Dragonflies, Butterflies & Lady Bugs

Get-It-Done

I have been seized by a fit of get-it-done. I am so behind in correspondence, in thank-you cards, in getting the taxes filed, cleaning the house, researching the car, the list goes on. The house isn't that bad, actually, but the rest of it is woefully late. And we're preparing to donate a lot of stuff to a family up in Chicago who lost everything in an apartment fire. We were going to donate it anyway, but it's nice to donate it to someone who's part of our extended community.

In addition to getting my taxes filed, I'm compiling the list of people for thank you cards. It's overwhelming!

I am humbled by the number of people who made a donation to one (or more!) of the charities we suggested. Just looking back through all the cards to get names and addresses has reminded me of the love and support we received following Jasmine's death. We are very lucky to be surrounded by such a great -- and far-reaching -- community of friends and family. Please know that my tardiness in getting these cards out is no way a reflection of the magnitude of our appreciation!

The car search continues on. I don't know if we'll do any test drives today, but so far, the cars are ranked as follows:

Toyota Matrix
Ford Focus
Hyundai Elantra GT
Pontiac Vibe

We still have to test drive a Honda Civic and a Nissan Sentra, and whatever else Jeff decides we need to drive before we can make a decision. It will be amusing if we end up with the first car we drove after all this, but I guess we'll at least be able to say we really checked out the market.

Gabrielle has made up with her friend. I guess it came out of the blue. Yesterday M. approached her at school and asked if they could be friends again. I asked Gab if she ever found out what she did to provoke this, but she said no and didn't seem inclined to pursue it. So goes the life of an eight-year-old.

We are so proud of how she's coping with Jasmine's death. I know it is incredibly hard for her, and lonely. She deeply misses Jasmine, and yet, she still smiles every day, plays with Nina and is doing a great job getting back into the groove. Sure, she has her moments of grief or the nanosecond mood change, but she probably comes by the latter naturally anyway. (I hope I got that reference right. I am forever confused by which is the former and which is the latter. I meant she came by her moodiness naturally.)

And while on the subject of kids and coping, as I read through the cards from children at Oakland Elementary, I was impressed with how the school handled the process. No calling out the grief counselor brigade. They just encouraged the kids to write letters and cards. Some of these came from the classroom, but several came from homes, which means the parents were involved in helping their children through this. I think that's awesome. I learned about Jasmine while reading through the notes and cards. She was a great friend and not afraid to be herself. I saw this at home, yes, but it's good to know she took it wherever she went.

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