2018 Joy Journal

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.

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...

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 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 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...

January 9 Well, we won the National Championship. In the three years that I have actually be watching football, we've come close, but never gotten it, at least I don't think so. Anyway, last night's game was stressful, but we came away with the prize, so that was good. Beth and Beverly and Morgan and I watched together in the sense that we were posting about what was going on at our house, so that was kind of fun. Saw Kim a little bit, too.  Brittany and I had a little text visit. She did start her classes back yesterday which was a little hard in the rain, and with her recent ankle surgery. She said that she has a scooter and that a friend helped her get out of her car, but that getting back in had been kind of difficult.  Beverly and I had a little phone visit. She still has some unpacking to do, JA started his first day of work, and she did some editing of her resume. She found an opening for a Resident NA in an oncology department. Neither one of us knew w...

January 15 Erin.... thank you again for the Christmas. It was very much appreciated. ..   She was cleaning the hall bathroom, and I went to tell her that I was walking over here, and to give her her tip, in case she finished before I got back. She thanked me, and said so genuinely, "And thank you again for the Christmas. It was very much appreciated." It made me feel good.  Didn't talk to Beverly much over the weekend, but we did phone visit, etc., some last week. J.A. was off this weekend so they did a lot of exploring and hiking.  Angela came over yesterday afternoon and we play rumicube and sequence. She'd been to Books a Million to just wander among the books and see what interested her and came home with a book on history and book about the world's greatest books. We had fun talking about them. Kennedy came over late in the afternoon and played a couple of games of sequence with us. She is excited about some sculpture projects she's workin...

January 12, 2018 Angela and Kennedy came over for a little visit last night, and we looked at some of the old books we've gotten at the estate sale, and had fun talking about them.  Beverly and I got to have a little phone visit. The cable guy visit went just fine, and she has internet now, so that's good. J.A. is doing some of the onboarding things, so he's a little bored but should be back working sometime this week.  Saw Beth on Facebook a little bit --- pictures of Sammy.  Amber texted me back and so did Zak. We talked to Noah to wish him happy birthday.  Tyler and I had a little bit of a rough night, but it ended on a good note, so that's the good part. 

January 11 I didn't spend much time in the writing shack yesterday because it was Wednesday, which is supposed to be a day that Barry and I spend together, and we were scheduled to go to the gym by 8:00 a.m. We managed to pull that off, and had a good workout together.  I went to the CAC committee meeting, and I'm not really sure what I accomplished but I did get a good idea for asking for things to put in the raffle baskets.  And then I went to Ulta and got tweezers for my new purses and foot scrubbers, etc., Lollygagged a little bit.  And then I came home and went to work, and really had a productive afternoon. I made it almost all the way through my month ends. Today's a regularly scheduled Wonderland day, and I think I can finish month end, do the 1099's, and get ready for the WC audit.  I heard Derek telling Virginia that he wanted to put a memo out re: driver's needing money from Horizon, and snippets of that conversation. It was a positive sign, th...

January 3 Doug Jones is going to be sworn in today, and I get to feel like I was a part of that, and not just a tiny part. A kind of active part. Brittany's surgery was more complicated than they had anticipated, but was successful and she is with Andrew and Annette. I got to see Angela this morning. They're on call today and then she has to go the vet and then go get Bentley's medicines, so she has a long day ahead of her.  Got Marco Poloed with Tori a little bit last night. She said she'd had a good, regular day.  Shawn said he's going to start at Waffle House today.  Saw Evan for a few minutes yesterday. He's coming down with something.  The kids all sent in pictures so that Beverly could make me a picture book and it came in yesterday's mail. She said everyone sent pics and they had a whole nother chat about it in the Facebook group and I know that she put hours and hours into pulling it all together. It is beautiful. I spent time in m...

February 21, 2018 Chris And Tyler talking while waiting for the school bus. Tyler was standing by the driver side window, facing Chris, who was still seated in his truck. I don't know what Tyler was talking about but it was pretty animated.  Barry seems happy and excited. We decided on an RV yesterday and this morning he said, "We have so many great adventures ahead for us." I feel the same way.  I got to see Angela for a few minutes this morning. She looks tired, but she said they have Bentley on some new medications. It will be about a week before we'll know how his system adjusts to them. He is very sedated at the moment, but the seizures have stopped.  Tori said that she has been really happy with her car so far, and that she and Josh definitely had some learning experiences figuring it out. She's coming home this weekend, and I sure am happy about that.  I finally got a bowling party set up for us, so we'll see how that goes. At l...

February 5, 2018 Well, for starters, last week went quite well, as far as hitting the mark on my objectives. I finished the donation request for Rouse's for the CAC and took it all the way to the store, and she said she would email it right then.  I got to take a walk in the Audubon Bird Sanctuary. I can see myself living on the island, taking walks in the woods and on the beach, except that I can't exactly see how that would work.  Brittany came out a couple of hours early yesterday afternoon, before Second Sunday Supper, and she and Papa sat at the kitchen table while I puttered around in the kitchen, and we just had a really relaxed visit. We got her to tell us about her thesis and the breach and the models she is running and she told us about Skyler doing this great kickboxing class.  When Beverly called Friday night, I asked to speak to J.A. and I can still hear the tone in his voice when he said, "Thank you for asking to speak to me."  Angela stayed ...

February 2, 2018 Got to see Kennedy for a quick minute yesterday. Coal's surgery didn't cost as much as they expected it to.  Angela sent me a message this morning and let me know she wasn't having to go in to work as early and that she was going to sleep late. Annette posted that Andrew is riding in the Inca parade tonight, and which float he will be on. Brittany is going to bring Skyler to Second Sunday Supper. Brit said she can't wait to see everybody. Beverly said she got to know her co-workers even better, and that one of them works two jobs so that she can save up money for her dream --- to open a transitioning home for battered women.  Angela has let Doctor Elliot know that she'll be leaving in May. Ange and Tori have been talking a lot. Ange worried about planning until she actually had a job, but Tori told her she was covering the rent by herself now and to just come on.  Amber sent me a text --- her graduation date is set! 

February 6, 2018 The MCEI meeting yesterday was just fun. Don, Caroline, Ashley and me. Caroline and Ashley were both friendly and welcoming and helpful and we got along well. Caroline, who is over the grant applications for the entire university, works with other volunteers so I'm sure she can guide me well.  I got to see Angela for a minute this morning. Tyler and I had a good talk last night, mostly him just sharing some of his feelings about things with me.  Brittany responded to my text and said she'd enjoyed our visit, too. Evan responded to the text I sent him and wished me a good night's sleep.  Beverly called and we got to visit for a minute. She said there are a lot of people there and when they told her about how they all visit after work she said to herself, "I really want this job to work out." ;-)