Friday!

It was a drama-free Friday here at Casa Majah - rare and wonderful of late! AND, as an added bonus, I took a day off!! YIPPEE!

I lunched with a long lost friend in Pleasanton - knew it had been awhile when she pulled into the parking space next to me in a 'new' car - that she purchased last August! So it HAS been a very long time. We had fun catching up and enjoying MEAT! Black Angus! Yum!

I handed off the treasurer items for Lions and our dining room table is becoming a Lion-free zone for the first time in a long time. Will miss the friends I made in that group but won't miss the added '100 pound weight of crap to do' on my shoulders. God, I hate that feeling - and it lifted within minutes of handing off a bag of 'stuff'. So glad to have that off my plate.

I wrote letters to each of our Compassion International sponsored 'daughters'....impromptu and newsy, which are usually the best kind of letters to write. I put a new bookmark in each envelope for them and know that Compassion will do their best to get it there for them. Hope so. I know the money we send each month is making a difference by the letters they write. They thank me for the 'extra' gift money (I send them money for their birthdays and Christmas that's separate from our regular monthly sponsorship payment) and they tell me what they were able to get. Clothes and shoes were in today's letters - so happy they are getting things they need....

B. went to Jackson Rancheria with friends last night - came home with $180 more than he took, so now, of course, he thinks he can be a professional black jack player and live off his 'earnings'. We're sure it was beginner's luck and he'll get a lesson next time he goes. Which may be Sunday since he and the same group of friends are going snowboarding and they may stop in Jackson on the way home.

We are back to freezing cold, wet weather. Ugh. So ready for sunshine and blue skies.

It's a short weekend 'cuz damn daylight savings time is going to steal an hour. Monday will suck even more than usual with an hour's less sleep.....I dread the 'spring back' switch every year. Takes my internal clock a couple weeks to get used to it.

We have no plans this weekend other than to have no plans this weekend! Piddling around the house, usual assortment of errands to run, etc.

My cousin I. made me crave cupcakes all day - lucky her - she works across the street from the Sprinkles cupcake store in Hollywood! I was craving cupcakes so badly that when I popped into Starbucks for an iced tea on my way over the hill to Pleasanton, I bought a red velvet cupcake for myself. Yum! Made my teeth look like I had a bad case of gingivitis or something - red spots everywhere for a few seconds - but it was worth it. I loved it so much that I added red velvet cake mix and cream cheese frosting to the grocery list and plan to make cupcakes for the boys tomorrow. And for me and J., too, of course. Every time I. mentions Sprinkles, I go to their website and have to restrain myself from buying massive amounts of cupcake and frosting mixes! Sounds so yummy....

H. is doing OK for now. I will post an update later this week. Both J. and I spoke to his counselor for over an hour on Wednesday. We are confident the issues at hand are being addressed....and we seem to have come to an understanding of what (we hope) will be the plan going forward. I still (always, these days) have the 'waiting for the other shoe to drop' feeling. Now also known as the 'when more shit hits the fan' feeling. It's living in a heightened state of anxiety that takes a physical and mental toll on a person. I have felt on the verge of tears all week for no good reason. I feel 'panicked' at things that aren't panicky. There's no explanation for it - except my psyche is screaming for relief from this constant barrage of crap. Hence the Friday off. I've looked in the mirror a couple times this week and feel like I don't recognize myself. There are the darkest, deepest gray circles under my eyes I've EVER had. They're not just 'gray' - they're sunken. I'm exhausted. So tired of this 'stuff'.....

So I took a day off - and did my best to not work. Did return a couple emails (one of which brought a quick reply from my boss: 'day OFF! Remember?'. I wrote back 'I'm trying.....').

Here's hoping.....