I Love Good Huggers

It's a been a long week. Max is finally feeling better, I'd say he's kicked the pneumonia, but he had hard to work pretty hard at it. It concerns me that he got that sick so soon after the last time. (Last Winter).  I think a lot about pulling him from school, but they have so much more in terms of position equipment there. And his teacher is truly wonderful. Plus I met a couple of her friends who have "adopted" the class and one of them says that Max is her favorite. She was talking to me about working with him at the tea party, not sure if I mentioned this before, and her eyes teared up. She seemed embarrassed, but I appreciated her affection and caring for my boy. I'm the kind of person who tears up easily, as well. There's nothing wrong with strong emotion. And my son is a special kid. I want him to be spend his life with people who love him.

I ended up sick, too. On Sunday night, I felt like I could not get a good breath and it scared me. I wasn't getting any work done, because I felt so unfocused - lack of oxygen will do that I guess. I decided to go to the Dr in the morning and he said I had sinusitis that turned into Bronchitis. He gave me a shot in the hip, a breathing treatment, antibiotics, and prednisone. He wanted me to take something for the cough and a pain pill, but I don't like to load up too much on that stuff. By the afternoon, I felt so much better, I could breathe a bit and I could think. I was able to drive for the first time in a week. Thank goodness.

This week I've been talking to a couple of men. Well, a few men, actually. Feast or famine, that's how it goes with me. I decided to switch my photo at one of the online dating sites and all of a sudden things got active. One man sounds almost too perfect, which scares me a little. We have a lot in common and for the past few years, the men that I've dated have been good guys, but not men that I had that much in common with. I suspect they found my way of looking at things frustrating. Too positive, rainbows coming out my butt, crazy California-dreaming.........okay, these are my words, not theirs.

One called me "quirky." One of my quirks - good dental hygiene. What the........?? It's now considered quirky if you brush regularly and actually use floss?  Hey, I  can't afford the dentist. I want to keep these teeth. No quirks involved.

I've also been talking to an old friend who is going through a rough time. He thought he was on his way to marriage, a growing family, but suddenly it's all gone. It's hard to watch/listen to a friend in pain, but to be a good friend, I've got to give it a try.  I keep trying to remember how I felt lately, out of sorts, lonely, sad. What helped me? What made things worse?  I don't want him to feel that he has to be up for me, because I'm trying to cheer him, so I'm trying to avoid putting pressure on him to "have a great day," although I'm sure I've said that, it is on old stand by of mine.  I'm trying to follow his lead. He's a strong man, he's been through a lot, and he always makes it through.

Why do some people end up getting more than their share of the challenges life likes to hand out?

I'm looking forward to being able to give him a big hug soon. He's one of those great huggers. I've known him since he was about 10 years old - he was a classmate of my younger sister. I was older, an 8th grader and he was one of those jr flirts. Pretty funny. We were talking about that the other day. Funny kid.

Back to the hugging....... he has a lot of friends, one of those people whom every body loves. Some years back, I was out with a group of old girl friends from high school. I can't remember how I ended up with the group, I was a young mom and never went out....... Anyway, there were about 6 or 7 of us and as we ran into him on the street, he put out his arms and we each automatically went in for our hug, taking turns. We only talked to him for a few minutes in passing, but he had time to give each of a us a good, strong hug. He's a very sweet man.

I love hugs. Especially hugs from men. Getting hugs from the kids, they are wonderful, but there is something about getting a hug from someone who is bigger and stronger than me, it's so soothing and comforting, as if for just a few seconds I can hand over the reins of being The One Who Protects to someone else, just briefly.

I better bring this to an end. My kids want to eat......and hopefully give me a hug. Here's my latest 365 Project photo. I got so behind when I was ill.