Complications

So, just as I was blogging that we should all just go about our business during these trying times, our dear Maureen was absorbing the news that her job was terminated. The phone was quiet all day long until we began eating supper. First Angela called, followed quickly by Maureen. I told her I'd call after a bit.

When I did get through she wasted no time telling me the bad/sad news. Apparently she was not alone--it was a corporate decision--but that doesn't help pay the bills. It is hard to imagine how much worse this all can get. 45,000 jobs lost yesterday....unfathomable. I am a firm believer that this will all pass, when the bleeding will stop is anybodies guess. Until then, all we can do is hang on tight to each other and spend our money wisely.

Complications of a different sort are detailed in this story from the Times:More than She Bargained For Seriously, this sort of thing is so irresponsible. It's as if she were a cat or something. Don't try and tell me she didn't use fertility treatments, please--we are not that stupid. Neo-natal care is incredibly expensive. While this family may be able to pay for it, most people can't. I imagine the hospital will absorb loads of the cost, passing it on to the likes of you and me. It happens every day.

I'm posting the daisy picture today because it is such an uncomplicated flower. Petals radiating from a lovely center.

When I arrived at the museum this morning there were tons of cars. Wondering what was going on, I walked into the gallery (new exhibit is hung and quite nice, much to my surprise) and found some people, but no Karen. I asked the woman what was happening and she said they were doing a photo shoot for an Easter Seals charity event. I just want to tell you that the models were not that attractive, and rude to boot. I asked them not to leave their things in the best bathroom, reserving it for the guests, and they totally ignored me. I peered out the window at one point--standing in the middle of a VEGETABLE garden, a man (dressed inappropriately for gardening) is holding a GIANT fake rose peering into the face of a woman (dressed inappropriately for gardening) toting a large basket filled with fake roses. Talk about kitsch! Yikes, you can't make this stuff up. As well, I walked outside and saw the photographer taking shots of this same woman holding a pair of Jimmy Choos! Apparently they are donating shoes for a silent auction, but just the same, it was corny as all get out. I was delighted when they wrapped things up around lunch time.

We haven't seen brown landscaping around Orlando for quite a few years however that is all in the past. Driving around is a bit sad with all the lawns an ugly shade of tan. Ours, thankfully, has little damage. The museum gardens held up pretty well--this little daisy is from there, hand harvested by me (with permission).

I'm quoting a great sentence penned by Alice Munroe from the short story collection I've been reading--raising children is the context:
"...all that time of care and confusion that seemed as if it would never end seems as if it never were." I feel the same way about my children--it seems so long ago and far away.

It seems applicable to now--may we all be thinking the same thing in a few years.
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Listening to: Neko Case - Hold On, Hold On
via FoxyTunes