"Gotta get myself happy"

Such a week of lessons and how fitting that I haven't posted since last year's evacuation. Kinda emphasizes the lethargic way that I've been letting the days slip away and the petty bullshit that I've let become roadblocks. Really over the whole Katrina thing, absolutely ridiculous that almost 4 years later I'm still sitting here with a gutted second floor, my life packed in boxes and gritting my teeth as the fema trash next door frolic about with not a job held by any of them. Geez, think that last one makes me the most crazy but the neighborhood has had enough and fingers crossed that they'll be outta here this week. LOL, think we all have the police, animal control and code enforcement on speed dial now but seems to have done the trick. Once they're gone, think Jim will quit wavering about moving and go ahead and finish my house. Snort, a garage full of my dream appliances might actually get installed!!!

Working towards being optimistic here ~ I've already ordered replacements for my flatware...I'm sure that I could have rented a backhoe to turn over the backyard and found the missing pieces(I'm convinced that the kiddos hauled it outside to dig in their pit), actually the backhoe might have been cheaper but wth. I've found a furniture restoration place to do the more "important" family pieces and I'm ready to tackle the pieces that I'm comfortable doing myself. LMAO, the one good thing about Samantha being 1000 miles away is she won't catch me until it's to late, little witch is siding with her daddy and wants me to get new furniture...no fun in that! She forgets that half the fun of being from New Orleans is embracing the eclectic and ordering a room from Herwitz Mintz just doesn't cut it. I let Jim talk me into that a couple of years ago and I'd give my eyeteeth to have my old coffee table back, not gonna make that mistake again. Sigh, no clue why Jim's gotta have his nose in my domain anyway, he's already giving me grief over the new dishes, might have to buy 2 different sets to shut him up.

The resolution to quit waiting and just do what I want was really brought home by the death of Michael Jackson. Wow, regardless of what he did or didn't do, he was an absolute genius and did leave behind a musical legacy that brough joy to millions. I can't help but smile as his songs play, so many bring happy memories of both my childhood and childrens' childhoods. Samantha at 4, throwing herself on that red pleather jacket and refusing to leave the store without it. Setting the rhinestones into her little white glove, ignoring the labor pains for Jerry so she could wear it to dancing that night. Guess I should acknowledge the fact that my daughter has ALWAYS had her own opinions on fashion. Jacob at 3, doing his MJ impersonation, just hysterical. And we can't forget the time I hired Mother Goose to perform at Mamp's b'day party but all the little girls wanted to do was dance to Thriller (Mother Goose was not a happy camper). MJ dying, somebody that seemed so ageless and electric, a huge realization that tomorrow isn't a guarantee by any means, we have to get off our asses and make every single day count.

The last lesson of the week was brought home by a few of us helping a friend clear out her mother's house. I had never met Steph's mom but really felt a kinship....boxes and boxes and boxes of every imaginable craft poured into the area where we were setting up the garage sale. Steph, Heather and Cori, all shook their heads and questioned the sanity of someone with totes of unfinished projects, bins of fabric, more books than the craft section at Barnes&Noble and bags not touched since they were brought home from the store. Seriously every handcraft well represented, scrapping, quilting, french handsewing, smocking, painting, needlepoint, x-stitch, beading...snort, this was a woman that I understood! While the "young ones" were thinking "crazy", I was thinking about the enthusiasm for creating, for learning new things, to be busy and productive. Each bag, tote, box, book and kit representing an exciting new adventure, hope and optimism shown with each purchase, a dream of what is possible...I got it. It's funny, these 3 little friends of mine, all scrapbookers but I realized that doesn't automatically mean crafters. I couldn't let all those possibilities be thrown out into the world of plain old garage sales, made a few phone calls and was lucky enough to cross the path of some ladies with email lists and those hardcore crafters turned out in droves. Yesterday was absolute bliss, to be surrounded by women that understood what each piece of paper and skein of thread really meant. To meet new friends (I came home with several new phone numbers and invitations in my pocket), to run into a couple of old friends that I had lost track of, plans for lunches and crops and stitch and bitch sessions, glorious. But what touched me the most was the concern for the woman that had assembled such a fabulous stash (each one quite happy that she hadn't passed on but had moved to a new state to live with her family) and the plans each woman had for her newfound treasures (bags, quilts, hats and gowns for the pediatric wards across the city, projects to be made for children and grandchildren, supplies to be used in teaching others to sew and scrap and paint).
To be honest, there were several lessons to be acknowledged at Steph's this week...
-time spent helping a friend, even in the smallest way, is always worthwhile
-quit hoarding the good stuff, just use it (always embraced this with my china and crystal, gotta learn to carry it through to the antique swiss batiste and scrapbook paper)
-friends are precious, no matter how busy life is, make time to touch base and let them know you're thinking about them
-the quiet dignity of a caring person is appreciated that much more after being around an abrasive jackass, you'd think that was a given but evidently not, gotta admit I've forgotten a time or two
-either finish the damn thing or get rid of it, no room in life for halfassed, now if we could just get this through Jim's head to

Kinda missing the 3 people in my life that would recognize my title quote, wonder where my happy hat is.