journeys of a restless mind

There's a new NaBloPoMo in town, and I'm taking part

In order to light a posting fire under my butt, I'm joining in fussy's latest NaBloPoMo dealio, which starts March first.  Can I post every day for a month?  Who the hell knows?  (Mom!  You said the "h" word!)  But I'm gonna try.  She's even helped us out by giving us a theme:  lists.  Now there's a theme I can get behind.

old & new

At almost precisely the same moment that my beautiful new living room furniture was being placed in my living room, my car was being towed to the shop.  I suppose the shiny new pretty furniture was upsetting the balance of the universe too much with all its shiny prettiness, so the universe had to foul something up to compensate.  Luckily, the car isn't too sick and I should have it back today.

I am resisting the temptation to cover all the furniture (or maybe Hijo) in plastic.  I did finally let him sit on the couch last night, but only after he washed his hands and I inspected all his clothes.  I performed the ultimate couch potato act and reclined upon the couch propped up by a pillow as I watched American Idol.  I am tempted to call in sick today just so I can lounge about on the couch all day and nap. 

Maybe someday I'll actually own the house that I'm putting all my shiny pretty furniture in.  Then I'll finally be all grown up and the universe won't know what to do with itself.

not so very long ago

Here is a piece I wrote about Hijo's true birth day.

happy birthday Hijo!

I am the luckiest mom, ever. 

three things that happened recently that may or may not have an impact on my life

1)  For the first time, I am soon to have brand new living room furniture of my very own.  No more scuzzy hand-me-downs, no more futon in the living room. Right on!

2)  I am officially registered for this.  It was one of the reasons I decided to move here, so I may as well take advantage of it. I am trying to convince myself that it is not a huge, scary thing.

3)  I finally got a chance to have a little chat with a guy that I've had my eye on for awhile.  We stood there by the mobile coffee shop (my beloved Java Gypsies, whom I keep meaning to write a post about) and he had latte foam in his mustache and lovely wrinkles around his eyes - utterly charming.

lighten up

In an effort to lighten things up around here, I hereby post the double dactyl I composed and read for my parents' 50th anniversary party:

               

Ringelly dingelly,
Peggy & Jerry, the
long-married couple we're
here to salute

Could they have figured out
co-habitationally
wedded bliss is just a
trivial pursuit?

Lickety splickety
50 years travelled by
promises made became
promises kept.

Days full of laugher and
days full of sunshine and
some lachrymosity
(meaning they wept.)

 

Somehow they worked it out
year after year after
year after year after
year after year.

Making their way through the
endless quotidian
loving and fighting has
brought them both here.

Peggy and Jerry, you
did it, you earned it, this
wonderful party this
great group of folks

On this occasion, your
semicentennial
let's raise a toast and dis-
pense with the jokes!

 

Loss upon loss.  The heart breaks, and breaks again.  How do we stand it?  What is it that propels us forward when all we want to do is stop?  When the new moon is in the sky, slight and shining, bare and still, does it show us the way?  Or is it the birds flying across the lavender sky at dusk that lead us on?

I've been walking to work most days these last few weeks.  I bundle myself in music and thick mittens and keep my eye on the sky.  I don't want to stop when I get there; I want to keep going, to replicate the long exploratory rambles I took when I first moved here.  The beach calls to me, the rocks tumbling in the waves sing a song that sounds familiar.  I want to follow the tide, to reveal the things that lie below the surface and then to rise up slowly and keep them safe, beneath the gentle waves.

small town snapshot

The sidewalks go for a block or two and then just end in the middle of someone's yard.  Most people give up and walk in the middle of the street; it's less muddy that way. A man chases the deer away from his garden by banging on a pot with a spoon.  Passers by usually stop to watch them, smiling.  Most of the intersections in my neighborhood are unmarked and sometimes cars go zipping through without even slowing down.  It's a fairly safe bet, but today a little red sports car came thatclose to colliding with the town's lone taxi.  The sun is out, and we are longing for spring.

grandma & grandpa's 50th anniversary

We threw a little party this weekend.  Hijo was served a piece of meat as big as his head.

tuesday this 'n' that

I think the hardest thing about my life right now is that I have nothing but the most superficial of conversations with people - even friends - anymore.  I don't spend enough time with anyone that I'm close to to get down to the deeper stuff.  I need the deeper stuff.

We're celebrating my parents' 50th wedding anniversary this weekend.  They've been together since my mother was 16 and my dad was 21.  I can't even imagine. 

Not only can I not beat Hijo at any of the games on his PS2, I can't figure out all the buttons, and anyway my hand gets too tired after a couple of games and I must stop.  He's busy hitting the "replay" button and I'm saying, "Wait! Wait!  I need to rest my thumb."  What an old lady.

I just now made the last payment on the loan that paid for my divorce from Hijo's dad.  I'm still paying off the lawyers' fees for the paperwork involved in moving to PT.

I am bored.