Day of Miscellaneous

My friend made me another pot of stew. Isn't that awesome?!

I was telling a woman about this, about the stew and the casseroles and how it was all done (often how a thing is given is more important than what is given), and this woman, an unbeliever, started crying! She was that moved that someone who is not a relative would do that for someone else. So it was a chance to quietly and unobtrusively point to an example of Christ's love.

What a cold world.

When something good is shocking and violence is normal....

I guess we need to really appreciate and hang on to all the gems we are blessed with, given that we can receive so many lumps of coal or fool's gold so often.

I had court today. Serial rapist case. Ugly, horrific... and he's out walking around in the community. I wrote about it on the work blog. Well... wrote what I could, anyway. There's a publication ban on almost everything.

He sat down directly behind me in court. I sat there thinking about the fact that I had a serial rapist sitting directly behind me - so close I could feel his breath on the back of my head. I could smell him. I thought about the victims smelling him. After a rape it's like you can't get the smell of the rapist off of you no matter what you do. It's a big thing that victims experience but you don't hear about it often.

I saw what's-his-name in the courthouse hallway. (He's a lawyer, for those of you who don't know already) He didn't see me.

To me, he is the most attractive looking man I've ever seen in my life. That doesn't make this whole thing any easier, that's for sure! So of course, all of that hurt was triggered again - like I needed that.

After court I got to my car to find I had a parking ticket! $35!!!!

Where do those parking enforcement guys hide?!

You can't be even a second late for the meter. It's like they have some way of knowing from their little dens that someone's meter is going to expire in exactly the number of seconds it takes for the enforcement guy to get from his lair to his prey - i.e. my car!

I got some sleep last night. Yay!

Talked to my ex-husband on the phone tonight. He called to wish me a happy belated birthday. The conversation was the usual. It was okay, I guess. I'm actually going to have lunch with him tomorrow.

I went to the grocery store and, as a belated birthday gift to myself, splurged. I probably shouldn't have, especially considering I am calculating the cost of a slice of bread and literally saving pennies in an attempt to pay some bills. But I thought, "what the heck... I didn't get a cake or a gift and I've been working my butt off; I can give myself a little something, right?"

So I bought a can of pears (cheaper than fresh ones - do canned pears have any nutritional value? Does it still count as a serving of fruit?). I also bought a bag of blueberry bagels, some juice, and some cheese. That was an extravagant thing for me to do. But now, between that stuff and the stew, and my son giving me 3 bananas, I actually have some stuff in the house. So that feels good.

You know... I've lost 21 pounds since January.

I adore my dogs. They keep me sane.

My friends keep me sane, too. The woman who made the stew sent me an email in which one sentence read "Happy freakin birthday!!" I laughed so hard the dogs came running in to see what was going on.

And my son, who is struggling himself, gave me half of his bananas that he can't afford either. I didn't ask for those (I wouldn't); He just decided I probably needed it, so he did it. Nice boy, he is.

Wonder when spring will really come.