August Panorama

Just stealing a few minutes before going home. Abby is up at North soccer game and Sue will give both Talia and Abby rides home.

Later tonight, Sue says she will give me a call and she and I will WALK!

I really like the class I'm taking -- F358 -- Jewish Identity. The prof is funny and interesting and really nice -- he spills over with fascinating stuff.

So, I have reading to do for the class, it's already 6:30 and I haven't left work, the bed in my office is full of clean laundry waiting for me to sort it and put it away...

But it is better to be busy.

I was thinking about that issue because two of us moms were standing around talking about how we were going to take some food to a friend who needs some loving care right now. And another person was telling us how she could not find time to help out, but maybe in the future. Not that we asked for help -- but evidently there was a need to make excuses. And both of us have husbands and kids and pets and work full-time and participate a lot in our respective faith communities...

I actually had a talk with Abby about that. About how life is always busy, but it's better to say "yes" when an opportunity for service is put in front of you. I don't know if that's a Jewish thing, but it feels like it is...

Of course, Abby is the kind of kid who, when she and Jordie came to help out with the Welcome Back Brunch at synagogue Sunday morning (I was chairing and so they automatically volunteered to come early with me and help set up) -- anyway, I said to her "Can you go handle the table in the front hall and greet people, help them make nametags?" And she just said "Sure" and went to do it. I was so grateful to have that kind of kid -- all three kids are that kind -- and several people said nice things to me about our beautiful and gracious daughter.

But there is a thing -- Jewish or not -- that, if one if fortunate in life -- you owe it to life to give back.

Anyway, August has been a colorful and interesting and busy and good and bad and happy and sad panorama.

The Jeffersons came and that was good in so many ways. Our house was full -- but it was relaxing and joyful. Nora and Rita have diamonds in their noses! It was just perfect to hang out with them.

One of my best friends, Vicki, had to have a mastectomy and I've been thinking about her all the time. She just found out the other day that it has NOT metasticized (sp?) and I realized I had been carrying a huge ball of dread around all week, waiting to hear the news. So, she will have to have chemo and radiation, but at least, a good prognosis for recovery.

And another good friend, Shirley, my retired boss who basically taught me everything about pagination and made my current life so enjoyable by hiring me and making this job possible for me...she fell down the stairs at home and hurt her head and I have been so worried about her. Jordie has been helping out by stopping by their house, too, as well as some other good friends of hers.

We drove to Chicago and met Amalia at O'Hare -- she and the younger kids took the train into town to Lollopalooza and Jordie and I took her suitcase and headed up to Ika and Shlomo's. We went out for a relaxed meal with them and spent the next couple of days with them...picking up the kids at the Deerfield train station after midnight, when they would return from Lollopalooza...and we went to IKEA and got some chairs, and we all went on a architectural river tour in downtown Chicago...and after we were home, we went to Clifty Falls for a night and Jordie and I took a canoe and the kids, all in kayaks, paddled for SEVEN MILES down the Blue River...it was so much fun. At one point, Abby was alone on the river ahead of us. She was singing the Three Dog Night version of "Joy to the World, all you boys and girls..."and keeping time with her kayak paddle...later in the week we rented a pontoon boat and spent the afternoon on Lake Monroe. Then a really great 25th anniversary party that Saturday night! So much fun for lots of friends to come and share food and memories and see the house...

A busy and happy month that slipped by in the blink of an eye (Adam would call me "oldie" for saying that!)

OK. Time for me to get home.

A very interesting day

The house is quiet. I can hear the air-conditioning running. A faint murmur of Jordie and his friends from the Community Justice and Mediation Center committee, talking downstairs.

And I can hear my mom, breathing a bit noisily, sleeping on the living room couch.

She had been in the hospital for a week. They diagnosed microscopic colitis. With an IV, she had begun to look and feel much better. They put her on medication which costs $400/month, but it has been helping with the terrible diarrhea, which is a symptom of that disease.

At the hospital, before she was released Friday, we all had the impression that an Americare nurse would be with her at home all day Saturday. Wrong.

The Americare nurse called at 3 p.m. Saturday. My mom was so upset that she told her not to come that day.

The nurse came this morning, several hours after Mom had been found in the lobby, not totally dressed. And upset and confused. We think that must have been the influence of the sleeping medication she had been given.

She had been without her medication for a full 24 hours, which was enough to start the horrible diarrhea again. And thanks to that very heavy-duty sleeping pill (we think) she fell so hard in the bathroom that she broke the toilet. It wouldn't work. So in desperation, she went down to the lobby to be close to a bathroom.

So, the nurse was helpful this morning, telling us about the medications, etc. And it was a big misunderstanding, I guess, that we thought she would have someone with her in the morning yesterday.

We brought her home with us. She thinks she is going home on Tuesday when we pick up Abby from the airport. But, Jordie says she should stay till her gastrointestinal thing is all better, and I agree. And if this should turn out to be for a longer time, or for good, we are ready for that possibility.

Now that she is at our house, Mom is perfectly coherent and it's good to have her there where we can help her out while she is ill.

Oh, and the Honda minivan chose to overheat just after we left Mom's. So, we left it at her house and brought her car.

And, I'm afraid to turn on the news to even see what has been happening in Israel right now. My heart is full of fear for our family and friends there.

I am sick about what is happening, and I don't have any answers about what is right or wrong. But I'm just worried.

Now, I must go finish cleaning up some stuff out of our bedroom, where Mom is going to sleep. I want to take a nap myself before I go to Vicki's tonight -- there is a prayer service at her house tonight, before she has her mastectomy tomorrow.

I could take a few boring days after this.

Mellow Shabbat, in spite of everything

Just had a wonderful evening, hanging out with my husband...

In spite of the past week just being one heck of a challenge (Carol, my office-mate, is on vacation; my mom has been in the hospital in southern Indy all week with what turns out to be microscopic colitis and I have been worried and have gone up there most days this week; busy with thinking about Beth Shalom stuff, too; car got fixed; washing machine broken; my foot hurts -- although less than it has; and terribly, terribly worried about what is happening in Israel; and over everything, worrying about my buddy Vicki, who has to have a mastectomy on Monday):

So, Rod was as helpful as he ever could be, volunteering to do the Sunday editorial page and I got out of work by 6 or so...normal for a Friday. So, I met up with Jordie and we went downtown, hoping to start the evening by looking at a peace art exhibit in the Showers Building. However, Showers was all locked up. We proceeded over to the Square, to see Jeremy Bazur's art show at the Wandering Turtle Gallery -- the show and the whole gallery were wonderful! We walked over to Roots, a vegetarian restaurant and had dinner...then over to South Washington Street to listen to a few minutes of music in the park and then to Jen Molica's art show at Boxcar Books. I want to commission her to do a piece for the Miriam collection, but not until the fall, when I can afford it. Catching up on bills this summer!

Now, Jordie is out giving Sadie a walk and I am going to bed soon! Roger Kugler is coming over in the morning to talk about the future fireplace mantle and surround, and I am so excited! He is going to loan me his "tile box" with a tile cutter and a book on how to do it, so we can do the tile for the fireplace in the living room. YAY!

Oh, but first....



This is the red-brick-with-white-frame-(but no mantle!)-fireplace in our living room. In front, on the hearth, you can see the blueish-greenish stone tiles that are going to be on the fireplace! And it will have a light wood mantle and surround. Bellissimo!



Amalia sent me this photo last Sunday when Abby had just arrived in Los Angeles, and they had gone to a movie together...along with leaving me a message that she was feeding our little girl from the three major food groups: Milk Dud, popcorn and nachos!



And the girls sent me this photo while they were trying on sunglasses!



This is a house I had been hunting for. Even last time when Sandy was here, she and I drove around looking. One summer, I was walking down West 14th Street, and I saw a guy named Odie, who I knew. He mentioned that he and his wife Beth needed to find a full-time babysitter for their new baby, Morgan, because Beth wanted to be able to work (she was a chef). So, I ended up babysitting that whole summer for Morgan, a sweet baby boy. I kind of wanted to find out if I could deal with little kids, since I had never really taken care of any. SO, Sandy used to come over there, as she was friends with them, also. And it was frustrating that we could not locate that house where I spent happy summer days with that sweet baby. After all, I was out of college already -- I should be able to remember. So, it was a relief to finally drive by that house and say "That's it!" I emailed the photo to Sandy with a note: "Found it." And I know she will understand!

When I heard a knock at the door, I did not answer...

Tonight, I was at home, just after work.

I was really, really tired.

I was really, really hot.

I was really, really crabby.

Jordie and I had a disagreement about money, and I was just thinking about how yucky I felt.

And I had only a few minutes before I had to leave for the Beth Shalom board meeting.

So, when I heard a knock at the door, I did not answer.

I just wanted to be alone.

Thank God, Jordie answered the door.

Because it was our little neighbor. He's just 6 or 7, I think. A beautiful boy. The son of our friends down the street. He somehow missed seeing his dad around the house, and so, when he didn't see his dad (who was, really, around there, making dinner, but somehow they missed each other). Anyway, when he didn't see his dad, he walked down the street to our house and knocked on the door.

Jordie gave him a big hug and then took him home.

What if I had been by myself and had not answered the door? It just gives me chills to think of a child being worried and me too busy to comfort.

What a lesson to not be so lost in myself.

One happy memory

I just had Abby email this photo to me from our home computer, because a friend at work is doing a page about pet owners and their pets. Kudos to Abby for knowing how to email a picture as an attachment! Our smart girl.

Anyway, this is Abby and a bunch of friends, getting ready to take our dog Gilbert on a walk down the road (that was her "job" back then).

Gilbert was a great dog who was part of our family for 14 years.

I love technology...

...because here I am, sitting in a Starbucks on Meridian Street, just north of Monument Circle, playing around on the laptop. While I've been sitting here, I've talked to Amalia on the cell phone (her "showcase" in front of theatrical agents this morning went fine -- they said she seemed really "real" in her conversations and that she is really pretty!) and I'm checking in periodically with Abby on her cell phone, as she wanders around with her friends Katie, Kimmie and Amy, in Circle Center Mall a couple of blocks away, blissfully trying on clothes! And here I am blogging...

For the past three or four days, I've been kind of sunk in a black depression. I could still work and function, and even had a very good time at my friend Deb's book release party for girlfriends...but when alone, I would feel hopeless, exhausted, weepy, overwhelmed. I wonder if that was a hormonal thing?

Luckily, I woke up this morning and felt much more like myself. I started doing some laundry, went to Esther Gaber's to pick up some blouses she is giving me (because they are moving to Meadowood), putting stuff aside for the neighborhood yard sale in a couple of weeks (a great opportunity, in my humble opinion, for us to get rid of much stuff that we brought from the old house and now have discovered...we didn't really need.

I want to get rid of the two-seater blue fold-out couch in my office. It's fine to sleep on, but as a couch, not so comfortable. I want to get a chair with a footstool from IKEA sometime this summer instead. And the yardsale will be a perfect opportunity.

A woman wrote me such a nice email, responding to my post on the neighborhood listserv. (I explained that our house is the one with the blue windmill in the yard, and that I had kept it after Dad died, because he loved it -- it reminded him of the windmill on the farm when he was growing up, which pumped water for the cows). Anyway, this woman told me that her kids love to walk by the windmill now! That made me feel so good!

Jordie and I are a little sad about the three hanging plants which were stolen out of our front yard the other day -- between 3 and 5 in the afternoon! All three were close to the street. We felt kind of really betrayed by fate to have someone do that! In our nice new neighborhood, too!

I have some concrete stuff that I want to accomplish during this quiet time, so I'll sign off now and get to work!