It was a day of directions.  Wrong directions, needing directions, being shown the right directions, and giving directions.

It started out in the gym.  My friend Clara and I go to the gym together every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.  Before working out on the machines, we always walk several laps on the inside track.  The track traffic always moves counter-clockwise.  We are used to walking that direction.

We had to change things up this week and exercised today.  Today was Tuesday.  On Tuesdays and Thursdays, the track traffic goes clockwise.  I’m serious!  The gym actually puts up signs to mark which way to go!  For Clara and I it felt awkward.  It didn’t feel right.  As we rounded the corners, our bodies wanted to go one way and we had to forcefully lean the other.  We didn’t like going in that direction!

Then Clara gives me this picture she tore out of a magazine.  It was a seasonal centerpiece made with ACORNS!  (She has been reading my blogs.)  With my surplus, she thought I would love to make this lovely thing with a hurricane lamp and a candle inside with acorns lovingly filling the space between the outer glass and the inner candle.  It was pretty.  When I dropped Clara off at her house, I told her I would go home and gather nuts!

I went home and (hoping my neighbors weren’t looking) got out the snow shovel and a leaf rake.  I took big swishing swipes with the rake in an attempt to pull the acorns together.  Then I tried shoveling them in a pile.  Finally, I started picking them up by hand (I REALLY hoped the neighbors weren’t looking) and put them in a bowl.  Hurriedly, I put everything back in the garage and took my bowl of acorns in the house.

Then I washed those acorns!  With all that I had to do today, there I was with a colander of nuts in my sink, rinsing them off.

Then I put the candle in the hurricane lamp and started dropping in the acorns.  I had picked up a few pretty little leaves with the acorns, and was dropping those in as well.  Then I realized how stupid this was – I mean I was putting nuts and dried leaves around a CANDLE.  I envisioned the whole thing going up in blazes!  This wasn’t right.  I looked again at the picture Clara gave me and realized that the perfect, shiny, identical, unblemished acorns were probably fake acorns!  The picture did not include directions!

But since I’ve spoken so much about acorns lately, I thought I’d take a picture of my creation for you to see any ways.  It looks

kinda cute and Autumn-y.  I don’t think I’ll light the candle again though!

So then my day moved onto staffing issues for Amanda.  I called the staffing agency to remind them that we were planning on an October 1st moving day and I had not heard about any staff people yet.  I was told “Oh we got staff for her, we just need to get together with you to be trained by you on what they’re supposed to do.”  Hmmmmm.

Next phone call was to Amanda’s case worker.  Basically, I asked her “Huh????”  She said “No, no, no.  We aren’t training them until after you interview them and see if you like the staff they found for you.”  THANK YOU!  That sounded like the right sequence of events here.  I was so glad I spoke to her and got the right directions on how to proceed!

Now it was getting to be late afternoon.  As I was trying to get things done and dinner started, my mother (bless her heart) sent me an email at how she couldn’t figure out how to read her granddaughter’s blog and she had messed things all up with passwords and user names.  Now I think it’s super cool that my folks actually have a computer and know how to email and google and such.  But, it’s usually Ted that helps them sort out computer issues.  Ted was busy.  But this time, I thought I could help her puzzle through it.  It took longer than I planned, and it was challenging trying to get her to hold the phone to her ear while typing on the computer, but we did it and got all things running smoothly!  This time, I was giving directions!

From walking in the wrong direction, lacking directions, receiving proper direction, and then giving directions, I feel like I have made progress today in no direction at all!  In fact I am spinning and I am tired.

I hope you all have a tomorrow with clear directions!

just Laurel

Proverbs 4:11  I instruct you in the way of wisdom and lead you along straight paths.