Two Weeks and Counting...

Two weeks seems to be the going theme 'round these parts. For two weeks now, we've had an addition to the family (supposedly temporary)... Her given name was Mary. I could go into the ironies of having a female yellow lab named after the mother of a pretty popular man-god hybrid (should I ask her for her paw-tograph?), but we've given to calling her Large Marge. In another strange twist of fate, this was also the nickname of our junior high bus driver...

Two weeks is also the amount of time it takes for a test to come back on whether Monsters have indeed invaded a human body! You'd think with all the hype around "We have the best health care system!" and "We spend tons more money on health care!" there would be a little machine you would just hook up to and --Badda-bing badda boom!--you know if you have a Monster or not. But there are more important things, you know, than making sure people don't die needlessly: There's the whole "gay marriage" issue, the "Save the fetal tissue!" movement, not to mention the "The bible is a science book!" mania. One wonders about the amount of good that could happen if these people actually tried to use this passion for things like feeding the orphans, the widows, the needy and poor as opposed to just crying about how against things all the time--you know, things their man-god hybrid seemed so all-about back in the day...

Two weeks is also the amount of time it takes from the time your company decides to stop its 401(k) program until you get your check...

Two weeks...

Time is a funny thing, isn't it? It could be an illusion, sure, but my nifty digital alarm clock surely doesn't think so, and my boss would be quite upset if that was a reason I was late, wouldn't he? Never mind the loss of my 401(k), something about arriving late and trying "Time is an illusion, sir" doesn't seem feasible. I'd be out a lot more money than a few months of 4% deferment, I can guarantee that!

Regardless, time also allows us to take a step back, breathe a little breath, and look for the silver lining (does anyone else wonder why it isn't a "gold lining"?). Things seem a bit better after a few days, and hope is allowed once again to enter through the mind's eye. It could be because two dogs are more fun than one... It could be because a doctor doesn't seem as worried as you think he would be given other circumstances. It could be--just maybe--that life must go on. Time must go on. The bill collectors don't stop calling just because you're worried about tomorrow, let alone two weeks from now. Large Marge and Hawthorne still need fed, still need to go outside, still need to be shown that they, too, are an important part of life.

Sure, bad things could still happen. In two weeks, this blog may have a completely different tone, depending on what is found out about the Monster. In two weeks, the world could end, Bush could drop a nuke on Iran, or poodles could take over the world... Who's to say?

I'll let you know in two weeks...

(Not to worry--I'm sure I'll have much more to say until then...)