I am alive…and here are some randoms gleaned from the past week <3

Well, I didn’t fall off the face of the earth as one might suspect if checking in on the Journey the past week. 

We had the holiday weekend that never ended called the Fourth of July and then whipped into a very full and busy week. 

So since I have a million things to tell you, I will opt for the Random method to keep my mind reigned in and my words, hopefully, short.

Random #1

We had a fairly quiet Fourth. There was actually a ball game for Graham’s tournament so we melted in the sun for that and then headed home.

We did some yard work, which seems to have become our Independence Day tradition. We had a nice grilled dinner and waited for dusk. We loaded the folding chairs in the truck and made our way to the country road nearby where we watched the local gun club’s display. 

Russ had given me a portable speaker for Christmas and it was fun to find some music to play while we waited for the show to start. Oh sure, there was a lot of buffering breaks while my phone searched for the internet, but the fireflies were making the corn field look like a fairy garden and we had each other. 

Random #2

Two of our grands are off to a week of church camp. It has been strange to have just two to shuttle around this week for our days with them. Mom and Dad are sure they have saved enough on groceries to fund the first year of college tuition for one child. At least. 

We arranged some play time on Tuesday with friends and it was so chill, I ended up finishing a book and doing some knitting. Oh they were here, but they were so entertained they only needed us for snacks and rides when it was over. 

We even got to have them overnight on Monday so we all got to sleep and move a bit more slowly in the morning. 

But the downside is we miss those other two honyonkers so much. 

Random #3

A good part of this is that today we can manage with one driver. This helps because yesterday Russ had a procedure done on his back. 

He has been suffering with pain in the L5/S1 area due to pressure on the nerve that goes through the spine. Arthritis (or Arthur Itis) as Joel calls it, has narrowed the space for this nerve and the resulting irritation has caused him severe discomfort. 

We have tried all the shots, PT and such that are available and so they moved to doing a radio frequency ablation on the area. Prayers appreciated that when the discomfort and pain from the procedure disappear, the pain from the irritated nerve will diminish or disappear with it. 

It was with a torn heart I left him home today to hopefully follow all the post-procedure rules and regulations and come take care of these two little gems we love so much. We are currently watching Garfield so if the thoughts here are scattered, blame my inability to tune out conversations around me when I am trying to do something.

Random #4

This one is a kind of whacky bridge to my past that happened yesterday afternoon. We had gotten home and had him settled and comfortable. 

I was dispatched to pick up some items the doctor/nurse recommended and purchase stamps before they go up yet again. 

As I sat at the intersection where I would turn onto the main highway that runs through our town, I pondered the plethora of people who run red lights these days. It was a busy time of day as people were getting off work and the more I thought about it, the idea of “what if” loomed large in my imagination. 

Suddenly (and it doesn’t take long for a mind to derail, or at least not mine) I was thinking about how awful it would be if I was involved in an accident. I was picturing me surrounded by air bags and jaws of life and poor Russ at home wondering where I was and unable to drive. 

My mind spun out thinking about him getting the call and having to try to find someone to drive him to the hospital and how would we take care of each other…and then the light turned a green arrow. 

Everyone in the other lanes behaved and I turned safely onto the road and made my way to Walgreens. And like it happens every time my brain does this insane spiraling, I asked the heavens what is the matter with me. 

And then I remember I grew up with a mom who was the queen of writing the most horrible plot twists that could happen on any given normal day. She could work herself into a state of frenzy over some string of “what-if’s” until she had to take medication and go lie down. 

I always assumed I had inherited her wiring on this alarming and disruptive tweak to the chemicals of her brain until I had a friend early in my mothering years who suggested that what I had was more a learned behavior since I could manage without medications and eventually succumbed to reason instead of imagination. 

I still find myself at times hyperventilating as the movie in my mind plays out a bizarre set of circumstances that could, but probably never would happen. Thankfully the spin gets righted before I am in too deep and I begin to recognize the rut I have entered. By God’s grace, I pull out of it like I did yesterday. 

But I have often thought perhaps the ones who develop overstimulating movies and cartoons (like this Garfield one we are watching) might have channeled the same brain spins into a lucrative career. 

Random #5

If you are still with me…bless your heart…is anyone else caught up in the World Cup??? 

The stories of the athletes, the passion of the fans, the questionable calls of the referees, the drama as players fall in fits on the ground and roll around as if something is broken only to get up and run off again, and the mess of politics and accusations has caught my attention for sure. 

Why if I didn’t know better, I would think this was just some wild adventure my mind has made up as I sit on the sidelines watching yet another pitcher warm up at a summer baseball game….hmmmm….

I will check back in tomorrow. Have a great day <3