Sunday, January 14, 2007

The Long Good-Bye

So much to tell you, but I also need to get to bed, so we'll see what gets told.

Friday I was CRANKY, with not just a capital C, but capital R, capital A, capital N, capital K and capital Y (as you could already see). I have some comp time coming to me, so I asked my boss if I could leave a little bit before noon on Fridays for the next however many weeks and go to yoga. He was fine with that, but have you ever noticed that on days you want to leave work early or on time, everybody under the fucking sun needs you? Yeah, that's what happened on Friday. One kid came to me and asked if I were going to be there in the afternoon and I said No. He needed an order input, so I told him to give it to me then and I'd do it before I left. Everybody thinks the orders I do are so difficult and complicated and time-consuming, but they're really not. Anyway, I got that done, but somebody else had to stop and ask me something and then somebody else and then yet another person, so it was 12:10 by the time I left. Now I could have just stayed and not waste two hours of comp time since I wasn't going to yoga, but as I said, I wasn't in the best of moods, so I got the puck out of there.

I called Glen to see if he wanted to go out to lunch, but Julie hadn't showered yet and it was going to be an hour before they were ready. I knew that I needed to eat before that and I decided that a nap was a good replacement for yoga. I went home, had something to eat (God knows what since I have NO food in the house) and napped for 2.5 hours. When I woke up I was in a much better frame of mind and ended up going out for a beer with Martha. After a couple of hours of chatting with her about all and sundry, I picked up BST and went to R&K's for an evening of sitting around with friends. We talked, laughed, played Trivial Pursuit and then watched Game 5 of the 1984 World Series. It was pretty sweet. K was laughing at us as we would get excited about a play.

Saturday was the total excitement of laundry with a short break for lunch with Julie and then a quick baby shower shopping spree. We found adorable classic Pooh baby stuff all in the requisite green. This, of course, means that we spent today (Sunday) sitting in a restaurant with a gaggle of other women eating and watching baby gifts being opened. This is not the preferred way of spending a Sunday, but being women, it's the joy we get to behold. The good thing was that there was champagne with lunch and that's all good in my book.

The total highlight of my weekend was church this morning. Okay, it wasn't church itself as we were back up to an hour and forty-five minute, but during the homily Mom handed me a small wrapped box with an envelope addressed to me. I studied the handwriting and whispered, "Aunt Pat?" Mom nodded. I opened the card, read it, looked at Mom and whispered, "Do you know what's in here?" in a way that she knew I knew what was in it. She shook her head no and gestured to ask if she could read the card (to which I nodded, Yes) which read: "Kathleen - I came up with a total blank this year - so I decided the time is now. I hope it's all you remember it to be. It is now yours to do what you want. Love, Aunt P." I unwrapped it quietly, and looked at Mom while she read the card, with tears in my eyes, as I opened the box and saw the ring. My Aunt Carol had picked up this opal/ruby ring more than 30 years ago in Bangkok and I had always wanted it. I've loved opals my whole life, but when Aunt Carol was ready to give it up, she didn't think I was old enough for it, so gave it to Aunt Pat who has an October b-day, with the proviso that sometime it would come to me. And today was that day. Sadly, Aunt Pat had worn it to her job as a baggage handler years ago and managed to break the opal, but it's not too badly damaged. I need to find someone to clean it, and if at all possible, considering the broken opal, change it from yellow gold (which I do not wear ever) to white gold. It's big, gaudy and I love it as it's a childhood memory. That's the only picture that didn't come out blurry, but I hope to take more that show it off a little better. The opal is magnificent, even broken.

3 Comments:

At Monday, 15 January, 2007, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Was "you know who" at the shower? As far as the ring I'd recommend Steven next door. If you do choose him tell him I sent you. Not to rub it in but the DSO was fab today. I'll post some details tomorrow. Savion Glover was fantastic dancing to Duke Ellington, but I was also geeked to hear compositions from Phillip Glass, DANNY FREAKIN' ELFMAN, and more traditional fare.

 
At Monday, 15 January, 2007, Anonymous Anonymous said...

It's beautiful. I think I'd be too sentimental to change the broken opal, but I'd definitely change the gold to white. Wear it with love & happiness!

 
At Tuesday, 16 January, 2007, Blogger Kathleen said...

Jason - Yes, and I was already thinking about Steven. I bought my box link sterling chain from him a few years back and was thinking that I need a bigger chunkier one. Danny Elfman & Philip Glass? DAMN! I'm jealous.

Suzy - I could never afford an opal to replace that one. It's not a triplet or even a doublet. It's a real opal.

 

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