A Perfect Life

A very dear friend of mine and I have recently reconnected. I was stunned when he said,"I never knew you had even a ripple in your perfect life." I laughed and responded with, "A ripple, try a tidal wave."

I thought back to all the things that have happened from the last time we spoke in 1986 until now. It could fill a book and it has. Even now, in the last 10 months, so much has happened including some incredibly good things and some mind boggling bad things.
Last July I was diagnosed with bilateral carpel tunnel, a crippling condition that caused my hands to swell up twice their normal size, ache so much it kept me up at night and go numb into my fingers. It's a career killer for massage therapists. The up side was it led to writing the book and leading me down a path I never imagined was possible for me. August my oldest son left for college which was exciting for everybody.
September brought Hurricane Ike and primitive living. Tom's 18th birthday came and we celebrated at a restaurant with all of his friends and his brother who had come back for the occasion. I loved that night. Spending time with those kids was one of my favorite memories of my youngest son.
October everyone in Houston was still reeling from the shock and awe campaign of the hurricane and walked around dazed. Halloween, one of my favorite holidays, brought our haunted house and teenagers eating donuts off a string dangled far above their heads. They all bobbed for apples and played simple games while we laughed until our sides ached.
November the in laws came down and toasted me and my thirty seconds of fame while I was on Oprah's "favorite things show" in the first segment, showing off my cheap Christmas gift skills. I finally got acknowledged for my ability to stretch old George Washington so far it makes him beg for mercy. It's a gift.
December came in with a welcome hush of cold weather and kids and parents in for the holidays. January brought the first work of publishing the book. February was quiet and we celebrated Betty's birthday.
Then things really started to move and change shape on us. It came in like a lion and left with a continued roar. Triage was the order of the day and we are still putting out fires as I write this. Broken car, I went without one for 3 weeks. It didn't sound too hard until I actually had to do it. Broken washer, broken dryer, broken wiener dog, rock incident with the gas meter reader, flooding everywhere around town, sick kids, the oldest dog has a growth on her leg and needs to go to the vet, the computer broke and swine flu is moving in.
Last night I spent the night on the phone with my oldest boy 5 hours away while he sat alone in the emergency room waiting for his results if he had swine flu. Thank God he is negative, but he has bronchitis and is very ill and can't seem to shake it.
We've also had a free garden show up, the wiener dog has had little miracles everyday such as, now he is able to stand and take entire steps. I am meeting people who can help to further my new career and I feel re energized about my leap of faith. I now own a new lap top computer. I had to go out on a limb to do it, but I feel as if even I am taking me seriously for a change. I feel so grown up writing on my new fangled accessory. It goes with my eyes.

In all of this nowhere to be found is perfect. Believe me, I have checked. My life is sometimes crazy and hectic and dull and wonderful. Here is what I know for sure...we are all healthy today, or at least pretty healthy. Betty found her prom dress on sale from $169.00 reduced to $70.00. I almost kissed the sales clerk right on the mouth. Christy is filing her graduation plan for college. Tom graduates from high school in August and Dan will be moving closer to home which is fine by me, because I will get to see him more.
This morning I woke up to the most vile smell I have ever witnessed. BoBo, the cha-wienie, had an allergic reaction to something in his food and sprayed every rug in the house with day glow orange diarrhea. Room by room I had to scoop up the pooh and steam clean every rug we own. Even the other dogs were burying their heads beneath their blankets. As a nurse I had thought I had seen everything, until BoBo showed me my error in over confidence. I thought about my "perfect life" and I cracked up which was a lovely way to put a temporary stop to the gagging.