Seven Quick Takes -- About my week

Seven Quick Takes is hosted by Jen.

This has been a different sort of week for me, so each take is going to be related to that theme.

1) We had our Memorial Day cookout on Sunday, since some of the kids who were in town needed to leave mid-day Monday. One thing that didn't move to the new house with us was our old and battered picnic tables, which have not yet been replaced. I miss them. It's easier to eat in the dining room, but ribs just taste better outdoors. SIgh.

2) Monday after everybody left we had a new experience. We could stay up as late as we wanted, because nobody had to go to school the next day. (The last day for seniors, including Kelson, was last Friday.) The last time that happened, Arwen was four, Branwen was a toddler, and Miriel was a baby. Not that we DID stay up late, you understand, but we could have.

3) Tuesday morning I woke up and "called in sick" to my much-loved Bible study because my right shoulder hurt so badly. It hurt to try to move, and although I could get my arm above waist height, I had to lift it with my left hand. It felt like my shoulder was dislocated, and I couldn't get it back in. (I've never actually been diagnosed with a dislocated shoulder, but I have very loose joints -- probably BJHS -- and have been able to pop my shoulder in and out at will for as long as I can remember.) No matter how much I twisted and turned and stretched (and moaned and groaned and whined...) the shoulder still hurt. A lot. So I resorted to the "Mike prescription."

Mike is a Physician's Assistant we know, and his recommendation for anything musculo-skeletal (and not obviously broken/bleeding/urgent ) is "three ibuprofen three times a day for three days." And you know what -- it worked. Wednesday was better than Tuesday, Thursday better than Wednesday, and several times today I noticed myself doing things that would have been impossible on Tuesday. But I certainly hope this whatever-it-was doesn't happen again.

4) Wednesday, sore shoulder or no sore shoulder, I participated in PAC interviews. As I've mentioned before, I'm very involved with our local Right to Life chapter. One of the things we do in election years is interview candidates for various local offices and evaluate their credibility and electablity as candidates. (Their pro-life credentials are evaluated by their answers to a questionnaire mailed out by the state PAC.) By law only the state PAC can endorse candidates, but we can do interviews locally and recommend for or against endorsement. We interviewed five candidates for four different offices, and on Monday I get to drive to another town and help interview five more. I'm an active participant in the political process!

5) Also on Wednesday, we got a call that Miriel had been offered the job she was hoping for. It's a terrific fit for her interests and abilities, and she will love it. Unfortunately she'll be almost 600 miles away, but with the internet she'll be much more in contact than I was when I went 75 miles from home for college. "It's a new world, Golde." (Name that quotation.)

6) On Thursday (assisted by Roger for the heavy lifting), I did MAJOR grocery shopping. In our area it's the custom for HS graduates to have open house type parties, and Kelson's is on the 13th. (This date was arrived at by checking his Google calendar and eliminating the dates on which his friends had already scheduled parties. And most of the invitations went out on Facebook. See quote above.) We're expecting probably 100 people, and although not all of them will eat much -- since they will be jumping from open house to open house -- that's still a lot of food. The non-perishable ingredients are all stowed away -- I'll pick up the perishables next Thursday -- and after graduation on Tuesday the preparations will begin. If you're in the area, come on over on the 13th between 3 and 7!

7) On Friday I blogged. That is all.