Thursday, February 21, 2008


Here is a photo of my new and improved Scrapbook/Sewing Room. I am so happy in here.

All's (Mostly) Right with the World

My favorite line from Anne of Green Gables. . . and a Robert Browning poem (Pippa Passes?)

I am in North Carolina right now. My sister came through surgery well, and I am spending a couple weeks with her while she recuperates. Some fun, but not a lot. She is doing well, and I am glad that she is taking it as easy as she is. That is difficult for her.

dook has lost twice since beating my Heels, and I am happy since those bruised and battered Heels are winning still. (Take that, rat bastard!)

More books read, especially in airports, etc., and posted in the box on the side. Yay Me!

All IS right in the world. People I love, games to play. . . Yeah, life is good.

Tuesday, February 5, 2008

Worry. Concern, and Letting Go (plus, another book)

First off, before I forget, I finished another book with one of my very favorite characters, Dismas Hardy. It took me a couple days to finish John Lescroart's Dead Irish, but it was very good, and I am glad I found it on Paperbackswap.com. (BTW, if you haven't checked that site out, do it. What a great idea, and what a convenience. Love, love, love it.)

So, on the other things. For a few months, the Carolina-dook game has been on my calendar, me waiting with eager anticipation. But something came up: my sister is having bypass surgery tomorrow. Suddenly, the game isn't the biggest thing anymore.

Then, I feel a little guilty, because it is still a big deal to me. Very, very few people get this about me, but Carolina Basketball is part of who I am. I won't equate the season with my family (sister, parents, husband, or my kids), but, dang, is it close. I know I shouldn't, but I still care a great deal about the outcome of that game. If something happens bad in NC, then the importance of the game will recede, I am sure. If I was asked to, I would miss this game. But the thing is, I would remember that I was missing it. Does this make me abnormal?

So, the title of this post is Worry, Concern, and Letting Go. I have never worried about things in my entire life. If you have control, and it needs changing, then change it. If you don't have control, then you get concerned, but that is all--you can't fix anything, so why worry? Concern is different--you care, and you anticipate an outcome, and you pick up pieces when you have to, but worry? Nah. Now, I am in the middle of a situation over which I have no control, I am concerned, but it is completely someone else's to deal with (my son's). I have to let this go, but I am still very, very concerned about the direction of his life. But I have to let this go: it isn't mine, I can't own it, and I can't fix it. Letting go is so hard.

So, Go Surgeons! Go Jaymi! Go Sam!

Go Heels! Beat dook!

Saturday, February 2, 2008

Another Book

I just finished My Summer of Southern Discomfort, by Stephanie Gayle. It was a good book, but when I finished it, I wondered, "Do the people who write the 'Advance Praise' even read the book? Jay Atkinson, for example, wrote "her first novel is a ...funny book." A woman who was treated horribly by her very first lover, and man who was in a clear position to take advantage (and shouldn't have), moves to Macon, Georgia, to escape, and works in the District Attorney's office. Oh, and her father, whose respect and admiration she craves, is/was a prominent attorney for civil rights. Of course, she is assigned to a a capital murder case, and the novel is about her misgivings, both in her personal and professional lives. Funny stuff, right?

The inside jacket notes make this book sound as if it is going to be a sort of Stephanie Plum novel, light, fun, and sexy. It isn't any of these things.

But I won't let any of this detract from the novel. It was a good story, although it seemed as though the writer was trying a little to hard to make her words sound pretty. Still and all, a good book.