6:00 pm is the new morning.........ha!
Woke up and wondered where I was this morning.  The bed seemed familiar enough, but the sounds of Nascar Racing in Talladega in full swing did not...................Annie and Rio must have been in wee fire suits in their brightly painted sponsor cars............cause I heard the race of the season.  They were going round and round, only actual difference between this track and the one actually in Talladega, Alabama is that ours has STAIRS.
Try driving up and down stairs Nascar Drivers..........my crazy racing duo can TOTALLY DO THAT......you can't top Top Cats in their racing prime. 
Man did they have fun!  Afterwards they clambered onto the bed and plopped over for a major pit stop.  We all fell asleep to the sounds of Everybody Loves Raymond reruns.  When I woke back up I knew it was gonna be a mostly stay in bed day.  At one point I made poached eggs, slice of watermelon and fed little Miss Quick and young Mr. Quicker........Rio cries and cries until that food hits the bowl.  Reminds me of that old Janis Joplin song, "Cry Cry Baby."  Listen to it and you will know what I hear in my head.......Rio is a talker while Annie & I are more about silence being golden.  You would think this was the Congressional Library or maybe St. Patrick's Cathedral.
I have a slight tummy ache.  I think some weak tea in a bit, for now, just wanna gather my thoughts.  I watched a PBS Special called "Half the Sky."  It was a 2 part special, 4 hours total about half the population of the world.  Went to several different countries, Cambodia, Somalia, Kenya and oh dear, it was there, it's on the tip of my tongue, was it China? no....sigh.  It was narrated by George Clooney.........now I want to get the book.  Wish I already had the book.  Want to read more in depth......much to think about, pray about......feelings of anger/shock/horror is not enough.  But if this reaction serves as an impetus for change than that is good too.  Prostitution, human trafficking, rape, beatings, mental abuse, FGM which rips out a part of my soul..........also seeing how incredibly little it takes to lead to change.  With education, with a small hand up.............one woman was able to start her own business after saving for several years.  She turned her hard won annual savings of $15 in US funds times three long years into a business that could support her family.  So many places in the world where women and children have no say so.......no rights, no one to protect them........it is a daunting problem.....130 million women treated like they are no consequence, simply expendable.
I hired someone to come do some repairs.  They sent Roger, I had doubts, but he did a fine job yesterday.  Roger's accent caught my attention......I said I can't figure out your voice, it sounds sort of like Boston.  He laughed said he'd been hanging out with a chum from Boston, no he is from New Zealand.......Kiwi all the way.  He moved here in 1991, now that he is 40 he wants to move back home.  I get that, went through the strongest desire to return to where I was raised when I was 40-41.........you reach a point where you're sort of adventured out and long for the familiar rhythms of home, a slower lifestyle, more familiar faces of family as a constant.  He said that's it, that's exactly how I feel.  He said he didn't get it when he was younger.......I don't think we're supposed to, I think we're supposed to spread our wings, travel here and there, have some fun, learn new things......
I have a dear friend who left home in her early 20's, and moved to Arizona.  She hated it, hated being away from her home and family so much that she never moved again.  She is very happy within her environment..........she goes on great vacations, but she is very content where she has always lived.  I had more wanderlust in me and packed many times. My first year here/disabled full time I felt misplaced and longed for where I was raised, it was such a deep heartwrenching ache......God has eased that pain and is helping me to bloom in this red Georgia clay..........I think I will always miss the rich black dirt of home though.
Handyman Roger put up metal curtain holder backers (do they have a better name? lol!), and I am loving the view.  The view from my front window is all leafy green branches.....it won't be long until the leaves begin to turn.  I won't have to miss a thing.....so nice.  He painted & installed two pieces of missing trim in the laundry room, happy dance!  It looks very nice.  I haven't tried to go upstairs yet, but he also repaired the lid on an antique trunk.  Curious to see how the replaced wood looks.  But I gotta wait till the wobblies pass.  Still not too steady on my feet.  He also tightened a bunch of little things, handles and holders and faucets oh my.........
AND the best part, he was able to fix the kitchen ceiling fan that I knocked loose with my rug moving shenanigans one day.  Not one of my better ideas........nominated for another Purple Lucy Award for Comedic Timing & Ineptitude, but it costs to hire a repairman.  Roger did do one smaller goof ........put the wrong color of paint on a spot that needed touching up.  Then he didn't wipe it off.  Uh boy, I have to find a way to track the paint used everywhere except the kitchen. 
So that's about all except for this:
I appreciate the things ya'll shared with me on my last journal........we've all had to go through tough situations and we've all dealt with some big changes in life.......had to regroup, amend and adapt.  It isn't easy.......so blessed and proud to have such a great group of DS Friends to support and encourage and for me to be able to do that is some small way for you...............we listen, we lift each other up, we laugh together and I want to share my gratitude..........can you believe that we got 5 inches of rain during that recent deluge???????  Wowza.......maybe I should have asked Roger to build me an ARK!
A lot of things that I share are things that I get.......intellectually anyway.  Without a life partner, without anyone in the home to let this stuff out to.........well it's doubly appreciated to have conversations with ya'll, to know that you can relate, that you have an understanding
and then when you share some of your own challenges I don't feel that it is about whining at all.......I feel privileged to know that we can share in finding ways to overcome, to do well, to stay positive and hopeful amidst the trials.  We are amazingly resilient.  Amazingly so...........can't stress that enough.  I do not want to live everyday feeling low.......I have more to do in this life........it may be different than what I thought, but that only makes for a richer tapestry of colors along the way...........so let's celebrate resilience, let's celebrate the joy of the little things that we treasure.......later wonderbabies........ya'll rock, each and everyone!