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1) Friday morning, I woke up with an excruciating headache and stayed home from work. It decided to also give me a nauseous stomach. Joy! The kicker, though, was that I am out of vacation/sick leave and had to take the day unpaid.
2) I had to do something to take my mind off the ickies, so I started reading Thomas Childers' Soldier from the War Returning: The Greatest Generation's Troubled Homecoming from World War II. I finished it early the next morning. It's an incredible read. We often tend to think the Greatest Generation came home from war, went back to work, and had few, if any, problems readjusting to society. Not so. Not so at all. This book is incredibly eye-opening about their emotional (and sometimes physical) struggles to cope. It affected not only the veteran himself, but also his spouse, his children, his friends, and his family.
3) Playing Littlest Pet Shop with my daughter always brings about some zany situations. I am usually the character of Winston, the gray bulldog. He, of course, emulates Winston Churchill and lately has been having trouble with his ex-wife. She won't let him see the kids because his current wife is a Russian cat named Tatiana. Then there is Poky, the Porcupine, who creates havoc by driving his car at excessive speeds, and George the loveable (but dumb) guard dog who tries to keep Poky from causing too much trouble. Yeah, we have a lot of fun.
4) It's hot. I am so, so sick of the heat. I am ready for autumn. Now. Yesterday.
5) I am finally mailing out my sister-in-law's birthday card. Her birthday was in June. Yikes!
6) My daughter starts school in two weeks. Two weeks! How is that possible? How? I am not ready for her to be in middle school. Neither is she. If only to turn back time for a day and have her be a baby again...
7) I've learned the value of having pen and paper on my nightstand. I couldn't get to sleep Saturday night, my novel swirling around in my head. Several very important ideas popped into my brain and I grabbed pen and paper and wrote them down, in the dark. Thankfully, they were legible the next morning!
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I keep a flashlight in the basket of notebooks next to my bed for those midnight inspirations. Usually I have to cover it with my hand, letting just enough light through my fingers to write by but not enough to wake up my sisters. :)
ReplyDeleteMelissa, I know what you mean about wanting to turn back the clock-I just watched as Stuart and Amy went out for a driving lesson. It's exciting, but a reminder that she is growing up.
ReplyDeleteTomorrow Stuart is going to Kentucky for a week so Amy and I will have our usual fun time together watching old movies, cooking together, just hanging out, etc.
Take care of yourself sweetie and try not to stress too much-and thanks for the book suggestion.
Hugs:)
I hope you're feeling better!
ReplyDeleteLinda
Elisabeth - I need one of those little pen flashlights. May have to find one! Or a pen/flashlight combo! I wonder if they make those???
ReplyDeleteOoh, Valerie, I hope you two have a wonderful time together! It's so much fun just hanging out with our daughters, isn't it? :-) And yes, definitely read this book. I wrote a review of it over at my WW2 blog.
Linda - Actually, had a headache this morning that hasn't gone away. I blame my hormones. :-)
Aw, bummer that you had to take a day without pay. I hope you feel better soon. Good thing you were able to concentrate on a book. It's the pits when you're so sick, you can't even read. I think that veterans from every war have problems. How could they not? And it does affect the whole family. They just didn't talk about it much.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great mom to play Littlest Pet Shop with your daughter. She's a lucky kid. Yep, they sure do grow fast. My son is married with a toddler. My oldest daughter is expecting her first baby. My middle daughter just got married, and my youngest child just turned 22 and moved out (not too far away) so I don't worry too much about her. And I wonder where did all those years go? Enjoy every minute!
That typewriter is so beautiful, goodness!!
ReplyDeleteMy husband unearthed old camcorder tapes, and to see our kids so small again, oh wow!! Amazing to view, so I understand completely how you're feeling with your girl...
I have pen and paper by my bed because you just never know. :)))
Lyn - I keep telling myself that my daughter is growing up so fast and to enjoy the time I have with her. Of course, she tells me that she's going to live with me even after she graduates from high school. I have a feeling, though, that once she actually gets to that age, she may change her mind!
ReplyDeleteAnna - That is a vintage 1940s typewriter. I saw it into an antique store a few months ago and HAD to have it!
I just love that vintage typewriter.
ReplyDeleteHope you're soon feeling better.
My grandmother used to have a typewriter like that one. I remember being about 4 or 5 years old and one evening while my parents and grandparents visited, Grandma let me try to type. Later, when she died, I got that typewriter and I used it until the late 1980s, believe it or not! Fun memories!
ReplyDeleteLinda
Amen to number four and I think I'd like Winston the bulldog, or at least his hot Russian wife. ;)
ReplyDeleteShirley - Doing much better, thank you!
ReplyDeleteLinda - My mom had a manual typewriter that I used to use - it was new for its time, of course (early '80s) but I clacked away on it and loved every minute of it.
Travis - Haha! I just think the ex-wife is jealous of the hot Russian wife and that's why she keeps the kids away! ;-)
That WWII homecoming book sounds fabulous. My dad has said that back then, the men just came back and went back to work and there wasn't all this post-traumatic nonsense. Of course, he was in elementary school during the war...I'm sure that's what it looked like, to a kid. And they just didn't talk about problems back then. I've had the privilege of talking to WWII veterans, and their wives, and one thing is universal: they came home and didn't talk about it. EVER. A few of the wives said that only now are their husbands opening up, b/c they're realizing that if they don't tell their stories, their kids/grandkids/great-grandkids will never know what happened.
ReplyDeleteWhew, can you tell I'm passionate about this? I'm off to see if our library has that book.