A Moment of Zen

Let me tell you about the good things happening right now.

Like this daffodil:


I love this daffodil. This was one of the first ones out of the ground at my house. I planted it two falls ago on the side of our garage.

Or this one:

Three falls ago. This is on our front walk up to our house.

Or these buds:


They'll start to open before the end of the day. I planted these last fall. My kid helped - as much as a three year old can help. But he tried to dig the holes and handed me the bulbs and was Chief Dirt Stomper once everything was in the ground.

Or this magnolia tree:

This is the view out of my office window. I get to sit here today and watch the tree explode into fireworks of white and pink and loveliness. Spring is here, and it's good to be alive to see it all.

Other things that are going well: My kid decided to clean up his act and we bought him a bike on Saturday. He and I spend afternoons riding up and down the sidewalks, braking at alleys so he can ring his bell (yes, we got him a bell), and looking both ways before we cross. It's not so easy to ride slow enough to keep up with an almost four year old, but it's just about sheer joy to ride with him - at least until he wipes out. Then, not so much.

There is probably nothing wrong with my heart. After some sort of undiagnosed cardiac event Friday morning, and 5 hours in the ER, having everyone and their dog stick electrodes all over my bare chest while I missed my chance to go pester cowboys, the myriad of tests they ran said nothing was wrong. That's a good thing. No matter how much my week sucked, it still beat the hell out of open-heart surgery.

And I have totally awesome family and friends. My mom made it to the ER in 20 minutes, and the Lovely Zen-Master Becca was halfway out to her car in Chicago - keys in hand, no doubt - ready to come down and Zen me out in person. The Lovely Mary, Grammar Goddess, took time from work to drive me to the doctor's office and the ER. I was not alone.

And even though I didn't get to talk to any bull riders, I did get out of the hospital in time to make it to the bull riding, and I did make the acquaintance of the wife of a stock contractor (or bull owner, for those not in the know) who used to ride bulls. Terry was not only friendly, not only a font of useful information, but she got her husband to talk to me too, much more than he might have if I'd been on my own, especially since I had a heart monitor on that made me look like I'd joined the Borg or something.

And it's okay that Gram really didn't enjoy her nice 94th birthday meal because it was too expensive and the portions were too big. What's important is that we got a guided tour of the Historic Garth Woodside Mansion (ranked fourth Bed and Breakfast in the nation) and she's been bragging to all her friends about how thoughtful we were, even though all we heard about was how KFC has this mashed potato bowl for only $2.99 - and that includes a drink! She gets to look important to her friends - that was our birthday present to her. I'm glad she's enjoying it.

And it's okay that I didn't final in the big national contest, because finaling is no guarantee of publication, and lots and lots of people get published without ever cracking the finals ceiling. No big deal.

And that leak in the basement? The one shooting water in at a rate of about a gallon every four minutes? Easily fixed by rerouting a downspout. Didn't cost anything but the hour I spent scrambling to dry out the basement in the middle of a violent thunderstorm. Cheap!

My new glasses are cool. Trendy, but without being obnoxious. Creative without being weird. They look so natural on me that no one even noticed I was wearing them. And I'm confident that on the next attempt, the eyeglass ladies will get them adjusted so that they aren't squeezing my head like a grape. Third time's the charm!

And I'm still gainfully employed, even after a string of bad days and long nights lead me to shoot my mouth off to my boss yesterday and he way, way overreacted. He didn't fire me for insubordination - in fact, he gave me a big new project to do. So that's a good thing. He let me sweat about it for about six hours, but I still have a job. WOOO!

Yes, as you can see, things are on the up and up around here.

This has been my moment of Zen.