Waiting. . . . . . . .

Waiting is custom-made torture for a Type A control freak. I am very attached to the illusion that I control my life, all evidence to the contrary notwithstanding, and parking me in a corner to twiddle my thumbs makes me feel like I want my head to explode just to have something to do. So there you have it, one of my big secrets is that learning patience is a lifelong challenge for me.

Here's some of the things I'm doing while I'm waiting:

1. Interviewing Former and Prospective Senior Missionaries
Last night I asked a woman who is going on a mission with her husband to Sierra Leone what she had learned about the country in the week since her call. She told me there is an armed guard responsible for the security in the compound where they will live. They are not to purchase new clothing, but to wear clothing that's old to keep from drawing attention to themselves. The kind of food "we" eat isn't readily available; a can of tuna costs $5. One day the mission president's wife opened the front door. There was a cobra coiled up on the porch, hissing at her. Now I ask you, WHAT WAS THE ARMED GUARD DOING? Hasn't anybody told him protecting the residents includes shooting the snakes? To her enormous credit, she told me all this with a smile on her face that told me she can't wait to go. Me? If I see a snake on my front porch, that's it for the day, and maybe for the mission. There's my second big secret. My fear of snakes is bigger than my faith.

2. Cleaning, Organizing, Going Through Stuff
I mostly recognize this for what it is--busy work. It will all be done again when I come back, and I'll probably dispose of even more stuff then because I expect I'll want even less stuff when I get back than I do now. I forced myself to work on the garage. The garage is a particular challenge because I don't know what to do with the stuff that's in it. I don't know what's important (while Dan was alive, I lived in fear of throwing the one screw away that was required to make the entire house operate properly). I can "file" recognizable tools like screwdrivers, hammers--and I found Dan's tape measure that was missing from the "shrine." Chris, Cole, if you take it out again and don't return it to its proper place, I'll break your fingers. I solved the problem of where to put things in the garage by my favorite method. I put everything I didn't know what to do with in a box.

3. Getting Shots
Shots are good, right? I figured a couple of days of painful arms would keep my mind off of the waiting. I've never had a painless tetanus shot in my life, until now.

4. Meeting with the Professionals
I'm done with the life and health insurance, meeting with the attorney and accountant this coming week, and have had my first visit with the bank. Honestly, it's like going to the dentist. Oh, yeah. I did that too.

5. Reading the Book of Mormon
I want to read the Book of Mormon from cover to cover before I leave. I started January 1 and I'm almost done with 2 Nephi. I need to read 10 pages a day, and so far I'm not so far off. I realize it's not meant to be speed-read, but I wanted it fresh in my mind, and I'm making note of the key missionary passages.

6. Practicing the Piano
I haven't played in years. I've felt for some time that I should be practicing; my "skills" might be needed. That will only apply if I'm sent somewhere where they've never seen a piano. In that case, my talent might be adequate.

7. Purposely Not Bugging Mandy
"Are we there yet?" is a phrase every parent detests. I'm trying not to inflict the same exasperation on Mandy by calling frequently to find out "how she is" (60% effaced, 2-3cm dilated, station +2(?) as of last Monday). She has another doctor's appointment this Monday.

8. Providing Jessie An Endless Target for Teasing
With apologies to any future companions I may have, "Mom, what if she douses herself in cheap perfume?" "What if she clips her toenails into a drinking cup?" I told her in the first case I guess I'd smell like cheap perfume and I had no earthly idea how to respond to the second, so I told her I would probably be the more challenging companion. When I told Jessie the big money is betting I'll be called to the Kearns Utah Spanish-speaking mission, her reply is she's betting it will be the Intercourse Pennsylvania Amish-speaking mission. Whatever.

9. Frenetic Details
I'm going to see how many times I can go to DI this week. Artwork needs framed; I need a truck so I can haul stuff to the dump. The load of gravel that was dumped in front of my house with the intention of putting it into one of the two enormous holes in my yard has been spread across half a block by the snowplow. Who's going to clean that up? Anybody want to go to lunch? Please, rescue me!

So there you have it. Don't panic, Children; I don't think they send single senior sisters to dangerous places. And Chris, there's a box of stuff in the garage that is calling your name. See you later--I've got grout to seal.