space heater & sweater

Today was my last day working for Malcolm McCollam. I'm going to miss him. We were just getting to the place where we were laughing together and having fun. He says I'm like his daughter Katie. I hope he finds someone to replace me that thinks he's as great as I do. I will definitely keep in touch with him.

I had lunch with Dan Beirute, Diahanna George, Patti Surber, and Paula McKnight today. We ate at Billys on the Square. We took some pictures and laughed and talked. It was nice to see all of them together.

On August 2nd, Kayla's (my sis-in-law) birthday, Robbie and I kept our nephew, Tanner (Carlton Francis Selph V). He is so sweet and cute and intriguing. And he lived!! We were successful. He seemed to enjoy his bath even though Robbie and I disagreed about the temperature of the bath water. I got him to sleep by 8:40, which is probably late according to his mother's standards, but I still counted it a success. I'm going to miss him so much. I always want to hold him, but I'm really all thumbs with babies. Especially when people are watching.

Last night, our small groups met and we had a game fellowship. It was also a surprise good bye get-together. They took up a collection of money for us. I was shocked and very moved! According to Robbie's calculations, it should be enough for gasoline for our U-Haul truck. Gina & Roger Lloyd gave us a cross for our new home and a lovely plate to hang also. And then our groups gathered around us to pray. My head was bowed and my eyes closed while they were praying. I was, of course, bawling my head off and snot was pouring from my nose. Literally! My brother-in-law Casey saved me and handed me a wad of tissue. But I was still a snotty, mascara'd mess. We are so attached to our church now. The people at Angus are so genuine and transparent and humble.

As I've gone from job to job these last six months (totally unlike me), I pack my belongings up and gather all the junk I've deposited into my lap drawer: emery boards, lipgloss, gum, etc. And the two constant things that give me comfort wherever I end up: my grey sweater and the space heater Shauna gave me. So today, it was with sadness, excitement, and a sense of completion, that I collected my things, swung my purse onto my shoulder, put on a brave face, fought back the tears and went out Malcolm's front door clutching my heater and sweater. He was interviewing my replacement at that moment, which was a good thing since all my energy was going toward not crying. My heater and sweater will be put in a box somewhere by Robbie for now. And then they will take the cross-country ride in our U-Haul truck (I can picture them bouncing along the highway.) to be used at my new place of employment where no doubt the thermostat will be governed by attorneys in suits. My memories and long distance friendships will keep me warm. But when that's not enough, my trusty space heater and sweater are always there.

human nature

My text is the color of nail polish I just bought. Sorry if it's hard to read. I'm always in search of the perfect muted feminine pink color. Does anyone share my pursuit?

I won't pretend that everyone in my e-mail contacts wants to hear about every detail of our upcoming New England adventure and send them what would surely be a deluge of unsolicited e-mails.

Instead, my awesome friend Shauna gave me this idea. Surely the events that will take place in the next months of our lives are blogworthy and of some interest to those who say they will miss us.

And I agree with Shauna. I'm over myspace. I actually don't think either one of us was ever under its passive/aggressive snooping spell to begin with. So many people seem to be, on their myspace, some exaggerated or even false version of what they really are. Or maybe myspace, for them, is a place where they can project what they'd rather be. Who knows. Probably human nature. Whatevah.

I'm going to try to keep up with this and let people know what's going on.

dfs