Overwhelmed by the Latter

There are things Fiorella wants to do and things she needs to do, and the latter always takes precedence. Somehow, she thought it would be different as an adult. Who knew she would be working on the yard instead of taking Spanish lessons? Taking care of the house instead of painting portraits? Figuring out family finances instead of writing poetry? Dealing with various repairs and construction instead of lolling in a hammock? Handling family crises rather than writing books?

Is there no relief?

Christmas Thanksgiving

Merry Christmas to Fernando, who has done our heavy yard work for the past two years. Yesterday he not only neatened up our stacks of firewood, but pulled fallen tree limbs out of the dry creek area and chainsawed them to add to the pile. He also whooshed our front porch, back porch, and the entire length of our driveway free of leaves, plus pulled a couple of loads of rocks up from the creek to place alongside the driveway. All in all, it was about four hours work, which was twice as much as Fio pays him for. Oh, and as Fio helps him learn English, Fernando has been helping her learn Spanish. Muchas gracias, mi amigo.

Key

Friends and family, love and laughter are what get Fiorella through the day. Sometimes she has to work on the last two.

One day to Go

Fio has just one day left to finish decorating, and Husband is breathing down her neck to hurry it up. She's had to cut back a lot this year, which curls her soul, but thirteen people will be sitting down at her make-shift Christmas table, and right now it's still covered with her decorating debris--ribbons, greenery, birds, butterflies, ornaments of all sorts.

Wish her well.

Post-Ash Wednesday Contemplation

If Jesus visited Fiorella's house today, she'd probably be in the kitchen helping Martha prepare the meal.  Fio understands that the parable is about priorities, but she's a doer, and there's no way she'd let someone else get stuck with all the work.