Dear Reader:

Some days are just plain crazy…there is no other word for it. They might start out okay…but then something goes caput and the domino effect follows.

The day really did start out promising…I decided to plant my cranberry crush hibiscus before the predicted rains came. I had grabbed my shovel, some miracle gro soil, container of water..I was ready…and then Vickie rode by on her bike and told me to wait…she had a better shovel to get the job done…which she then did.

*You notice I placed all the photos for today’s blog post upfront….so you can see them all “hodgepodge” around…kinda like the day itself. Look for the loaf of bread and hibiscus plant for this part of the story. Five minutes after Vickie and I planted it…it rained…gloriously for about twenty minutes…that turned out to be all the rain for the day…but still I was very appreciative…the connection between the loaf of bread and the plant is that Mary, my new neighbor, brought me this loaf over  called Cranberry Walnut bread…perfect timing and connection.

I then started working on my bills…not fun but a necessary evil and still the day was fine…until I tried to call Scana/SCEG to try to discover why I never received a refund check for the other unit on the other side of my home. There was/is no human being to talk to or even leave a message…I can talk to my bank, wait 120 days to see if it gets sorted out somehow or just forget it.

It took an hour to get through all the hoops and loops for nothing…no options pertained to my situation. I actually would have welcomed a robot voice at that point but obviously all the mess with the earlier electric company/nuclear reactor is still a mess with no verbal communication available. *They must have gone into hiding.

I decided to leave that negativity alone and start pulling out all my good luck Clemson artifacts…it is hard to believe the 2019 football season starts tonight.…the only hiccup this year is the new ACC cable station…it is the only avenue to visually watch the football game (for just this first game) and there is still a lot of confusion over who has it on their cable and who doesn’t…might be listening to the first game on the radio….but roar, tigers, roar!

*You can see from the collage that I added a new flag (2018 National Football Title) to the old Clemson oak ..and my candles and other Clemson paraphernalia are set up and ready inside my happy room.

Any more if I know I have a busy day or a day doing things I would rather not…I treat myself to something and yesterday it was to the tea room to pick up their delicious chicken salad plate. The statue of the angel reading on the bench is found in front of the tea room now and it has always been my favorite.

It reminded me yesterday how desperately I wanted to get home, eat my chicken salad, and just relax and read, read, read….didn’t happen…was trying to get some cards and packages off before the mailman came and then write the blog post… it is after seven now and I still haven’t had a chance to read a chapter today.

Three Pines is calling me….and I love the context of the title….because at the start of the story Armand Gamache is having to make a life-altering decision that will determine if he becomes a bitter man for some injustices done to him…or a better man for the challenge.  I love that metaphor!

The UPS man didn’t deliver my “A Better Man” (Louise Penny novel) until almost eight Tuesday evening-starting to get dark….When I saw him walking up my driveway I started running to meet him halfway…and said excitedly...”I have been waiting all day on “A Better Man” but right now none tops you…”The Best Man” for delivering this package to me.”  The carrier was a big guy and turned bright red until I explained the title of the book I was waiting on…and then he grinned…think he actually liked the compliment.

He then shook his head…and said “Well that explains it”....for the first time customers who never come to the door when I ring the bell to let them know I have left a package were on the porch waiting or opening the door at the first ring. “It must be a really good book” …I assured him it was!

And this crazy, topsy-turvy (too much crammed into it day) ended on such a kind generous note. Mandy had put a list of materials she needed on Facebook for her art classes this year….and two days later an amazon package from a parent arrived with a box full of her wish list items, then her wonderful neighbor had amazon deliver some beads she needed for a project and yesterday to top it off some friends of John and Mandy’s provided everything else on her wish list.

John’s friend works for a construction company and they are celebrating their 30th anniversary in business. The head of the company decided to do 30 acts of kindness…giving back to the community for supporting their business all these years. John’s friend saw Mandy’s wishlist and it was selected as one of the 30 ways to give back. How amazing is that…kindness without boundaries. Wow!!!!

There are only two pictures left (at the top of the page) that have not been alluded to…the one with the fairy and the mushroom…this white mushroom popped up immediately after the morning shower…another home for a fairy…and the airplane picture is an actual flight pulling in to the Philadelphia airport in a thunder storm.

Remember Anne decided after all the times she (and both of us) have had to rearrange flights because of summer thunderstorms in Philly…that she isn’t trying her luck there any more…no more afternoon summer flights to Philly. ***My Ya buddy Jackson read that on an earlier blog post right after she had booked a flight to Philly this Friday…leaving at 5:30 p.m. from Columbia and landing a little after seven. Jackson…we all have our fingers crossed for you!

So until tomorrow….  Let’s try to thrive in spite of crazy days.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

*Great news! All margins clear…no cancer cells! Way to go Ann! We are so happy for you…hope you slept fantastic last night…relief is the best sleep medicine around.

***And now I am off to jump in my jammies, grab my book, finish my chicken salad sandwich…and “thrive” in my “better man” with Gamache! 🙂