TheBanyanTree: The Beginning

[Margaret R. Kramer]

11/27/04
Very nice piece of work! you should send this into the paper!. I mean it.
it is excellent!!
 Love you
R

The end of 2008 was a crescendo of activity for me.  I was responsible for
delivering a $3.3 million document to our client, so I spent many late hours
at the office twisting and pulling it into shape.

I finally finished the deed around 7:00 pm last night and sent off the email
to our client.  I haven’t checked anything work related today and will find
out if it was OK tomorrow.

I didn’t go to my second job at all this week because of working so hard at
my “real” job.  However, my “real” job is salaried, so I don’t get paid any
extra money for sitting around and staring at my computer.

I’m working Saturday at my second job.  I’m amazed that they keep me with
all the time I take off.  I’m sure part of the reason is that I have been
one of their top producers on phone surveys.  I use my seductive voice to
woo potential victims into my questionnaire web and trap them on the phone
for 10-15 minutes.  I love having this talent.

It’s a good thing I went to workout before work yesterday.  It helped
de-stress me, but I was still tense as a board when I got home.  Susan and
the boys and I went out to one of our favorite restaurants, The Vina, it’s a
Vietnamese restaurant.  My older grandson LOVES pho, which is a soup.
Talking and eating helped me to relax.

The place was packed, plus they do take out, so it took a while for our
order to go through.  But it was soooooo good.  I haven’t gone out to eat in
a long time.  Well, just since lunch.  Reyne and I went to a New Year’s Eve
lunch for a break from work at Starky’s in Eagan for soup and sandwiches.  I
’ve cooked so much this past week, it was good to eat someone else’s food.

Susan took the boys and Asher went out and I was left alone.  Joe and I were
having one of our fights, so we didn’t spend New Year’s Eve together.
Actually, he was fighting, and I was just ignoring.  I’m quite able to do
“my thing” when he’s upset about something.  I ignore him until he calls and
makes up.  We do that all the time, so I’m used to it.  I’m cutting him some
slack, too, since his wife’s death one year anniversary date is January 3.
It’s amazing how crazy we widows and widowers act sometimes.  Holidays and
milestone dates do not find us at our best.

I read the newspaper and watched Anderson Cooper and Kathy Griffin on CNN.
I watched until the ball dropped in New York City.  Well, if New York
handled New Year without any problems, then I could go to bed, and expect
Minnesota to welcome the new year on its own without me staring at the TV.

I got up early and began tearing down Christmas 2008.  Everything was put
back in boxes, bags, or in the garage by noon.  Ashlin (the younger
grandson) helped me un-decorate the small table top trees and the big tree.
The house is beautifully bare again.  It’s a fresh start for 2009.

2009 just has to be a better year, right?

I just got my heat/electric bill.  It’s $408.  Hmmm . . . what did I just
say about a better year?

Joe and I are going to a movie this afternoon, “Seven Pounds.”

I missed Ray a few times yesterday and today, too.  I couldn’t get the
Christmas tree back into the box.  I started cussing and swearing.  Asher
helped me.  He got the tree to fit into the box and we tied the box up, just
like Ray did, and Asher hauled the box back down into the basement.  It’s
the little things . . .

Margaret R. Kramer
margaretkramer at comcast.net
margaret.kramer at polarispublications.com
www.polarispublications.com

You can clutch the past so tightly to your chest that it leaves your arms
too full to embrace the present.
~Jan Glidewell
No virus found in this outgoing message.
Checked by AVG.
Version: 7.5.552 / Virus Database: 270.10.1/1870 - Release Date: 12/31/2008
8:44 AM