If You See Patience, Send Her My Way

Patience, oh beautiful patience. She is a wonderful thing, a virtue nonetheless. A friend of mine once said that patience had to be a female because she was so beautiful, so kind and well, so patient. Anyone who knows me knows that I have never met this virtuous friend. I have heard stories of her, I have seen traces of her here and there and I have seen others who were touched by her. However, I have never personally met her. There are times I think maybe she is stopping by for a visit but she never even stays long enough to take her coat off!
I HATE waiting. Always. It doesn't matter what I am waiting for but I hate it, I struggle with it. It makes me angry. I'm not saying that it annoys me, it seriously makes me angry. It changes me physiologically. I feel my blood pressure rise, my heart rate increases, my palms sweat and at times, I feel like I could punch someone :) I hate waiting because I try hard not to make anyone else wait. I am consistently prompt, if not even a little early.
It feel like I have spent half of my life waiting. Either waiting for someone else to get ready, waiting at a stop light, waiting in a doctor's office, waiting for something to happen, waiting for a phone call, waiting for dinner to be ready, waiting to do this or do that, just plain waiting. It's only noon and I have waited all day. I waited at the dentist's office, I waited (a long time) at the allergist's office, I waited for a train to pass, I waited for someone to get out of the bathroom, I waited to cross the street, I waited for someone to call me back, and the list goes on and on. I'm irritated. EXTREMELY!
So, if you see patience out there somewhere, turn her around and tell her that I REALLY want to meet her.

Are you there sun? It's me, Mandy.

I woke up this morning and felt like I was under a spotlight. It took me a minute to realize that it was the sun...FINALLY. On a weekend that is typically full of water sports, BBQs, and fireworks, we had rain. It rained here all day on Saturday. No river time on the jet ski. No fireworks over the water. We did go to a BBQ for a first birthday party for the son of some friends of ours. Believe it or not, it was a pretty good time considering there were like 50+ people huddled in the garage and under some tents that were set up in the drive way. We hoped Sunday would be much better. After all, there was only a slight chance of rain. WRONG. It rained until around 1:00. It finally stopped but the clouds never parted and the sun never made an appearance. We would not be defeated again. We hooked the trailer to the truck and headed to the boat ramp. It was a little chilly but we were going to tough it out. Our toughness lasted about 10-15 minutes. Then the jet ski died. We kept trying to restart it and it would try and try but would never catch. Thank goodness we had some friends out on a boat considering that neither of us EVER take our phones out on the river. If it weren't for Buck, we might still be out there floating. It turned out OK though. We got towed back to the ramp, loaded the jet ski on the trailer and hopped on the boat with our buddies. We got off just in time to sit on my future father-in-law's porch and watch the city fireworks. I missed the sun this weekend but we didn't let its absence ruin our Fourth of July fun. It never fails though. I had to return to work today and the biggest, brightest sun is beaming down on me.

Life Changes

In the first half of 2009 I have experienced several life changes, good and bad. I started using the word fiancee to discribe my boyfriend. I moved in with said fiancee and began cohabitating for the first time. This living arrangement marked the first time in over 10 years that I have shared living quarters with a male...since I moved out of my dad's house! I went back to school and started taking online classes. I suddenly lost my grandma in late May. I introduced words like lymphoma, Waldenstrom and chemotherapy into my every day vocabulary. I learned more about IgM levels, bone marrow biopsies, PET scans, and plasmapheresis then I ever cared to know. I watched my mother sit in a beauty salon and get her patchy, thinning hair shaved off with a pair of clippers. I tried on wedding dresses and veils. I became a dog owner when I "adopted" my soon-to-be "step daughter". I combined checking accounts with another person. I went 6 months without using 1 single vacation day. And now, suddenly, it's July and the downhill slide into 2010 has begun. I think about all that's happened so far this year and look ahead to the next 6 months with excitement, anticipation and a little bit of fear. I know I'm going to get married in October. I know I'm going to have bridal showers and bachelorette parties in my honor. I know I'm taking a vacation to Puerto Rico. I also know I am going to try my hand at blogging. But there is a lot I don't know. It's the unexpected events that I fear. But who knows, they may be awesome. I guess I'll just have to wait and see.