#1 daughter came to church with me yesterday. The junior high agreed to study science and religion for the summer, we had an odd moment when the organist began playing the amen right as the choir began singing the call to prayer, and the pastor spoke passionately about the importance of trusting God to send us in new directions. The work, he said, is up to us, but the outcome is up to God.
Then we had lunch, with a friend of #1 daughter’s joining us. He is from Cowboy Land, so he said “ma’am” and “sir” to us a great deal, but did not pull out a six-gun or hogtie the dogs or anything. I remember how foreign students used to be disappointed because they came to the United States and we were just ordinary and never carried guns or anything. It was sort of like that.
We have to remember, though, that #1 daughter works for the District Attorney in Cowboy Land, so it is to be expected that she would have a more exciting set of stories than one denizen of the place could be expected to provide over lunch.
Then #1 daughter took Spicer and returned to Cowboy Land. I did one more page for Client #2, went tutoring (I had forgotten how totally creepy and excellent a story is William Faulkner’s “A Rose for Miss Emily,” and if you haven’t read it for a while, you ought to), and then joined Partygirl for a walk in the park.
Our walk was a lot like a cocktail party, since we stopped to chat with friends every few feet, but we still did a couple of miles. The creek was high from the recent rains and we could hear its rushing all along, and walking over the bridges, enclosed as they are by green trees and vines, was a moist and luscious experience.
Partygirl started the South Beach Diet on Tuesday. I started the Sonoma Diet on the same day, but then allowed poor planning and assorted crises to derail it, not to mention eating pizza and ice cream all weekend, so she has lost five pounds and I have not. I am starting over again. Partygirl thinks she might shift over to the Sonoma Diet as well, though neither of the regimens involves sweet tea, and she has declared that she can’t be expected to give up sweet tea no matter what.
And butter. You can’t eat biscuits without butter, she said. You can’t eat biscuits on those diets, either, but she is the one who has lost pounds, so I am not going to say a word about her biscuits and sweet tea.
I finally got home at 9:00, and watched another disk of Numb3rs and frogged the Icarus scarf, which is too plain a design to hide all my errors, and started the Leaves and Flowers scarf instead.
I am not going to be in crisis mode any more. I got up and dressed and I intend to eat breakfast at the table like a civilized person before I begin working. It is true that I am a bit scared about Client #6, but I have a plan, and I think it is a good plan, and I am not going to work feverish extra hours in response to that fearfulness. I’ve been hired for 20 hours a week, and I can do that and get in a bit of study on the new computer programs and also see to my remaining clients and still lead a normal life. I didn’t have to file with the unemployment office this week, so I am not unemployed, and I don’t need to be worrying.
So, yeah, I still don’t know what will happen next, but the Unemployment Chronicles have ended.
Do you see my little dragon on the left? You can click over there and get your own amusing stickies. I am easily amused, huh?
M and I were talking about a friend of his who moved to Poland. He did very well there with the ladies being an exotic foreigner and all.
I like the little dragon ~x~
Does unemployment work that way there?
Around here, you have to file every week or you lose your benefits. If you (for some reason) make over a certain amount, they don’t send you a check, but you still have to file.
It might be a good idea to check and see if it’s the same there.
Congrats to your friend on the weight loss. I would suggest to her that she try the Parkay spray butter. It tastes (and looks) just like melted butter but it has 0 calories. It’s saved me on Weight Watchers, LOL.
Congrats on not being unemployed anymore; now it’s time to start the self-employed chronicles. 
@lostarts – It’s the same here, and I’ve been filing all along even though I’ve been earning. However, I don’t think I can honestly claim to be unemployed any more, and I certainly am not eligible for any benefits.
@JewelE19 – Thanks — you may be right. We can see where I go wrong, or maybe even where I go right. I’ll tell my friend about that Parkay, too.
I was reading Kindred, and she mentioned biscuits, so I made biscuits and ate them with butter and sorghum on Sunday. That’s my little ode to home. I relax my diet on the weekend, and it doesn’t seem to hurt much.
Your body needs a little fat. My nutritionist told me to have real butter when I have it — just a little, like a teaspoon.