This morning when doing my morning meditation, I thought of our beloved Niece Kathi who was at Quantico when the earthquake hit the other day, that night a neighbor, two homes down in the row of town homes where she lives had a fire that caused extensive damage to that house, and the house next to Kathi's, and now the wind and waters of the hurricane are upon her. The Irish invocation of Brighid's shielding seems to be a grand prayer for me to pray for her and all my family and friends, today especially those on the east coast!
No fire, no sun, no moon shall burn me,
No water, no flood, no brine shall drown me,
No earth, no sod, no turf shall cover me,
No air, no wind, no vapour shall sweep me,,
No mischief of man or fairy will vex me,
No earthly being destroy me,
I under the protection of the holy maiden,
I am under the shielding of good Brighid each day;
I am under the shielding of good Brighid each night.
Each early and late, every dark, every light.
Brighid is my comrade, Brighid is my maker of song,
My gentle foster-mother, my beloved Brighid.
Tom is Kathi's godfather. Kathi is the youngest daughter of Tom's sister Faith and her husband Keith. She's an amazing, gentle, mighty, bright and beautiful woman, fluent in Russian, German, and several other languages. She was in the Army for several years. Now she's working on her third master's degree, this time in warfare. She is not a war monger, she is a mighty warrioress, a wonderful mother, daughter, sister, friend. We're quite close. I just adore this wonderful young woman who is about 3 years older than our oldest son.
Brighid is also my muse. I have been consumed with an idea for a wall hanging for the wall behind my altar in my office upstairs. I am going to begin it this weekend! Tom and I are going to get away for the day on Monday so anything I do not have that I need to finish it I will be able to pick up.
Tom has had a heck of a week. A rehersal/wedding last weekend, two services Sunday morning, the birthday party for a parish child on Sunday afternoon, Monday on his day off he had to go to one of the churches to help someone get the copier running, Tuesday he spent hours with a family whose son died suddenly over the weekend, the funeral was yesterday. Wednesday he had to go out to the country parish to meet the man who was there to fix the elevator that was not working, prepare for bible study that evening, and then write a sermon and spend hours on the phone tracking down members of the woman whose funeral he has today. Yesterday he had the funeral, last night choir and then meeting with the family for today's funeral. He wrote the sermon last night. The funeral is this afternoon, this on top of so many of the other things he has to take care of with no church secretary. He's been operating on a real sleep deficit, and we've been like ships passing, giving a greeting, grabbing hugs when we are able. I've missed him this week :-) He's been really distracted this week, the funeral yesterday was hard on him. We've been here a long time, going into our 15th year. He knows the family grieving yesterday's funeral very well, and this one was particularly difficult for him. On top of that his seasonal allergies have been giving him fits too. I've been keeping the homefires burning, cooking him good meals, and doing any household things that he usually does. Thank goodness not all weeks are this draining for him! He lit up when I suggested that we get away for the day on Monday. He has to leave town to actually get a day off. We're planning on going to Grand Forks, driving cross country on country roads rather than the state highways and interstate we typically take. I'm looking forward to the day too! :-)
It's been a busy week for me this week catching up on paperwork, entertaining Becca for the day on Tuesday (And a mad dash to straighten up the house before that! LOL) I've gotten another referral, meeting with two families today. Yesterday in addition to paperwork I had a lunch meeting with one of my fave social workers and we staffed the family she just referred, I've worked with them before so know what I'm getting into at least. I'm meeting with the family this afternoon, and another family after that. I'm ready for the weekend after this week! After lunch with Jodi I saw a family, Jodi had given me the heads up that there is head lice in that family, that they apparently are not treating the kids or their homes sufficiently to get rid of them, and suggested I might want to think about that before sitting on upholstered furniture. We sit on plastic chairs and the kids don't want to climb all over me so that didn't seem too likely. Talk of lice had me feeling all itchy and crawly before I even got there. I got to the home it was really dirty yesterday and didn't smell very good. The whole setting was extremly chaotic and the session didn't go well. I was practically stripping between the garage and back door when I got home to deposit my clothes in the washing machine and headed for my second shower of the day, making sure I used the hairdryer after. I know anyone can get lice, but this family is so low functioning that following all the directions for delousing is probably beyond their ability. One of the lovely realities of my job. I just needed to write about it to vent here, ticks, lice, bats, nothing freaks me out like those three things! Today I'm not feeling itchy or crawly and I don't think that I have to worry about it at the two families I'm seeing this afternoon.
With the stress eating I did after Angie dumped the bomb on us all the scales is not happy, I've now gained 20 of the 110lbs I'd lost. Yikes!!! Not blaming her for that, I'd gained a few on my own before that, but the pounds have piled on. There is another biggest loser challenge starting September 1. That will help me stick to diet and exercise as the winning pot will be about $200. Could use that money for sure! :-) I was going to go to the east coast for a weekend at a beach house with several people next month, but I really can't afford to do that right now. John hopes to be able to take Ashlyn to Wisconsin in October to see my Mom, I'll probably go with him, maybe use our car, and pay for most of the expenses. My production hours at work are down because of all the time off I took in June and July, and then the decrease in caseload. I'm glad it's picking back up again. I'm actually more organized when I'm busy. The distraction of John's divorce is settling down for all of us and life is getting back to as close to normal as it ever is around here. :-)
Well, paperwork calls, much to do before seeing clients this afternoon.
Have a great weekend all!
Life is good!
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