Randomness.

I am full of endorphins. At the moment. A good work out at the gym was followed by a good birthday dance for Sister, Mimi. It's her birthday. So I Skyped her, YouTubed "Its Your Birthday", and I did a birthday dance for her. I don't think she will get a better present. All. Day. Long. It probably made her day. It made mine. She and I have decided to start having "un-birthdays" and go backwards in age. Starting today.

Birthday is in the air. We celebrated the Father-in-Law's 84th birthday. And the Sister-in-Law's #??birthday. On Saturday. With lots of family here. We enjoyed good foods - appetizers, yummy baked beans, tater salad, and burgers. The weather was custom ordered so that we could spill outside. And we did. Despite the pollen count. We enjoyed the company and the opening of the funny birthday cards. It is family tradition. There must be birthday cards with bathroom references. It is how we roll.
Lest I forget - our dear family friend, Kathryn, brought dessert. Not one. Four. One caramel cake. One coconut pie. Two chocolate merengue pies. She is a gem.
Twas nice having all our offspring here in one space for the birthday gala.

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Book review:
Daughter returned some of the books I leant her. She brought me one of hers to read. And. I am loving it. "Carry On, Warrior" by Glennon Doyle Melton. I feel very connected to this author. I like her way of looking at life situations. She is a blogger. Like Kelle Hampton, her book is an offshoot of her blogg. She brings some very simple clarity to the table. I feel a parallel to her on some political non-issues, or non-polical issues. I love that she quoted Mother Teresa, "When we judge people we have no time to love them."
I love and agree with her concept that we are all broken. I love her three little prayers, "Please!", "Thank you!" and "WTF???" She doesn't give advice. I like that she says - Be humble. Be kinder than necessary. Be simple.
Read this book. It is so worth your time. I think I will read it a second time and commit much of it to memory. No I won't. But I want to.
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On Friday. I was preparing the house for birthday party guests. Wiping. Dusting. At some point I stopped 'cause I knew there would be children and many grown ups and the house would get a degree of dirty all over again. So I found a happy spot that felt clean enough.
A pair of pictures was missing. They were old framed photos that used to sit on my book shelves before last year's construction. I had put them away and forgot where. I went in circles for a good 30-40 minutes. I went from room to room. Opening the same drawers over and over. I looked in my photo cabinet. I came across a photo of Mom and Dad. It stopped my forward progress. It hit my heart. Not a big hit. But a hit. I stopped and acknowledged that it is different looking at Dad's picture now that he is dead. I gave myself a moment. I let my grief make me sad. It is okay to do that. I think I will lovingly grieve Dad for all my life. Not big sobs or anything. There is also a measure of comfort while I have these grief moments. It is easier than last year when he was so sick.
Yes. I eventually found the photos I had been looking for. I had already opened this particular drawer at least 5 times - but on that sixth time I moved some paper and there they were! A photo of Mr. Macho's Dad. And a photo of Mr. Macho's Mother.
Mr. Macho was a senior in high school when his Mother died. It was about one month before his graduation. It was April 1971. I did not know him then. I will not write about what I do not know on this subject. I do know that every once in a while, usually on or around the anniversary, he will reminisce about his Mother and the events surrounding her death. It is still a wound. I can see that it helps him to talk about her. I think we all grieve our parents for the rest of our life. Even though we grieve differently, he and I both have cycles of grieving.  Only, he has been doing it much longer than I have.