Month: April 2012

The above picture is posted compliments of my orthopedic foot doctor, Dr. Lee.  At my appointment last Tuesday he stated that I would be provided the opportunity to expand on my black and white fashion theme and that it was going to add a whole new dimension to my world!!! Well now, that was a bit of an understatement!  I feel quite a bit like Frankenstein as I “clump” down the stairs these days one slow measured step at a time.  Who knew (well, except for maybe that darned old rose-bush and Crick……LOL) that a teeny tiny little metatarsal bone (so tiny that the fracture was barely visible on the x-ray) could  require 7 weeks of healing with a rock hard, clunky, burdensome, awkward, bulky, cumbersome (I assume you are getting my drift!!) cast?   Looks  like Edwina Scissorhands is going to have an extended vacation, if you will, and my OCD brain will have to take a chill pill………………………right about now, condo living is beginning to look pretty enticing :).   As this is my very first ever experience in having a part of me encased in cement, er…..fiberglass, I was not fully prepared for the “casting” procedure which awaited me, that is, until I was introduced to Lyndsey (a super friendly male tech who could have passed for an Ohio State football tackle!).  As soon as I was seated in the “casting” room, he asked me what color of cast I wanted.  Well, it just so happened that I had talked to Megan as I was waiting to be seen and she suggested that I ask for a black cast, as not only a MM fashion statement, but also for the practicality of not showing the dinginess of an aging cast.  Soooo, I questioned Lyndsey as to how many people actually request a “black” cast.  He just grinned, shook his head, and said, “I’m not going to tell you, you have to decide for yourself.”  I  told him that decision-making is definitely not a forte of mine, as anyone who has ever dined or shopped with me can attest.  (Keep in mind that my kitchen and bathroom are black and white, my wardrobe is black and white, the exterior of my house is black, white and gray, my car is gray…………………….need I say more??).  At any rate, he handed me a large key ring with ten or so color swatches of orthotape for me to choose from (oh, there’s that darned preposition at the end of a sentence again).  As I looked each one over, I asked him what was the most popular color, but once again, he just shrugged with his wide tooth grin and repeated that it was strictly my choice.  Eventually, he took the ring of colors from my hand, walked over to a nearby desk and when he returned, he handed me back the ring……………minus half of the colors.   So he looked at me, and looked again at the ring, and then asked, “Now…….. does that help a little?”  Uh no, not really (I thought to myself) and still debating, I continued looking over the swatches for a gray color, which Lyndsey sadly (for both of us!) informed me was not a color option.  Sensing that the two of us could be sitting there in the casting room until we both turned old & gray, he once more took the ring from my hand, again walked over to the desk, and this time when he returned………………………. there were only two swatches remaining on the key ring……………………………………………yep………………………………………white & black!!!!!  LOL   Ohhh noooo, I then began to feel a sense of mild panic set in as Lyndsey stood before me patiently “forcing” me, “willing” me, to choose between my two favorite colors!!………………………………………………….white?? ……..or black?? (it never fails for me………… only two choices……….just like the “true & false” tests of my childhood………. two choices & I inevitably choose wrong!!!).  And,in keeping with that scenario I,………. (drum roll, please)……… chose…………………… white!!!!!!!!and now,……………..as I peer down at my aging, dirt smudged cast……..oh how I wish I had chosen black!!!!

I really and truly did meet my match in Lyndsey, “the foot warden” (a title I chose for him since he was, after all, responsible for imprisoning “my left foot!!).  Taking a cue from Carole (the family’s designated “whiner and complainer :)), I made sure that he knew how taxing this situation was now going to be for my well documented OCD behavior.  After all, who was going to tame the prolific euonymous, which, if left untended, would soon overtake my entire back yard????  Who was going to trim, edge, thatch, weed, mow????  And do you know what his reply was??!!  He told me to GOI !!!!!!!!!!!!!! ……………………………… G-E-T   O-V-E-R   I-T!!!!! Guess I will have to thank him for giving me a new acronym which I can now use on the grandkids!   LOL

Trying hard to be true to Crick’s memory of seeing the “glass half-full”, I am seizing these seven weeks as an opportunity to broaden my blogging horizons!!  And so, I have just recently created a new wordpress blog titled “musingsofarightwingnut”.  I know, I know many of you are nodding your heads in vigorous agreement with the title :).  To be perfectly truthful the new addition to my blogging ventures is an act of compassion (LOL) toward my poor, besieged family members & a few friends who have been enduring months and months of political e-mails.  The new blog site is something I have been contemplating for a while as I have been searching for a way to apprise them of the information that I am learning from the detailed research of others. and in a way that does not infringe on their “in-boxes” :).

As I continue on this “journey” of mine, and, as the “angels” persist in hovering over me………. showing themselves in the form of family and friends who, through a phone call, a visit, an offer of help with a home maintenance issue, a kind and uplifting word, an unexpected card or note…………I am always, always, always being reassured of God’s love and care.

“The Lord has anointed me….to comfort all who mourn….and….to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair.”                             Isaiah 61: 1-3

TNT

TGW

P.S.  Hey, Red Sox fans!!  Can’t help but mention the Yankees amazing (15-9) come from behind (losing 9-0 in bottom of the 5th) win !!!!

Do I know how to get your attention, or what??!!!  And why, oh why, does our President torment me so????  There I was sitting in my living room watching the championship game as Kentucky was beating up on Louisville………… & then……………. halftime happened, & out of nowhere…………. “he” shows up for yet another (!!!!!!!) interview (er, correct that……campaign speech)!  Even I was trying to escape from politics for an evening!!!!   I immediately picked up the phone & called Christopher (he is now my “political” sounding board) & then l pulled out my laptop & found CBS sports’ e-mail address & sent off a complaint……..LOL!!!!!  Okay, okay, I know it probably went to their spam inbox, but taking some kind of action made me feel better & brought my BP down a few notches :).

Moving on now to the Buckeye “pity party” promised in my last post…………………boo hoo hoo…………”tears on my pillow, pain in my heart, caused by you” (lyrics from Little Anthony’s song – more Google searching for you youngsters!!!)………. we were, oh so close, but apparently the wrong team came out of the locker room for the second half!!!!  All of that being said, the Bucks made it an exciting season & getting to the Final Four was quite an accomplishment.  I must say that I am not sorry about seeing Jared Sullinger leave for the NBA…………I think that his ego got a bit too big for the Buckeyes………and anyway, we have Craft, Thomas, et al who are anxious to have another shot at the NCAA title next year………….so stay tuned!

Let’s see, what else has been going on around here that hasn’t either made me go crazy (B.O.) or made me cry (the Buckeyes)???  Oh yeah, the “rose-bush incident”.  As I am always doing battle with a little bit of OCD  (Christine told me that I really have “CDO”…………………..it’s just like OCD……………only in alphabetical order………………………………..just as it should be!).  Anyway, two weeks ago as my eyes were scoping out our backyard “jungle”, I decided it was time to resurrect “Edwina” Scissorhands & so I hauled out the electric hedge trimmer & the “electrical taped “repaired electric cord (if you remember, I have this propensity for cutting through not only, hedges, but cords as well).  Having successfully accomplished the task of neatly trimming back all of the overgrowth (electrical cord still intact!), I set about digging up several bushes which were crowding the landscape.  These pesky bushes were more deeply rooted in the ground than I had thought, but I persevered & after I pulled four of them, I decided to go after one last bush………….it was a rose-bush.  Now here is where Crick enters into the story.  Late last summer as I was once again on a mission to “organize” the yard, Crick stepped out the back door & saw me, shovel in hand, attacking two of the four rose bushes in the rock garden.  He yelled out, “What are  you doing to those rose bushes, there is nothing wrong with them!!”  To which I replied, “I have never liked these rose-bushes & so I am digging them up  & getting them out of here.”  He restated that they were perfectly fine bushes, that he liked them, and so, we compromised ………two out of the four were spared from “Edwina”.  That is……………..until just about two weeks ago.  So…………..as I surveyed the yard once more, my eyes came to rest on the two remaining rose-bushes & with the shovel as my accomplice, I set about to take the two, down to one!  When I finished, with rose-bush & roots in hand, & as I was stepping down from the elevated area of the rock garden, my foot hit a low spot & twisted just enough so that I immediately knew I had damaged something.  I went inside to put some ice on “my left foot” (anyone remember the movie from 1989″????) & as I sat looking at my foot, I thought about Crick & thought that perhaps, just perhaps, he might be chuckling to himself………………..I imagine that if I could hear him now, he would be saying, “You just couldn’t let it go, could you?………you had to have your way :)!”  Well, of course I did, and now, I am paying for it :).  I had an x-ray taken this week & learned that I have a non-displaced fracture in my foot & will be heading to an orthopedic foot doctor on Tuesday.  Hopefully, the doc will decide if I just need to continue wearing a foot boot for a while longer & that the fracture will just heal on its own.  End of story (I hope!).

Now, after hearing of this next particular incident which took place earlier in the week,………………do you think I have become too much of a morning fixture at Bob Evans??  You see, as I am a creature of habit (I inherited this trait from Dad)………….after morning Mass, I invariably head to “the Bob” along with “Oscar” to have breakfast (my favorite meal of the day) & to research the political news of the day.  Several of the servers know my routine (pathetic, I know!) & on this particular day, I also came armed (oops, politically incorrect word there) with a coupon for a free coffee.  On this visit my server who was not a “regular”,  very pleasantly took my order for a “well-cooked” waffle.  Now, there is also a bit of a side story to the waffle order as Christine, Erin, Katie, Bobby & Jo can attest to……………………maybe a year or so ago, B.E. decided to take the Belgian waffle & the cinnamon roll off the menu……….GASP!!  They didn’t even conduct a survey of their patrons………….I mean, surely grits & fruit were more expendable than my two favorites………………..and soooooo since then my choices have been reduced to eggs/toast, french toast or a hot cake.  This “creature of habit” does not deviate from these three food choices, even though the management finally realized the error of their ways & returned the waffle to the menu a couple of months, they raised the price of the waffle, & so I must now choose frugality over favorites!!    Okay so, back to the waffle order story…………………….the server returned to my table with the “very precisely cooked” waffle which I proceeded to bite into when Eric (a “regular” AM server) walks over to my booth, stares at my waffle & asks, “Did you get the right order today????  I saw the order come up to the window & I figured someone had put in the wrong order for you!!”  I explained to him, that since I was getting a free coffee that day, I could splurge on my favorite waffle.  He smiled & walked away, & then not three minutes later, Charles (another of the “regulars”) came over to check on me, taking note of my waffle, thinking as Eric had, that my server had given me the wrong breakfast!!  As he too walked away smiling, I could overhear the two of them commenting behind the counter to each other about how they had both assumed that the waffle couldn’t possibly have been mine!!

As I read that last paragraph over, I began thinking to myself that I continue to reveal waaaayyyyy too much about myself, but then, I see the heading at the top of the page & it reads:…………. diary of a nut………………………..what, I guess, would one expect??   Could Crick have imagined that his designating me a “nut” would one day lead me, myself, to declare it to the entire world?????  Methinks, I underestimated his wisdom all along…..LOL!!!!

Before I close out a post, I usually like to pass along words of inspiration that have encouraged me to see the “glass half-full” & have provided solace to my many anxieties.  The following passage from Jesus Calling is one that I find myself referring back to quite frequently, for it alludes to Isaiah 30:15 “For thus said the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel:  By waiting and calm you shall be saved, in quiet and in trust your strength lies.”………………………………………………………………..

“Let Me fill you with my Love, Joy and Peace.  These are the Glory-gifts, flowing from my living Presence………….as you go through this day, trust Me to provide the strength you need moment by moment.  Don’t waste energy wondering whether you are adequate for today’s journey.  My Spirit within you is more than sufficient to handle whatever this day may bring.  That is the basis for your confidence.  In quietness (spending time alone with Me) and confident trust (relying on My sufficiency) is your strength.”

Have a great week!

TNT

TGW

I had thought to wait until after the Easter weekend to post a new journal, but having just returned from Holy Thursday Mass, I was inspired by a hymn which I don’t believe I have ever heard before.   As family members are well aware, I am not a huge fan of the music selections our organist chooses & so, in protest, I rebelliously refrain from singing!……………….. (perhaps this is in God’s plan, so as to keep the parishoners from fleeing from the church at the sound of my Watterson Glee Club voice??!!).  For me, there is a profound sense of peace which I have always been able to embrace at this Easter Tridium service.  This peace that I experience, comes not only because the Holy Thursday liturgy is celebrated in the serenity of evening (due to the fact that Passover started at sundown), but also, because of the many sacred rituals & traditions…………the incense, the washing of the feet, the solemn procession of the Eucharist, the choir singing Pange Lingua & the stripping of the altar in preparation for Good Friday.

And as I am sitting here in this somber & reflective mode, it strikes me, that each time I lose someone very close to me, Christ’s love inevitably draws me closer to Him.   The blessing of this peace comes as I more fully understand & appreciate the self-emptying love that He exemplified through His life, death & resurrection & which He, calls on us all to “pour ourselves out for one another”.

I just want to say to God……………..that……………I think I am finally “getting it” now…………………….& Crick is saying to God………………..take it from me……………….. Mare is a real slow learner!!!!!!!!!!!!!…………………….. & God is saying to Crick…………………………..that is why she is still down there!!!!!!!

Here then is the hymn whose melody & words touched my heart & soul:

                                              As I Have Done For You

“I, your Lord & Master, now become your servant………I, who made the moon & stars, will kneel to wash your feet.  This is my Commandment, to love as I have loved you……………kneel to wash each other’s feet as I have done for you.

All the world will know, you are my disciple, by the love that you offer, the kindness you show.  You have heard the voice of God, in the words that I have spoken.   You beheld heaven’s glory & have seen the face of God. (Refrain)

I must leave you now, only for  a moment, I must go to my Father, to make you a home.  On the day of my return, I will come to take you with me, to the place I have promised, where your joy will have no end. (Refrain)

I am like the vine, you are the branches.  If you cling to my teaching, you surely will live.  If you make your home in me, I will come to dwell within you.  You can count on my mercy, when you ask for what you need.  (Refrain)

I have called you friends, now no longer servants.  What I have told in secret, the world longs to know.  There can be no greater love, than to give your life for another.  As the Father has loved me, so I love you as my own.  (Refrain)

You will weep for now, while the world rejoices.  But the tears of your sorrow, will soon turn to joy.  As a mother cries in child-birth & her pain is turned to gladness, you will know great rejoicing, on the day of my return.  (Refrain)

I will give you peace, this will be my blessing.  Though the world churns around you, I leave you my peace.   I have told you all these things, that my peace may dwell within you.  Let your faith be unshaken & your hope be everlasting.” (Refrain)

May you all feel the blessing of God’s peace this Easter!

TNT
TGW

P.S.  Stay tuned for the FINAL FOUR “pity party”!!!!!!!!!!