Life will send your signals as you go.  Wake-up calls and signs.  Being a very superstitious Italian, I believe in seeing the signs.  This week, I noticed there were more of them than usual.  Some made me smile, some made me cry.  I think these happen for a reason at random times in our lives.  I don’t know why.  Here are some of the lessons and signs I noticed this week. Tell me which ones you identify with.

1. As my children have grown and I see them begin to ‘leave’ and I feel that twinge of loss.  They need supervision still, but the stakes are higher.  It’s not swinging too high on the jungle gym, it’s driving  a car or rowing a scull. Chip still requires a great deal of supervision so I guess it all works out.
2. I removed the boot from my right foot.  It feels pretty good and I think I can now add Orthopedic Doctor to my other titles of Chef, Limo Driver, Laundress and landscaper.
3. Izzy went to the groomer this week and Arlene is the person who turned us on to Pugs.  She herself has two, Fannie and Ollie. I noticed a picture of Fannie sitting on her seat on the boat and mentioned it to Arlene.  She said it was a memorial.  I hesitated for a minute and then realized what she said.  I just cried and hugged her.  Losing a pet is hard and unless you have been through it, you’re thinking, “really?” So what would any good Italian do? Bake. When I picked Izzy up, I delivered warm and gooey fudge brownies.  Food heals most aches.
4. My husband ordered a new pair of shoes. They arrived yesterday and remained at the front door.  The box unopened. He brought the box up stairs, still unopened.  I said, “Chip, didn’t you look at the shoes?” He said he would wait till the weekend. WHAT?  When I know I have new shoes coming, I AM WAITING for Pete, the UPS man.  Hmm.
5. Chip still does not know my social security number.  BUT, he knows my favorite flower, how I like my coffee (and that is complicated) and knows how to make the perfect key lime martini when he sees ‘that look’ on my face. I don’t ignore the sign that I have a good husband.
6. Today I have my annual breast MRI.  Bob is the technician and I can only get through with Bob.  At least at face value, Bob seems to get life lessons and people.  He gets me. He is patient and kind and knows how hard it is for me to do this.  Now add Chip to this equation.  After I take 4 valium and a Xanax,  he will pour me into the car and sit on a stool, hold my hand, and talk me through it. I am not embarrassed to admit this because many people have told me that it helps to know other people feel like this. Weakness may be a weakness to you, but a strength to someone else.
7. Ladies only: All I am going to say is  bikini wax. If you have done this, I need say no more.  That and I have never had someone look that closely there except my husband and my Gynecologist.
8. The Jenny Craig diet does not allow for alcohol consumption.  I have lost 9.8 pounds and have come to love and respect mathematical calculations to determine how much wine can I swap for a tossed green salad with dressing.  It was worth it.
9. That being said, nothing screams “stay on that diet” like shopping for  bathing suit.  Never, EVER go into the dressing room that has the three sided mirror.  No one should see that.
10. With Father’s Day coming this week, I noticed that it is nowhere near as big an event as Mother’s Day. The commercials and ads are fewer and the decisions seem easier: Golf balls or Power tools? Dinner of chicken wings or Pasta/Pizza? Slippers or sneakers?  Hugs or kisses? BOTH.
11. A friend/acquaintance lost her husband this week, by his own hand.  She is a vibrant soul and wonderful woman. Kind and funny.  She found him and as I listened to the story unfold, I thought how will she recover from that?  How will she raise her child and move on?  I don’t know but I do find that this shows that you don’t know what goes on in people’s lives.  We don’t live in their homes; we don’t always see a sign.  Could we look a little closer, listen a little more attentively? My heart goes out to her and her family.

So on this Friday the 13th,  look for the signs, accept that wake-up call and look for the lessons that are sometimes hard to see and accept.