Worn and torn, I lazily climbed the three stairs to the
breezeway with a diaper and travel bag in one arm, and a sleepy three-year-old
in the other. She cried and cried until she slowly faded out to unconsciousness
at which point the seven-year-old took over with the cantankerousness until I
let her go over to her friend’s house to play. That left me to clean up the
living room which had been left in shambles, but it allowed me to do it in
quiet which I haven’t heard in a while. It’s a beautiful noise. It's 3:30pm.
There are some days where I ruminate on the single life but
truthfully these gals are so imbedded in my life now that I never ponder a day
without them, never think of a time I’d rather be alone, and always look
forward to seeing them.
Today I went to my girlfriend’s work to pick them up after a
long day at the office myself and when I got within 100 feet of the door they
both came running at me with their arms wide open; toothy smiles on their
grinning faces. I can’t help but smile because it was only a few years ago that
I didn’t think I was deserving of other people’s love.
No, I’m not going to write a flashback post. I think I’ve
written enough about my past, and I don’t want to get into dark places today, I’m
just not feeling that creative right now.
I ended that last paragraph yesterday because I came down
with a pretty massive headache. I thought I could sleep it off, so I went to
bed after I put the girls down at about 8pm, but I woke up again at 9:30 with
more pain. I went to the hall closet where the “good stuff” is (it’s just acetaminophen)
and like I’ve seen in the movies, I chewed on five tablets. Don’t ever do that;
it’s bitter and chalky. It did work however, and I drifted off to sleep after
half an hour or so of positioning my head in such a way that the pain which
stemmed from my upper neck might be alleviated. I should have taken a selfie.
I guess that I fell asleep at 10pm and was jolted awake at
10:15 by a bloody nose; ‘tis the season. My brain normally alerts me just
before the blood exits my nose and somehow I have the wherewithal to maneuver
my body to a nose-up position from my usual side-sleep. So, I rested on my back
and continually swallowed my free night-meal until the gush subsided, and all
was quiet again. For the third time, I went to bed.
Today is Sunday and I had to work a half day. Two weeks from
today I go back to working Sundays instead of Saturdays, which means I will
have split days off. I’m okay with it for a while I suppose, but I will miss
having two days off in a row. The slow season lasts for quite some time, and it
will be a long winter for so many reasons.
In the house, it’s project season. Recently, we made a commitment
to have half of a bathroom professionally installed. It’s really expensive, so
we will be doing the other half ourselves. The bathtub in our house came
modified by the previous owners with a cut-out (I feel like I’m using an excess
of hyphenated words today and I like it) and it is the original tub from the
mid-50’s and it’s just time to let it go. It requires new plumbing, and a lot
of work I don’t know how to do. The other half of the bathroom will still be a
challenge and we will need to remove some ugly tile, an even uglier countertop,
and possibly move a toilet a few more inches away from a wall. I own a hammer, a
couple drills, and a sawzall. I don’t have any nails, screws, and I don’t own
any wood or metal to saw, but I hope to utilize all of my tools and more when winter
comes. I’m excited, nervous, and ready for a new experience. I will keep you
posted.
 |
| Before. |
