While trying to figure out my NYE plans, I discovered that an old
acquaintance had passed away suddenly. I used to see her all the time
in my party days. I cant say we were close friends, but we were always
quite fond of each other. Whenever we saw each other, we'd talk and
chat, usually about our kids and single parenting. I e-mailed another
old friend from those days and found out she'd been gone for months: a
car wreck at Easter. Her daughter is now living in Houston with her
grandmother, and needed clothing, toys, all sorts of stuff. We'd talked
about our kids many times - hers is a year younger than mine, but
otherwise we might have the same kid. 11yo and I had just cleared her
old clothes out of her closet and I was getting ready to give her old
computer away. I asked if the girl needed a computer, and the answer
was of course, yes.
as it so happened, I was already planning to go to Houston with a
friend the next day. I spoke to the Grandmother a few times, got
directions, loaded up some hard-to-find tween-size girl jeans, shoes,
purses, the iMac, and a bunch of other stuff into a box and took off.
The girl looks exactly lke her mother, much the way 11yo looks like me.
It was hard seeing her, not so much because I miss her mother (which I
do), but I was forced to confront a possible future for 11yo without
me. I looked around and thought: this could be the future. I hope not.
I'm sure her mother never planned on this. But here we are. I said my
goodbyes and left, probably a little too quickly for complete Southern
politeness. I think they understood.
*******************
The last few days of the year found me on a remodeling kick. I'm
changing every room in the house. My bedroom is getting the most work -
I was never satisfied with the look I achieved after my last remodeling
spasm. New bedframe, a comfy chair I think, but I'm going to move about
everything else out. I'll probably also repaint once I decide on a
color. And curtains! I have to accept that I'm a grownup and it's okay
to have curtains. Curtains do not = boring. Unless they do, in which
case I'll take them the f*ck down. I haven't decided on a wall color or
texture yet. White hasn't been ruled out, but plain, flat, uninformed
white certainly will not work. I'll also finish the bathroom and the
trim in the hallway. The kitchen is going to get some major work as
well. I'll post before and after pics.
*******************
I celebrated an anniversary on New Year's Day: one straight year
without spending the night in the hospital. 2005 was the first year
since 1997 that's passed without me spending at least one night in a
hospital (for myself). So my first resolution is to do that again!
my next resolution is to get a pair of Hannakah presents into the mail. I know they're late, I'm sorry, I'm a schmuck.
I'm back at work today and I have a quite literal mountain of mail waiting for me. I have to go open it now.