The Question

My husband recently asked a question that had me roaring with laughter. It was a simple question and perfectly innocent. He was sitting at the computer, on eBay, looking at clothes from J. Jill, a long favorite company of mine.

"What style are you going for these days?"

Little did he know it would elicit such whoops of laughter!

Is there a style name for comfy pajama bottoms paired with long sleeve super soft cotton tops? Add fleece when cold? I'm pretty sure I'm a candidate for TLC's "What Not to Wear", though would NEVER have the energy to fly to New York City and shop for three days!!! That's okay because I'm equally sure Stacy London's shoe choices would neither accommodate orthotics or an AFO! As I'm incapable of making decisions regarding money, it truly is pointless to even go down that road.

My clothing is functional. It is often difficult for me to fall asleep at night. Though I'm tired, it is when I experience the most pain so I often catch up by sleeping in the morning. Each day at 2:45pm, I trade the pjs for a pair of yoga pants or khakis and pick up our daughters from school. I had to laugh when our Border Collie leaped to attention mid-morning last week after seeing me change, certain we were heading out. When I shared this memory with my husband and demonstrated with the dog, we were both laughing until tears rolled down our cheeks.

Maybe this is just one of those questions that is better left unanswered? Wishing you the joy of laughter!

If You Give a Lymie Some Laundry

written in the style of Laura Numeroff's "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie"

If you give a Lymie some laundry,
chances are when she goes downstairs,
she'll see a large bin with unused shoes which will remind her that
the elementary school is having a shoe drive for Souls4Soles.

As she looks through the bin, she'll see dress shoes,
but will forget if the drive is only for tennis shoes
so she will head upstairs to look for the memo,
forgetting to add a load of laundry.

She will see her phone,
which will remind her of a friend she wanted to call.
As she sifts through a kitchen drawer looking for an old phone directory
from when she was well enough to teach,
she'll find postage stamps of varying amounts, unsent greeting cards, paper clips, garden seeds, DVDs, business cards, menus, screwdrivers and other miscellaneous misfits.
She will decide to clean the drawer.
When she gets to the bottom of the drawer, she still hasn't found the number she was looking for
and her counter and table tops are now a mess.

Realizing it is lunchtime,
she begins to poach an egg.
Her daughter will ask for one.
When she is unsuccessful in her search for the baking dish,
her daughter will gently remind her to check the microwave,
where she will find the egg she made for herself, but forgot to eat.

When she sits down to eat the egg, she will see the computer
which will remind her that she still would like to call her friend.
She will Google her friend's name and find her on Facebook.
but will be distracted by everyone's status updates.
Eventually she will remember to send a friend request.
Fortunately, her friend "friends" her and sends a phone number.
She calls and a they plan a time to meet.

Thinking this might be a fun blog entry, she sits to type at the table, among the piles of greeting cards, postage stamps and other miscellaneous misfits, and thinks to herself,
Tuesday at 10am. Now, if only she can remember to meet her friend on Tuesday and what will she wear?

The Story

Before last night, I had not heard "The Story" by Brandi Carlile. Nor did I know Sara Ramirez, who plays surgeon Callie Torres on ABC's Grey's Anatomy, was a Tony award winner. As I watched the Grey's episode "Song Beneath the Song", I was deeply moved by Ramirez' powerful performance of "The Story" in the final scene. My husband walked into the room to find me in tears, scribbling the song's lyrics on a scrap of paper.

"All of these lines across my face tell you the story of who I am. So many stories of where I've been and how I got to where I am, but these stories don't mean anything when you've got no one to tell them to. It's true. I was made for you."

How does one capture the emotional and physical journey of years of chronic illness; illness that ages bodies well beyond their time? Years of misdiagnoses? Years searching for answers? Lost careers? The fights to save lives? Years of treatment? Hope on the horizon? In my mind, "The Story" captures all beautifully. Both versions are available on iTunes.

The Story

lyrics by Brandi Carlile

All of these lines across my face
tell you the story of who I am.
So many stories of where I’ve been
and how I got to where I am.

But these stories don’t mean anything
when you’ve got no one to tell them to.
It’s true…I was made for you.

I climbed across the mountain tops.
Swam all across the ocean blue.
I crossed all the lines and I broke all the rules,
but baby I broke them all for you.

Because even when I was flat broke
you made me feel like a million bucks.
You do.
I was made for you.

You see the smile that’s on my mouth.
It’s hiding the words that don’t come out
and all of my friends who think that I’m blessed
They don’t know my head is a mess.

No, they don’t know who I really am
and they don’t know what
I’ve been through like you do
and I was made for you…

All of these lines across my face
tell you the story of who I am.
So many stories of where I’ve been
and how I got to where I am.

But these stories don’t mean anything
when you’ve got no one to tell them to.
It’s true…I was made for you.