Preparing to Hibernate

I've been trying to have a coherent thought, but presently those elude me.

So again, all I have is random.

Random thoughts for a rainy Friday, which of course, cause me to long for hibernation. Even on bright sunshiny days I like to stay home, so one can imagine just how much more deeply I long for that when it is cold and rainy. Not that I mind cold and rainy all that much, it just does have an effect on my ability to even look awake.

Today, I shall not even try to look awake. There isn't enough makeup in the world...

This morning, before 8:45, I had already talked to all three of my children and my dad.

Youngest Son is suffering from the Norovirus. Suffering is putting it mildly.

Daughter was with Youngest Son last night and now fears that her family will soon be victims. I pray not.

Oldest Son was putting in an order for essential oils and knew that I was in need of "Thieves", a mixture which is purported to prevent the plague. I still have some. I'm using it today.

My dad. He has no intentions of hibernating. I do believe he did more yesterday than I have done all month. I am not someone who lives by the Myer/Briggs Type Indicator, but I do know that I am in INTJ. I am quite sure my dad is an ISTJ (my mom once secretly fed him all of the questions, and that was the result!) The difference of just those two letters, "N" and "S", seem to be the difference in my wanting to hibernate and his wanting to get done what needs to be done.

One of the books I am presently reading is "The Edge of Sadness" by Edwin O'Connor. Oh, I am loving this Pulitzer prize winning book. Who would have thought that I, a tea-totalling grandma, would be able to relate to a fictitious alcoholic priest. But, that is the beauty of reading fiction. I read to discover that I am not alone. Here is part of a long paragraph that kept me thinking as I was falling to sleep:

"...duties and occasions have a way of multiplying. There's a great attraction to this: he's doing what he likes to do, and he can tell himself that it's all for the honor and glory of God. He believes this, quite sincerely, and he finds ample support for such belief: on all sides he's assured that he is doing the much-needed job.., ...he may even see himself as stampeding souls to their salvation. What he may not see is that he stands in some danger of losing himself in the strangely engrossing business of simply 'being busy'; gradually he may find that he is rather uncomfortable whenever he is not 'being busy.' And, gradually too, he may find fewer and fewer moments in which he can absent himself from activity, in which he can be alone, can be silent, can be still - in which he can reflect and pray. And since these are precisely the moments which are necessary for all of us, in which spiritually we grow, in which, so to speak, we maintain and enrich our connection with God, then the loss of such moments is grave and perilous..."

But, no time to read today! Tomorrow we are having our carpets cleaned. Whatever were we thinking, buying a house with almost white carpet? THGGM would like to go back to hardwood floors, but I remember just how cold that seemed, even with a plethora of rugs. Mostly, the carpet is sprinkled with driplets of spilt coffee and the occasional 'blessing of the bottle', a game Famke loves.

Yesterday when Daughter arrived to pick up Jonge and Famke, she had a picture of Baby! Of course, to the untrained eye, Baby looks like a peanut lodged in a megaphone. Daughter showed the picture to Jonge and told him (not for the first time) that she had a baby in her tummy. Not to be outdone, Jonge pointed to his head and announced that he had a baby in his ear.

Well now. I'm off to hibernate. My den does not have a door...

I Pass Along this Idea to You

Sometimes when I have a migraine, it comes with the ability to think clearly in only one direction. Other times, I cannot think at all.

I'm never sure if the ideas I have on those occasions are good ones, or not, so I shall let you decide. Anyway, maybe it is already being done and I just haven't heard about it.

Wouldn't it be LOVELY if car places also provided another service while you waited?

What a great idea this would be for a husband and wife to do together!

While the husband does body work or mechanical repairs, the wife could give massages, do hair and nails or provide some other equally helpful service.

Doctor's offices could learn from this too. Especially the ones that require a 'driver' for the patient.

I used to be critical about my dad's eye doctor having such an odd supply of magazines. They were ALL about boating, finance and running. Or were unbelievably old.

My critical spirit was quelled when I heard an impatient non-patient ask why they had such crummy magazines. The woman responded, "Oh, we HAD others, but they've been stolen."

That has nothing at all to do with the general direction of this post, but, that's what you get from me. A possible good idea with a side of detour.

My weekend has been great, so far. Famke has recovered nicely. Saturday we had a family picnic at Daughter and Son-in-laws. YUM. All the good stuff.

Sunday Pake took Jonge for one last dance around the splash pad at the local park.

Then, we headed out to Grand Haven, where it was hot and sunny, not the best combination for headachy me. But, I did okay.

And, because I love THGGM I did not insist that we stay for the Musical Fountain, which he abhors. I LOVE it. It brings back memories for me of Oldest Son as a very young boy talking in the backseat of the car on the drive home of how he could replicate it in our backyard. This while sipping Dr. Pepper through sandy straws of red licorice.

Ah, those where the days, my friend.

But, these are the days, too.

Now, could someone start that business? We can't, because THGGM knows absolutely nothing about the internal workings of a car, and I don't get my hair or nails done. But THGGM can do hair. He does mine. This weekend, with a dull craft scissors, because it needed to be done and I could not find the haircutting scissors. Hmmm. Maybe I could learn to change oil, or something. Do you need a license for that?