I used to love pineapples as decorations. I even found the cutest little pineapple stained-glass window hanging thingy and put it in the camper and started hanging it in the window when we went camping. You know, once we landed and set up our campsite and everything.
Especially after we toured Glensheen one of the most recent times and they pointed out that pineapples are used throughout the home as a symbol of hospitality.
On a side note, I am absolutely positively in love with Glensheen. If you ever get a chance to go, you absolutely must. Unless you don't like touring early 20th century mansions that also happen to be former crime scenes.
Anywho, then I found out that pineapples - especially when displayed in transient transportation vehicles, such as campers and on cruise ship doors, often signify something I don't want to be a part of, I was crushed. Like a can that sweet, sweet fruit I love so much. I shan't display my cute little pineapple stained glass window hanging in the camper anymore. It still lives in the camper, but it's still in a drawer, wrapped up in a towel, wondering why it doesn't get to symbolize hospitality any longer.
Because, little stained glass pineapple...we aren't THAT kind of hospitable.
ANYWAY...I can't believe I didn't blog in June. This summer is flying by. I don't even know where to start or how much to include. It's been an emotional one so far, that's for sure, and that is not going to let up anytime soon.
The Lincoln needs a new radiator. That's funny because that was one of the pieces that I thought would be good for a while because it's one of the last pieces my Dad replaced. But then I remember that he replaced it like 15-20 years ago, so it's not exactly new anymore even though it doesn't have a lot of miles on it. That's the way it is with classic cars. My hubby ordered a new radiator today. Also, he tore apart the dash to find out what kind of windshield wiper switch we needed, and I set about what I thought was going to be an easy task of ordering a new one of those, only to find out that they are really hard to find! But I found one. It was only $150. And then when we got it, I was comparing it to the old one (even though when I was searching for it online, I used the exact same part numbers that are on it, and the one I found was a Motorcraft part with the exact same numbers so it should be the exact same frickin' part) and they are just slightly not the same size. If you don't know the way your heart sinks when you find out a really hard to find part that you managed to find for your classic car turns out to be not exactly the same as the original part, consider yourself fortunate. However, my hubby thinks it will still work. And as anxious as I am for him to get in there and find out, it's also stupidly hot and humid outside and I am NOT going to push him to go out there and work on it in this kind of weather. As much as I want to. I'm a mechanic's daughter, I know better than that. That's how I learned most of the swear words I know, ha. Ha. Ha.
I think that's it for car news. The poor Lincoln has been parked most of the summer so far, then, with the radiator leaking. I drove it on Mother's Day. I've been driving the Maverick here and there. But we haven't gone to any car shows with the cars this year. Maybe we'll pick that up again next year.
My hubby is actually laid off this summer, which is a good thing because the job he was on was literally killing him. Either by stressing him out physically and mentally firsthand, or secondhand stressing me out to the point of strangling him in his sleep. I'M KIDDING! I wouldn't do that. But it was a very stressful job for him, and when he finished his part and they offered to keep him "busy" for a few months until the next part starts, he negotiated being laid off instead. And then came home and wrote up a beautiful To Do list of things around the house he was going to do -- fixing the Lincoln and the Maverick, rebuilding the deck (on which the wood was literally rotting off), digging up the front garden for me, getting a screen door on the front like we've wanted to do since we moved in, and a bunch of other stuff that he rarely has time or energy to work on.
AND THEN...our pastor resigned. And my hubby, not only being a man who lives and loves to serve in church but also being the current church council president, stepped in to help. Because the next week, three of the main staff people were scheduled to go on vacation for a week, too. So! Long story short, he's been spending most of his time helping out at church instead. He did get the deck rebuilt (but not yet stained or sealed, lol) and some other projects done. And I know that our church staff and many people in our congregation are thankful for him stepping in and helping out, and I am, too. This is what he wants to do when he retires -- he wants to help out at church all the time.
Which is what he's doing right now, and I'm being called to help. I'll be right back.
Alright, I'm back. Story of my life lately. I don't mind helping out as well, but unlike my hubby, I'm also still trying to work my day job. Which has been crazy busy lately! I don't even want to talk about that right now. I'm kind of caught up at the moment, but I have clinic tomorrow so that will probably change.
Let's see...well, we have a new cat! We still have the "old" one, too, although it's awkward because she's now the young one. I didn't know how old our "new" cat was when I agreed to rehome her - not that that would have changed my mind, but I was still surprised when we went to pick her up and I looked at her rabies certificate and it said she was almost 13 years old. I never thought to ask how old she was! Long story short, again, she used to belong to my friend and her family, but they had to rehome her when they moved and the person to whom she had been rehomed found themselves in a position where they could no longer keep her, either, so they contacted my friend to see if she could either take her back or find a new home for her. My friend was still unfortunately unable to keep her, but asked me if I knew anyone, and she caught me at a moment when I was feeling like our little Sierra needed a friend to keep her company and had been secretly debating over whether a kitten was a good idea or not. A cat seemed like an even better idea! So that's how we got Fifi. She's an absolute cat. I mean, Sierra isn't a typical cat. She loves people, has never hidden under furniture or hissed or acted like a cat, she's always acted more like a dog. Miss Fiona is very much a cat. She hid under a couch in the basement for the first week. She'd come out to be petted but hissed and spit at Sierra. Let me explain - Sierra loves everyone and everything, and her first reaction to Fiona was to run up to her and rub on her and love her and try to play with her. Which would work, if she was a dog or a person. But it doesn't work with other cats. And poor little Sierra didn't understand what hissing and spitting meant at first.
They get along only marginally better now. Fiona doesn't just stay in the basement anymore, she does roam about the entire house - but doesn't enjoy being around Sierra yet. Although she tolerates being in the same area as Sierra for about 30 seconds and then runs from her. Sierra is still kinda clueless and still wants to love her and play with her. God bless Sierra. If more people had hearts like Sierra, the world would be a better place.
And the creme de la creme...my nephew's wedding is in three days. The potential family drama that will hopefully turn out to be nothing but in my head, I'm preparing for all sorts of scenarios because you just never know what my sister and/or her husband will come up with. As I said, hopefully they won't try to bring up ANYTHING with me. But you're talking about people -- well, a person, anyway; I guess I can't speak to the values of the person she married since all I know about the man is hearsay from my parents -- with no moral compass. Someone who, the last time she talked to me, it was to ask me at her son's graduation party (the same son, nonetheless) whether I approved of her boyfriend, the boyfriend she invited to her son's graduation party right under her then-husband's nose and expected all of us to act like nothing was amiss even though we all knew damn well that she was cheating on her then-husband with this guy that she tried to say was just a friend or I don't even remember how she tried to say that she knew him or justified why he was at her kid's graduation party anymore. Someone who, in the 12 years since, has forbade my parents from even saying my name around her. Someone who refused to come visit her dying father and then -- again, hearsay, but it still makes me see red -- cried "wolf" afterward, saying that she was upset because she couldn't be there at the end of his life. Even though she was invited to be there, many times.
I think I'm prepared. I've been praying hard on this every single day, sometimes several times a day, asking God to just help me keep my damn mouth shut. In the name of showing grace and love. But I had the thought a few weeks ago, off all the scenarios I've been trying to come up with to make sure that I would be able to react appropriately, the only one I don't think I could handle is if her or her husband say something about my Dad. Especially if they accuse me of being the reason that she didn't come visit him.
If that happens, I think I will need my hubby to physically remove me from the premises before I have the chance to say something that I will regret. Not that I would regret saying something to her or him, but I would regret starting something at my nephew's wedding. That is something I would regret very much. So I cannot let it happen, no matter how much I am provoked. So I pray to God that they do not provoke me, because I am trying to be the best person I can possibly be that day. For my nephew.
And the other thing is, my Mom isn't going. Because (she says) my nephew doesn't really want her there, because (she says) he never returns her calls. Remember in my last blog entry, when I eluded to someone saying they weren't going to someone else's wedding because that someone hadn't returned their phone call? It was not an imaginary scenario, unfortunately. I also do not believe that it is the real reason, but you know how it is. That's the reason she's given, and I don't know how that sounds like a "better" reason than whatever the real reason is, but there you have it.
So, once again I get to go be the awkward ambassador for my dysfunctional family. I spent a lot of time doing this when I was a teenager, as if being a teenager alone isn't awkward enough, but there was a period of time when I was meeting a lot of the family whom I had never met before due to my parents being estranged from them. So there were a lot of questions like, How are your parents? Why don't they come around anymore? It sure would be nice to see them again! And me just kinda shrugging my shoulders like, I don't know what their deal is! It's as confusing to me as it is to anyone! I'm just trying not to be the same kind of crazy!
I sure do miss my Dad. He's the only person who could convince my Mom that she should go to this wedding. He's the person I would have to sit by at a shindig like this. He would've kept me calm.
On top of all that, the 2nd "anniversary" of his death is in a few weeks. The second year has definitely been harder than the first, but I don't want to talk about that right now, either.
Because on that note, I'm signing off. I'll try to check back in later and let you know how it went. And share some more thoughts, because I've got a begillion of 'em.
