World Turning

It's time to come back out of hiding and face my new life. Oh Lord why can't things just stay the SAME for longer than two years anymore?

Wait...am I complaining about my lot in life? Never may that happen! (Bonus points to anyone who knows where that phrase came from) I'm not COMPLAINING I'm just EXPLAINING.

When I moved to Danville I did not know two important things; that the neighborhood really was THAT BAD and that my friend who had the apartment was bipolar. Don't get me wrong, I loved the space despite the bad wiring, bats and other creepy crawlies and it being upstairs, which to my unending surprise kept a lot of people from visiting me. Who knew so many people can't manage one flight of stairs? That still boggles my mind.

Anywayssssssssssssssssss

I knew something was wrong with my landlord/friend within days but I chose to ignore it seeings how I spent 16+ months in a little pink room at my daughter's house sharing a bathroom with 4 other people. Having your own bathroom goes a long way in overlooking bad behaviors. But slowly, surely it became glaringly obvious that this was not going to be something I could disregard forever. Other people started dropping hints about her mental state and I had to make a choice to stand my ground or run. Life lesson-standing your ground is easy when you have no money to run.

The neighborhood had it's ups and downs then took a turn for the worse this past summer. Gunfire, unexplained explosions, people screaming in the street at 2AM, rap music booming from cars day and night, well you get the picture. I was living in the ghetto.

Ghetto +crazy=stress

I wanted to leave, I really did but I had some additional health concerns and my doctor was only a few blocks away. My family begged me to move, my friends not so subtly hinted it was time to MOVE!!!!! I was torn over wanting out so bad and leaving my friend there alone in her unsteady mental state- she had told several others how afraid she was to be there and how glad she was that I was around.

All for naught- I was forced out at the worst possible time for me and my business hopes. Said bipolar so-called friend decided to sell her other house and she thereby needed my apartment to store her extra furniture. She gave me like one week notice- yeah right- try again- someone must have told her to settle down coz she extended it to Nov 23. So instead of focusing on my domino art business I got to look around for a place to live none of which I could afford so I moved in with a childhood friend and put all my stuff in storage because this ain't happening again. I told MsCrazy she was NOT ALLOWED to complain to anyone about being scared in that big old house in the GHETTO all by her lonesome.

Now I'm back in the town where I graduated high school. It's ok but dang it I miss having the library right down the street and going to Royal Donut for supper.

Watch this video why don't ya?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NL84jPY829I

Fleetwood Mac – World Turning Lyrics

Everybody's trying to say I'm wrong
I just wanna be back where I belong

World turning
I gotta get my feet back on the ground
World turning
Everybody's got me down

Maybe I'm wrong but who's to say what's right
I need somebody to help me through the night

World turning
I gotta get my feet back on the ground
World turning
Everybody's got me down

Maybe I'm wrong but who's to say what's right
I need somebody to help me through the night

World turning
I gotta get my feet back on the ground
World turning
Everybody's got me down

Turnin', everybody's got me down
World turning
Everybody's got me down

Let me roll

Songwriters: MCVIE, CHRISTINE / BUCKINGHAM, LINDSEY

The NIGHT of the BAT

Imagine if you will a cool rainy night in May. The sounds of a small city, amplified by the damp air, drifting through your open window. Sleep evades you until well after the Witching Hour. You finally drift off but awaken at 2:46 AM hungry and in need of a pee. Yogurt, potty and back to bed. Thankfully sleep visits quickly this time.

4:09 AM- you awake again , not sure why. Suddenly something whizzes by your face! You watch in horror as a small fluttering figure circles the room, barely visible in the gloom, and you remember the words of your friend..."HERE THERE BE BATS!"

We were talking about mosquitoes when the subject came up. "No mosquitoes here, the bats keep them down and oh ,by the way, they get into the house. Is that going to be a problem for you?" Wait...what?

I guess I really didn't believe her. I had never seen a bat in a house (I did see one in a Catholic Church once during a funeral but that's another story). She even showed me THE BAT NET once while we were watching Dancing With the Stars. THE BAT NET is a large fishing net she uses to capture the naughty the naughty bats that dare come in. She releases them back into the wilds here in beautiful Danville IL (ha!) so they can continue to keep us fairly mosquito free.

 I watched the bat fly around and around until it spiraled into the ceiling fan and was thrown with a thud against the closet door.

"Good- I hope it stays down."

It didn't.

It fluttered and flopped and resumed it's endless circling, coming way too close to me for comfort. I knew I should just get up and go get THE BAT NET but being the little girl that I am I just laid there and quietly FREAKED OUT. I covered up completely with the sheet and Grandma Inez's yellow quilt and promptly had a hot flash. Great, terrific, wonderful. I waited it out then got chilled from the evaporating sweat. Lovely, just freaking perfect.The bat now seemed to be trying to escape, (how did you get in here anyway? I need to know!!) and was making a racket louder than would allow me to ever get back to sleep. I put a pillow over my head to try to drown out the noise because I didn't want to expose my arm long enough to reach for the ear plugs on the nightstand. It didn't help. I braved exposure long enough to turn the window fan on, half for the white noise and half in hopes it would frighten the creature downstairs. I got so cold I had to sit up and find the other quilt. I had just settled back down when....

SILENCE! NO BAT NOISES!

OK where is it? Kitchen, stairway, bathroom? Oh crap what if it's in the bathroom? I NEED TO PEE AGAIN!

15 more agonizing minutes, no BAT NOISES. Oh hell, I might as well get up. No sense in peeing the bed and having to deal with that mess.. The sun is coming up and I can see pretty well but I flipped the bathroom light on anyway and peered inside. NO BAT- YAY!

Did my thing and crept into the kitchen to make coffee- NO BAT YAY!

remembered I was cold and went to get my robe from off the back of the bedroom door and THERE IT WAS hanging in the corner...silent...motionless...UGLY!!!!

It's still there. I'm too exhausted to go o get THE BAT NET.