June 18 - Massachusetts

Good evening intrepid followers! It is a bit late and tonight's post is a bit long but I do have pix :)

Past two weeks have been busy; minor car repairs and errands took a good chunk of time. My most awesome brother spent a great deal of time last Saturday putting my bookcases together and (once again) moving boxes around.

Here are some pix of the new bookcases before I filled them.

New bookcases (blurry pic)

Panda - just 'cuz she was so cute!

Spent a good part of last week unpacking (and cleaning) books, and wanted to weep several nights. I knew many had been lost simply judging from the number of boxes. I thought I had steeled myself. I was mistaken.

Sooo many were lost. To discover what is actually missing now they are unpacked breaks my heart.

It is akin to going through the "7 Stages of Grief". Shock - processing what happened: the fire. There was no #2, which is denial. Oh it happened all right!

Anger. Much anger for the carelessness and slovenliness of the people who lived downstairs. Next stage is bargaining or reasoning. The second is more appropriate; I am not mourning a person or lifestyle. Before opening those first few boxes I had hope (reasoned) most of the books I really wanted were in there. The books that REALLY MEANT something made it.

Stage #5 is depression. I have never been depressed, but discovering at least half my books are gone is quite depressing.

#6 is "initial acceptance", and #7 is "redirected hope". I did get through part of that initial acceptance after opening all the boxes and sitting down with a glass of wine to calm down and contemplate. #7, not so much.

Then I went directly back into Anger mode. That the stupidity and carelessness of 2 people cost me the loss of over a half a lifetime's collection of books. Books are not inexpensive, and most of mine were hardcover. More importantly, several collections were passed down from my grandmother & her family. They are irreplaceable. I carefully cared for, read, and loved them well all these years. Now - with the careless flick of a cigarette - gone. Perhaps that may sound a bit selfish but well - there you have it.

One bookcase

Second bookcase :(

 On the up-side most of my beloved poetry books made it. My Frost, Whittier, Hemingway, Dickenson and Browning. Shakespeare, Hemingway, Irving, and some of Fitzgerald and Poe also made it intact. My Hermann Hesse collection made it, but not the Bronte sisters or most of my Edith Whartons.

Also missing - most of my biographies. My entire collection of Jean Auel ("Clan of the Cave Bear" series), and well over half of my Anne Rice books.

That "redirected hope" thing may take awhile as concerns my books.

Here is what is left of my Anne Rice collection (which previously took up an entire shelf). THAT angers me. I loved those books, and read and re-read them many times.

Anne Rice - middle shelf is what is left :(

However, the place is really opening up and coming together! Yay!! Addition of furniture has really helped. Yes I still have a way to go, but am making really good progress.

I also now have my little deck outfitted with a cool new grill and a perfect little patio set! Of course... my brother put together the grill as well as the patio set.

New grill!

New grill!!

Patio set :)

 
He has given up the past 2 of his Sacred Sundays. He works, very hard, all week. We normally spend Saturdays together grocery shopping etc.

We both like "stay at home Sundays". No phone calls, no visitors, etc. I do not bother him and vice versa. Down time.

The past 2 Sundays he has given that up to help me out. I bought him lunch both Sundays. It is very small repayment for what he has done, but at least it is something.

I will leave you with some pix of my teacup roses, some of which are in full bloom. Absolutely gorgeous! And some just-opening miniature sunflowers. I have groupings of daisies as well, which I shall take pictures of this week.

The abundance of flowers in my yard, and my newly furnished patio, make me so happy! Despite the book issues, the books that were in my apartment bedroom - collection of 1940s Nancy Drews and my entire collection of Nora Roberts (another guilty pleasure!) are fully intact.

Teacup roses

More roses

Miniature sunflowers

June 16 - Massachusetts

Integrity: Doing It Right

Yesterday's blog was a bit of a "downer", and I do not want to leave it over the weekend without posting something a lot more uplifting for my followers!

I mention my brother frequently in my posts; he does quite a bit for me. The 'above & beyond' sort of thing. I do not mention my sister nearly enough.

As posted a few months back, our relationship shifted over the winter. We have always been close and had a good relationship, but there was something about her support and "You go girl!" over the winter that changed things a bit. Spending weekends talking, or her doing puzzles as I read. It brought us closer together. She is one of my strongest supporters!

As I am hers. Several years ago my sister took on the daunting task to get her Master's Degree in Accounting. It was rough, to put it mildly! She took time off from work to concentrate on her studies full-time. And her who-knows-where it came from love of numbers :)

We are almost polar opposites. She loves and embraces numbers and all they entail. I do not have an accounting bone in my body. I love and embrace painting and writing. She does not have an artistic bone in her body. That is OK; we make up for each other :)

We mesh. When she needed PowerPoint presentations for her exams, we collaborated. She gave me the info, and I made it look really good. I also garnered more information about accounting & numbers than I thought possible during the process!

I was so very proud watching her the day she graduated with her Master's! It was a goal she had wanted her whole life, and she achieved it!! With very high grades, of course!

I still do not know where the love for numbers came from, but she totally embraces it. No need to mention she is really, really good at it :)

I must put a huge shout-out for her here.

In a previous job she was hired as an assistant to the head accountant. Long story short, that person took a lot of time off. My sister ended up having to run payroll one day, and discovered numerous discrepancies in the accounting. Previous person had shorted the staff of bonuses several years in a row, keeping the money for themself. Upon deeper investigation, my sister also discovered the person had given themself unauthorized raises and paid time off. My sister documented all of it and brought it to Management's attention immediately.

The previous accountant is now facing jail time as well as having to pay back what they embezzled.

My sister did that! Now THAT is integrity; living and doing things the right way. Faith in humanity :)

I am so, so proud of her. You go sis!!

June 15 - Massachusetts

Integrity: Lacking

Apologies in advance, no pix tonight. I have been pretty busy unpacking and cleaning off books this week. My brother put my bookshelves together for me last weekend, and I am very quickly chipping away at "the wall of books". Of course they all need to be cleaned, but it is nice to see them going in place!

Originally my post was going to be about something else, but I found out some extremely disturbing information that changed that. I am writing about integrity and doing the right thing.

The night of the fire. As my followers recall I woke from a short nap to discover thick black plumes of smoke coming up through the living room floor. I yelled to my neighbors, etc. My neighbor across the hall (with whom I am close) took her dog and ran downstairs to notify the first-floor family of the fire while her significant other tried to help quell the fire.

I found out recently, much after the fact, THE 1st FLOOR NEIGHBORS KNEW THE BUILDING WAS ON FIRE. They did not bother to alarm any of the other tenants, knowing we were all home and had pets. They had already called someone to pick up their kids and had loaded all their pets into the car. They were taking out their most prized possessions.

Without. Telling. Anyone. The. Building. Was. On. Fire.

They did not even call "911". All I can think is, how evil. There is no other word for it. EVIL. Knowing the building is on fire, you are the people responsible for it and not bother to raise the alarm to the neighbors in the building? How do you NOT do the right thing??

I do not know how they can sleep at night knowing what they failed to do. They are not fresh out of school; both of them are in their late 30s.

I am so disgusted by their lack of integrity. I wish I could bleach this out of my brain.

As soon as I realized what was happening I opened both apartment doors & screamed for my neighbors across and upstairs to get out. Yes - one of my worst nightmares is my cats getting outside. But a fire & smoke? I figured my kitties would have a better chance of surviving if they did escape.

I am trying to remain calm about this. Bad things happen when I am angry, and knowing this makes me angrier than I have ever been in my life.

Integrity: Being honest and having strong moral and ethical principles. Neither of these two people possess it.

I am glad my life is filled with people of integrity - the one anomaly gone. Perhaps we take it for granted, or having been brought up that way we miss the signs of those who are not. I tend to believe in the inherent goodness of things (with a healthy dose of trepidation).

I will not allow this to overshadow my newfound happiness in life here in my yellow house!

Although I will apologize for the next statement, I mean it with feeling.

Karma's a bitch, guys.