So instead, I will let you read the words of my husband, in two emails:

Not that you didn’t know already…
but our former plumber is an idiot! Dude gets here…says the faucet is not a kohler, but a price pfister. Calls to get part at 80th and wornall…will be back here in a few minutes and the deal will be done.

Followed by this email 20 minutes later:

$130 and 20 minutes of work and we’re back in bidness.

I think each & every co-worker here should thank me & their lucky stars that I do not have the airhorn here today, because that is about the only expression I could convey right now besides a string of swear words and happy spluttering. Joy and Rage! Joy being dominant! I have a shower again! Which means tomorrow! I get to use my Celebration Soap! (I will explain.) (I always do.)

It almost makes up for the fact I have to re-start my Mystery Stole #3 because I am such a loose knitter and it is not working on #2’s. Arrrrrgh. Celebration Soap! Shower! Focus on the Good Things! YAY! Trying not to remember it’s taken almost 4 weeks to get here and it could have been solved on day one ….. ohhhhh kay woooosahhhhhh celebrate good times and showers come on! YAY!

There’s so much to do! So much to recap!

1. The Wo got home this morning, or very late last night, depending on how you define “day” and “night”. 2 a.m., because his flight out of Detroit was delayed four hours. I woke up shortly before he got home, and thankfully the dogs didn’t go into Full Tilt when he opened the door. He was in Detroit for a big backgammon tournament weekend, and while I missed him on my birthday, it was great to get updates and hear how much fun he was having. It’s good to do the things you love!

2. The dogs are hilarious when he’s gone. They go into Major Protection mode of me, which I appreciate, but it wears a little thin if I’m watching a movie that contains sounds that alarm them. The burfing is loud, and intended to scare off anyone who thinks they might be coming in the house. And once wound up, any other little noise sets them off. I think they’re always going to be this way, because of the very unfortunate incident a couple years ago, that I wrote about but discovered I never published. Pack behavior is an amazing, amazing thing, and even though part of me thinks our dogs are big love dogs with big barks, I’m also pretty sure that if they continued to sense my fear, they would bite someone threatening me. No hugs for thugs!

3. My birthday was nice. I spent 5 hours at the day spa, and was extremely relaxed by the time I poured out the door. I did get a bit frothy with the plumber situation that afternoon, because even though I had high hopes, part of me knew it wasn’t going to be resolved. But I talked to James that afternoon and officially handed it over to him to handle. (Three & a half weeks, and the plumber dodged the appointment we had on Friday. I’d get mad just typing that? But that wouldn’t be letting go. LET GO. Let it wash away like…. like a SHOWER that WORKS….)

4. I picked a TON of tomatoes this weekend, and processed the ripe ones yesterday – we’re going to have spaghetti tonight, which isn’t exactly a summertime dish, but I know already that with fresh basil & roasted garlic, it’s gonna be YUMMY. James is going to have quite the canning adventures ahead of him this month!

5. I joined the Mystery Stole #3 knitalong. I blame three people: Kristin, who told me about it in the first place; Jacqui, one of my very first Ravelry friends and does some beautiful lace knitting, and then of course the Yarn Harlot, because if she were going to jump off a cliff, I think we would all quickly knit ourselves some parachutes and follow her right off the edge. Actually, I would have thrown the Office Max dude off a cliff on Saturday, because he seemed to think the idea of highlighter tape was of my own imagination. WRONG-O.

6. Speaking of Ravelry friends, I’m going to complain about this once, and then I’m going to be done. I categorized some people as my friends, some of them based on the fact I read their blogs – and I comment there – and certain people are a bit too good and not as willing to reciprocate. Now, mind you, I’m not talking about the biggies, the famous knitters, with gazillions (or even hundreds) of people who read their blogs – that would be nutters, and I completely understand that. I’m talking about people like me, and honestly, that is the one thing I just f’n hate about how the internet can reduce you to feeling like the ugly girl at your locker, watching the other kids stream by and ignore your very existence, when you’re metaphorically smiling at them and waving “hi”. Of course, the internet brings a gajillion more people into my life, for which I’m extremely grateful and my life is enriched a thousandfold because of it. So I have to recognize none of this is black & white. I keep having to relearn the lesson that even if I call someone my friend, they’re not necessarily MY friend back. (And lest we think this all about Ravelry, this actually happens in real life, too.) So to stem some of my irritation, I removed them from my friend world, and I stick with adding new unknown people that Ravelry thinks would be good matches, based on patterns and projects, and I am divesting myself from taking it personally. I’m sure I’ll have that one figured out in um, 20 years. MSCONFIG: Run: \\complaining:OFF

7. I have a vacation hangover. The only thing that would really make me happy is if I could go back to sleep for about ten hours. And wake up to discover the shower’s been fixed. And everyone wants me to be their friend. ;)

Well, today’s the big day. Not exactly, I suppose, that’s next year (the big 4-0!) Even if it wasn’t my birthday, I’m going to a day spa, AND the plumber’s coming to fix my shower, so that right there makes it a banner day. Add to that dinner tonight, with my bestest girlfriends, followed by cake (there must always be cake), and undoubtedly, knitting, and you have a five-star day. (Please, just cross your fingers and whisper a little wish for me on the plumbing project. That’s the only wrench I can foresee, and I’d hate to undo all the relaxation from the spa…)

The best news I can report is that on Monday, I was having a conversation with one of my bosses, and he asked me how I was doing. I said, “OK!” and for the first time in over a year, it didn’t feel like part of me was lying. Sure, there are still moments, even hours and days that I don’t feel “ok”, or that something reminds me of dad, and I am sad, melancholy, even grief-stricken. But I’ve passed all the first anniversaries now – including last year’s dreadful burglary – and there’s something solidifying about standing in the present and not having the year-ago reflection feel like a soul-sucking monster bearing down on you.

So let there be cake! And friends! And love. And healing, and joy, and perspective. The best gifts in life can’t be bought. (You are, however, welcome to shower me with presents.)

It is 11:49 p.m. on July 4th, and I am just about ready to become one of those SUPER crazy people and take my shotgun outside and shoot it up in the air. Two nights in a row of ‘Nam flashbacks and war zones surrounding the house, with all the personally-purchased fireworks, things we would have to drive to town to see set off in the middle of the softball field. My father telling me people get their hands blown off ALL THE TIME from firecrackers. (Envisioning how that’d curtail the following year’s festivities and LIKING IT.) I am telling you, no matter how long I live here, the firecrackers and the booming bomb thingies, it is all CRAZY. I do not understand it, all these firecrackers at an up-close (to the house!) and personal level were never part of my formative years, and it all sounds like gunfire to me. Which does NOT spell “yee-haw! good times” to my ears.

If we hadn’t had all this rain, I’d think we’d need to start soaking the quilts and covering the roof. (Whilst wearing a bonnet!)

This wet blanket’s going to bed. I hope everyone around me does soon, too!