Lazy Friday night

I am a very lucky lady.

I have made such great friends over the last eight years that I have been blogging.  One of my very first reads was The Purple Chai when she was still over at Diaryland.  I was drawn to her because she is what I want to be when I grow up — a librarian.  I don’t know exactly when I found her, but I know I’ve been reading her for a good long time.

I admire Chai greatly.  Diagnosed with a brain tumor a long while ago, she had surgery to remove it and is now tumor-free.  But she’s lost hearing in one ear as a result, and she’s got a few other issues as well.  Yet she’s not one to bemoan her fate or complain that life isn’t fair.  She goes on living her life the best she can.

She loves to tell stories from her childhood, and that’s one of my favorite things about her diary.  She’ll share an old photo, and describe what was happening in it.  I can still recall the photo she posted a little while ago, one that was one of her favorites.  She had taken her daughters to the park to play one day, and she saw, off in the distance, her father walking for exercise around the park.  She shot a photo of him, continuing on his walk, and utterly unaware that she is there.  What a poignant photo, and that’s why it’s stuck with me.

So is there any wonder why I enjoy Chai’s blog so much?

As if that weren’t enough, a couple of days ago, the same day I received my spiffy new phone, the UPS man handed me another package.  I glanced at the label and did a double take.  It was from Chai!!!

And inside was this:

BOOKS! Beautiful books!!! Books that Chai had read to her own girls when they were children, and books that Chai was certain my own children would love.

I got all excited when I saw Harold and the Purple Crayon was included.  I haven’t yet read the other two books, but I love Harold and the Purple Crayon.

And did you see what else Chai included???  She included a note written on a Mickey Mouse card!  She loves all things Mickey, and adores going to Disney World.  To me, putting in the Mickey Mouse notecard was including a wee bit of herself.  That card is now on my storage bench, tucked into the mirror, with all my other precious cards that people have sent me in the mail.

Man, how lucky am I to have such lovely friends??  Thank you so much, Chai!

And on to other news.

The weather today has been awful.  It’s been pouring like you wouldn’t believe, so badly that our front sidewalk was a bit flooded for most of the day.  The mailman had our mail in his hand as he walked to our door, which meant that my new magazine was pretty sodden by the time it arrived at our home.  Even our newspaper, bagged and rubber-banded against the deluge, got a bit damp.

Our personal weather station said we got three inches, while the official reading reports just an inch.  But it was a lot, let me tell you.

There was no way I was going anywhere today.  For one thing, I didn’t wake up in the greatest of moods.  For another, the weater was just crappy.  And then we really need to quit spending money.  Since it was raining, the only things we could do was go shopping, which is the last thing our checkbooks needs.  So home it was.

I didn’t even get in the shower till noon today.  That’s how bad it was.

But you know, it’s been a good evening at home anyhow.  I’m snug and warm in my home.  I’ve called a couple of friends to check in (Hi, Pamela!  Hi, Caroline!).  I’ve got the internet to tell me what’s going on in the world, and all my Flickr and blog friends to keep me entertained.  There’s not much more I need!

So this was my contribution to 7Days over at Flickr today:

Just a quiet evening at home with the whole family.  Grace is learning to read on the laptop, the dog is investigating what Grace is doing, and Kurt’s cuddling with the baby (who just picked her head up on her own).  And then there are my toes, painted with OPI’s The Grape Lakes.  There was no way 7Days was getting a head shot, not the way I was feeling.

Any of y’all wanna come over and join us?  You’re more than welcome!