Let me learn from where I have been

There's nothing like a good friend.
I have spent the last two days in the company of one of my dearest friends.
I remember meeting this girl several years ago at ULM and it didn't take long for us to figure out that we were the same brand of strange. Honestly, MySpace is really the matchmaker. She kept this "blog" called "Confessions of a potentially crazy person" (I think that is correct). Anyway, after reading several of those entries I decided she was ok to befriend. Her crazy was worthy.
We are now much wiser, well sort of, and we don't do the things we used to. In fact, we rarely see each other at all except for the occasional skype date to discuss a book study we are currently doing. She is also one of my two faithful blog readers so I know she will see every word of this.
I am currently plagued with some backwards cold that invaded my throat and lungs before it tipped me off with sinus drainage so I feel kinda crummy. That was the only problem I experience in the past 2 days.
We didn't do many activities except a birthday party for Jesus yesterday and going to the hobbit today.
We did however get to spend lots of time in each others company which can be the more precious than "doing things."
You see, she gets me and I get her. Often times we can't find many people who do and it's so comforting to just be able to be. I don't have to try around her. I was quite grumpy for the majority of the morning and she didn't bat an eye except to offer me some homeopathy which I readily accepted. I got to spend time with her two little gingers of whom I am very fond. I only just got to know the baby and she's as sweet as her big brother who has taken to calling me Aunt Donna instead of Madonna...I'll take it as he seems fairly fond of me and wanted me to play with him while I was there and asked if I was spending the night again. lol
We got to talk about things that have been going on with me. I got to open up about stuff that I don't really share with anyone and she offered no judgement to me and offered her own stories to prove to me that there would be no judging. Her stories may actually help me as I have similar issues I would like to resolve. She listened to this long saga I have and her thoughts on it were similar to my thoughts which made me feel less like I was crazy. I felt justified, unfortunately there is no way to know if our theories are right so I will try not to dwell on them, though I have not done a good job of that tonight.
It was just so good to see her. It has been the best part of my trip as spending  time with my parents is quite difficult. Aging parents are hard to deal with for everyone, but even harder when you are not in good health and they won't let go of taking care of you long enough for you to take care of them. It is also very difficult to deal with a grumpy inconsiderate person who requires to be waited on hand and foot for everything but doesn't listen to anything.
Christmas day was probably the worse Christmas I have ever had. Partially because I came home fro 10:30am Mass and slept till 5. I blame my tiredness on my parents for being loud till 3:30 and my father for having a 5:30am alarm and a 7:15am alarm...for no reason mind you, he has NOTHING to do. We didn't have a proper Christmas dinner which is a big deal because that's our family time, cooking in the kitchen and eating it. He even refused to buy crescent rolls. I just don't know how to deal with aging parents and no one my age has these issues except for maybe my cousins who just lost their mom. But my uncle is a gentle soul, not like my dad. He's awful. My mom is wonderful but I see the bitterness taking over. She yells and gets angry over the smallest things. She is confused easily and doesn't listen well. Their house is a nightmare. And I might as well be a helpless infant, I'm not much older or intelligent in their eyes. So while I was dying to come home, I knew after two days I would be ready to leave. And I hate this feeling.

So really spending time with my loving prayerful friend really made me feel a bit better and less miserable. I mean I had Christmas with my family, with my Church family  and I got to sing and get paid for it. I should not have anything to complain about, yet I do. Something needs to change in my life to bring back the optimism and the spirit I used to have. Cuz right now I just want to give sometimes...

I love you so much Mel thanks to you &B for a restful, happy 2 days, it's been much too long.
"Keep the earth below my feet
For all my sweat, my blood runs weak
Let me learn from where I've been
Keep my eyes to serve, my hands to learn"