Virginia Tech...Our Lives After

I was getting back to blogging before the Virginia Tech tragedy occurred. Then it felt like I'd been kicked in the gut, I didn't want to write. A week later I felt better, but it had all been said. Still, I needed to address it to continue.

We're painfully aware--and saturated from media exposure--of the incident at VT. Though we live a half-hour from Tech and were indirectly affected, it was too close to home. We realized we were only a degree or two away in separation. Spencer's high school band teacher was friends with Ryan Clark, the RA who died. She was interviewed on Talk of the Nation on NPR from her office during band class. Emerson's soccer coach is a Tech student, he called off practice and went home. We have friends who work at Tech and others who know professors who lost students in the tragedy. Another friend knows a State Trooper who analyzed the crime scene. My client had a dental appointment in Blacksburg the day after the tragedy, the dental practice lost two patients. We were sad and overwhelmed and went through the motions of every day life.Homes and businesses in Floyd, particularly in Christiansburg and Blacksburg, have displayed orange and maroon ribbons, flowers and signs saying "Our thoughts and prayers are with Virginia Tech." Cars have VT flags waving proudly from their windows in support, an activity usually reserved for fall football season. It's impossible to go anywhere without a reminder.

My husband had a gig at Tech last week for an awards dinner for the School of Engineering, it had been on the calendar for months. Emerson asked if he had to go. We explained rationally that everything would be fine. Scott said he'd call when he arrived on campus and would call again before he left. I found myself anxiously awaiting his call. I knew logically that everything was okay and I was so proud of him that he was playing music for people that needed to heal. Yet, I found myself watching the clock and waiting for the darn phone to ring. Finally, he called. We told him to have a great gig. He reported that he saw some students throwing a frisbee, a 'normal' scene for a college campus, it made him feel better.

We're getting back to our busy lives. We may talk about what happened when we bump into people, but we'd prefer to not bring it up and that it became a bad memory. We're still in a bit of shock and disbelief. This will be with us for a long time, I'm afraid.

[As the Tech tragedy unfolded, we lost power due to high winds throughout our area. We were without power for 48 hours. It caught us by surprise, AEP had recently cut down trees that surrounded the lines on our farm and all the way up our road (we're near the end) giving us a false sense of security. With a battery-operated radio (and kerosene lamps), we listened to the news conferences from Tech.]

Oh, Those Ladybugs!

Oh, those ladybugs! They like white walls, they like to be warm and they swarm and collect by the hundreds. During the day they are everywhere; crawling up your coffee cup, landing on the rim of your glasses, the book you are reading, and on the table where you are paying bills. At night, they disappear--only to seemingly multiply and reappear the next day. They have infiltrated Floyd County, they have infiltrated my house. If you don't have them, then I must have your fair share. Feel free to come over and take some home by the bucket load.

Supposedly they are a beneficial insect, if we could just get them to go back outside. Certainly they came from that direction, right? Meanwhile, I do as a friend suggested. I vacuum the dead ladybug bodies and let the ones that are alive, live to crawl another day.

To read more about the wonderful MALB (Multicolored Asian Lady Beetles) go here.

Time Management & Rachael Ray

In the last two weeks--can't believe it's been almost that long since I've posted, again--there has been much going on. I attended two more meetings (three including one today--an all day required meeting) and written a Quarterly Report (for Medicaid) for my job. I'm struggling with time management or the lack thereof. I had bought a book called Getting Things Done by David Allen (think that's the author), but guess what--the Seller said it was shipped, but never notified me that they had credited my account. I never received the book. I bought folders to begin a system to get myself organized and ready to begin new things.

My husband's music store, The Pickin' Porch, is mentioned (complete with a photo of an interior wall, street and website address!) in an article in the April issue of Every Day with Rachael Ray magazine about The Crooked Road (Virginia's Heritage Music Trail). The article begins with Floyd--our little town is in the media yet again.

I have blog posts swirling in my head, one nature-related post has been scratched down in a notebook so I don't forget. As of tomorrow, I'm done with the big meetings and reports for at least another quarter. I can get back to my "normal" life, whatever normal is! I can begin blogging again and sow the peas and spinach in my garden, if it's not too late.