5 things to start the weekend

1. I had to walk the dog one morning this week as Tom went in to work early. We walked the girls to the bus stop in the dark and continued on around the block. We stopped to chat with a neighbor who I haven't seen in a while. Don and I use to be on the homeowner's association together for years, but now he and Tom spend the weekend mornings chewing the fat while the two dogs play. Our conversation turned to ill mothers and caring for them and he told me I was too nice, and I quote, "You are way nicer than I am, kind, and you don't curse..." Uh...nice to know I have one neighbor fooled.
2. Last Sunday Maddy and I brought home the last of mom's pineapple plants. This one was the biggest one and we had to work together to carry it and one of its leaves stuck out the back of my van like a tail. When we got to my house we took the plant out and carried it across the lawn to an area in front of my bedroom window where I have two more of her pineapples. Just as we got within two steps of setting it down I tripped, in the dark, over Elliot's dog stake which was hidden under a newly planted palm tree. I stumbled one step, two steps, and thought I was going to correct my balance, but it wasn't happening and suddenly I was face down in the dirt. Literally. I landed heavily with the left side of my body and my hip immediately was the first thing that registered pain. That of course led me to think my hip was broken, because that is what happens to old people, and I sat in the dirt, covered in mulch, crying and saying over and over, "I don't want to get old. I don't want to get old." Maddy just hugged me and patted me and eventually the two of us started laughing. I had mulch inside my shirt and down my bra and all over my face. My hip hurt because I had my phone in that pocket and landed on it. The phone and hip were both fine. I stood up and dusted myself off. My left leg was bleeding a tiny bit, my right knee was bruised and needed ice, and I had a nice dent in my left ankle where I had hit the stake. I felt pretty good considering. "You didn't put out your arms to stop your fall, did you," my husband asked pulling mulch out of my hair. "It's better to just take the fall." Of course I had put out my left arm instinctively, but I wasn't too concerned as the arm wasn't bothering me. It was the next morning. I couldn't even lift the arm and the pain was all around the shoulder area, sharp at times. For two days I had to walk around with my arm dangling, driving with one arm. I pretty much decided I had torn my rotator cuff and was collecting names of orthopedic doctors when the fourth day came and I barely noticed pain and I was suddenly using the arm for things. It is still sore, but now it is a soreness like I overused the muscles. It has gone a long way toward making me feel younger as in: I can fall hard and still get up and walk away with hardly a scratch.
3. Going back to my conversation with neighbor Don...Once when a car came around the corner Elliot jumped up to chase it and I did my best Russ imitation and said, "Don't you even think about it. No!" And Elliot, who did think about it, but didn't act, sat back down. Don whistled. "Now he doesn't do that with Tom. He would have been off and running had Tom been on the other end of that leash. He listens to you." I told Don that I had tried to teach all my family members to say NO in a commanding voice, but that no one listens to me anymore than they do when I tell them the dog needs to go outside to potty. Later I was relaying the story to Tom by starting off with we walked the girls to the bus stop and then stopped to chat with a neighbor. When I was finished he said, "What neighbor? Benedict Don?" 
4. School ends next week, June 4th, but for some reason the high schools scheduled finals for the week prior to that. Which means that the students were done, finished, yesterday. I asked our assistant principal during a meeting I had with him if the girls needed to show up next week and he said, "Officially I have to tell you that it will be an un-excused absence if they aren't there." WTH? Really? To make it worse, our school is being demolished in two weeks and being rebuilt. Portables have been delivered to the campus and the teachers have informed the students not to show up next week because they will be moving into the portables and don't want to have to worry about a classroom. I told my girls they had to go to school. It is in honor of my mother.
5. The jacaranda trees that I write about each year in April did not bloom until later this year because of the colder weather we had. They are the most beautiful purple trees and I love, love them. I noticed before my mom died that some of the trees were trying to bloom. A few would have little purple blotches in small areas, but the rest of the leaves were green or missing on the branches. Suddenly May came and the trees began popping out in color and then the trees that I didn't think were even going to bloom this year began turning lavender. This is the longest I can remember the jacaranda trees lasting. Usually they bloom, hang around two weeks, and begin dropping the petals to cover yards in carpets of purple, one of the reasons why my husband will not plant one. But the trees just make me so happy and so I feel like I've been happier longer this season while driving.