Relief

Where to start even. I need some relief from the buzzing in my brain apparently.

Relief. Well there’s a broad blog theme o’ the week.

I can’t get no … I want to say satisfaction. Which is not the theme of the week. But I did once dance to that song in a London discotheque with my friends and a creepy old dude whose sweetest moves involved the double handguns pointed in the air thing.

Ah, good times.

I tend not to live my life with the “it’ll all be fine when” attitude. We all fall into that trap a little bit, but it lends itself to not really living your life while you wait for the big event. Whatever that event is for you.

I have gotten a lot more linear in my thinking lately. But it's not an it'll all be fine when thing. It's just a maximum capacity thing.

The list of tasks I could do is gigantic. The list of tasks people bring me that they think I should do is pretty decent. Thanks for the suggestion. Filing it away. I only have room in my brain for X and Y. Z, Q, and F will have to wait. And it’s totally okay if they wait.

It’s often good to challenge your assumptions. Perhaps daily.

I have a project schedule in my mind these days. Usually in Gantt chart format. Seriously. Everything is interrelated. Finish to start, finish to finish, finish to start minus three. X and Y are all I have resources for right now. When X and Y finish or at least start to ramp down, we can talk about pulling other things forward.

Project manager nerd alert. Remain calm. It'll be fine.

I spent some time the last few days prepping my house for the appraisal. Weeds have a tendency to grow this time of year. In a rapid, Little Shop of Horrors fashion at times. The bush, whose name / species / variety / whatever-the-technical-term-is I haven’t a clue about, by the garage does as well. The previous homeowner told me I could cut it back to almost nothing and it would grow back. She was right.

As I was wandering around outside, assessing what needed to be done, I realized the bush had become overgrown enough I was just going to have to trim it. It was starting to hit the house, the light fixture, the driveway, the sidewalk. So late Saturday afternoon in 95 degree heat … I gave it a serious haircut.  And hauled the branches to the brush pile. Never mind that excessive trimming of things is not really recommended for me. Never mind that my hands needed to be functional at 8am for soundcheck.

I don’t have a good before pic handy, but here’s the up close and personal version.

As I was walking back toward the garage from the brush pile it occurred to me this cantankerous bush ought to have a name. Why had I never named it? “Bennie” popped into my head. I shall call it Bennie. I don’t know, maybe Sir Elton had been running through my head for some reason. Maybe I was deliriously on the verge of heat stroke.

B-B-B-Bennie & the Jets …

Zoomed in brush pile pic. Remnants of Bennie.

I pondered the name for a bit. And then it hit me. Not Bennie! There’s a better option!

A friend’s mom once wondered whether the neighbors were growing an illegal substance in the pots by their garage. In front of the house, out in the open, in … those of you familiar with central Ohio neighborhoods will laugh … Muirfield Village. The close-up shot of Bennie from above is reminiscent of said illegal substance.

Mary Jane! We shall call the bush Mary Jane!

Or maybe Bennie Mary Jane.

Free spirited, out of control gal that she is.

Mary Jane is still illegal in Ohio anyway.

And the neighbors were growing tomatoes.

The past week has been a most interesting path. God whacked me upside the head with something. Which he’s prone to do, especially when I’m plodding along being the hands and feet and waiting for, well, the whack upside the head. We will see where it leads.

This week I’ve been providing taxi service for my VBS-age cousins. Vacation Bible School. It takes a village sometimes. They begged to help clean my house and weed on Monday. Any other time I probably would have taken them up on their offer. “The goal is to make my house look as expensive as possible before the person comes in to decide what it’s worth.” They’re ten and eleven. They’re old enough to understand. And the eleven-year-old is a budding entrepreneur and finance guru.

Yesterday was outstanding swimming weather, so we opted for an afternoon at their house, the family farm. Other fam & friends had the same idea. It was a lovely impromptu pool party.

Stormy skies ensued today. Movie day at Jenn’s house. Most of the kid-type movies around here have flown the nest … and the kids have been asking about my necklace … so we watched Ragamuffin. They paid attention for most of it.

I need relief from paleness and frizziness, but hey check the necklace.

I don’t know that I’m in particular need of relief from anything. Well, I mean there’s the usual list of wishes and lofty goals and dreams, and relief from whatever is stopping those would be cool. And world peace. But I just keep putting one foot in front of the other and it’s fine. Life is not happy happy joy joy all the time, nor did anyone ever promise that it would be.

Speaking of which, I’m hoping disaster relief will be unnecessary. We interrupt this blog post writing with a call from the county emergency alert system thingy.

This would be why.

Batten down the hatches, Nellie, and fill the Jacuzzi. Well water people will understand.

As I was saying. By the way, I waited five minutes and the weather changed. We’re down from an oh-my-gosh-we’re-all-gonna-die warning to a special weather statement.

Relief is nice. Relief is good.

But at the moment I’m blessed to be in a place where … when I can manage to place my identity in Him … constantly … continually … relief is not really in the front of my mind.

Hmmm.

I could actually use relief from clumsiness.

Have you tried blueberries dipped in Nutella? Do it. Idea credit to the ten-year-old. Pay no attention to the traces of egg salad on my fine china.

Keep looking up.

For more Relief from my friends, see Sue Bowles at bebold7.wordpress.com and Leisa Herren at life4inga.blogspot.com.

Can anybody find me somebody to love

Ooh, each morning I get up I die a little

Can barely stand on my feet

(Take a look at yourself) Take a look in the mirror and cry (and cry)

Lord what you're doing to me (yeah yeah)

I have spent all my years in believing you

But I just can't get no relief, Lord!

Somebody (somebody) ooh somebody (somebody)

Can anybody find me somebody to love?

I work hard (he works hard) every day of my life

I work till I ache in my bones

At the end (at the end of the day)

I take home my hard earned pay all on my own

I get down (down) on my knees (knees)

And I start to pray

Till the tears run down from my eyes

Lord somebody (somebody), ooh somebody

(Please) can anybody find me somebody to love?

(He works hard)

Everyday (everyday) I try and I try and I try

But everybody wants to put me down

They say I'm going crazy

They say I got a lot of water in my brain

Ah, got no common sense

I got nobody left to believe in

Yeah yeah yeah yeah

Oh Lord

Ooh somebody, ooh somebody

Can anybody find me somebody to love?

(Can anybody find me someone to love)

Got no feel, I got no rhythm

I just keep losing my beat (you just keep losing and losing)

I'm OK, I'm alright (he's alright, he's alright)

I ain't gonna face no defeat (yeah yeah)

I just gotta get out of this prison cell

One day (someday) I'm gonna be free, Lord!

Find me somebody to love

Find me somebody to love

Find me somebody to love

Find me somebody to love

Find me somebody to love

Find me somebody to love

Find me somebody to love

Find me somebody to love love love

Find me somebody to love

Find me somebody to love

Somebody somebody somebody somebody

Somebody find me

Somebody find me somebody to love

Can anybody find me somebody to love?

(Find me somebody to love)

Ooh

(Find me somebody to love)

Find me somebody, somebody (find me somebody to love) somebody, somebody to love

Find me, find me, find me, find me, find me

Ooh, somebody to love (Find me somebody to love)

Ooh (find me somebody to love)

Find me, find me, find me somebody to love (find me somebody to love)

Anybody, anywhere, anybody find me somebody to love love love!

Somebody find me, find me love

~ Queen’s “Somebody To Love”