I Slept In Late

Sleeping late isn't unusual for me. I like to stay up late -- very late -- and when I can, which is rarely, I like to sleep till noon. I know this is a bad habit. I would get more done if I got up earlier. But I think I am a hedonist at heart, and sleeping late is just so decadent!

This morning the kids let me sleep till ten. My son was at a friend's house, but he called me on his new cell phone, of which he's very proud. I know very well that from a practical point of view a nine year old boy does not need a cell phone. Neither does an eleven year old girl, but both have them and I'm glad of it. They both have active social lives and participate in extracurricular activities. This way, no matter where they are or who they are with, they can call me. And they do.

Case in point: one evening last year my daughter was with a friend's family, out for dinner at a restaurant. My daughter went to the restroom and called me to ask if she ought to be concerned that the friend's father had consumed two beers during dinner; was it still OK for her to get into the car with him driving? I told her that two beers with dinner was just fine, but any more than that might not be. And when I got off the phone, I sank down to my knees - seriously - and I thanked God that my daughter knew to question this and had the confidence and ability to call me and ask. A decision such as this might save her life one day.

In a less dramatic scenario, both kids tend to call me on their cell phones while sleeping over at friends' houses just to say "goodnight." This is incredibly sweet, and certainly not something they would do if they had to use the house phone. To me, that's worth the $25 a month I pay for their two lines.

So, my son called me to ask when I was coming to get him. I showed up at his friend's house around 11:30. His friend's mom just had surgery for breast cancer. The doctors say it went well, but her lymph nodes tested positive, so she'll need chemotherapy. How horrible! We are praying for her. I hope I can say and do the right things to support this wonderful family. This isn't the first problem they've had -- about two months ago, her sister died of lung cancer. Sometimes life gives us more than we ever counted upon having to bear.

Puts my own loss into perspective.

So many people have died within the past few months. I wonder if it's just that I'm more sensitive to those stories, or that I'm just getting older and by virtue of that will hear of more people dying, or perhaps it really is a run of bad luck?

Let's see...we have Dan Fogelberg, Bhutto, Tammy Faye Bakker, my aunt's mother. Mary from my Wed. morning bowling league just lost her sister. An online acquaintance is grieving the death of her 32 year old brother in law. And there are many more.

But life is for the living, right? We had yummy bean and ham soup, with the last of the Christmas ham, for dinner. My daughter has two of her friends spending the night. We're going to visit friends on Saturday to play some games, and we're bringing our kids to play with theirs. You know, as rough as it is to deal with the bad things in my life, the day to day stuff is still pretty damn good, and I am thankful.