Random Musings

Saw a lot of postings today about damage from tornadoes in AL. I've heard my Dad's voice on the phone, but he didn't have time to talk. I assume all is okay in Walker County. Had the opportunity to meet with three former co-workers today for lunch. It was neat to catch up and hear all the things (some good, some bad) in their lives. So much has changed since the days we were all working at the same place. While it's neat that life moves on, sometimes I still miss it. I might have help coming tomorrow night to help with the entertainment center. If not, I might get a little desperate and just start making phone calls. Jobs that require help always make me feel isolated and alone. Roadwork will likely be moving in front of our house either Friday or the first of next week. A part of me greatly dreads it; a part of me is ready to have it over with. I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around the possibilities of what our yard is going to look like when it...

Today has been one of those days when the gratitude attitude has been constantly slipping out of my grasp. With the weather front moving through (thankful for the few tiny raindrops we've had), I've had a bad headache. Not a full fledge migraine, but one of those I've taken meds 4x today and then loaded on caffeine before it finally went to sleep. (And yes, I tried resting before I tried caffeine, but when the house is shaking with the blasting and road work going on outside, that doesn't exactly work.) We've also been waffling all year on whether or not to get a new tv. The one we have in our living room is the one my parents bought when I was in middle school. And it still works. But it's to the point I'm having a difficult time finding cords to replace for the DVD player (that actually attaches to our television). The sound was a little crazy on it for about a month. The day I decided it was okay to replace it...the problem corrected itself. No joke. An...

Bobby has a cousin who is a little person. He got engaged the same fall we did, and they also got married in 1999, a few weeks after us. They live near us, though like with most of the family who lives in this area, contact is sporadic. About 6 years ago Paul had a stroke. He was the primary driver for the family, and since he was the taller of the two, he did most of the grocery shopping (she's too short to reach inside a buggy) and the laundry (she also can't reach down into the washing machine). So their life was radically upended. Since then Jill has learned to drive again, though she greatly struggles with it. I've watched her drive, and it makes me nervous to no end. So when she asks me to drive her somewhere that requires being on the interstate or somewhere she's never been, it's hard for me to say no. It's truly safer for everyone if someone else takes them. Today was one of the appointments in Chapel Hill. It wasn't too early of a morning, and wh...

With all the media hype surrounding the campaigns before the election, there were many fears that the elections themselves would be a little more hostile than normal. Thankfully, that turned out not to be the case. One thing I've learned over the last twelve years is that there are two elections where people when turn out en mass to vote. One is always the presidential election. The other is an election where there is a controversial election. So everyone was fully expecting extreme chaos. We did have long lines. The first few days of early voting I was able to work in Garner. We had lines when we opened, and those lines never ended. We "closed" the lines with a line. (When closing time arrives, a worker stands at the end of the line with a sign. Everyone in front of the worker is allowed to vote, which means closing time and finishing time are always two different things.) After seven days in my hometown, I moved to my assigned workplace in a rural town that's a ...