Movin' Bags...

I'm going to wax philosophical...maybe... Tuesday we got groceries. Since some of our grocery items are stored in the basement, I always put the bags by the door to the basement and take them down as I make trips up and down those stairs. Since my craft/sewing/computer/everything room is in the basement, there are always many trips made each day. I carry those bags down and set them by the entertainment center until I have time to actually put things away in their storage spots in the basement. I also set things on the chair in my C/S/C/E room and then I take them upstairs when I head that way. There seems to be a constant flow of things up and down the stairs and a lot of it is in 'bags'. On one one of the trips to the basement, I realized I still had 2 'bags' on a chair in the basement from previous moving of items up and down the stairs and had not quite put them away (okay, I had not even put them away!!). Suddenly it hit me...my life right now is 'movin' bags'. In 2009 I went on our trip to Hawaii and totally enjoyed our trip without worrying about home or things to be done at all because I had all things done and in order before we left. When we got home immediately the routine set back in motion, piano tuner the day after we arrived, singing at the nursing home that day, etc., etc., etc. It did feel good to be back in the grind but then I began to remember all the things coming up with the holidays and then a new year and all the things that start up with it. I began to feel overwhelmed. As is my custom and nature, I tried to grab the most important things to accomplish to be on time with things needing to be done. That is just like grabbing those 'bags' that have to go up and down those stairs and feeling the relief of having something done on time but knowing there are a lot more 'bags' that need my attention. I was also struggling to get well from that awful cold I got just before we left for Hawaii. I really thought I was getting better an then it hit full force. The antibiotics were helping me heal but I just would run out of steam. I just hate running out of steam. It really is frustrating to want to do things but your head is foggy with medication and cold. You just want to curl up in flannel clothes under a warm blanket and eat soup and homemade bread...but I digress. Then I saw the grocery 'bags' the other day and thought, that is what my life is like. I'm moving the 'bags' closer but they aren't quite getting to where they need to be. Sunday Papa left Church thinking he strained his voice while trying to sing hymns at Church. That was not what it turned out to be. Monday he woke up with an awful head cold. I called him to see about practicing music for Wednesday and it was clear by his voice he was not going to be doing any singing any time soon. We determined he would play a DVD of country music or a Tabernacle Choir performance for them on Wednesday. Monday night I stayed up way too late finishing the notebook on Hawaii. Claude got his narrative written. I was finishing matching the pictures to the narrative, printing the pictures and the narrative and putting them in the binder in plastic sleeves. I finished the book and that two weeks of our history is preserved. It is a beautiful book, if I do say so myself, and will be a treasure for us to remember those two weeks. Tuesday Claude and Papa were supposed to go to the Family History Center in Lexington and cover a shift so patrons could come in and do research. Claude is not supposed to cover that shift alone. Papa was definitely in NO condition to do that. I was to have a day at home. I had plotted a day of housecleaning in the morning and computer stuff in the afternoon. But priorities ('bags') must be moved. Claude went to his city commission meeting in the morning and I set to gathering things I could work on at the Family History Center so I could still accomplish things but help him cover his shift. I called Papa and told him I would feed Mom dinner on our way home and for him not to worry about her. He was very grateful. We also assured him we would bring him some orange juice to supplement what he currently had at his apartment. I moved the cleaning 'bag' to the back of my mind. It wasn't happening on Tuesday. I prepared the material 'bag' to study the lesson to teach in Homemakers Club on Wednesday, the April Relief Society Leadership Training 'bag' to prepared for that, the talk for the Visiting Teaching Conference in February 'bag' to prepare for that. When Claude got home I was prepared to tell him I would go with him, he could treat me to dinner after his shift and then take me to the nursing home to take care of the 'feed Mom bag' while he ran a few of the errands, then we would finished with the grocery shopping 'bag' and head for home. It was a full day, I accomplished some things and did all good things. Wednesday, I called Papa and told him I would play the piano for him at the nursing home and then stay to feed Mimi. Then I hurried off to my Countryside Homemakers meeting and taught the lesson on Osteoporosis. That was one finished 'bag'. Yeah!!! I hurried home for a couple of hours before I was to head into Georgetown. I had a new 'bag' when I got there. Claude received a phone call while I was gone regarding my MasterCard. It seemed someone was trying to use it and a number was left for me to confirm it was an okay charge. Oh My Goodness!!! I had another meeting ('bag') in the evening in Sadieville to prepare for. I hurried downstairs and Googled the phone number Claude took from the message. The items I found were split as to that number being a valid number from the company through which I have my MasterCard and being a scam. I opened my MasterCard account history on the computer. I found nothing there that looked suspicious. I found a number on the website to call and dialed that number. The first person I talked to realized I should talk with someone else. She transferred me and that lovely young lady was able to tell me that someone tried to charge $1717+ on my credit card and a temporary hold had been placed on my card. So the phone number Claude took was legitimate, they were trying to be sure about that charge. I assured the young lady that was NOT my charge and she noted it as such and asked me if I wanted her to take the hold off the account. Process Sandi's brain, process!!! I stated to her that if she took they hold off they might still try to use that card. She suggested I talk to the next person in line. Okay...let's do that. I was connected with 'Elmer' with a strong accent from India. Bless his heart, Elmer began to do more research. He asked me about some charges he could see on my account. I confirmed the ones that were ours and told him the next 2 that were not ours. I assured him the last 3 charges we made were for gas for my car, dinner at Applebee's and groceries at Walmart. Elmer canceled my card, will send me a new one, and had me listen to a lovely message created for all those people fortunate enough to get into this situation. Bet that saves a LOT of vocal chords. I really heard lots of people in the background helping others with what I am sure are similar problems. Who are the people that think they can mess with our 'bags'. They should just get their own. I'm have enough fun just movin' my own 'bags' and trying to keep up with them with their interference!!! I mean...REALLY!!! I made it into town to feed Mimi and then back out to Sadieville for my meeting 'bag'. Then I came home, walked right past the 'bags' on my family room floor in the basement and sat down to eat a really, really, really good cookie and play a computer game. Enough with 'bags'!!! I've come to the conclusion I have too many 'bags'. I've got to get this under control or get rid of some 'bags'. All these 'bags' are getting in the way of my blogging time. They are causing stress above what is normal. I'm not sure what or how I'll do this but I have a clear picture, thanks to my 'bag' revelation, of what the problem is. Let's see if I can correct it...hmmmm...any guesses as to whether I can or not?? I'm grateful I can look at things in life and learn lessons from them. This happens a lot to me. I think I should write a 'Parable of the Bags'.