In which our intrepid heroine oversleeps.

Yesterday was quite the day, capping quite the week. I was already having a good day on Monday, when his flowers were delivered.



These will probably be the last of those pictures; I suspect that when I get to work on Monday, there will be a shower of petals all over my desk.



I had already been anticipating dinner with my young(er) single friends, and then there was the news that my Naias was on-shipping, two months before I expected her. Usual business practice for doll manufacturers who offer layaway is that you make your last payment, they acknowledge it, and then your doll order enters their manufacturing queue. Not this company. You order the doll, they make the doll, you pay for the doll, they ship the doll. I had forgotten that since ordering my Jessica last year (traded to Fourthborn for her Anastasia, now my Celeste).

So, Monday was basically one long round of giddiness, punctuated by flowers and lobster ravioli. Tuesday was yet more fun, a church friend joining us for Knit Night and then some ice cream at Braum’s afterward. Wednesday was singles’ night serving in the temple, and an enthusiastic exchange of hugs with the new guy afterward. Thursday night was my regular shift as a temple worker, with new responsibilities learned on the fly, a quick visit with friends in the lobby afterward, and the drive home.

By Friday morning I was feeling rode hard and put up wet. I just barely made it to work. We do not have assigned parking in the garage at work, so I am rarely in the same spot twice. When I opened my door, this is what I saw:



Just the tiniest bit scuffed, which is a miracle on the order of the loaves and the fishes, as it had lain there in the parking lot for at least a week. I didn’t see how the day could get any better than that, but it did.



My attorney plunked that down on my desk as he breezed past, with a “For all that you do.” No, wait, it gets better. My Naias arrived an hour or so later. I got all the important things done at work (including backing up two other attorneys, only one of whom actually needed me), and at the end of the day I opened the box to say hi to my new doll.

No box-opening pictures here. It’s something of a tradition in the doll world, but until she has her faceup, which Fourthborn will do as soon as the humidity calms down, there’s really not much for you to see. Oh, and the factory forgot to include her eyes, but I’ve emailed them about that, and Fourthborn has a loaner pair, so we will not have to be making do with pirate patches (Arrrrrr!) or Ray Charles shades.

After work I dropped her off at Fourthborn’s, then took a check to Firstborn’s from one of my coworkers and hung out for a little, then came straight home to bed.

Firstborn is the family’s designated bearer-of-possibly-bad-tidings. She and Secondborn shared with me that their father is working to re-qualify for a temple recommend. [They fear that he is doing this in hopes of a reconciliation. I think it is as a result of the fact that I keep his name pretty much constantly on the prayer roll at the temple.] I hope he follows through on this. It is, after all, his birthright as a child of God. I hope that he is able to regain the trust and respect of his children. That would be a very good thing for this family.

At this point, I can state with reasonable confidence that while I would require an unmistakable witness of the Spirit to marry outside my faith, I would require an even stronger one to induce me to remarry their father. Some of you will remember John Denver’s song Forest Lawn. Something like the tapdancing angels with golden wings he sang about. Umm, I just listened to that. It wasn’t tapdancing angels with golden wings, LOL.

The temple session yesterday with our ward was just, well, words fail me. A faithful family in our ward. Older son passed away a few years ago from the same wasting disease that the younger son has, so they were able to get clearance for E. to take out his endowment (make his temple covenants) a little earlier than is usual. And his sister was doing the same. Virtually all of the ward leadership was there, and a good number of the regular members, and our former bishop and his wife, who live in another ward. A very lovely, tender mercy.

And I had a good time at the doll meetup in Denton, afterward. Here are Celeste and Chutzpah (with her wee bear), looking a little overwhelmed at the horde of dolls and people.



I had great visits with Squishy and Mel-Mel-Chan. He asked me how things were going, and I told him great, that his dad had sent me flowers for V-day. His face lit up, and he exclaimed, “All right, Dad!”

When lunch was over, I was suddenly and overwhelmingly weary. The week just flat caught up with me. I was past the exit to I35-W (which would have taken me straight to Fort Worth) when I realized that there was no way I was going to enjoy an afternoon at the bookstore while waiting for the potluck and dance. So I took the road less traveled, which meant that a trip home which should have taken a bit under an hour, took just over an hour and a half, and my ankles were screaming, and my eyes did not want to stay open.

I came home, posted briefly on Facebook, and went straight to bed, waking an hour and a half before the dance was due to end. Verklempt. It just did not make sense to drive an hour, dance for half an hour, and drive back home, but I had been looking forward all week to dancing with the new guy. There is just something about having that man’s arms around me that makes my world go all calm and still. I dashed out to pick up some groceries, and he called when he got home, so the evening was not a total loss, and my ankles and feet are much happier with me than they were yesterday afternoon.

I told him what his son had said at the doll meetup, and he laughed with me.

Well, it is nearly 2:30a.m., and I think I am all written out, and I still have not fixed those wonky cables that I wrote about on Wednesday or Thursday. Time to put in a movie and take care of that, then maybe catch a quick nap before I have to get up for church.