More Random Thoughts

I made a big salad and a baked potato for dinner tonight. Baked potatoes always make me think of my friend Christy. Christy is a vegetarian and not long ago at a charity dinner she asked for a vegetarian meal. Now most places would have some sort of pasta option, but that particular night the vegetarian option was not one, but two baked potatoes. As Christy would say "not cool" can you blame her?

This past Friday, my friend Gale and I had a great dinner together. She was trying to talk me down from all of the anger and frustration I was feeling toward one particular student. This student clearly does not like the rules I have established for my class, things like what constitutes a free write when it comes to journal writing, no side conversations in class and no texting. This student claims to have the superior ability to multi-task. Well guess what? It does not matter if you can stand on your head, chew gum and quote your favorite author. There is NO texting in my class! This student also decided to do a free write in their journal on the word free. Thanks for that!

That same night when I arrived home in the dark I noticed that when I drove into the garage the kitchen door was wide open. This totally freaked me out, I believe I have already mentioned in a previous blog my OCD tendencies. I asked myself the following questions:
Did I shut the door when I left this morning? I'm sure I did.

Maybe I did shut the door but left the garage door open? If that's the case did someone enter my house through the open garage door and then close the garage door and leave the kitchen door open?

If that's the case what are the chances of someone actually being in my house waiting for me to return? Now it is this very thought that REALLY FREAKED me out. So I took a deep breath, pulled out my cell phone and pushed 911 on my cell. Then I walked inside with my thumb on the send button.

I checked the downstairs bathroom, empty. The kitchen pantry, empty. The hall closet, also empty. Okay all the possible downstairs hiding spots are empty. Then I slowly walked upstairs. My office closet empty, bedroom 1, empty, bedroom 2 empty. And then final the master bathroom. I was terrified pulling back the shower curtain I had visions of the shower scene from Psycho rushing through my mind. Of course I realize that in that particular scene the killer was on the outside of the shower, but I was convinced someone was hiding behind my shower curtain.

Thankfully when he stabbed me it was just a superficial wound and the police officers arrived just a few minutes later. Or the shower was empty, I'll let you decide. One thing that has come from this unfortunate event is that my OCD is again at an all time high. I still do not know why the kitchen door was open. Perhaps Molly and Moses my very overweight cats have learned a new trick?

Almost Heaven, West Virginia

Several years ago my cousin's young son asked if he could marry me. I told him he couldn't because we were family and you could only marry your family member if you lived in West Virginia. A few minutes later when John's dad came into the room I overheard him asking his dad if they could move to West Virginia.

West Virginia, I'm sorry I made jokes about you especially since I had never visited your lovely state. Actually while I can now say I've slept in your state for a couple nights, I still don't feel like I know you that well,see you just happened to be a central location for 4 friends coming from NY, VA, SC and MI. And while I still don't know you that well I did appreciate your hospitality. My friends and I had an amazing weekend together.

We stayed in your state's capital and while I seem to recall seeing the gold dome of your capital building as I drove into town, the remainder of our time was spent in a hotel room and then in a hotel lobby and then in a local cafe chatting, laughing and reminiscing with friends.



The four of us have not all been together for about 9 years, some of us have seen each other for short visits from time to time but for the 4 of us to be together for a weekend, I can only describe this feeling of complete contentment. I am inspired by my friends creativity, their love for their families and their passion for their friends and their faith. The only way this weekend could have been better is if we didn't require sleep, I know each of us wanted to eek out as many hours together as possible.

When we did venture of of the hotel we did find the coolest little bookstore, which included tin ceilings and exposed brick. While it was small it included all the best books you would ever want to read, each title that my friends and I came up with we were able to find. Along with some amazing greeting cards, I could have bought about 12 of them, but I settled on two. We all hope to return their next year for a book signing when our friend Eileen's book comes out.



And then as if God was smiling on us, across from the bookstore was the sweetest little cafe that had the best sundae I have ever had, a pumpkin sundae. Pumpkin ice cream, caramel, chocolate chunks, nuts and whip cream. The only thing sweeter than the ice cream was this precious time I was able to spend with my dear friends.

As I ventured home from this weekend, I kept thinking of things I forgot to share or to ask and was wishing the weekend could have lasted just a little longer. I'm already looking forward to next year and what I hope will be a new tradition in each of our lives.

The one where I brag about my niece

My niece Q. is one of my most favorite people on the planet. She lives an hour from here so I do not get to see her very often, but today she and my brother decided to come by for dinner and to celebrate his birthday. It's been over a month since I've seen her and during that time, she has started Pre-K. Not pre-school she informed me Pre-K, apparently there is a difference? She also had her hair cut and is sporting bangs, "Like you aunt Mary."

I was talking to my mom on the phone a couple weeks ago, Q was visiting them and my mom asked her if she wanted to talk to me on the phone. She took the phone and I began asking her questions. Silence. I asked her something else, nothing. Finally my mom took the phone back "Mary did you hang up?" "No, I'm here." "Q why aren't you talking to Mary?" my mom asked. "I was playing the silent game." Nice.

Q knows that I am a career counselor, and she likes to inform me from time to time of her plans for when she grows up. Her latest occupational dreams? Ballerina, Baker, Sharp Shooter. Yes, that's right Sharp Shooter.