Chronicles of A Left Turn at Albuquerque, continued

The Aftermath


The kitchen had exploded. The bathrooms were not too bad, the laundry only backed up a little. Maybe 3 loads, once I added mine. No water in the water filter pitcher in the fridge, of course, and the ice cube trays empty. The Blue Fairy had obviously gone missing. A pile of mail the size of a medium sized dog. Litter boxes in sad shape. Deep breaths were impossible, but it was time to take one anyway, and get to work. I had played hooky, been a "lazy mary" for several days. No more.

By the time I got to bed, the car was empty, the kitchen was reasonable, and I only woke up to the usual after hours kitchen pranks of the little gremlins that live in the house and help themselves to midnight snacks each night. A load of laundry had been started before bed so that I could get a second started in the morning, and both on the line before co-op.

As usual, 4AM came early Tuesday morning. Somehow, in my technological inability, the blog post I wrote that morning didn't post, and I had to go back later to put the beginning of the story on the Wednesday post. Don't know how I managed to mess that up, but what else do you expect from the first cousin to a Luddite?

Mail, didn't take too long. Put the bills in the slot of the file case. Toss pretty much everything else.

Bathrooms, the kids had swished and swiped most days, like I had asked. Only took a bit of polishing, took the time after co-op.

Litter boxes, I chose to just empty and start over. About the usual time to do that, anyway.

Arrived at co-op, got some coffee, liquid life. Set up wasn't too hard. Managed to stay upright and conscious, and to add a bit of my usual inane chatter as Alexa competantly taught the cooking class to make lasagna. Did my shift in the two-year-old class. It was hard to lift the kids onto the swings on the playground, but I'm the one who signed up for this trip, suck it up, do the work.

Back home, and it's time to get back to the usual. I had, for once in my life, had the foresight to plan dinner well ahead, and had the ingredients in the house to make chili. Get with the program, stay with it.

The cooked food caught up with me the next day, no description will be forthcoming, just that it wasn't pretty.

God is still good.

It has been a couple of weeks since then, and the breathing hasn't gotten much easier. Didn't get paid for some work, no money, no groceries, once what I had saved ran out. The depression has not eased much. Tachycardia is back because I have run out of most of the dried food I brought with me and there is no money for more, fresh stuff or otherwise.

The roof, just out from under warranty, is leaking. Paid the man his $100 minimum to bang around up there for less than 10 minutes and he claims it is fixed. The water still comes in. Wettest October south Louisiana has seen in years.

Lots of kittens, in fact they had several waiting for me to get back in town. The oldest ones in the house have diarrhea, which has no cause they can find and which nothing is treating. They get bigger, beyond the cute adoptable stage, and I can't put them up for adoption until we can cure the problem. One of the kittens they gave me has ringworm, my biggest fear with kittens.

The internet connection has been a problem. I've dealt with the ISP, and they claim it's not them. I've spent money on new Linksys equipment, and countless hours on the phone with their tech people over the past week and a half. Still some stuff doesn't work, sometimes the connections are spotty.

The website is still an amazing place, and I love being there, but I feel I have nothing to offer. I get on anyway, when online works, and they kindly tolerate my foolish chatter. The other members are, as usual, inspiring and wise and working hard on the problems we all face. I am being my usual puttery self. By that, read lazy.

I'm finding it hard to stay awake, harder each day, in fact. My Bible reading hit me when I was hungry and exhausted: "In vain you rise early and stay up late, toiling for food to eat--for he grants sleep to those he loves" Psalm 127:2.

My every failure stares me in the face day by day.

I wouldn't trade the tremendous experience I had for anything. It introduced me to some of the best people I could ever have met.

It did bring home to me what I really have become.

Welcome, to the most boring blog in the world.


Today is:

Apple Butter Stirrin' Festival, Coshocton, Ohio (Through the 18th, come on by for harvest craft demonstrations, historians and musicians, pie baking and hog calling contests, a corn husking and an old fashioned spelling bee!)

Belfast Festival at Queens, Belfast, Northern Ireland (Through the 31st.)

Dictionary Day (Noah Webster's birthday)

Maintenance Personnel Day

Mammography Day

National Boss Day

National Liqueur Day

St. Hegwig's Day

World Food Day


Anniversaries Today:

Founding of Yale University, 1701


Birthdays Today:

John Mayer, 1977
Kellie Martin, 1975
Flea, 1962
Tim Robbins, 1958
suzanne Somers, 1946
Angela Lansbury, 1925
Eugene O'Neill, 1888
Oscar Wilde, 1854
Noah Webster, 1758


Today in History:

Olivier van Noorts' ships reach the Philippines, 1600
George Washington takes Yorktown, 1781
Sir William Rown Hamilton comes up with the idea of quaternions, a non-commutative extension of complex numbers, 1843
Dentist William T. Morton demonstrates the effectiveness of ether, 1846
Charlotte Bronte's "Jane Eyre" is published, 1847
John Harwood takes out a patent on a self-winding watch, 1923
The Disney Company is founded, 1923
Fidel Castro is senteneced in Havana to 15 years in prison, 1953