Overdue

A blog update is long overdue for me. Life sometimes has a way of going by faster than I realize, and I have many things about which I intended to blog but never did. This will be a post in two parts.

1. Virginia's Last Day
I never officially met Virginia, although I know her daughter, son-in-law and their children. She came to church faithfully every week and sat in the front row with her daughter. She was well loved by many members of the church.

This Sunday I noticed that she was in a wheelchair. This was something new. I did not know if she was unwell or had injured herself or if her health was failing. I asked someone on Monday when I went into the church office and was told that it was because she had not been feeling well and has a history of falling. Regardless of the reason, I watched her a little bit during the service. From where I stood on stage singing, I could see her singing as she sat. From where I sat during the sermon, I could see her breathing was a bit labored.

After church she had lunch with her family. They decided to take her to the hospital instead of her apartment after lunch because her breathing was difficult. It was a short drive to the hospital, but she passed away silently on the way.

To me this is a wonderful last day. It was filled with the things that were important to her: church and family. She had insisted that her daughter take her to church. She had the option to go home or have lunch with family. She chose lunch with family. She did not die alone and she went quickly. What a blessing. I don't know if she knew or not - her family did not. Whether or not she knew, her last day was lived well. If today is my last day, how well would I have lived it?

2. What's going on
In brief, I leave for Puerto Rico early Sunday morning and arrive back home late Friday night. I say good-bye to Lucy on Saturday evening and will pick her back up from the boarder on Saturday morning. I'll miss my baby!

I applied for two positions within TWC. I received an offer for one of the two, and declined that offer. I did not know until I was faced with the decision whether or not to accept, and after a night lying awake weighing the pros and cons, I decided it was better to stay where I was. Once that decision was made I was at peace. Every time I even entertained the idea of accepting it I felt rather nervous. I think I made the right decision! I don't know what opportunities may arise, but with vacation coming up soon, I believe I will be refreshed enough to press on longer.

I have had a difficult time over the past year or two getting into any books. I pulled Grimm's Fairy Tales off of the shelf and decided I would start with very short stories - easy to read only a little bit at a time. I have really enjoyed it so far and think I might have chosen the right path to getting back into the habit of reading for pleasure.

Lucy's "pajamas" seem to have done the trick. She has wet them only once, and I have seen her wag her tail when she sees me grabbing them, because she knows it means we get to go to bed. As soon as I take them off of her in the morning, she jumps off the bed and heads to the door. Whether or not she understands that the jammies are meant to be a deterrent to bed-wetting, she knows and accepts that she wears them to bed.

A couple more of my fish died lately, so I am down to a total of 4. They can be quite a bit of work, and I don't know if I will get any more in the future. I would still love to have a very large tank someday, but don't know if I'd be willing to take on the commitment to take care of them. I still appreciate the ones I have.