I took half a day off work yesterday afternoon to rest. It made a lot of difference, although now that it’s Thursday afternoon, I seem to be fading again. Perhaps I ate too large a lunch… a steak salad… plenty spicy… with the thought it would wake me up… but all it did was clear my sinuses (and I didn’t know they needed it)…

Luckily, I’ll be doing the production sheet this afternoon, so there will be something to do to keep me awake and alert. Without that, I’d be prone to fading out of my chair and falling underneath my desk… The weekend should turn me around and give me back some of the spunk I’m noted for…. Yeah…

Two of my wonderful co-workers brought me flowers today – a bouquet and a magnificent mum plant. One is bright and multi-colored; the other is creamy white. Both are precious (as are the folks who thought of me in such a sweet way) and do my heart good.

Laurel and Jackie will be going to Maple Creek on Saturday afternoon to go through Aunt Tod’s personal effects; they’ll decide whether Maple Creek would be able to use some of it for their residents who are less well off – people who don’t have the benefit of Medicare or another program to get them a wheelchair or walker, for example. It’s a way to give back to the community that took such great, loving care of Tod for five months. Yeah, it feels right…

I’m not going because I can’t bear it right now. I hope I won’t have to go back at all… but probably will. I’m taking this weekend to rest and recover. I’ve been at warp seven for over six weeks, with the convention, a lovely visitor, and Aunt Tod’s decline and death, so I’m going to the Puyallup Fair on Saturday for a few hours (to do something FUN for the first time in two weeks) and to church on Sunday. After that, all bets are off as to what else I might be doing.

I’d like to do a whole lot of nothing, but found that pretty hard to do yesterday afternoon when I had the chance. My hairdresser cut my hair at 3:30 and I watched a movie Bobbie sent me that evening – MONA LISA SMILE. Then I went to sleep for a few hours, but the sleep didn’t last. My mind is still in "red alert" mode and probably will be for a few more days. It’s not easy to come down to "all is well" after something like this… it takes the adrenaline a while to leach out, I guess!

I’m looking forward to feeling "normal" again…

In a couple weeks I’ll be going on a two days women’s retreat with my church to Cannon Beach, Oregon. If I’m not fully rested by then, I may just sit on the beach and veg most of the time… That sounds like heaven to me right now…

Please keep Alison in your prayers as she goes through the process of dealing with her father’s unexpected passing from an auto accident. She is having to deal with international laws, foreign accident investigations, wills, people coming out of the woodwork she doesn’t know who knew her dad… It’s all been very trying for her. She’ll be here in Washington in late October and by then things should be less stressful for her, and I should have recovered from the bone-weariness I feel. We’ll probably do a lot of hugging and crying because we both lost loved ones on the same day (her dad to an auto accident, my aunt to a massive stroke that left her unable to communicate until she passed away yesterday morning)… but that’s okay. That’s what friends and families are for. I’m so glad Bobbie was here when she was to meet Aunt Tod and bless her in the way she did. She lifted Tod’s spirits every time we visited her because she had so many bird stories and other comments that blessed Tod… plus that million-dollar grin and gleam that lifts spirits just because she’s in the same room with you. Bobbie helped me love on Aunt Tod and that’s HUGE to me…

All for now…