Random Musings on New Year's Eve

It's about 9pm on New Year's Eve. I'm in my flannel jammies and my cozy fleece robe, nibbling on chips and salsa. It's snowing outside, and although it's not expected to accumulate much, it was beautiful as I walked home from church earlier this evening. Unlike other years, I don't mind a bit that I have nowhere to go tonight. I feel perfectly content to sit here snug and warm. I might curl up with a book in a bit, or just sit and read blogs.

Random thoughts at the end of the year:

• Lovely Daughter #1 left for S. Korea almost a year ago (a year in February). I miss her a great deal. She's teaching English right now, but her real love is the labor movement (she was a labor organizer before she went to Korea) and she spends most of her spare time working with a union for immigrant workers. On Christmas Eve she confirmed that she is definitely planning to go to grad school in Seoul next fall, and instead of being home for several months, she'll only be here for a few weeks this summer. I'm sad about that, but at the same time, I'm glad she's pursuing grad studies and since I tried to raise her to be strong and independent I can hardly complain about her choices. I just wish she could be closer to home. Happily (at least for now) we have a much better relationship than I have with my mother. I really like my daughter (well, both of them) and enjoy spending time with her.
• On the subject of my mother, she sent me a note apologizing for hanging up on me on Christmas Day. But in the same note she was quite clear that she hung up because there was no point in continuing a conversation in which I was being so unreasonable. Huh? She was doing almost all of the talking. Perception is reality, I guess.
• In a great bit of irony, the comment I made that set my mother off was about ERD (Episcopal Relief and Development, a wonderful organization IMHO). It seems that my mother disapproves of them for some reason that I don't quite understand (except that maybe she's just angry at the whole Episcopal Church). Anyway, the irony is that, not knowing this, I made donations to ERD in honor of my siblings for Christmas, and sent the cards in my mother's Christmas box (because my siblings were going to be there)--which hadn't yet arrived when I talked with her. So I'm sure there were some interesting comments made about that.
• After almost a week agonizing over my relationship with my mother, I think I understand better one of the deep sources of the most recent friction between us, which is also somewhat ironic. At a point in time that my mother, a cradle Episcopalian, has become disillusioned with the church, feels in fact that it has abandoned her, I am about to be ordained a priest in that church. Those of you familiar with the Episcopal Church (and maybe even those who aren't that familiar with the Episcopal Church) know that it has been through a great deal of turmoil over the last couple of years--turmoil having to do with the ordination of LGBT folks as well as the blessing of same sex unions. I didn't realize until Christmas day the depth of my mother's hurt and disillusionment. I am truly sorry for that, but I fully approve of blessing same sex unions, and ordaining LGBT persons, even as bishops. I don't think my mother has to agree with me, but I think there is a chasm that will be difficult for us to negotiate. It doesn't help that my sister is a "Continuing Anglican" --for anyone who cares, that means that she left the Episcopal Church for a church that not only does not ordain LGBT folks, abut also doesn't believe that women should be priests, or even read lessons in church. IMHO, they are frozen in time at about 1960. My sister hasn't approved of me for years....long years, so her opinion of me at this point is irrelevant, but I have no doubt that she fans the flames with my mother.
• The last irony (and then I'll quit talking about my family of origin, as I've probably already told more than anyone cares to read) is that my sister was much more "out there"--rebellious, non-conformist--as a teen than I was. But she is a card carrying, Bush loving Republican now. I guess that fits the stereotype of boomers who become increasingly conservative as they age. We were both raised as good liberal Southern Democrats. My parents weren't at all political, but their sympathies were firmly with the civil rights movement, the war on poverty, social programs, etc. As I've gotten older I've become much less of a conformist, and much more liberal--go figure.
• Lovely Daughter #2 is getting married in June. I always knew that she would be the first of my offspring to get married-in fact I worried for a while that she would marry too young-- says her mom who married at 19 :( She had a serious boyfriend in college whom try as I might I just didn't like. Their breakup was rough for her, but she came out of it with a stronger sense of herself for which I am grateful. I like her fiance a great deal (see, I'm trying not to say "a lot" because I used to say it a lot). I hope that their marriage will be strong and a blessing for both of them.
• I've pretty much given up making New Year's resolutions because they were always the same (exercise more, lose weight, be more organized) and I never kept them anyway. But I do have some things I want to do in the next year: As I wrote earlier, I've been yearning to do something creative. There are a few things I'd like to do: learn to throw pots on a wheel, learn to turn wood on a lathe, learn a musical instrument, learn more about photography. I am still seriously thinking about taking violin lessons. I keep playing with my camera and I might be able to learn more about photography just with experience. The pottery will have to wait for a bit because the places I've found around here have classes at times that are impossible for me.
• I want to get a pet. The kid wants a kitten, but I want a dog. So maybe we'll get both. I fell in love with a breed called Labradoodles--a cross between a lab and a poodle--but the breeder I found near here was extremely expensive--so much so that it felt almost morally wrong to spend that much on a dog, even if I could afford it. Not only are Labradoodles adorable and supposed to have a good temperament, they don't shed! A big bonus since the kid has allergies and asthma, and I hate cleaning!
• I've been referring to Sk*tr Boy as the kid tonight--he needs a new alias. He saw my blog and didn't like "Sk8tr Boy" (and I manage to mispell it half the time). What's more, he's given up his fascination with with skateboarding, for now at least. He's much more into his guitar for now, and he's improving.
• I've always wanted to write (is that a common theme amongst bloggers?). I'm a competent writer in a technical sense--I can write very good academic papers. But I'm afraid that I'm not very creative and that I don't really have much to say that's new and interesting. I have wonderful (to me at least) conversations and musings in my head (especially in the shower--anyone else do their best thinking there?), but they never come seem to come out as well on paper. I've really been admiring the writing of the blogs I read, especially jo(e) and Phantom Scribbler and Moreena. So perhaps in the New Year I will try to do more than ramble on about my family and try to get some of my reflections down on paper--or on the screen as the case may be.
• 2005 was a momentous year. It began with ordination exams, and let me say, I'm glad that was a one time event. And then there was being on the job market--less fun for clergy positions than for academia, if that is believable. But that worked out, and I got a job offer on the day before I graduated seminary. Graduation was bittersweet because I loved seminary--loved classes, loved my field placement church, loved the city, loved (most of) my classmates. But it was time to move on. I was fortunate enough to get a position with supplied housing in a beautiful place in the part of the country I wanted to stay in. I miss the city tremendously, and I hope to live there again sometime, but I really can't complain about where I am.
• 2006 will start off with a momentous event--my ordination to the priesthood. After more than five years of preparation, it is hard to believe that it is really going to happen. But that is for another post. And I will write more about it this week.
• And if anyone is still reading this long and rambling post, Happy New Year. May 2006 be full of good things for all of us.

My Mother and Me

I have a shaky relationship with Christmas. As much as I love the holiday in some ways, I mostly characterize myself as a scrooge, and it's largely because I've had some emotionally rough Christmases in the past, and I am somewhat estranged from my family. This year just added another entry to the list of not so great Christmas memories. I called my mother on Christmas afternoon to wish her a Merry Christmas, and our conversation managed to deteriorate into another huge argument. No, I'm not a teenager, I'm an adult in middle age with four grown or almost grown children of my own. You'd think we'd be past this stage, my mother and I. But sadly it seems that we may never move beyond it.

I should be used to this now. It's been happening on a semi-regular basis for most of my adult life, but it's become more frequent lately. The content of these blow-ups varies, but the format is always the same. We start out having what I think is a reasonable conversation; at some point I express an opinion about something, my mother disagrees and she is off and running. Her rant always works around to how selfish/uncaring/stupid/un-understandable I am. Since I started the process towards holy orders she's like to throw in unpastoral and not worthy of being a priest as well. And I am supposed to sit there and hear exactly what she thinks without replying--and if I do try to say anything she'll just hang up on me.

I've gone over and over in my head what I said yesterday, and while I know I can't be truly objective about this, I don't think I was being argumentative or pushy or controversial. In the grand scheme of things, what we were talking about doesn't matter all that much. It just seems like there is nothing we can talk about anymore that doesn't get her upset.

At least on piece of truth was spoken yesterday: She said, "I just don't understand you!" And my retort was, "I don't understand you either. And this is the story of my life!'' which I feel like it is, because this is such a recurring pattern. I shouldn't have said that, because it just made her madder.

I want to be understanding of my mother; she's in pain from her arthritis and osteoporosis, she misses my dad since he died, maybe she's earned the right to be a bit cranky. But I come away from these conversations wondering how it is that my mother can still make me feel like shit, or why I let her make me feel that way. I wonder how to resolve the discrepancy between the way she sees me and the way I way I think I am, and I wonder if the me she seems to see is the "real" me--am I just fooling the people who seem to actually like me? I wonder how much of what I've done in my life that I am proud of is over compensation, trying to win her approval, and how I can still be the "black sheep" in the family. I've worked so hard over the years to be "me"--to figure out who that me is, to live in a way that reflects my values (values, by the way, that I think I learned in my family so why are they so out of sync with the family now?). I've spent time in therapy over mother issues, and I thought I had a better handle on this, but today it feels raw, it hurts. Do we ever get over wanting our mothers to approve of us? Or to like us?

My sister and brother will arrive at my mother's house today for a few days, and I'm sure my latest unreasonable attack on my mother will be rehashed. And then they will lament that I don't come home for the holidays any more.

Sigh......

How is it that families can be a source of such pain? Why is it that we hurt the people whom we should most love? I know I am not the only one with difficult family relationships, but it's especially hard at the holidays. When I hear about wonderful family gatherings other people have I just want to cry.

Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Holiday Wishes for Everyone

Hope that there was some joy and delight in everyone's holiday, no matter what you're celebrating.

The last couple of days have been crazy busy, but here is what I did for Christmas:

• Finished the shopping Thursday; finished the tree Friday evening (I always put my tree up late, but this was very late even for me), gave the house a "lick and a promise*" to use one of my mother's old sayings, made Sk8tr Boy clean his room (which was a major undertaking, believe me)
• Four services at church: three yesterday (4pm with pageant, 6pm and 11pm, one today at 10am at which I preached)
• Wrapped and then opened presents--they stay wrapped for such a short period of time I sometimes wonder if it's worth it.
• Talked on the phone with Lovely Daughter #1 in Korea, Lovely Daughter #2 in Nothern New England, my mother (less than pleasant conversation but that's for another post) and left message for Soccer Coach Son who is spending Christmas with a new girlfriend.
• Went to see King Kong this afternoon in lieu of cooking dinner--we had planned to cook a mini-feast (it's just Sk8tr Boy and me as the older kids are all elsewhere for Christmas) but I was so tired I couldn't muster much enthusiasm for the project, so we opted to go out for a movie and then have salad for dinner. Sk8tr Boy loved King Kong--he had seen the original version in his animation class in school, but found this version to be far superior. Too much violence for me, I hate to say. Maybe I'm weird, but I just can't take too much fighting/shooting/etc. so I sit with my hand over my face wincing at the sounds. And it makes me a bit queasy to see someone standing on top of the Empire State Building.

Tomorrow is a bonus day off; I have to work Tuesday and Wednesday and write a sermon for next Sunday, but it will be a light week barring any unforseen emergencies. And next week I am off all week--a week that will be culminated by my ordination to the priesthood on January 7!

*a lick of cleaning and a promise of more

Spiritual Progressives: Yes, Christmas Was Stolen, But Who Is to Blame?

Quite by accident I found this website and on it a wonderful article by Rabbi Michael Lerner, Christmas Wars Again? The Jews and Secularists did NOT steal Christmas, but it WAS stolen!!! Rabbi Lerner articulates many of the concerns that not only I as a progressive Christian but also it seems Jews and secularists share about Christmas.

The Network of Spiritual Progressives is an interfaith group whose vision is to:

1. Changing the Bottom Line in America

2. Challenging the misuse of religion, God and spirit by the Religious Right

3. Challenging the many anti-religious and anti-spiritual assumptions and behaviors that have increasingly become part of the liberal culture

This sounds like a group I want to learn more about.

(The website says the groups is welcoming to "spritual but not religious" secular folks, too)..

How Low Can We Go?

I keep NPR on much of the time in my TV-less household, but I can hardly bear to listen to the news these days. But I've been following Scrivener's commentary on the most recent shennanigans of the current adminsitration with interest--he relieves me of having to come up with my own rants becasuse I can just read his and go "Uh huh". "No shit". Etc.

How many times have I thought since 2000, "well, things certainly can't be any worse than this" only to be proven wrong yet again?! I do not understand how people can still back Dubya with his prevaricating and misleading and outright lying. Get a grip people. We need to get this guy out of office. The only problem with impeaching him and giving him the boot (not that I thinkthat is going to happen) is that then Cheney would be (completely) in charge.

For the New Year

For the last couple of months I've been yearning to do something creative. I've never been really creative or artsy--I used to do lots of counted cross stitch and some smocking, but that's about it. But that went by the wayside with grad school and teaching and then seminary. I'm loving taking pictures with my digital camera, but I want to do something else. But I have no real talent....I'm not artistic, or musical....

Anyway, when I went to the music store to buy Sk8tr Boy's Christmas present ( a new guitar...shhhh, don't tell!) I saw that they teach violin lessons there. It just so happens that is one of the things I've been thinking about doing. I took violin for one year waaaaaayyy back in 5th grade, but my mother made me quit because I didn't practice enough, and I've regretted not sticking with it.

So, if the budget looks okay after the 1st of the year (when the new, even higher student loan payments kick in) I'm going to sign up for violin lessons. I may totally suck at it, but I'll never know if I don't try.

While I'm on the Subject

Of Christmas...

I have really mixed feelings about this whole "is it Christmas or is it a Holiday" kerfluffle. On the one hand it is CHRISTmas. On the other hand, the way the holiday is celebrated has very little to do with its religious origins. I could be perfectly happy, I think, if it became the Winter Holiday, celebrated with gifts and decorations perhaps, and the religious holiday was completely separate. I have little patience with the Christian right's pleas to boycott stores that don't use "Christmas" in their advertisements.

And I think we need to get over the idea that the United States is a "Christian nation". It's not, and it wasn't meant to be, IMHO. I'd be happy to think we were a moral nation....as long as its not GWB who is defining what "moral" is.

Okay, I'm just being cranky. End of rant.

Could I Have Another Week....

before Christmas?

If I had another week, I might actually get everything done....I might actually get some real Christmas spirit.

Or not.

I've never been one to shop or decorate early. Part of it is my temperament--I do everything best at the last minute. Part of it is that I really don't want to celebrate Christmas as early as the dominant culture wants me to. Part of it has been time. When I was a student, and then when I was teaching, I would finish up everything around Dec. 15-20, and hit the ground running. I would shop and cook and decorate, and somehow in that whirlwind of activity I usually ended up feeling at Christmasy by the time Dec. 25 arrived.

This year there isn't any end of the semester. In fact my schedule gets busier and busier as Christmas gets closer and closer. So I've been trying to get things done a little at a time--with three of four kids grown and scattered around the globe, we've cut way back on gift giving, so shopping is relatively easy. I've got most everything but some stocking stuffers bought. I need to wrap and mail some things, and I need to finish printing pictures for the album I'm making for my mother.

The house is a mess, though, and we just got around to buying the tree today (not unusual for me for it to be this late, but I didn't anticipate trees being almost gone by now! That wasn't the case in Seminary City or my previous New England location). And there's no food in the house, so a major grocery run is in order (how I do miss Fresh Direct!). I'm preaching Christmas Day, and I need to get that sermon written before Christmas Eve for sure, since we have three services that evening (4pm with pageant, 6pm and 11pm). I've long since given up on sending Christmas cards, and I'm choosing not to bake because neither Sk8tr Boy nor I need to have all those cookies around the house.

I'm really not as scroogish or sad as I've been some years. But I just don't have any enthusiasm for the holiday. I've been thinking a lot about my state of mind this time of year. Maybe it's not so much Christmas itself (although I think it's secular expression is way out of control) as it is all the associations that are linked to the holiday for me. There were some Christmases that were truly bad...like the one when all my kids were away with their father, and I was snowed/iced in (in Florida no less) and and the person I was seeing was being a jerk and I spent Christmas day all alone, and the one when I knew my father was dying. And there were the Christmases when finances were such that I didn't know how I would buy presents for everyone (it always worked out in the end, but it was extremely stressful). But Christmas is also the time of year that I most miss having a spouse/partner to share things with, and it's when I most feel my semi-estrangement from my mother and siblings.

This year I am also badly missing the city. It's funny how I only lived there for three years, but miss it more than just about any other place I've lived. I live now in a place that people flock to for vacations, and to retire; it's beautiful and all that, but I'm not sure it's a place I really want to stay. It' s hard for me to say that--I like my job just fine, and I've always prided myself on being able to adapt to new places and be happy anywhere and I have much to be grateful for here. But so far I just don't like it all that much. All this is compounded by being lonely. A clergy person can't really be friends with parishioners, and I haven't really met anyone outside of the congregation yet.

So this is turning into a major whine.....not sure I meant it to be that, but there it is.

Snow Day Meme

Meant for yesterday, but oh well,


In honor of the first good snow:

1) Snow: love it or hate it?
Love it for the most part. Love to watch it falling--nothing is more peaceful to me. Love to see it piled high and deep with the sun shining on it. Love to see the late afternoon sun reflecting off the mountains, turning the snow lovely shades of pink (a driving home sight where I used to live before seminary).

But I don't like shoveling, or slush, or mud season :(

2) First snow memory
May not be the very first, but it's early. We lived in NC, and it rarely snowed. It didn't take much to get a snow day, but this was a pretty good one. Only one problem....I had these little bumps on my chest, and I knew chicken pox were going around. But I knew if I told, I wouldn't get to play in the snow, and I didn't feel sick....so I didn't tell. My grandmother lived on a hill, and, lacking sleds, she provided cardboard boxes for us to slide in. Such fun. But that night my mother found out about the chicken pox. The snow was gone the next day anyway.

3) Best Snow Day ever (actual or imagined)
Actual--and it was snow days! I was in seventh grade and it snowed and snowed and snowed. In my memory we were out of school more than a week. We sledded every day, and all the neighborhood kids gathered at my house for hot chocolate and hanging out afterwards. We had a fire in the fireplace everyday. And I spent a couple of nights with my best friend. It snowed every day or so to keep things fresh.

We had to make up missed days on Saturdays--but then we only had to go half a day. Not a bad deal.

4) Best use of snow in a movie, song, book or poem
Well, can I go for worst use? Making "Frosty the Snowman" a Christmas song.

5) What you are planning to do today, with or without snow
Friday--staff meeting to plan for Christmas services (on my day off ...)
Saturday--various meetings--all canceled!!

Twenty-four Hours Off the Grid

Twenty-four hours and six minutes to be exact.

That's how much time elapsed between our power going off on Friday afternoon and coming back on this afternoon. It's not the longest I've ever been without power--I survived the Great Blackout of 2003 in NYC when it was out for 30 hours in our neighborhood. But it was considerably warmer then.

Phantom Scribbler has written about her 15 inches of snow so early in the winter. I'm located in a different part of her fair state, one that juts farther out into the Atlantic ocean, and our weather can be vastly different from that just a few miles away. Yesterday was a prime example. Although we had a bit of snow yesterday morning, it mostly rained; rained enough, in fact, to wash away the snow left from a small snowstorm earlier in the week. Around 2pm the sun came out, bright and clear, and I thought we had missed the worst of the storm. Boy,was I ever wrong.

By 2:30 the sky was quite dark and menacing again, and the wind picked up alarmingly. And then the snow started--snow that was so thick we could hardly see across our yard. The wind howled--gale force. And a little after three the power went out. I wasn't too concerned; I retired to the couch for a nap, certain that the power would be restored within the hour. Wrong. When I woke up around 4:30 the wind was still howling, the snow was still falling, and it was dark. I collected the candles and the flashlights, and snuggled in to read for a bit. Sk8tr Boy started a movie on the laptop, but unfortunately the battery no longer holds a charge very long, and the movie didn't last very long either. He quickly became antsy and I finally suggested he call a friend so he'd have someone to talk to. That lasted as long as his cell phone battery. We ate leftovers for dinner, and finished the ice cream so that it wouldn't melt :)

By 6:30 the sky was clear and starry, the moon shone brightly on the new fallen snow, and it was quite beautiful--but still no power. The candles were numerous enough to let us read still and Sk*tr Boy fell asleep on the couch with his book before too long. I finally blew out the candles and went to bed, sure the power would return by morning.

No such luck. By this morning, the temperature had dropped considerably in the house, and it was quite chilly. One thing I learned in the Great Blackout was that I needed a corded phone, so I was still able to communicate after my cell conked out. Checking in with my boss about various meetings scheduled for today I learned that about half the people in this area were without power and that a number of large trees had fallen right after the wind picked up yesterday. I also learned that the cafe down the street had power and was open. Yippee! Hot food and a warm place to be. Brunch was great. However, it was crowded and we couldn't linger too long.

Finally, just when I was resigning myself to another cold dark evening, the power came back on. Hurrah! I quickly put on the kettle for tea, and switched on the computer.

Once again, how very dependent I am on electricity was brought home to me. There was very little of my normal daily routine that I could carry out without power. No heat. No lights. No cooking. No hairdryer. No laundry. No vacuum. NO COMPUTER !!!! Sk8tr Boy noted that if terrorists really wanted to paralyze the country they should go after the power grid. I'm sure they've already thought of that, and I think he's right. We are dependent on power. I didn't even know how to get my garage doors open! [I have learned that now--this is the first time I've ever had a garage with automatic door openers, and who knew about the little rope you can pull to open the doors!]

On a different note, I also realized how very connected to this blogging community I have become. When I got the computer back on, I wanted to see how Annika was doing, whether Casey had delivered yet (anyone heard?), how MJ, an older friend who, on top of a recent cancer diagnosis, just broke her hip, was doing. I wanted to know what LG and Baby Blue were up to, and all the rest.

I'm also aware that I was just mildly inconvenienced by this power outage, and I have little to complain about in the grand scheme of things. But I wonder about the effects of global warming on our weather patterns. Yesterday's storm was flukey, but how many more like that might we have, and ones far worse. Look at this year's hurricanes. And last winter was the snowiest in memory for this area. Coincidence? Maybe. But I wish the powers that be would take global warming more seriously.

Edited to add: And now, late Saturday night, it is warmer than it has been the last couple of days, and all the snow is melting. What gives with the sudden shifts? And more rain tomorrow....

Lovely Daughter #1

I might have mentioned that Lovely Daughter #1 is in South Korea. She has been there since February, teaching English to kids from K-12. In her spare time she travels and, true to her background as a labor organizer, she is active in the labor movement in Korea. This is her blog. LD#1 developed a strong social conscience when she was in high school. She says that she was influenced by me, but I have learned a great deal from her activism, her ability to articulate her strong political views, and her compassion for the poor. I'm grateful to have such a daughter.

Decorations

Sunday will be the second Sunday in Advent, and bucking the cultural trend, the only decorating I've done so far is an Advent wreath and an Advent Calendar (and I have a couple of others still packed I need to get out). I won't decorate for Christmas til at least Dec. 20, but from the RevGalPals, here's the Friday Five on:

Decorations

1) Do you display a nativity scene, and if so, where?

A few years ago I began to collect nativity scenes so I have several that will be scattered around. Since I am in a new house, I don't know where I will put them yet. This one stays on my bookcase year round. A good friend spent a summer in Israel and brought me this one from Bethlehem. The oldest one I have is one given to LD#2 by her godmother when she was a toddler. And this one I bought at a craft fair last year; it's from Ecuador.

2) Do you put a skirt under the Christmas tree? If so, what does it look like?

Yes, and it's a patchwork quilt design in red, white and green. Unfortunately it got wet a couple of years ago and the red bled onto the white, but I still like it.

3) Do you hang lights on the house or put them in your windows?

No lights on the house, maybe candles in the windows. But we have a lot of windows in this house, so we'll see...

4) White lights or colored lights on the tree? Big bulbs or the small, pretty ones?

Small white lights, and lots of them.

5) Do you have a tree topper? What sort? Who puts it on top of the tree?

When I was a child we always had a star and putting it on was a big deal. But we don't have any thing that seems that special. For a while I had a dove that I liked, but it wore out. Now I have an angel, but I was looking at stars the other day....so we'll see. And I put it up there, although Sk8tr Boy could probably do it now.

Life in the Rectory on My Day Off

I live in the Rectory. I am hugely grateful for this; where I am located there is no way I could afford to live in a house this large otherwise. No, I'd be in an overpriced and undersized apartment--not that I mind apartments--I don't, but living here is nice.

BUT....

The Rectory sat empty for three years, and was too often neglected for 20 years or so before that, so it needed lots of work. The vestry is committed to doing all they can to make it a nice place to live. They gutted the kitchen before I moved in and completely redid it. They pulled up all the awful wall to wall carpeting to reveal the very nice wood floors. They replaced all the windows. They landscaped the back yard.

Did I say I was grateful? I am.

BUT....

It is a work in progress, and often they neglect to tell me what is going to be repaired next and when. So it's my day off, and I'm sitting around in my jammies, blogging, drinking tea, paying bills on line, and not one but TWO different repair guys show up to work on the plumbing and the furnace.

And it's not the first time. Oh, no. Almost any day I decide to sit around in my jammies, someone is bound to show up for something.

Oy.

But I'm still grateful.