The Tragic and Mundane

Sometimes I'm grateful when I accidentally delay a post. I'd written one yesterday evening, at the end of a long weekend in which JP was gone from 10-6 both days to clean the community pool he'll be working in this summer; a giant 500 lb. limb snapped off our big oak out front, blocking our driveway and costing $200 to have it removed from its very high branching point; Landon opened his car door into another car door in a parking lot causing that person to file a claim on our insurance; I scrubbed all three bathrooms on my hands and knees with a magic eraser sponge (many magic erasers) and found 1,000 springtails having a party in my bathtub within 2 hours of my thorough cleaning; and I had a headache so bad I was actually in tears Sunday morning when I found I couldn't move in any direction without nearly debilitating pain.

On the upside, my best friend from high school was randomly in town and able to stop by for a visit on Sunday, and the kids and I went on a date at my favorite taco stand Saturday night when I realized JP was never coming home again.

 

But mostly, it was a difficult painfully expensive weekend that I would have used far too many words to describe on Sunday. Luckily, the world's weirdest Mad Men episode came on and my brain was too tired (and my headache too strong) to even consider proofing and publishing, so I took my vitamins and tucked myself in bed. Then today my head was better and work was good and the devastating tornadoes hit Oklahoma and now I'm just blinking back tears at the horrific pictures and news articles and stories of children and elementary schools and it's just so awful. My heart and thoughts go to everyone affected. I can't imagine losing everything like that... and for the children and friends and family members who are lost, that's even more than everything.

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I'm not sure where to go from that. I guess to the mundane? I made this Chicken with Basil Cream Sauce for dinner and it was fantastic. In the words of JP, "this is something you'd get in a restaurant!" and even my children, who insist they don't like chicken (and don't see the logical failure of expressing love chicken nuggets in the same sentence), scarfed it down.

Our vacuum broke, one of the frustrations of my cleaning frenzy on Saturday when the tube that makes the suction work kept falling out with every single push forward of the damn thing. It's a 11-year old Dyson (the very first model, bought by JP his junior year of college) and I would love something lighter, cheaper (much cheaper), good for all floor types (we have lots of wood, plus some tile, carpet, and vinyl), and must have an extension thingy to reach up into my skylights. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

I read Ender's Game this weekend. I'm not sure how I missed it in my middle school phase of reading All The Things because according to Amazon, EVERYONE has read this book, but my co-worker brought me his copy (his signed hardback copy that I was so afraid I'd hurt in some way that I kept in a gallon ziploc bag when I wasn't reading it) after a long lunch discussion of our favorite book and it was great fun. I don't think it can ever be as special to me as it is for him because I'm reading it as an adult and the big twist at the end was easy to see about halfway through, but it was still excellent and if I'd read it for the first time as a 13-year-old, it would probably be in my Top 20 book list. A book list I'm publishing as soon as I figure out how to rank books that are beloved because I read them a long time ago and books that are beloved because they're actually that good. Maybe it'll be bullet points. Regardless, it's coming.

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I'm checking the news one more time and then going to bed praying that when I wake up, the headlines aren't even worse. Oklahoma, we're thinking of you.