THERE'S A KIND OF HUSH....!

An anticlimax this week was not!  I was looking forward to a quiet week, and a quiet week was exactly what I got.  I wasn't even sure that I wanted to walk on Monday, especially after having an argument with my vacuum cleaner, where I came off the worse for wear, and my second toe showed all the signs of having a fracture!  The pain was rather excruciating and the bruising fierce and immediate.  I am sorry to say that I recognised the signs!  However, in the grand scheme of things, it was not tragic!

I relished the thought of not actually leaving the office, despite needing a break half way through the day.  Spring break was taking place in Austin, so traffic was lighter, and the general feeling was slower.  It is hard to imagine any more laid back than usual, but when it does happen, it is like the city has gone to sleep.

Spending time in the kitchen on Sunday afternoon, finding yet another use for bananas that had past their 'sell by date' in the eyes of my husband, had proved successful, and the cookies were eaten quite quickly.  Banana and white chocolate chip.  I still find it amusing that my culinary hours are spent making cookies, rather than a traditional Victoria Sandwich, but the latter does not call for bananas, and I cannot bring myself to defile 'traditional'.  However I digress. Life is rather bizare Banana cookies in the cake tin, and a pitcher of sweet (oh and how sweet it is) iced tea in the fridge.  I have even taken to buying 'iced tea bags'.  What will I give into next?  However, again, I digress!  Work on Monday was interrupted with a short break for a quick and rather painful walk to Randall's to pick up ingredients for Samantha's evening meal, and a donut (not doughnut) for Grant, as he had been having a craving, and as we had a 'winning coupon' from this season's monopoly game run by said store, we decided to oblige!  

The week was going to be quiet in comparison to last and I was enjoying it.  "It is like banging your head against a brick wall", I said, breaking out like an episode of acne!  "It is wonderful when it stops".  The lure that is the festival of SXSW has become like a drug.  I feel I must attend, but can't wait for it to finish so I do not have to do it anymore.  My mood was also somewhat irritable on Monday, as I was having withdrawal from another source.  As many know, my tolerance level when it comes to alcohol is very low.  A couple of sips and I am like a 'wind up' doll.  It is the same with other substances.  Passive smoking has an effect on me.  There was a lot to be passively smoked downtown last week, and I do not mean cigarettes.  It was quite prolific and we walked through pockets of suspect air, in certain places, and through whole arenas in others.  It became so that after walking the length of 'Sixth', the gas at point where the traffic was no longer restricted, became like pure oxygen, and almost felt tainted itself!  Suffice it to say, I appear to have the same level of tolerance to the 'passive' ingestion of smoke as I do to drink.  I was suffering from withdrawal!  I know I have mentioned this before, but the older I get, the more affected I appear to become!  

With nothing on my agenda Monday evening, I sat with my toe elevated, and attempted to ignore the pain.  However, the bed sheet felt like a lead weight, and the nights sleep that I craved was going to have to wait for twenty four hours!

Spring has definitely hit Austin, if not the whole of Texas. The bluebonnets are carpeting the roadsides.  The 'Indian paintbrush' has started to bloom, which is generally a sign that the 'bonnets' are going to disappear as quickly as they arrived.  Everywhere is a mass of colour, and the temperatures are rising and dipping every few minutes.  Welcome to Texas, Y'all!  Birds are feasting on berries, and vehicles cannot avoid the splashes from overhead no matter where they park or drive.  Park your car in a space far from any trees, but near what was (and will be) a lonely piece of grass, and within hours you will have all the materials you need to create a bright abstract painting!  Nothing, not even clothing, can escape the wonders of spring in these parts!  Tuesday was sunny and cloudy, windy and calm, cool and warm, with the variants taking turns all day.  However, traffic was light, and Austin was somewhat sleepy.  Typical of the 'weird' city really; when all others wake after hibernation, Austin remains diverse!

I ventured across town on Wednesday morning.  It was still dark when I arrived at Joe's coffee roastery.  Dark clouds were rolling across the skies and they did not seem to want to allow the sun to peek through, overstaying their welcome indefinitely.  I told Joe of my adventures the previous week.  Logan, a member of Joe's team, told me that he thought he had seen me last week.  "Were you....
hmmm.... casually dressed?" he asked, as if it were offensive, as he has not seen me in anything but my sophisticated work attire.  I told him that I was, indeed.  After describing my companions, and mentioning that he recognised 'the hat', we established that it was definitely me.  It appears that his girlfriend is also rather obsessed with the swag and they have a living room full of useless items which one day may become a collector's item, or functional.  Logan and I have something in common.  He lived in England for two years, in a 'small' town that 'no one has ever heard of'.  It was actually the town in which I was raised!  However, I digress!  I drank coffee, collected a couple of bags of grounds for the office, and headed back across the water via the bridge that I only use during school holidays!  Traffic was incredibly light, and Austin appeared not to be awake!   This was somewhat like my toe, that was now not painful, but rather numb.  

I was somewhat exhausted by Wednesday afternoon, but did not know why.  I felt a little nauseous and apparently looked slightly the worse for wear.  Samantha commented that I looked very pale and I was not sure that I would make it home, let alone be able to entertain dinner guests, or at least in the way they were expecting! I left work slightly earlier than usual for a Wednesday, and by the time I got home I was feeling a lot better.  I wondered if the culmination of my withdrawal and the recent breakage had contributed to the odd feeling, but did not dwell on the issue.  Instead I set too and got ready for my guests.  Dinner was a success, and I felt much better!

The rest of the week was as uneventful as the week before was full. I relished every minute!  I was looking forward to my weekend, as a day of grocery shopping and 'general duties' was so appealing.  I thought of the woman two weeks ago, who told me that I was not supposed to enjoy the 'norms' that had been attributed to me, and wondered if I should not have been more vocal, or forthcoming with my opinions (although my daughter would consider that I was very forthcoming and excessively vocal).  I enjoyed wandering around the warehouses, choosing what to have for dinner, buying stock to replenish my cupboards, being a 'housewife'!  There I go again, being controversial!  However, to me, it was freedom!  My 'friend' in Costco gave me an enormous hug, and did the same to Samantha.  Oh what fun we had!  

Of course, the week would not be normal if I was not misunderstood on one level or another.  I stood in the Dollar Tree and bent down to take things out of my basket and back up again to put the items on the conveyor belt.  A very nice gentleman offered help, and lifted the basket so that I did not have to bend.  I thanked him profusely.  Once finished, I turned to his wife and asked, "Do you hire him out?"  I had a smile on my face, but she looked at me rather strangely.  "What?" she asked.  I repeated my question with an additional sentence.  "He is very helpful.  Do you hire him out?"  It was meant to be a joke.  "NO!" she replied, quite emphatically.  "He is retired!"  She turned to the woman behind her, and back to her husband.  Samantha found this quite amusing and said, "Perhaps she thought you were 'hitting' on him!"  I wondered if this would gain me access to the group that I offended the week before last.  However, I would imagine that accepting help from the opposite sex may be considered a bad thing.  There I go again, being controversial!  

My toe seems to have recovered somewhat, and has feeling, albeit painful to the touch.  The bruising is a colourful as the flora along the highway.  My attitude is somewhat adjusted to normality, and Austin appears to have awoken again.  

Tomorrow, at lunchtime, I shall be attending a 'meet and greet', for which Samantha and I both won a pair of tickets.  As for today, I am contemplating my options.  It is not quite warm enough to swim, but it is warm enough to take a book to the pool and just read and doze.  Although I have not done much to make me tired today, my super daughter-in-law, Steph, ran half a marathon in just over two hours, and raised a tidy sum for the British Heart Foundation.  I feel joining her in a 'well earned rest' is being a supportive mother-in-law.... Joking aside, we are all tremendously proud of her!  

Apart from the 'meet and greet', I am not sure what next week has in store.  I am not anticipating a great hive of activity, but one is never sure what will transpire.  After playing the two recordings that were made last week during our karaoke sessions downtown, I do know that our 'cover band' career will not be taking off anytime soon, so I shall have to stick with my day job!  However, enough is as good as a feast, and a feast may well be the subject of ......... another story!