2018 Joy Journal

January 8 Second Sunday Supper was joyous last night. Andrew seemed relaxed and started off sitting by Barry and talking about pickups and I heard him say, "I'm not sure I made the right decision," in son-asking-father tone. And then John came in and the three of them discussed the comparative pluses and minuses of various makes and models of pickups.  Kim went straight to pet Mama Cat.  When I said that Tori and Josh were still good friends, still good to each other, had just decided that they didn't have the kind of fire that takes you through all of life's troubles, I ended up looking at Kim, who was nodding as in how important that is, and I remember her saying about meeting John, "It isn't like I didn't know right when I met him that he was the one." Chris said, "I wish all of my relationships were that mature," and Andrew, in big brother love, "So do we." Chris said, loving back, "I know y'all do!" J...

January 5 I got Daddy's birthday card in the mail yesterday. I'm having all kinds of mouse troubles, but was able to find an acceptable work around.  Got a beach ball from Beverly this morning as they got underway. She said they slept well. Got to see Angela before she headed off to work this morning. They're on call today, so she's expecting a long day.  Heard from Brittany .... Annette came home nauseous last night, so that's not good. I do love how Britt stays in touch with me, though. Angela and Kennedy and John came over last night to see us and made a delectable dessert of brownie and chocolate chip cookie mix and played in the kitchen with Papa.  He said that Tyler did most of the chopping to get dinner ready last night.  Brittany said that Andrew is taking care of her and her mom.

January 4, 2018 Woke up at 5:26. A kind of hopeful sign that my body clock has reset after DST. Angela is all right. She went into work early this morning, so I didn't get to see her.  Tori sent me a Marco Polo message this morning on her way to work. Beverly sent a text and a Marco Polo. She and JA were about to get underway on the third day of their trip. She said it is 24 degrees there and their hose froze. Tyler was almost through getting dressed at 6:18 a.m. so he seems like he is intending to have a good semester. Got to see John for a minute yesterday when he came to get Noah. He asked Tyler if they were going to see him this weekend. :-) Chris came to get some rent money, and Shawn was with him, so Tyler got to laugh and visit with them for a little bit.  Brittany had ankle surgery yesterday and when I talked to her last night, she said that Morgan had come over to have lunch with her.

January 1 Barry and John talking about football. Noah and Tyler warming up by the fire after being outside kicking their soccer balls. Barry and I had a good, relaxing day. Spent most of it indoors because we are having a lot of cold, but we did drive across the bay to Barnes and Nobles and had lunch at California Dreaming. I didn't hike today, but I did do something creative --- made my new address book. Said, done, uploaded, and ordered. And I even knew where my Blurb discount card was!

February 16, 2018 Driving in to Daddy and Kathi's neighborhood and seeing two cranes walking down the street.

February 10, 2018 My favorite hotdogs, on buns warmed in the toaster with just the right amount of ketchup, mustard and pickle, the hotdogs grilled in the small skillet with cheese melted over them at the very last. Perfectly delicious. Followed by Breyer's vanilla ice cream topped with Coops hot fudge sauce. A favorite meal. All by my quiet, unobserved self. And when I got the date and time set up on my elliptical, and my user profile set up, and got my iPod hooked up to it so that it will stay charged up it made my heart race. I'm so excited!!!

February 22, 2018 Texted with Annette a little bit yesterday morning. She said Brittany has started her physical therapy, and that's good.  Got to visit with Angela this morning for just a minute. Bentley is heavily sedated but doing well other than that.  Beth and I got to visit for a minute, and she had a safe trip back to H-town.  We got to go to Noah's first soccer game. He's number #19.  Shawn called and we talked for about 15 minutes.  Beverly and I got to chat for just about 5 minutes. 

February 23, 2018 Got to hug Angela this morning. The bowling party is coming together. I did get to see Tyler to tell him that I'd heard from his teacher.  Talked to Beverly for five minutes yesterday morning. Zak made Vivian an anniversary dinner. Pics in FB Joy Journal. Texted with Noah a little bit about his soccer game, and his practices, etc. He has practice 3x a week, so he did get to rest up after the game. Kennedy had a great time at her Thursday night dinner. 

February 28, 2018 Just starting off with a happy day. I got the bed made quickly, the laundry in, dressed and over here for a writing day. Not the full writing day of my dreams because I need about an hour for some little tasks, and I need to take care of some laundry, but nevertheless have the 12:30 - 6:00 period scheduled for writing, and I am happy about that.  Brittany sent me a text yesterday morning, "Thinking of you this morning as I listen to the birds sing."  It's kinda cool when the kids reach for you, or think of you all on their own.  I sent Morgan's post card via text instead of Facebook, and that worked, so I think I'll do that from now on. I feel better about not interrupting her while she's at work. She and I had talked about whether or not spring was really here, and since yesterday was cooler than recent days, she said she was calling it "a cool spring day."  Angela and I got to visit for a bit this morning, and Bella was w...

February 26, 2018 I am only just now realizing that I forgot to put the date in my document and I'm wondering how far back I'm going to have to go to fix that.  But... Goodtimes was yesterday, and we finally got to have a bowling party, and the kids seemed to have had a good time. They really didn't do much after we got back here, but Ange, Chelsea, Papa and I played Sequence. Tori helped Kennedy with an assignment.  The bowling alley has changed a lot since the last time I was there --- the old pit group seating is gone, so it is a much more social can mix back and forth kind of event. The teams could have been more intermingling, but I'm not sure that mattered to any of the kids.  Kennedy was really so appreciative that we went to Pensacon, and I was really happy to get to be there while she was working the booth and to get to see her work. They were on the list in the order chosen, and she was third of ten or twelve, so that was very exciting.  Evan p...

January 26 So, I cut my time in here short yesterday and went and walked the mall with Bertice. It was a good walk and talk.  Angela, after I'd told her that I should get to have a CAC afternoon, but found myself thinking I should do other things: "I hope you get to do whatever makes you happy."  Beverly planted a garden yesterday. Saw Kennedy and John for a quick minute.  Beth called to tell me something funny. Zak answered my text, and so did Noah. Noah made the soccer team! Beat out someone for the striker position who has been playing a lot longer than he has. Said he didn't know until he saw his name on the list what it felt like to have that feeling of "is this really real?"

January 24 My mommy likes, my clothes to match Willo moving her plate to sit by Tyler We did actually go and get Willo Tuesday night. Barry said, "That was a pretty easy thing to do." I felt less agreement about it being easy because I rushed to go get her and rushed to get her home, but I think I can tone the rushing down next time, and in any event, easy or not, I was happy that we did it. Autumn said she'd been waiting by the window, and asking if she was sure that I was going to come. She laughed and talked to Tyler the whole way home and wanted him to ride with us on the way back. When we sat at the table, she looked up at me with an expression that was kind of "I don't want to hurt your feelings," but slid it over to the side where Tyler sits, "I want to sit by Tyler."  Angela complimented Willo on her top, and said, "It matches your jacket!" Willo said, "My mommy likes my clothes to match."  Barry told A...

January 23 Beth called yesterday and we got to visit for a minute. She and Rodney are coming home the  first weekend in February, and I was happy to hear that. She'd posted about "quarterly trips to Colorado to see the parents," so I thought maybe she was planning to not come home very often and had gotten kinda depressed about that.  We're on track for picking Willo up tonight, and I'm happy about that.  Brittany and I had a fun little text conversation. She gets her stitches out today, and she is really happy about that.  Beverly and I got to talk for a few minutes in the early afternoon. She was doing laundry, and said that the traffic in San Francisco is completely different than that in San Diego; that in SD the drivers were more polite.  Got to see Angela for a minute this morning. Bentley's seizures have caused them to have to change his medications again, to every four or six times a day, and he is now on the highest dosage he can have of th...

January 21 John told Noah about high school and friends. Tyler, Noah and I were on our way back from the park, talking about which high schools they would go to. Along the way, Noah said, "Yeah, my dad told me that you had told him something that stuck with him, that your high school friends won't be around when you're grown up." It made me feel good that I had said something to John that he had thought worth passing on to his own son, and I do remember the day in my early thirties when I realized my high school classmates were no where around me, and I really wished I could have back all the time I'd spent worrying about whether or not they liked me, or whether or not I was ever going to fit in. 

January 19 Heard from Beverly Bertice telling me to wash my hands and stay away from sick people. This tickled me because I'm always the one nurturing everyone. Morgan saying she likes when I post those things because she trusts them.

January 20 Got to visit with Sue Carney (at the Women's March) Tyler And Noah laughing,  They were in the reading room just laughing and laughing. I sat on the sofa in the family room, closed my eyes, leaned my head back, and just soaked up the sound. 

January 22 Sunday was just as restful as you would want a Sabbath to be. I  cooked breakfast and lunch, and cleaned the kitchen up some, but I also built a fire and set my card table up in the family room, and sat there for about an hour and a half and finished writing the quotes from the Sabbath book into my notebook. Just re-reading things was a good time, and there is something definite that happens when your hand takes the time to form the cursive words.  I made taco-dillas for the boys and Tyler said that was an interesting word, and that made me smile.  Tyler and Noah cleaned up the kitchen while I got Barry's results from his DNA test, and then we went to Cottage Hill Park to play disc golf. It was a beautiful day and there are some stunning trees along the path. After I brought one big tree to their attention, they started noticing interesting tree trunks, etc., and that was fun.  Beth called and we visited for a quick minute. She was on her way to t...

January 19 I'm really excited about where the office is. I have things to do, but nothing pressing, certainly nothing so pressing that I can't have my CAC hours this afternoon. They'll be interrupted by the mammogram I have scheduled this afternoon, but I have decided not to let that stress me out. It causes me too much angst to try to re-prioritize things. I'm just going to hold to the course and see what a year of that does for me.  Tyler and I visited on the porch this morning while we waited for the bus. I'm sending him down to the stop a little later than usual because it is so cold. He told me about an ant that has the most poisonous bite and a wasp that can sting you and make you scream and about a man who let himself be bitten by them all, working up from the least venomous to the most.  Heard back from Annette yesterday. We didn't have a big chat, just a kiss.  Amber said it snowed there Tuesday and was 14 degrees Wednesday and Thursday. Kath...

January 18 Kennedy stayed inside all day yesterday because it was just too cold to come out, but she came over to eat with us and then came out again later, running over to bring us some cookies she'd made.  The house is starting to feel good. Things are getting straight and organized, and I held to my plan, in a manner of speaking, yesterday. It feels like things are going to go better if I just let the interruptions be and not twist so much in trying to hold the line.  Cursive writing really seems to be good for me, even if it is just coping quotes out of a book.  Beverly sent me a Marco Polo yesterday. She had a job interview that she thinks went well, but everyone everywhere is wearing masks, and she's wondering if it wouldn't be better to wait until after flu season.  Got to hug Angela this morning. I told her I was hoping that since she went in yesterday, they'd make someone else come in today. She said she liked my plan better than their plan. If sh...

January 17, 2018 Got this screenshot in a text from Kennedy, with a follow up text, "I got selected!" She'd been telling us about this. The art department at her college was contacted about a competition of designs created using a 3D printer to be given as takeaways for the VIP guests at Pensacon. The woman who was to make the selection did not show up on the appointed day, and Kennedy thought the whole thing was a wash, and then she got this email.   I replied about how excited I was, and she said, "I ran around looking for you guys but just couldn't wait for you to know!!! I'll be back for my hugs later. ...I"m already trying to get extra tickets if y'all are interested. I love y'all so much!" When I told her that I couldn't believe I wasn't there for that and thanked her for letting us know so that we could share in the excitement, she said, "No worries! I"ll be this excited all day!"  ~ Bri...