As you are all well aware, San Diego County has been on fire since Sunday. As a result, I had an unexpected 5-day weekend, and my final at school was cancelled (grade to be based on other remaining work, which doesn�t trouble me at all, considering my performance in the class thus far). At first, this fire was scary for me.

Sunday night my VERY pregnant sister was evacuated from her new home. With police giving evacuation orders via bullhorn, Jane grabbed her photos, her dog and her husband (after he attempted to spray the roof with water from the hose), and headed down to Mom�s place. Shortly after she arrived there, the phones in my mother�s neighborhood went dead and on TV I saw that another fire was within a few miles of Mom�s place. Nerve wracking. I was at M.s.�s, and he was on the East Coast. He was stressed as well, wondering if the fire closest to his place could hop the freeway, telling me what to grab if it did and I needed to evacuate.

But Jane got to go home. The fire didn�t reach my mother�s house, and it went around my sister�s. We are very lucky. There are many who were not as lucky, and I feel for them and theirs. Then it was a matter of the smoke in the air. The dark, gray-orange sky, the hazy red sun, the ash everywhere. My office was closed, and remained so until today.

I�m not going to bother to recount what I did during my time off. I got to spend some wonderful downtime with some wonderful people. I got to relax with my boyfriend and hang out with my father. Overall, this has been a good experience for me personally � I had a little vacation, I didn�t have to go to class, I got to stay home and play with M.s. for a few days... went shopping, watched some movies, did some dining... I don�t have any complaints.

So much for reading, Kate Remembered . I just got my text for my next class, which begins Monday night. Sigh. Well, I signed up for this, so I will grin and bear it. After all, it is for my own betterment. Who am I to bitch?

Tonight, I will purchase for myself (thank you credit cards and rationalization) a laptop, Mac G4. There�s always something to look forward to, eh? That�s what I say.

And last, but not least, some simple advice from my very wise father for people who endlessly complain about how difficult and trying life is:

�I�m sick of people who have nothing better to do than bitch about their life situation. Go volunteer for a day for people who are dying. For people who lost their homes. For people with no family, no job, and no hope. Then tell me hard it is to be you.�

Also, �If you�re too busy helping people and getting stuff done, you won�t have time to bitch.�

AND, �Gratitude and whining are mutually exclusive. You cannot whine if you are grateful. For life.�

I love my dad.

-Barbarella

previous | next