What a day

Goodness. Little sister's first day of full-time on the job in the old job that I had. So I went and tried to help her through some of it. She knew most of the things I was trying to remember and ended up walking me through it. The phone didn't stop for more than 5 minutes at a stretch and by the time it quit ringing, it was lunchtime. Then I went back to the office to play catch up with all of the things I do in my normal job. Fun. And this will go on for a while because the other gal that is in there with Merce will be out for a month, at the least. She broke her left leg - a spiral fracture, to boot - and in two other spots on that leg. Then she badly sprained her right ankle. She'll have surgery on the fracture to put pins in sometime this week.

Then the man that suffered a major heart attack died this morning. He was one of the town drunks and I've heard that he treated his step-daughters like shit, but he always had a nice word for me and I harbored no ill will towards him. It's always tragic when someone dies, I think. It reminds me of my own mortality I suppose, and that's tragic to me. That I, too, will die someday. And that the people I would die for will also die someday. Some sooner than others and that hurts me to think of. I send my thoughts and prayers to his family. They will need it.

Tomorrow is my nephew's tenth birthday. My god, it goes fast. I remember the night that Merce went into labor. She called me because I was stuck in Susanville and she was in Nevada. And I cried into the phone, wanting to be with her so much that I couldn't even speak, just cry. And I could hear her crying and saying how much she wanted me there. I hurt for her so much and get teary eyed, just thinking about it. Out of it came my nephew and he was so little and cute. Now he sits in the front seat while we are going to town and pretend fights while I try to remember how cute and cuddly he used to be. How he used to get the little purple triangle between his eyebrows when he cried really hard. Now that he lives 3 doors down, he likes to spend the night at my house quite a bit because he likes to pretend Ty is his little brother. So in honor of his birthday:

Ten Things I Love About J, My Nephew
1: The way he makes me laugh
2: His easy affection
3: His tender heart
4: How he treats babies
5: His pretend fighting although sometimes it drives me up the wall, it's still cute
6: How he likes to pretend that Ty is his little brother
7: That he is afraid of the dark and afraid to sleep alone
8: His laugh, especially when he laughs really hard
9: How he can remember and quote movies and SpongeBob
10: That little triangle...and how he sends me anonymous love letters, not understanding how I can always know that it's him (hint: the handwriting gives it away!)

Happy one day early birthday, J. I love you so much.

"Well I'm a fool, a fool for you (It may take awhile, but I'll prove it's true Well if It's lovin' you want, then I've got it If It's money you want, then I'll get it I'll buy you tall, tall trees On all the waters and the seas I'm a fool, fool, fool for you Yeah, I'm a fool, fool, fool for you!"
- Alan Jackson, Tall Tall Trees