Vegetation

The past three weeks have been a blur at work. This week things have
slowed down some, but I know there's another big thing lurking right
around the corner so I've been trying to take advantage of the
sorta-downtime and do the research I'm always sorely lacking.

Outside of work, there's company. We've got Amy of course, our
"neighbourhood" friend from the Co-Op here in town. She's really much
more like family now and we see more of her than anyone else. But
aside from her, we've seen a myriad of other folks over the past few
weeks... at least, I have. Another close friend of mine had a
birthday party and handed out "Don't Panic" towels to all who came.
(She turned 42, and for all of you who are not familiar with Douglas
Adams or his books, you will not understand the reference but be
assured it was an awesome theme.) In the past couple months I
attended that, two Pampered Chef parties, and soon I'll be making a
mask of my face. I've done "Team Building Bowling" with colleagues,
saw Caitlin Canty perform (she is _very_ good in person!), and saw at
least one movie; we've also dined with friends and family whether in
or out. And most workdays, I eat out at lunch with a friend and
colleague and get to discuss any number of things before going back to
work.

Finally, every evening, no matter how tired we are or how late we
stumble into bed (late for me is 11 of course, occasionally later)...
I get to pet Sinclair, shut out the lights, and say goodnight to the
most awesomest person in the world.

In these times of economic distress, I am keenly aware of how lucky we
are that we can enjoy good food and outings with those we love and
care about. I am glad to have a house to live in and a truck to
drive. It feels like Thanksgiving, and indeed every day is just that.

Still, on nights like tonight, I'm happy to just sit and vegetate.
I've been pretty busy all week... making room for a piano in the
spring, I moved a bunch of stuff around... then last night I realized
the house was still too messy so I ran around cleaning because I
thought I was having company twice today. Both, as it turns out, got
cancelled. Now I have a wonderfully clean house and can comfortably
and unexpectedly relax in it! So Dale and I are kicking back... he's
off to watch a movie my mother recommended and I'm over here writing
and we're eating pizza and drinking tea. I just discovered that Lisa
likes green peppers and she's managed to actually /eat/ every single
one off my pizza, and then some (I ran to swipe some more off the
pizza in the kitchen). I know her time on earth is much shorter now
and it's awesome to see her enjoying food so much... usually she
stashes everything, seldom actually eats in front of me like this
unless she really likes something. Wait... I /did/ feed her, right?
lol. (Yes, I did.)

I am very, very blessed. Just to top it all off and be particularly
thankful, Dale was a bit grumpy this morning (not that I would have
noticed had he not apologized for it) and didn't really want to go out
tonight, but intended to do so because we'd made plans to do so with
friends. Despite being very tired he went out and shoveled the second
driveway (where I park and intended to shovel myself since he always
shovels the other side). He offered to help me change my headlight
out. He ordered and picked up pizza. Then we found out we weren't
having company or going out after all. As he was doing the pizza, I
reminded him that I was thankful for him shoveling and all, but he
didn't have to do that, and I felt bad he was doing it because when I
decided to park there I insisted he didn't have to shovel two
driveways, just the one. He's like, "I guess I still feel guilty and
want to make up for this morning." By golly, if it makes him feel
better... but even though I wasn't even aware he was in such a bad
mood this morning, and didn't mind a driveway full of snow, he REALLY
didn't have to feel bad on my behalf! It does, however, demonstrate
one of those things I love about him... his sense of duty, right and
wrong, ethics, morals, whatever that is... he wants to do the right
thing, he wants to treat me well, and I'm very lucky to have that kind
of person in my life. I only hope I'm doing right by him, too. I
know I can be very self-centered at times, and I'm constantly watching
for that so I can try correcting it. This chickie knows what she has.
It's called a wonderful life, filled with Love. :)

On that note, I'm off to go read or something. Maybe I'll play some
keyboard... I've been trying to learn Canon In D by simply playing it
all the way through right-handed, regardless of how it sounds to me
now. My music teacher back in high school told us to learn each hand
separately and to learn the ENTIRE piece, never going back to the
beginning if you make a mistake, but continuing on. Otherwise, she
said, you don't get it sounding fluid once it's been learned. Never
faint of heart, of course I jumped back into reading one of my more
difficult pieces of sheet music. Not that it's difficult to play, but
I'm not really good at reading notes above the Treble staff or below
the Bass staff, so a good half or more of my notes are playing about
three seconds apart while I count lines and mentally tick off the
notes in my head. 12 pages turns into an hour really quickly at that
rate. But, it's my favourite classical piece, and I'm determined to
learn it before I get that piano. I aim to have it memorized before I
visit my mother again, too, so I can play it for her. My hope is that
I'll keep that determination long enough to actually succeed.

I think the "Don't Panic" towel will continue to prompt me. The empty
"piano" wall is helping, too.

!w

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Contentsofsignaturemaysettleduringshipping. -- Mike Beattie