Another Friday Night

This Friday night, I was sitting here tired, and too warm, and I thought, well, I'll have a drink.  So, I made myself a Tequila Sunrise.  I like them occasionally.  This is the second one I've had this week.  Tuesday afternoon at the library was INSANE.  There were too many things to check in, the phone was going crazy, and we had the world's loudest collection of kids and parents waiting for a program. All things we've dealt with before, but this was the first time this summer.  Wow.  I was exhausted Tuesday evening.  So, I had a Sunrise then.  Helped.  I don't make them strong enough to really feel them, and I only ever have ONE in an evening.
There are a few things to comment on in the week past.  My life is pretty dull overall, but sometimes the very mundane nature of it is reassuring, and when something unusual happens, it either makes me happy, knocks me for a loop, or makes me mad.  (As in angry.  I'm a Celt, already a wee bit daft.)  So, after Monday that I blogged about, we had library insanity on Tuesday, and my friends took their cats back this week.  Huzzah!  I love my friends, and I love their cats, but I really, really am glad not to clean that litter box every morning! (And afternoon.  And evening.  And right before bed...) 
Wednesday was a very productive and good day for me.  I got a blog post done that I have been wanting to write for a long time, and lacked the nerve to write.  I got a lot of clerical chores done, and got the air conditioner its annual check up.  I had my usual four hours at the library, and it was pretty good, not too busy and not too slow.    I also got followed on Twitter by one of my favorite celebrities.  (Kinda silly, I know, but it made me feel good.  I smiled all day Thursday with no effort at all...)  Thursday at the library was kinda slow, but I got a lot done, including all the outstanding Inter Library Loan books.  My shift on the desk was the last one, and it was kinda slow.  Quiet in there, for once.  After Tuesday afternoon, it was rather nice.  When someone did need my help, it was easier to give them my entire attention and make sure they had exactly what they needed.
Today I spent my morning booking various appointments and getting some bread dough ready.  Then another 1 to 5 at the library.  There were lots of things to check in, so working in the back went quickly, but my shift on desk was slower than usual for the 3 to 5.  Still, I was able to spend more time with the customers I did have, and that makes it easier to make sure they get what they came for, and leave happy. 
And almost a month ago, on a Friday night like this, I was once again hunkered in the closet, this time with Matt AND with Julie and Ralph's two cats.  None of us were happy about being in there.  Once again, we were lucky.  We did lose our electricity for about 24 hours, but we have a generator, so the fridge and the wi-fi were still available.  (As well as a way to charge the small electronics.)   It is unreal to me how often we have been fortunate during storms around here.  This subdivision has been spared major damage in all of the large tornado episodes that have occurred since we've been here.  We moved here in June of 1993, so we've been here 20 years now.  We have decided that we will stop tempting fate, though.  We are going to get a shelter as soon as the current backlog on them clears a bit. 
I think back on all the things that have happened this last two months, and I am so grateful.  Grateful for the good fortune and the protection that kept us and our house safe from the storms, and grateful for the friends near and far who expressed their concern for us.  How good it is to know that as we love, so we are loved.  Also very grateful that we can help our friends when they need our help.   Truly, the atmosphere around these events in Oklahoma has been an amazing gathering of strength and love pouring from and into our community.  People are a little kinder, perhaps a little less short with each other.  Neighbors are precious again.  All little children are looked upon with affection by the rest of the community, because we could have lost them, too.  Our lives are really so very, very fragile.  Storms like this bring that  home all too clearly.  They also bring the response straight from the hearts of so many who came to help, and are still coming. 
Yes, nothing like a little perspective.  I am once again very grateful that on this "Friday Night In The Big Town" as Gary England would say, I am safe in my own house, with my husband, and I know my friends are safe, and I can sit here with my nice drink and my computer and have the luxury of contemplating my life. 
Truly, some of the smallest things, the littlest gestures mean a lot.  So thanks, my friends, just for being there & giving me a hard time once in a  while.  Love you all.
As Ever,
Katie