I thought it was time to sit down and share my day with you so that you get a feel for what my life is like
most of the time.
Thanks to a couple of phone calls today, I feel more like my old self and I want to laugh again. As always,
the best place to look for things that make me laugh is right here in my own house.
School was cancelled here today. The roads were very icy and it's so cold that the fleas are jumping off
of the dogs before they go outside to potty.
I can't say that it was so cold that a tongue got stuck to my window pane but it could have happened because
Skye kept licking the window trying to get to an icicle hanging outside that she wanted very badly! I would swat her off of
the back of the sofa and she would climb right back up there to do it again.....so I moved the sofa.
As always, my idea didn't work. She simply jumped up onto the arm of the sofa and used it as a way to jump
up on top of the entertainment center that I had moved in front of the window.
Photos, the remote control to the television and small bottles of assorted colors of glitter went flying
through the air. You know before I even tell you that a couple of the caps came off of the glitter bottles. My mother looked
quite different with gold and green glitter in her hair!
By the time I cleaned up the mess, or at least all that the vacuum would pick up at the time, it was lunchtime.
Being the thoughtful person that I can be at times, I decided to give the children a choice about what lunch they would have
today.
Kyle, who has a terrible sore throat and ear ache, wanted salmon cakes. He wants them anytime he has a bad
cold for some reason.
Chris immediately said, "We can't have that, it's full of dioxins!" I looked at him with shock in my eyes.
"Let's just have hamburgers, Nana," one of the girls said.
Kyle said, "No way, I don't want mad cow disease. I get angry easy enough as it is."
I burst into laughter at that one and Chris did too. Kyle, unfortunately, did not see the humor in the situation.
Chris suggested having a big salad for lunch which would have been fine with me until Crystal pointed out
that green onions and some types of lettuce are being blamed for hepatitis outbreaks in several areas.
When did just putting together a meal become this difficult? Gee, whiz! I remember having eggs fresh from
the chickens, milk still warm from the cow and meat that was walking around on four legs only the day before.
I prepared a couple of homemade pizzas and Chris said, "Well, I hope that tomato sauce was fresh or all
of our kidneys could stop working from poisioning!" I shot him an evil look and we all filled up our bellies.
Then came a phone call from my cousin in California who was in a motorcycle accident last year. He was paralyzed
from the nipples down for the rest of his life and he is finding it hard to deal with the life he has left. He has been working
hard with the therapists at Barlow Hospital to go home and he succeeded. He can pull himself into his wheelchair and get himself
back into bed......something we take for granted that has been a huge accomplishment after months of determination for him.
The thing that is making him the saddest is that none of his friends are acknowledging him now. The people
he stood beside of through business ventures, divorces and success has not even called since May and won't return the phone
calls he makes to them. The people whom he least expected to stand by him when things got the worst, his stepchildren, are
the only ones trying to include him in birthday parties, outings, etc.
We had a long talk about people fearing those with infirmities or imperfections. I'm not sure I was much
help to him but I listened as he cleared his heart and mind of many things that have been nagging him. I left the telephone
and looked around my house. I cannot even imagine my life being spent the way he will spend the rest of his. I stopped to
give thanks for the blessings I have and vowed to stop being so upset at the things in my life that bother me.
This evening, we feasted on spaghetti and meatballs, shellie beans and garlic bread. I didn't hear a single
word about food poisoning or toxins and no one left hungry. Now I'm off to go play some Yahtzee and take a nice long
bath! I hope that you are safe and warm as you read this.
Dianna Doles Petry
©2004
