Bright But Never Boring

Some of the best advice that I received early on in my adventure with autoimmune disease was given to me by another Sjoggie on the Sjogren's World forum. I wish I could remember exactly what she said, but the gist of it was this: Chronic illness can be boring. Don't let it be. There's so much interesting stuff going on everywhere and all you have to do is pay attention.

I've thought about her comment more than once over the past month as I've been spending time recuperating from my pneumonia adventure. Lots and lots of time, actually. Yep. Hours and hours and hours.....

Lucky for me, even though John and I are empty-nesters, our kids and friends continue to provide entertainment galore, and I have a front-row seat for it all. I may have been house-bound lately but I have not been bored. Concerned, yes. Interested, definitely. But not bored.

The latest round of amusement is a real goodie. My son, as I've mentioned previously, loves a project. Specifically big big projects that ideally involve either fireworks exploding or at the very least miles of flashing lights. You've seen the commercials at Christmastime which have homes covered with lights that flash in sync to Christmas music? That house that is so obnoxiously brilliant and loud that it is mentioned in newspaper articles and discussed venomously by homeowner associations? One of those homes that everyone loves to look at on YouTube but nobody wants to live next to?



Yes. It's true. If son and husband finish their latest project, our quiet, unassuming home on a quiet little street will be THAT house.

Sigh.

In their defense, this plan was hatched with the consent and knowledge of our neighbors. Actually, I was a little surprised when a couple of them offered their homes as extensions of the project. As in an illuminated and motorized Rudolph on a zip line crossing the road.

Since the plan began during one of our neighborhood New Year's Eve parties, I was hopeful that perhaps the appeal of this project would fade as the year went on, but realized in early February that would not be the case when an entire palate - yes, palate - of lights was delivered to our garage. My son enthused, "This is a GREAT time to buy these things! All on clearance!"

Hoo boy.

This weekend, lengths of pvc pipe began to be implemented in the research and discovery phase. Scissor lifts were discussed.

I definitely will not be bored this fall and winter.