My good deed for the...uhm, week...?

A very good friend of mine (the mother of Three and Eight) is away for the month.  I believe that when she returns, she will be better for having taken this time now.  Her family of creation, her husband and daughters, are being very supportive and encouraging.  There is an Extraordinary woman who has been mother-like to my friend over the past few years.  Extraordinary has come to Mississippi so that my friend can go do what she must do at this time.

Extraordinary has stepped in, continuing the girls' routine as much as possible to minimize the upset of my friend's absence.  She is homeschooling Eight.  She is continuing to make sure the girls get to their piano, their kindermusik, their playdates, etc.  She does their hair, teaches them, listens to their stories, encourages them, and oh so much more when it comes to childcare.  She also cleans, does laundry, cooks meals, and shops.  She makes sure that my friend's husband has food on the table when he gets home from work (omg?!?) and clean clothes PRESSED and ready to go for the next day.  She does their bible studies with them, answers a gazillion questions, and keeps her patience, her cheer, and her never-ending love strong.

(*note to self*    Don't let my guy meet Extraordinary, it would be disastrous for me, cuz he would never ever want me to return from my time away.  I'm just saying.)

Monday evenings these last few weeks, I've taken to stopping by my friend's for awhile.  Her girls are enthusiastic and always have lots to show me and share with me and have tons of kisses and huggles and sweet loves to give me.  So on this Monday, I had stopped as per usual, and Extraordinary seemed to be in pain.  I waited to the girls went to bed, and their daddy was back tucking them in and reading to them.  And then I asked Extraordinary for the lo-down.

See, Extraordinary is also a physical therapist and is a healer in many ways.  This area is not her home (she leaves in LA, the state not the city) and is without her usual network of co-healers who trade out services when in need of pain-relief.  Extraordinary explained that she has pinched a something nerve and pulled a sumsuch muscle and has been trying to work it out, but not overdo it.  Clearly her definition of overdo does not even come close to matching mine.

One thing lead to another and I took Extraordinary with me as my guest to my gym (which my guy has paid for a membership for me, for the past two years, go me!) where she was able to soak in the whirlpool, sit in the sauna, steam herself silly in the steamed-shower unit, and give herself a break.  When I was dropping her off, back to her temporary diggs-away-from-home, she thanked me and said that I was extraordinary.

i beg to differ.