Monday, January 28, 2013

Events of the Day


- Towards the end of a restless night, I was awakened by the phone at 5:30 AM informing us that there would be a two-hour delay, due to Ice Storminess.  The teens who benefit from this decision slept through the phone call.  Not me.  It’s my job to post the news.

My very modern news distribution technique.

That's 1/4 inch of ice all over that front walk.

- While I was taking my shower this morning, I recalled the dream I had last night.  I periodically have a dream about being in the back seat of a moving car with no driver.   Sometimes this is a nightmare, and the car goes over a cliff.  A few times I have dreamt that I am controlling the car with my mind from the back seat.  (Someone needs to develop this technology.  Maybe DARPA already has.)  This time the dream was not scary, just a curious thing that the car could go without a driver. 

- Still in the shower, I moved on to ponder life, death, and everything in-between, when a stink bug fell from on high.  Usually I am not afraid of bugs, but when I am not wearing my SuperMom superhero suit, and a prehistoric ugly thing falls on me, I can get jumpy.  I shrieked (but only once).  Then I viciously stomped on it, and immediately regretted it, since it broke the cardinal rule about stink bugs: never crush one.  Always capture a stink bug and carry it carefully to the outside.  I wasn’t dressed properly for that maneuver. I swished the carcass toward the drain, hoping it would fit through and be washed away.  It did.  Whew.

- Later on, I e-mailed my husband about my dream.  He played Joseph to my Pharaoh, and wrote: “The car dream suggests that you feel that your life is out of control and that no one is at the helm.   Just remember that there are some things that are uncontrollable, just as there are some things that are unknowable.  But also remember that the universe regresses towards a mean, so things generally work out.”  I am glad that my dream has statistical value.

- I tried to do some paid work today, but had difficulty concentrating.  Finally I put it aside and made the rest of the phone calls on behalf of my Mom, informing people of my father’s death.  I hate leaving such a message on voicemail, but it became necessary, as nine days have gone by already, and my Mom was getting nervous about it.

- I mustered my energy and went to the grocery store.  I’m not much interested in cooking or eating, but it seems the rest of the family is interested (in me doing the cooking, and them doing the eating).  How fortuitous that right next to the grocery store is the liquor store!  I stopped in and bought some wine, including this one which I bought solely because of the name.  I am the middle child (although definitely not sassy).  I’ve been especially grateful for my brothers in the past days and weeks.   And very soon in the future, I will be grateful for the chance to try this wine.


- I took a nap.  I took a nap! 

- My husband says that the stink bug might get stuck in the shower drain.  But that is not something I am going to worry about tonight.

4 comments:

Suburban Correspondent said...

First, I am sorry about your Dad. I must have missed a post somewhere recently and hadn't realized he had passed on.

Secondly, DO NOT release a stinkbug back into the wild to procreate. Flush it down the toilet. They destroyed 20% of the fruit crop in MD a couple of years ago, and they are predicted to be making a huge comeback this year.

Have I mentioned that I hate stinkbugs?

The Crislers said...

That was a lot in one post!

1) I hate recurring dreams. They always make me feel as if I should be finding some deeper meaning in there, and I have no Joseph to translate for me.

2) A bug. In the shower. When you're at your most vulnerable. I'd say you're pretty brave for squashing it.

3) Hope you're doing okay. Hope the wine helps. Hope your husband cleans out the drain for you.

Cassi said...

You have to take off your supermom suit to shower? Hmm . . . maybe that's where I'm going wrong.

The sentence about regressing to a mean is the funniest sentence I've read in a long time.

I am also a middle sister, but I don't have high hopes of feeling similarly grateful to my siblings when we go through your recent experience. Well, maybe I will to my younger sister.

I'm glad that you're surviving, and I hope the wine will help. A little relaxation can go a long way.

Anonymous said...

Ugh. Destroy the stinkbugs. Destroy all the stinkbugs.
Recurring dreams disturb me, too.
That wine? Looks fun.