72-Hours Facebook Free (Sorta)

In the spirit of full transparency, I cheated a tiny bit, because I couldn’t remember if my friend’s birthday was August 7 or August 8.  So I got on FB to check, and learned that my youngest sister is in the midst of a family crisis.  Seriously, it was the first thing that came up, before I typed in my friend’s name.

So I had to call my other sister and confess my cheat so that I could find out what was going on with our youngest sister.  Her oldest son, my nephew, was born with a very large “dent” in his chest.  One time while we were all swimming, I saw it and gasped.  It was huge!  But she said that the pediatrician told her that it was nothing to worry about.  Well, now he’s fourteen, and it’s apparently causing his heart to “roll.”  His tests have all come back normal, but there is a possibility that he will have to have surgery to have it corrected.  It’s times like these that I loathe not being closer to my loved ones.  This is what I do.  I hug and comfort and make people feel better.

Despite the anniversary of my friend’s suicide, yesterday was a nice day.  I talked to my sister for a while.  Then my friend, Talib, FaceTimed with me.  I don’t know if I’ve written much about Talib and Olivia, here, but they are a couple who performed puppet shows at renaissance faires when I first started going to them with a particular guild.  They are about 15 years older than me, and I cannot express how dear they are to me.  We’ve traveled in Italy together, twice.  They’ve been there for me through all of my health issues.  Every holiday is an adventure, with them.  For Halloween, we would create elaborate haunted houses, for which I’d be the scary witch at the end of the maze.  On Christmas Eve, we gather to for a mini talent show for those of us in attendance.  People have shared their paintings, their stories, their poems, their photography, their crocheting, and of course, the puppet shows.  I have no doubt that God put them in my path for a reason.   I consider them my second family.

Right after I went to bed, my friend Theresa FaceTimed me, too.  By the time we were done, I was ready to fall asleep.  

About 12:30 AM, I was roused awake by a ginormous, house-rattling, crash of  THUNDER!  Since the dogs hadn’t come in, I raced downstairs to bring them inside.  It takes no effort when there is thunder or fireworks.  They practically bowl me over trying to get through the door and into their safe room.   I went back to bed, and slept a while long, until the cat started howling at me through the door.  That’s when i remembered that I had closed the door to the bathroom when i went to get the dogs.  That bathroom is where the litter boxes are, and the first place my Despereaux goes when she comes upstairs, because she considers that a snack box.  So while it was annoying waking to Handsome’s howling at 4:30 AM, it wasn’t nearly as annoying as it would have been to find urine stains or piles of cat crap in my house.  So he’ll get extra lap time, today.

This morning, I had big plans.  I let the dogs out and planned to finish washing the bedding for the spare room.  I planned to clean the kitchen.  I had plans.  Unfortunately, I couldn’t even muster the energy to shower, much less do any housework.  I just want to go back to bed, honestly, but I don’t want Drew to come home to a mess.  When I talked to him, this morning, I told him how I was feeling and that I hope he’s not disappointed by the condition of the house when he comes home.  He wouldn’t even let me finish.  He said, “Babe.  Don’t even worry about it.  I know how easily you get worn out.  We’ll get it taken care of.  Relax.  I love you.”

He comes home, tomorrow.  I can’t wait.   Then my world will feel normal again.