Always be kind ..............

This was my crappy collage of the day. I woke stressed. Was up way too late last night, COULD NOT SLEEP!

So didn't get to my desk or the collage till 11 a.m. and then I probably rushed it, and maybe tweaked it too much or too fast, or whatever, but I intend to work on it more later.

The gist of it was: Always be kind, for everyone is fighting a battle. -Plato ... and the image to the right is paperwhites, a flower/bulb I absolutely adore.

I buy them in the winter and plant them in rocks, or marbles, not dirt, add a wee bit of water, and they grow tall and sprout little white flowers!!!!! all over the house, atop the coffee table, the dining room table or wherever I can find a spot.

Shouldn't happen, but it does ... NO DIRT! It's an absolute thrill I look forward too every mid-winter!

So, there's that:

And then there's this ... something I posted elswhere about how Lili, my four-year-old grand-girl made my day today, and what a day it has been:

*****
facebooking/notes:

I'm telling you, there is something about 4-year-olds!

This kid arrives here every day, practically, at exactly 11:45 and if I'm usually in my office downstairs when she gets here. So once she's in the door with Carol, she whips off her coat and comes in and checks in with news and bits of 4-K weirdness.

Today, I was not downstairs, because I was up late and hadn't even made it to my desk yet. We were also planning to run a series of errands prior to my "starting my day," which of course meant I was upstairs looking for shoes since in my office I'm barefoot, stocking-footed or in slippers, depending on the season or my mood.

So, when Lili came in through the garage this morning, I was at the top of the stairs in the entryway by the front door, putting on my shoes. I witnessed her, for the first time, coming in dropping her backpack, shrugging her coat off and then peeking around the corner into my office preparing to enter and burst with goodness and tales and the letter of the day and we had a birthday treat today and I peed in the sandbox because I didn't want to stop playing and and and ... and then some!

Then I got to see this precious little look that made me want to pick her up, put her in the car and buy her everything in the nearest store. She was doing a double-take, looking back at mom, like, "What?!?!??!! Where the heck is Grandma Princess Annie?!?!?!" ... and that wasn't even the look! It was the look when she saw me at the top of the stairs! She had this lovely, pleased as punch look as if the Tooth Fairy herself was at the top of the stairs!

Then we all went to the nearest department store to buy winter coats, which was our plan, but then a whole bunch of other stuff ended up in my cart for her, her sisters, her mommy and her aunties because hello?!?!?!! Christmas is coming!

And, I'm telling you it pays to pause and enjoy these moments because out on our adventure, we received a call from Mark's sister that Mark's mom has to spend an overnight at the hospital (ON HER BIRTHDAY!!!!!) because she was not feeling well and with all the swine flu going around ... well, that's the way it goes. She was the official start to the fall birthdays, so this sucks butt, and hopefully she is mended by the time the party for all the birthdays takes place here on Saturday.

And that's the way life is ... you have these searing, memory-making, heart-rendering singing moments of bliss and then someone rains on your "other mummy's" birthday parade and you want to beat up the world! This woman should not be sick ON HER BIRTHDAY! She does not believe in pity pots, is always telling everyone to "build a bridge and get over it," and I suspect she may wink and tell someone to "shut their pie hole" today if they try to over-worry over her!

So, that being said, be thankful for what you have ... and I give you now, Lili and the letter puh-puh-puh-P ... for Pig!

Isn't that ironic when it comes to the swuh, swuh swine flu stuff! ... and I think her artwork is ten-times better than mine today.





****The day's end of the story is that my "other mummy" has gallbladder inflammation and maybe slight pneumonia, none of which she really had any symptoms until this morning when she felt icko, and all of which are complicated by the fact that she is on oxygen as per the norm. She is usually never sick, but there is always the back of the mind worry that if she every gets sick it will be harder for her because it compromises her breathing and all that rot.

Tonight she's comfy and has to stay put in the hospital while they put her on antibiotics and such, and tomorrow is another day ...