but it's warm enough to open the windows a bit and listen to it...drip drip drip...

fresh rain-drenched air is mixing with my patchouli incense. mmmmmm, nice.

****

my daughter is home from school. she's making muffins right now. she's having, you know, female issues today. damn. i hoped that she would be spared some of this crap. it sucks to be so afflicted at any age, but since she's less than a year into her periods, it makes it suck even more IMHO.

it's nice to have her home tho. especially on a rainy quiet day like today. she really is a fabulous kid.

****

i talked to my son a little while ago. he's ok i guess. i saw him sat. he says that the company he works for offers benefits after only a month. since he's no longer in school we can't cover him on my husband's insurance any longer, yet he says he won't be signing up for benefits, that it's a waste of his money.

i tried to stress the importance of health insurance, especially when one "ninjas" in the middle of the night, but he wouldn't go for it.

i just don't get it. i just don't.

i saw a report last week that says the human brain, particularly the part that enables us to make good judgements, doesn't fully mature until age 25.

wonder if we'll make it thru 4 more years???

come on, 25.....

****

a couple weeks ago i started having headaches, like every day at different times. they're accompanied by a stiff sore neck. now i'm starting to have back pain, in the area around the bottom of the lungs.

so i wonder if i've smoked myself to death, literally, or if it's just menopause? maybe it's lifting all those water and flower-filled buckets at work?? most likely it's brought on by grinding my teeth, which i've started doing lately. i wake up doing it, with sore jaws and the headache.

i think it's a combination of all of the above, plus just gettin older, ya know???

the bite guards from the dentist cost $200.00 with insurance coverage, but my friend told me she once got a mouth guard like the ones football players use and it worked great for her for about $6.00.

i think i'll give it a try. i think it's worth $6.00.

****

my darling daughter quit choir this past week. she's now on the track team at school. i don't have a problem with this. her choirmasters, apparently, do.

when i talked with them on saturday they were damn near adamant that she not quit. katherine and i had already had separate conversations with them about trying to work out a schedule, which amounted to about 5 or 6 trips to church per week in addition to every day practices after school for track. it's just too much.

choir was supposed to be 2 afternoons a week and sunday morning. it turned into a lot more of a time committment than that. and it prohibited her from doing so many other things that i think a girl her age should be able to do.

plus, don't kids learn what they like and dislike by trying different things?

the assistant choirmaster really pissed me off by playing the "you don't want your kid to be a quitter" card. i told her in no uncertain terms that i understand this is her and her husband's calling and profession, but it wasn't necessarily my daughter's life's work, and that she needed different experiences so that she could find out what she likes and doesn't like and that those experiences are what will shape her future.

besides, if we force a kid to participate in an extracurricular activity that they don't want to do, won't they end up resenting the activity and everyone connected with it?

the asst choirmaster told me that she's having the same issues with her daughter who is katherine's age. poor kid. just because it's the parent's calling and profession, does it have to be hers too??? is the kid not allowed to make any decisions about what she wants to do with her free time?

sounds like a rebellion waiting to happen to me.

****


my sister in florida told me there were only 3 flower arrangements at grandma nellie's funeral.

so sad.

her daughter had ordered one from her and her sister, and then a separate one from all the grandkids. and the one i sent. that was it. pitiful.

i know the lady was very old - 93 - and didn't have many friends left, but what about the rest of the family? this is a huge italian family with all kinds of relatives in florida and new york. what the hell is wrong with these people?

i personally don't care if i have any flowers when i die. i'll be dead, after all, and i won't even know, but when it's someone i care about it's a different story.

it just seemed kind of, i dunno, disrespectful to me. and nellie was a sweet old lady who deserved respect.

****

a muscle relaxer. yeah, i'll try a muscle relaxer for the back and neck. we'll see if that'll help.

xoxo