Nothing but blue skies from now on

Missed you. But I'll just keep trying.

Darlings - I've missed you.

But thanks to a thoughtful prod from the lovely Tiger Chanter, I am getting off my ever widening ass and getting back into the blog biz.
Life and work have been busy, busy, busy - and I am, frankly, still getting my bearings dealing with my mother transitioning to life on her own and all the wonderful (not) challenges that represents.

This includes her taking a tumble over the dog and smashing a vertebrae (but that's healing) and getting the house ready to sell.

And thanks to my father's prolonged illnesses and physical impairments - and the fantastically inexpensive medical costs (not) associated with being sick in America - she is also having to declare bankruptcy.

Not exactly the picture she had in mind for retirement.

But it frees her to move on and hey - they can't take the house or the car away, so there's that.  She has also reached the top of the waiting list for a very nice single-story townhouse in an affordable seniors community nearby. This would put her within walking distance of her church, the community hospital and clinic, and just a few blocks away from shopping and other amenities.  Right now she has to drive to the next town - about 15 miles away.

This move will also spur the for-now-quite-helpful yet content-to-float brother to take some sort of life improving action.

ANYWAY...

I'm committed to clearing away the cobwebs and getting back into the hum and buzz of life.

Let's talk about Valentine's Day!

My God - where to begin?

G being overtaken by Monday's register tape -
and it was still 2 hours before closing.

For the last week, everyone associated with the shop has been in full-tilt boogie action to make Valentine's Day a success.  And what a success it was (truly!).

I took the day off work to help out with deliveries, order taking by phone, wrapping arrangements, and serving walk-in customers.  Recalling it is surreal.  In all, we had four designers, three delivery people, and three customer service people - and we never, never stopped, Monday or Tuesday.

There were whole blocks of time where I was doing nothing but taking phone orders,then another chunk where it seemed people were standing in line to just hand me money.  Amazing.

But what really stands out in my mind are the smiles of the people I delivered to.

It's rose madness!

Among those I delivered to, there were some people doing great things.  A counselor at Family Court, a case worker at the county mental health center, and an aide working with her young patients at a home for children with debilitating cerebral palsy.

I am not religious, but when you talk about people who are doing God's work, these ladies' faces should appear beside that encyclopedia entry.

Watching their faces light up was worth every minute I've sweated out over the last four days.

By Monday evening, our spare cooler was
stacked from floor to ceiling with
orders for Tuesday

So - I've just returned home from my office for my real job. I had to stop three times en route to get out of the car and walk around in the chilly air just to keep from nodding off behind the wheel.

I am exhausted, frankly.  But it's a very happy and relaxed kind of tired.

I'm excited about some new work projects I am taking on that will be significant to the company and highly visible.

Anyhoo - it's time to crawl into bed with the snuggle-dogs for a quick pre-dinner nap.

Ciao to you all - XOXO!


UPDATE:

You know how people say that thing about, "Oh - I was so tired I was asleep before my head hit the pillow."?

Just did that for reals - it's kinda spooky.