Accepting the Unexpected

I'm a planner. I don't like surprises; my ideal day skips right along from one scheduled and anticipated event to the next. Yesterday wasn't that ideal for me. It all started out okay... but then, when I plunged my hand into the freezer to remove what I needed for our dinner (pre-planned and on the calendar, of course!) something wasn't quite right; there was no icy blast of air, no rock-hard piles of carefully wrapped steaks, chops and fish... in fact, I was greeted by the exact opposite. Warm air, not good; thawed meats and prepared-ahead casseroles, they weren't even slightly cold... the contents were a complete loss. This refrigerator-freezer is probably 25 years old, it has served us well as a kitchen back-up; in all honesty, it is used almost as much as our primary one. It was dead. I had not planned on this.

In the mid-afternoon we lost our power. It was back on within an hour later; I have no idea what happened, but the day's plan was eroding... and fast. What next?

Now, imagine if you lived without weather forecasts (in a cave?); you would just wake up in the morning and deal with whatever the weather gods have in mind for you that day. Welcome to my world; this is what we awakened to today... surprise! I don't like surprises. I need to work on my flexibility.


I imagined that Mr. Goodneedle and I would shop for a new refrigerator-freezer to replace the one we've lost, I was looking at the planner to schedule a time to leave with one eye on the now snowy roads... perhaps we'd have to wait. He had another idea altogether... he thinks he can fix it! Oh. I hadn't planned on that. I should have... what was I thinking? After a string of suprises it's comforting to recognize that this handy husband will most definitely take the time to try and fix what's wrong before we hastily schedule any appliance shopping trip; that's a behavior I can always plan on. I had almost taken leave of my senses; reacting to too many surprises all at once, I can't be held accountable. He's got the back off of it now and a volt-ohm meter in his hand, all is right with the world...

almost!

...There was that light and fluffy, smooth loaf of bread I expected to remove 

from the breadmaker to serve with our spaghetti and salad this evening... 

 I'm going to go do some stretches... I'll jot that down on my calendar!

Life is Good!

Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes...

Change is at hand. I don't deal with well with change, I am a Lutheran after all! There's a lot of truth in the old joke about how many Lutherans it takes to change a light bulb: 9--One to replace the bulb along with a committee of eight to discuss how much they'll miss the old bulb.

This photo has nothing to do with my own personal change, but it is all about reform; Lutheran humor, I couldn't resist!

My husband retires on the 30th of June. Everyone I know has given me coping tips. I really don't think I'll mind having him home all day everyday, we've done this before... his first "retirement" yielded us this house! OK, so he likes to keep busy. So do I. My own daily schedule may get tweaked a bit, I've never exactly stopped what I was doing to fix, eat and clean up after lunch. That will be a big change for me, I'm used to eating a sandwich with one hand and machine quilting with the other. I'm going to have to develop more flexibility, I think I can do that, I can learn to bend. I may not win any limbo contests but some flexibility would be beneficial for this old Lutheran, don't you think? I might even throw caution to the wind and start cleaning the house on Mondays! Ha, just teasing, I haven't lost my mind, no need to worry.

Life is Good!
...and getting better by the day...