happy and laughingWithout going into too much detail (though, heck, I trust y'all; e-me and I'll tell you more), my last week of work was more stressful and distracting than normal, though at least we could laugh at one point. Seriously: three of us working on what's essentially a systems audit (finding technical problems and recurring human errors) got giggly by the end of Thursday.
And never forget the revivifying power of compliments. As I'm OHSU's on-site clerk for my company, and the other people in my office are OHSU staff, they're not really or strictly my co-workers, but we still have to, well, co-work. And one of them, Sanela, took time Thursday to thank me for how quickly I take care of the corrections she sends me. The compliment was unexpected, but welcome (once I processed it!).
And other happy news: three people I know are pregnant. First I heard of Neko in Seattle, the friend and dance partner of my cousin Amy "Maximy" Walsh (and who inspired Amy's comment "She'd make a better gay man than I would; she at least sleeps with men!"), being preggers. Next I learned that Sanela (she of the compliment) is having her second child, and she seems the type who's built to successfuly parent three or four children. And (OMG OMG) -- I actually got giggly over this, too -- my cousin Steph in Reno is having a baby! She's the one who got married at South Lake Tahoe last October; she's due this October. She teaches in Reno; her husband Paul is training in nursing. They hope to move back to Portland, which would mean, for me, more visitable kids!
Can you tell I'm excited and happy for them?
Meanwhile, for my happiness, time off was needed. I took it easy and slowly Saturday morning, easing into the day. In the afternoon I drove south, detouring to look at a possible purchase (a combo TV/DVD player) and then treating myself to Swedish fish and papaya spears from the bulk foods section of Haggen Foods, which is on my way to my parents', for Easter.
Cousins from Dayton down the road, George Fox College in Newberg and Olympia, Wash. made it out to Dundee for pizza (especially good pizza, by the way) and stories. We all laughed hard at family tales, like Uncle Mike's '60s story of nearly losing his Volkswagen in the surf at Long Beach, Washington because he got it stuck on a log (really). Getting it free also meant, um, losing the muffler. "A Volkswagen without a muffler is as loud as a real car," Uncle Mike said. And he and then-girlfriend Nancy Brum (now my Aunt Nancy Walsh) had to drive ("RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR," said the car) through, among other places, a covered bridge near grazing cows. "And the cows scattered!" he said, spreading his long, long arms to illustrate.
My family is loaded with good storytellers. Another happy thing.
Tonight is the big family meal. The entrees will be ham and lamb. I like how that sounds.