randomnity

Grace and I winterized our flower beds today. I tucked the beloved hydrangea bushes into blankets of burlap. It made me sad to cut all the gladiolas. The flowers were long gone. But the beds look barren without the foliage. All this for flowers that we won't see next summer. It still made me really happy to do the work. Caring for things brings such a good feeling. Tonight, Cori and I had a little dinner party. Rodnie stayed with the kids. Grant has been a bit sick this week and I was happy to get home to him. I held him until he was asleep, and then snuggled in bed with Gracie until she was asleep. It just feels good to tuck things in and to make them feel safe, whether its kids or bushes.

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Michael Crichton died this week. I haven't read one of his books or watched ER in years. But there was a time that I was an avid fan of both. My first Crichton read was Jurassic Park when I was in the eighth grade. Every summer through High school I pounded through his books. I loved them. My senior year, ER was just about the only TV show I watched. 10PM Thursday nights. It was a short but intense relationship as I watched pretty much no TV in college. Crichton was in his mid sixties. He died of cancer and is survived by his 5th wife and the sole child he had by her. I was reading in an article about how he finally got to the point where he would complete and present a novel and its screenplay simultaneously. Such confidence. He knew he was that good. He would walk away from any producer who wanted to fiddle with his characters or sequences. He was 6'9" and spent his youth feeling isolated because of his height. He spent his adulthood feeling isolated because of his intellect. He had a medical degree, and reportedly, even his medical studies read like thrillers. Sometimes I wonder how it would be if I were so very good at something. Reading about the lives of those who are in a league of their own makes me happy to be plain ol' ordinary me. With leagues of lovely people close by.

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Wednesday nights, Cori has YMs and then a presidency meeting. He isn't home until sometime between 10 and 11. Though I'd rather spend time with him, I love having the evening completely to myself. I have had a lot of projects to work on this week. Getting things done during the day isn't always a realistic plan. Babies get sick. Little girls need to play. When the sun is out, parks must be visited. This was how all my days had been come Wednesday night. Consequently I had a rather aggressive schedule for the evening planned.

Planned Itinerary:

• get kids in bed
• finish visiting teaching calls
• complete scraping of caulk from kids bathroom and the master bathroom
• deep clean both bathrooms
• if enough time- recaulk
• get ready for bed etc.

What actually happened:

• got kids in bed
• finished visiting teaching calls
• played piano
• popped popcorn
• flipped through holiday catalogues while toggling between Top Design and the Food Network
• got ready for bed after Cori came home etc.

My bathroom project remains half done. I worked on it this morning, then decided to shift gears and get my outside work done as there is bad weather coming. I should be able to finish it all up tomorrow. Maybe.