Well, that was unexpected

I needed to clean out the fridge anyway,  I guess.

Thursday morning, making lunches, nowhere near the fridge, BIG BOOM that sounded like the ice maker exploded, open the door and see this. Close the door and hope it's all just a misunderstanding. Open the door and realize not so much. Close the door and wait for Eric.

"I guess I shouldn't have drilled it yesterday," he says thoughtfully as he examines the destruction.

Lesson learned, people. Tempered glass is NOT to be messed with. Good news: He's ordered a new shelf, which takes care of the problem he was trying to rectify with the drill (i.e. the meat drawer or whatever it's called came off and he was trying to fix it).

The end.

I think I'm done nursing the patience

So awhile back I alluded to the fact that I was in the process of "adopting a grandparent" at our local care center. I haven't said anything else about it because I wanted to wait until I had something to report. And actually I guess I still sort of don't. Not that THAT is any different than any other aspect of my life, now that I think about it.

Short story long: I lost my Grandma M. four years ago, and I can still remember that last time we visited before her stroke, when she sat on her couch and held my hand and told me over and over how she had hoped I'd come, and there I was. The next time I saw her, she was basically unresponsive in a hospital bed.

Anyway, I've been thinking about that, and about visiting someone. Originally I thought I'd volunteer in one of the assisted living centers, but after writing an article about the care center for the paper, I decided to take that route. Just because... I don't know. Lower income, maybe needier people. Maybe someone's grandma could really use a visitor.

Ironically, my sixth grade elementary school class used to visit this place during the school year, and I hated it: The smell, the old people who would catch you and not let you go, the dark halls and aura of sadness. Hate is too weak a word. I despised that place with the whole of my being and would come up with any excuse not to have to go.

Life is hilarious.

But anyway, the process has been progressing at a snail's pace. Yadda yadda yadda, I won't bore you with my frustration or doubts the past six weeks. Let's just say that there's a lack of communication and/or commitment that grates on my nerves, and I have wondered a thousand times if I'm doing the right thing by volunteering here. When the activities director missed the appointment she set up on Monday, I was really thinking the time had come to just bow out.

I rehearsed my words carefully before we finally met up. But before I found my nerve*, she was all, I have two women in mind who don't have a lot of family and would feel so special to have someone come just for them, and I was like, oh, FINE. So I held my tongue is what I'm saying. And I have another appointment later in the week to meet these ladies and see if they like me, I guess.

We shall see.

*Confrontation is not my strong point.

Foo Fighters, Learn to Fly. Huh, looking at the lyrics, this song is a little angry. Ah, well. Learning to fly is hard. "Fly along with me, I can't quite make it alone."

I'm on the verge, I'm on the verge

Sunlight filtering through fog is beautiful. This is not how I meant to start this post at all, but I just got up to refill my Ron Swanson coffee mug and happened to look outside. Fall is a stunning season.

Eric has been elk hunting--he comes home today!--and even though it's only been like four days, it's been four loooooong days. The good news is that we had so many distractions I've hardly had time to miss him.

Distraction #1: Lunch with my high school friend Anita on Friday, who is freshly back in town. I had an IBS attack--stress induced, I'm positive, yes, that happens--so that was exciting, but thanks to modern medicine and the fact that I am a boss, I made it not only through lunch, but through my four hour work day as well. Hey, it was the day Eric left, and I was so good this year about him going, you would totally not even believe it. Lesson learned: Don't hold in your negative emotions. (I'm sure Eric will LOVE that.)

Distraction #2: My Aunt Ann and Uncle John came on Saturday to bring us some flooring samples from their shop, and their car broke down once they'd reach town. That's the lucky part, that they weren't stuck on the side of the highway with the creepers (hey, I typeset the sheriff and police logs, I know what's going on out there, people). I got to ferry them around a bit, which rocked, and also helped my aunt figure out her own Vanilla Project. I only wish they could have stayed longer. Or maybe their car would have behaved so most of their time wasn't used up in repair shops.

Distraction #3: Sunday my public and I (hi, Mom!) worked TEN STRAIGHT HOURS at the church's annual holiday bazaar. Well, Mom did. I got out of there a time or two on various errands, aka "Sanity Savers." Mom runs the baked goods booth and I am the sidekick. All the good that I did was probably overshadowed by my rude observations about some of the altar society members who could not keep out of everyone else's business (drove me crazy, made Mom laugh), so bummer there, but anyway, we managed to sell quite a bit, even if no one but my own father bought the fudge I had painstakingly made in individual cups for optimal cuteness, but whatever, that did not hurt my feelings AT ALL and now I have fudge in my freezer for Christmas presents, so win-win, I guess.

Cellophane wrappers... and biodegradable muffin cups
to make myself feel better.

Bread is a hit. Candy is not. Weird.

I'm not even sure that paragraph makes any sense, but I'm not in the mood for a rewrite. Let's just say it was a heck of a day, but on the upside, I scored some homemade, all natural caramels that rock my world. And isn't THAT what this was all about?

Distraction #4: The girls didn't have school Monday--report card day or something--so I spent the morning trying not to tear my hair out and the afternoon trying to cross off as many items from my work list as possible. I failed on both accounts, but an attempt was clearly made. And then Eric called to say he was coming home early, so yay! I didn't pay attention after that.

So now you know why I haven't had time to blog this past week. Um, I guess.

The end.

Jack's Mannequin, I'm Ready. I so love this song. My favorite part: All of it. But especially this:

I wake up to find it's another
Four aspirin morning, and I dive in.
I put on the same clothes I wore yesterday.
When did society decide that we had to change
And wash a tee shirt after every individual use?
If it's not dirty, I'm gonna wear it.
I take the stairs to the car
And there's fog on the windows.
I need caffeine in my blood stream,
I take caffeine in the blood stream.
I grip the wheel and all at once I realize:
My life has become a boring pop song
And everyone's singing along.