website I tried to enter to discover that the date on the computer was set to January 9, 2009. The date has been changed and I'm Baa-aaccckkk!
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It's been two and a half months since my Mother passed away. It seems like two and a half years. Awhile back, I related a story that still brings me goosebumps about no one wanting her dining room China cabinet for various reasons. I had to accept the fact that it would most likely have to be taken to a landfill. I was sitting in the audience of my son's play, and told Jackie's cousin, who was sitting next to me, about the dilemna. Before long, a woman who owns a thrift shop in Oxford, PA tapped me on the shoulder and said that she accepts donations of furniture and can arrange to have it picked up, which she did. Last Monday, I took my son Brian to an audition at a college just over the Maryland border, around 35 minutes from home. We needed to travel through Oxford to get to the audition site, and the name of the thrift shop caught my eye as we drove. I glanced in the window from the car, and right there in perfect view was Mom's furniture, prominently displayed and looking beautiful. Moments of sadness come occasionally when I am reminded that she is no longer here, and this was certainly one of those moments. This, however, was a moment of mixed emotions. Along with the sadness and the desire to buy the piece of furniture back was a sense of poignancy and contentment. The sale of this piece of furniture would bring a pair of shoes or a coat to someone in need in the local community, and until it is sold, it will regally stand in the wings until it is called to help.....just like it's original owner. All in all, this was another healing discovery in this time of loss.
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My senior moments haven't waned at all. This week I was carless...no, not careless...car-less! My son Kevin was in the area to do his PA Air National Guard duty in Harrisburg and needed transportation. There went one car. Jackie took advantage of a richly deserved opportunity to take a course in Crystal Reports Design in King of Prussia. There went the other car. Fortunately, a coworker of mine lives two blocks away and was able to provide transportation this week. She asked me to remind her each morning to pick me up, so here's the text I sent to her every morning:
Textin' just to say wazzup?...dooda....dooda.
Don't forget to pick me up!...all the dooda day.
Forgettin's okay
For at home I'll stay
Unless you come and pick me up...all the dooda day.
On the first day I sent the text, I had been cleaning up the dirty dishes in the kitchen, organizing and scanning old photos taken from my mother's house, drinking coffee, folding laundry...everything but getting ready for work. I sent this text at 8:20 and my friend asked if 8:30 was okay for pickup. I texted back saying, "Sure!" Then I looked in the mirror. I wasn't shaven, showered, dentally cleansed, and most importantly, my lunch wasn't made! I began getting ready and I reminded myself of the old sitcom Bewitched when Samantha would twitch her nose and do all her tasks at lightning speed. Believe it or not, I was ready and had a lunch packed by 8:30! I did have to hobble to the car when she arrived because I hadn't had time to get the knot out of one of my shoelaces...but we were on our way........
On the last day, we went to her car and were getting ready to pull out of the parking space when I did the pocket check to see if my keys, wallet, and cellphone were present and accounted for. The cellphone was missing. I told my coworker that I must have left it home that morning. She asked if I was sure and told me to go back into the school and check and see if it was there. I refused saying that it must be home and I could live without it for a weekend if necessary. She reluctantly agreed and pulled out of the parking lot and proceeded toward home. We were about half way home when I heard my cellphone ringing. It was definitely mine, after all no one else has a ringtone as nauseating as the one I have called 'Trip to Heaven'. Anyway, I could hear my phone, but couldn't find it. I checked my pockets, my lunch bag, under the seat...it sounded muffled as if I had swallowed it. We couldn't stop laughing while I scrambled to find the phone. After it stopped ringing, I found that I had been sitting on it, and that it had probably been in my friend's car since that morning. This whole incident speaks volumes. My cellphone was in my coworker's car all day long, and I didn't even miss it...and...If I could do some of the dirtier tasks in life as quickly and easily as I can write ditties, I'd be an organized, relaxed, self-assured person. Thank God for the laughs!
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Today I am posting my 40th entry in my blog. It has been my therapy and my joy to get my thoughts on paper....I mean on Blogger. I have shared the happy and sad milestones as well as some everyday observations. Many have shared that the blog has made them laugh, or cry, or think about similar happenings in their own lives, or just have a good time reading. To those that have read, I thank you. It is my motivation for continuing to experience and write...and even when the experiencing isn't pleasant, the writing is always positive. Until #41, my love and thanks to all.................
