Citadel Again

Lizzie is on her way to the Citadel again. I hope she likes it better than she did last year.

A Perfect Summer Day

Today is a day like every perfect summer day I can remember. If you were going to plan an outdoor wedding or party, this is the kind of day you'd pray for. On days like today I want to be 15 years old again with nothing better to do than run down to the river and shoot the hooch, or sit in a hammock with a good book. I want to be thin again and wearing cut off jeans and a white tee shirt over a bathing suit top. I want to wear my long red hair in braids because it is a style that only the young can get away with. Today is the kind of day that it is a sin to waste on work. It is days like today that beg for a year of Jubilee, so we can all have summer days like today. Today is the kind of day that Mint Juleps were concocted for and Barbeques were made for. But I'm here... in my cube. It's not a bad cube; but it's just not for a day like today.

Yesterday

Yesterday I drove home and I was so tired that I feared falling asleep at the wheel. I've done that before on my drives home. It's frightening because I know that I could cause an accident. It's frightening because one of the few symptoms I had that I was dying of cancer was that I was so tired all the time. I think this time the fatigue has to do with the fact that I waited up for a teenager to arrive home past mid-night two nights in a row. But still, it scares me. I would have liked a nap, but I didn't have time to take one. I had to drive said teenager to her doctor. She's fine, just a regular visit. After the visit with the doctor she was hungry, which isn't unusual at all; she's always hungry when we are out. And Backyard Burgers was having a sale on the Chicken Salad. It was good. While we were there she was talking to me how she was upset about having to play volleyball at the Citadel in a few weeks. She says that she's not good at it. Volleyball was and is the only sport that I'm good at, but I can understand her frustration. I felt it myself when they wanted me at less than 5 ft. tall to play basketball. They said it wasn't how tall you are that matters, you throw the ball into the net…yeah, right, it's the eye-hand thing... right? There are many things that my beautiful daughter is good at and finding a few of them isn't hard. So I started talking to her about her gift of drawing people who feel left out and lonely and making them feel accepted and comfortable in the group. I pointed out that this was a leadership trait and will serve her well. I also pointed out that she had a beautiful voice and that everyone whom she'd let hear it was impressed; she wasn't impressed with my argument. She said that no-one asks her to sing. I pointed out that she never lets people hear her, and the people who would ask her don't know the quality of her voice. So instead they ask Audrey, who can't sing very well, but will stand on the stage and give it a try anyway. She seemed pleased that I could come up with a few things that even if she didn't do them better than everyone else, she still does well. Later we were talking about other topics and I brought up a beautiful picture of Jack that my son has posted on his website. She described the picture to me and told me that she'd taken it with a computer…one more thing she does well…she's a great photographer. The best pictures that I have she's take and usually with a cell phone or a computer. I wonder what she could accomplish with a good camera and some instructions. I'm adding a few of the pictures that she's taken.