February: Time Marches On

It's hard to believe that we're already into February. One reason may be that it never felt like January. We went through most of the month with mid-60 to mid-70 degree weather.....and it's been fantastic! The photo is of the jasmine that I planted by my mailbox last year. It has been blooming for well over a month, so the flora and fauna may be as confused as we are.....I just hope they are enjoying it as much!   My walks have been glorious and they continue to be my small island of tranquility in the stream of life.                 

Things have been quiet and peaceful here, and I've tried to enjoy it.  Now that we've taken steps toward getting my mother back home, she has settled a bit.....but once in a while she'll say, "I don't know what I'm going to do when I get home."  I just stay quiet and hope that at some point she will realize that her life here is much easier, safer and possibly even more enjoyable than at home on her own.  She seems to be doing very well, having regained her strength.  If she remains here, we can maintain that much more easily than if she goes home.  The pattern has been that she gets sick, worn down and depressed.  She comes here and we try to correct those issues......then she goes home and it happens all over again.  Oh, well.....

We've been busy with first one thing and then another around the house, but nothing exciting enough to report.......but quiet is good!!  Mama kept saying that we needed to get out and rake the leaves, which definitely isn't something that registers on my "must do" scale. But, she enjoys yard work and it certainly wouldn't hurt the yard, so on two afternoons we raked, bagged and disposed of leaves.  It was good for her (didn't hurt me either!) and the yard does look better.

My birthday "celebration", such as it was, continued when I was treated to lunch by two friends on separate occasions.  Janeen invited me to Reilly's for lunch one day and then a few days later Chris invited me to The Cottage.  They are both friends whose company I appreciate and it was lots of fun to catch up.

This past Saturday I went to the first organizational meeting of the county Democrats.  There were only two of us from my precinct......and, even more sadly, there were some precincts that had no one show!  My major motivation for going was the very long shot that I might get to go to the national convention that will be held in Charlotte this year.  I learned at this meeting that there w ill be only 2 delegates and 1 alternate to attend from my district.........and I'm sure the big-wigs will have those slots sewn up.  In any case, I hope to go to the county convention and possibly the state.  It should be interesting and fun, however far I get. Needless to say, we were happy when the primaries moved on to Florida so we could observe the antics from afar, especially since the SC primaries seemed to showcase the worst tendencies of both the candidates and the voters......it was embarrassing for the rest of us who live in the state and only seemed to prove that, for some people, the more things change the more they stay the same. In any case, the candidates become more amusing and far out by the day and provided lots of fodder for conversation at our Living Liberally group on Tuesday night.

When I was visiting Jan back in August, a "deal" appeared on Groupon to have 1000 photos scanned for $29.99, which seemed good to me.  Needless to say, I didn't read the fine print and, as it turns out, it really isn't much of a deal if you want them scanned in order (sounds like they're going to shuffle them unless I pay them extra not to!), or have varying size photos, etc.  Anyway, I've been organizing photos to mail......and looking through lots of them.  It's been a real trip down memory lane.....my first big trip (6 weeks in Europe) in 1982, then China, Thailand (by myself, my first trip after joining Aramco), India, Italy, France, Oman, Dubai, Prague, Turkey and so on.  Many more places than a girl from NC would ever expect to see in a lifetime.  It was wonderful to be reminded of all that I've seen, the people I've met along the way (especially those who became friends), and the experiences I've had.......and how much I enjoyed and appreciated it all. Life is good!