October 9: Lost track of time--again

Sorry, again, for those of you who check regularly. And it's late, so this is going to be boring and short.

So, tenants moved out two weeks ago. Place needs a lot of work. Rick & Kim came again and did a full days work, Terry came up later and they did a great job. Kim transformed the bathroom, Terry attacked the stove then window trim scraping and Rick got all the ceilings done. Then this Tuesday the carpets went in. No more responses and I didn't want to advertise until it was more 'showable', lost the window on Philly.com for this weekend, plan on getting into the Phoenixville paper on Saturday. Willard/Bidge has been over every day--he's the one I'm least indebted to for two reasons: 1) I pay him 2) He really enjoys doing these things. Of course 'least indebted' is, as always, a relative term.

Of course I'm trying to do as much as I can, multiple errands to Sears and Lowe's, but it's tiring me out. I don't even feel rested in the morning. It just needs to be over with. So, more time tomorrow between Bidge and me, then Kim & Rick have insisted they are coming up Friday night and sleeping over so they can start first thing Saturday morning. That should take care of all the major things, with just windows and trim to be done, most of which I'm hoping to slowly work to finish. So, final push and then it's just the financial stress. But it looks really nice.

'Aunt' Beth and 'Uncle' George are coming up from Virginia to Philly this weekend for a conference. They are going to try and swing by Saturday and see the place quickly, then we will meet up another day for a longer catch-up. Since they haven't seen me since February they will be pleasantly surprised at the improvement since then.

A word about the 'Karmic Bank' (OK, a few words!). For many years I thought that you did things for people and hoped they could return the favor if you needed something. But I've discovered that it doesn't work like that. The vast majority of people that I helped over the years are, for various reasons, not around. Most of the people currently helping me weren't in my life 'before sick', so they weren't the ones that I may have assisted at other times. Accepting help has been difficult for me, because I was always in the role of "rescuer" and it's difficult to be the one in distress. Bidge reminded me of the 'karmic bank' philosophy: you do good for other people and it comes back to you when you need it. Of course, that's not the reason that you do good things for others. I loved the role of "rescuer": charging into chaos in my shiny ambulance with all the sirens and lights. Suited my sense of drama. (And I got paid for some of it, but that's immaterial!) And it continued in various forms as a psych tech, P.A. and friend. Having to sit back and let others rescue me has taken some getting used to, and I still chafe against it at times. But the amazing thing is that through all of the last four and a half years, someone(s) have always appeared when I needed help the most. Often from unexpected places. What comes around really does go around again--and not in a bad way. You reap what you sow. Practice random acts of kindness.

There endth the scripture reading....

In the last few days a friend of mine had to go for a sudden cardiac catheterization, which I expected to be negative. She called me last night from telemetry to tell me they found a 90% blockage in her LAD (that's bad) and stented it (that's good). She's now going through the initial shock of the diagnosis and called me because we're now 'heart buddies'--her term and said with an unhappy voice. So, I'm composing my next post, which will be on the subject of initial shock. Just so you have something to anticipate. Kind of like a preview. Warning you now: settle in with a big cup of coffee.

OK, not so short. Time to meditate. Thanks for checking, Laurie