This Weekend

Yesterday I binge watched Welcome To Sweetie Pie's LITERALLY all day. Pop made spaghetti for dinner and an apple/peach pie for dessert. It was an unremarkable day with the exception of the fact that my (second) cousin Rachel delivered a beautiful baby girl, Isabelle Marie, who has dark curly hair and is every bit as lovely as her mother and grandmother and great-grandmother, one of our Steel Magnolias, Aunt Bette, my grandmother's sister. My grandmother, of course, is the other Steel Magnolia.

It's amazing to think about the fact that Aunt Bette, who will be 90 in December, will have shared this planet with her own grandmother, who was born in 1849 and this latest great-grand who, if she lived 90 years would still be alive in 2104. We are all the link between the past and the future. That's what makes genealogy so important to me. Somebody has to keep our family history alive until someone in the next generation is ready to take up the torch. I know I drive my kids and nieces and nephews crazy with all my genealogy factoids that I share but it's important.

It's raining today. My parents are celebrating their 48th wedding anniversary by going to church and then out to eat so I am dog-sitting. So far, they're all sleeping so it's been easy. I'm watching American Heroes Channel which is doing a marathon of Bible Secrets. I love this channel. Later I'll be binge watching PBS to catch lots of St. Patricks Eve broadcasting, starting with Rick Steves' visits to Ireland. I have Irish ancestors but pretty much everybody has been here for many, many generations so I don't know if I can claim to be Irish.

Tomorrow Austin has another appointment at the Vocational Rehab place to try to get him back in the training program that he flunked out of two years ago. It's so hard for him to grasp the importance of learning a trade and earning a living. His understanding and appreciation of money is so different from what most people think. If he has a dollar he's going to likely give at least fifty cents of it away. He's content with whatever he already has (with the exception of a bit of a gaming obsession). He won't let you buy him shoes if he has even one pair - he has no concept of saving or accumulating anything. He has such a hard time adhering to any sort of schedule. It's a gargantuan task to get him motivated but I'm trying.

After his Voc Rehab appointment we're going grocery shopping. He and Pop made a menu yesterday and today we're making a grocery list. These are some really important life skills that he needs and I'm trying to do whatever I can to make him self-sufficient. I won't be here forever, you know!

I'm very interested in the mystery of the missing Malaysian jet. I hope it's not another Amelia Earhardt thing where we never know the answer. My fabulous friend Beth who lives in London is traveling to Kuala Lampor today and one of the first things I did this morning when I woke up was pray for safe travels for her. I know air travel is safe. I know the fact that she's going to Malaysia doesn't mean she'll meet the same fate. I'm logical about all of that stuff but I figure a little anointing can't hurt. It doesn't matter that I haven't seen Beth in 28 years. I still want her to be safe. And I can't WAIT to see her travel photos!

I found out yesterday that my friend A.T.'s stepfather has passed away. A.T. and I were very close in junior high and high school. We worked at the same place as young moms and often rode to work together. My mom kept her baby girl when she was little. When things fell apart in Jacksonville it was A.T. who dropped everything and made the trip down there to get me. She was with my boys and my brother waiting for me when I was released from psych hold. You never forget the friend who springs you from the psych ward, but we have lost touch over the past few years. She remarried and I couldn't make it to the wedding and then this whole back thing and of course, you know, my unsociable phone hating self... we've just lost touch. I had to ask her step-sister (who I also grew up with - she was in the same grade) for her phone number. I don't know what I can do to help but I am very sad for her. Freddie was such a kind, generous person. He took very good care of A.T. and her mom. He leaves a huge void.

Anyways... so that's what's happening around here this weekend. Love and hugs, y'all.