A Really Good Week

So I have been firmly and repeatedly chastised by my mentor for "teasing" her with only two posts on my new daily blogging journey and also for making my new daily blogging journey only two posts. Yes, she said as much to me. I didn't really see the difference but apparently she did and felt I should be doubly admonished! As I told her, looking back on starting the daily blog the last week or so of summer and just as school was starting, perhaps was not one of my better decisions. However that being said, I have to follow up by saying that I am incredibly proud of myself. The last time I was trying to do a daily blog, if I missed a day, I beat myself up ruthlessly about it. This week though, I just went with the flow and realized that when life let loose of me, the blog would still be there. So this was a win for my mental health/OCD but a loss for my dedication! Thus the chastisement. Apparently my mental health is not that big of a deal to others. Sigh!

I will likely be doubly in trouble today, as although I am blogging....this will without a doubt be a blog that is  all over the place (it is the weekend thank you very much) and I am mentally catching up. I will do better in the future though....I hope!

My next door neighbor of nearly 40 years died this week. He had been ill for a very long time and sadly bed ridden for a lot of that time. When I got the call of his passing, I was not shocked but I was very sad. Another hole has been left. It seems like such a hugely important part of my town is slowly dying away both figuratively and literally. It makes me sad and makes me want to hold on to people that much tighter. If only a tight grip could prevent the inevitable. RIP my dear Mr. Harlan.

Speaking of holding on....I would say that is what I have been doing this last week. That is part of the reason that I have not been available to blog. Well that is as good excuse as any....right? While in one aspect Facebook has disheartened me quite a bit this summer, in another it has given me a happy place where I can combine my love of home town, history and people. Sometime ago (we are talking years), I started a group on Facebook called: You Might Be From Mulvane if............... It was a page, like all those sorts of pages where people could put their unique memories to their unique home town. Somehow this page survived the whole Facebook group makeover and it has lived on with people here and there adding their thoughts, memories and some pictures along the way. From time to time I would find internet pictures of our town and add them, but there was always a part of me that wanted more for me and more for my town. I wanted a way to unite the past with the present so that the past, those who created this town and those who influenced us along the way would never be forgotten but rather their legacy passed on to the newer generations.

In the last week my town has been gearing up for back to school, the 30th Class Reunion of the class of 1983 (they were the class under me) and Old Settlers, our yearly town celebration. One night while looking through the Mulvane page and taking a walk down memory lane, I decided that the page was due for some much needed love. Once that decision was in place, another former Mulvane grad contacted me and let me know that he had years worth of Mulvane High School yearbooks and pictures on disks that I could have. I was over the moon. I spent two days adding pictures to my beloved page and as the saying goes...."If you build it....they will come." They did! Suddenly the page which maybe saw a handful of visitors per week before, now had people rushing to join the sight and others commenting on the pictures, sharing the pictures and adding their own.....along with many thoughts and memories on growing up in the town that I call home. It has been amazing. What was more amazing though was that I had people thanking me for helping to bring the page to life. It has actually been a joint effort by everyone who has participated and it has also been a humbling experience which has been filled with joy and taken my mind off the things in my life which don't always put me into such a happy place. It has really been a good week. 

So this upcoming week, there may or may not be more blogs. I am still trying to work on the basement, I have yet to buy school stuff, my house needs cleaned, I have cheesecakes to bake, I am still on the job hunt, school starts Tuesday and Old Settlers is this coming weekend which means I am on vacation from Thursdayish through Sunday.  So as you can see, I really need to prioritize and since I now know that I can miss a day of blogging when I am suppose to be blogging daily......and not have a complete melt down, well we will just have to see how everything falls into place.

It is a beautiful Sunday morning here in the South Central part of Kansas. There is no rain and the temps are cool, especially for a mid August morning. Mass is over, blog is just about finished and I am ready for  about anything this day has to offer, other than Sunday ER trips. I am not up for an ER trip! That being said, I wish you all a happy, healthy and blessed Sunday!