Coming Home!

I've been really struggling with feeling depressed, of all things. My problem is that I wanted everything to be perfect when Elder Danny reappeared. And it's not. And it won't be. I had this goal--this end-point--when the house would be perfectly organized and decorated, all the boxes in the garage emptied and put away, and I would be thirty pounds skinnier instead of ten pounds heavier than when he left. The dog-chewed blinds would be replaced, trees would be planted, and the carpet would be cleaned. Like he's excited to come home so that he can see the house, right?! Silly me. I'm revising my goals by the day, and pretty soon I think my list is going to read "clean the bathrooms!"

We loved our Sunday phone call. I didn't even try to keep the conversation away from "TWO WEEKS!" Yes, it made him trunky, but he's just going to have to deal with that. He asked if we could have chicken enchiladas and chocolate ice cream when he gets home. I think I can arrange that. He also sounded really surprised that everyone is coming from out-of-town to see him. Like he doesn't know he's a celebrity around here!!!!

SIXTEEN DAYS--wahoo! (Does that mean that I can pick sixteen projects and do one a day and . . . oh wait, there's a couple of Sundays in there, and then there's my daughter's high school graduation, and the two projects she wants me to help her finish so she can get her Young Woman Recognition award, and Andrew's baseball games and everyone else arriving before Danny--which takes my target date to twelve days, and . . . Give it up, Liz. It's not going to happen. Stick with cleaning the bathrooms. It's more realistic.)

Totally and Unabashedly Addicted

And I never watch TV. It's true. Ask those who know me best. In fact, that box in the living room is the only thing I have ever had violent fantasies about, fantasies which involve baseball bats and pruning sheers--not in the same fantasy, by the way.

But here I am, watching American Idol every week. Totally addicted. And if that's not enough, I've found that the night just isn't complete without at least one episode of 24. Of course, that's on a DVD, so does it still count? Probably, since it had its beginnings on TV.

But the upside is that AI is somewhat self-limiting and I get to see my married kids more (since I offer a free meal for anyone who will participate with me). As for 24--let's just put it this way. The show puts my life in perspective. Anything that goes wrong, I can always say, "It could be worse. I could be Jack." "Had a bad day? Try Jack's."

So that's not all bad, is it?