The Calm Before the Storm

My guardian angel is a Royal Pain. My schedule has been insane for a few weeks, so (I believe) for the past two weekends she has clobbered my plans - once with a touch of a stomach bug that kept me from yard sales, and once with rain that kept the yard sales from me - to make sure I get at least a little bit of rest, as if I can't take care of myself. We might even get rain again this Saturday! Geez, can't the Mother Hen leave it alone?

Whether I like it or not, then, the next few weeks are all about room-making. We're getting down to the wire for the yard sale, and, as usual, I've waited months to begin the process. I mean, I've pulled things as I've found them, but the 30 or so items are just a drop in the bucket - and some are sitting on the bed in the guest room, some in the basement, some in my office ... there's no central location, no rhyme or reason, no organization! And the Big Lug won't get to the sorting of his stuff until he darned well feels like it. Today has to be the day to start the tagging and crating. I will create the capacious "free" box, as well - yes, even things I know I can sell, because no one can eat Tupperware, and the dime I'd earn isn't worth the barrage of guilt I'd catch from Mama Angel.

Plus - okay - the weekend was good despite the weather. My daughter and I bonded. Over the jewelry, of all things. She caught a "sterling" mark on a pair of earrings I'd dismissed as something I should use for spare parts - I bought them for a dollar at a rummage sale because I liked the stone (which she thinks is diopside, not synthetic, as I'd thought). She realized it sparkles differently than another pair I'd bought that day for the stone (which is now obviously glass) and she spotted the metal as a "single" instead of a fusion or plate (which is why she searched until she found the badly scratched "sterling" imprint). She also said the "gramma" earrings were probably calcite - I looked it up, and I think she's right! I've never doubted how smart she is, and I knew she'd liked rocks as a kid, but I had no idea she was so passionate, or so informed, about this. I also didn't realize how much I've been focusing on the negatives instead of on the positives. More effort from the Great Busybody Herself.

And then there was that little incident when I hit the brakes without knowing why - just as a car backed like a rocket into the air I would have occupied. And when I tripped over the bag of concrete in the basement but caught myself on a partition (yes, it had saws hanging on it, but a few scratches are better than a broken wrist). And the falling drinking glass I caught instinctively ... and the random call that led to a client ...

You just keep on meddling, Lady. I won't complain.

Much, anyway.