Still Breathing

Ah, the weekend is here. This was an exceptionally hectic week for me. I feel like a shut-in or a recluse. Some days I sit in front of the computer at the beginning of a 10-page literary analysis and have to remind myself why I'm doing this. The semester is coming to a close and the last push to get caught up on everything seems overwhelming, so I have held today out as my little oasis. Today I am dragging all of the Christmas stuff out knowing that it will take me longer than today to get it all up, but everyone will just have to be patient. Last night I snuck away by myself in an attempt to get a little shopping done, but the only thing I ended up purchasing was a sandwich. Some Christmas shopping huh? Hopefully today I can generate a list and be more organized. I love the season, but it is a lot of extra work. A couple of nights ago long after it had been dark, a young man knocked on my door. When I opened it, I took a quick assessment of his character by the clothes he wore. (I had little else to go by!) He was looking to make a few extra bucks by painting house numbers on the curb and of course me being me I thought it was a great idea. A few years back we had it done and it really stood out, but the paint has since faded into a few speckles of blue on the curb and so I thought it was a good opportunity to help the young man out. It seems like this time of year there are more people trying to make a fast buck and in town I'm fairly cautious when people approach, but I really do give most people consideration-even though I really don't listen to their stories because I'm too busy assessing the possibility of danger. There's always the guy who wants to wash my windshield for a buck, or he just needs some change to get back home, or he ran out of gas, or he's hungry, or....anyway, I do what I can because it's my nature and I guess I should expect more of it this time of year because they undoubtedly have families they want to buy for. Well the house number guy was trying to "earn money for school". Not very original, but I talked with him a few minutes and Lacey stood guard with her nose doing what my eyes were doing, and so between the two of us we decided to give the kid a break and let him paint our curb. He didn't use the reflectory paint, but then I didn't ask so things are what they are. When I pass by it now I am reminded that we don't always see things for what they are, but maybe that's partly because we unfairly bring our own expectations into play. In any case I thought it was $10.00 well spent just to know that things aren't always black and white.