A Touch of Grey

Thank you M, for your note! I'm so grateful that you think of me! It made my day to find your letter in the mail!

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It's a lesson to me, the devils and the East and the free
The abc's we all must face, try to save a little grace.
The Grateful Dead

This weekend I noticed that Mr. WestBerryDad and I had both acquired a further touch of grey.

Moving has been difficult. The dog, the sheep, the washer, the piano and well, a good 3/4 of our "stuff" is still at the "ex-house."

I'm in the middle of an investigation involving several arms of law enforcement and I need to reference years of back e-mails. My mother decided, out of the blue, to cancel said e-mail account (MOAN).

Last night a teenage member of our church family drove off of a ravine. The car flipped over and all four in the car were Mercy Flighted to the hospital (prayers, please).

And last week I took my company's required health evaluation. The on-line test revealed that if I don't shape up, I will probably die from a stress-related illness.

I've been duly warned.

So today I'm trying to incorporate even more stress-reduction into my day. After my shower I imaged the tension in my body lifting up to the Lord like steam rising. I listened to Bobby McFerrin on the radio ("Don't worry be happy!") I rap to myself a la Chile Peppers "give it away, give it away now."

I feel a bit silly.

Really, I am enjoying the journey. And I'm grateful for every second with my family even if the "cow gives kerosene." Who cares about another touch of grey (' cause my hairdresser is on speed dial:)

QVC

With turmoil in Egypt mounting and crisis all over the world, it seems frivolous to focus on shopping and excess. However, in my own little world there is an abundance of stress these days...a broken dryer, a teenager with a rotten attitude, overdue grad school papers. Gotta take a break from serious for a few minutes....

When we moved into our new house the six-, now seven-year old longed to put candles in the windows. With 15 rooms there is no shortage of windows so we settled on enough electric candles for the front windows that face the road. We purchased an even two dozen candles at Lowe's, filled them with AA batteries, screwed on the tops, and allowed W to set them out.

Each morning W loosed the bulbs to turn off the candles, and each night he lit them again. The ambiance they created was warm and welcoming.

This lasted for maybe three days. Then the boys began to use the candles as props for "scary games." Several candles got knocked off of their posts and were broken. We blew through two value packs of batteries. I took several shards of broken bulb glass in the heel.

Enough with the candles.

At our Open House a friend visited and said, "Oh, the QVC candles are so much better." Better ,how? They don't shatter? They don't use batteries so quickly? They burn brighter? Are they tied into a switch so that all 24 turn on and off at once?

I began to wonder if i'd really missed something with the QVC thing. I don't have TV, but I've certainly seen the show while staying at hotels. I could look it up on the internet.

Some of my girlfriends shop there quite often, but I usually tune out the conversation when it turns to this topic. What if it's true?! Do you shop on QVC?

Signed,
Mom with an inferiority complex.

Ketchup and Salt

We closed on the new farm last Tuesday. What an adventure this has been!

We stayed at the new house on the very first night. Mr. WestBerry fetched mattresses for the children and our bed and we collapsed after hosting his parents for an "opening day" dinner of pizza and wings provided by the sellers' real estate agent.

Since then, we've taken it day by day. We take a van or truck-load of boxes over on our way to/or from work or when a situation necessitates a special trip. Last night, for example, we discovered that their weren't enough boy socks at the new house (H2) for school so we ran over.

Our dog is at the old house, keeping guard. He was glad to see us (again).

Today I'm working on grading and my own homework here at H1 (House 1) because there is no high speed cable at H2. The washer and dryer are still here as is the stove. From the chest freezer downstairs I pulled some frozen french fries for my lunch.

But the ketchup and salt are at H2.

We're making do.