Life is full of ups and downs. How about you?
As a parent, you experience ups-and-downs constantly. "Go the f-ck to sleep," I thought wearily, holding my crying baby. "You are changed, fed and warm. What's your problem?"
Suddenly Claire collapsed asleep against my chest with her little head on my shoulder. Sweet melting closeness. Bliss.
Yesterday was the first balmy, sunny day this year. For once there was no freezing, strong wind blowing off mountain snowfields, typical of Spring.
In the afternoon, I jogged for three miles along the irrigation ditch. Skimmed lightly over the ground, feeling like a happy deer. Goldfinches flew from tree-to-tree in their bouncing flight. Jogging felt easy. Returned with a deep sense of well-being.
But this morning, I looked at the blazer I'm making and groaned with dread. Making a buttonhole is like making pancakes. The first one is a failure. They get better as you go.
Can't be too relaxed and slapdash. I want to be alert, inwardly steeled and confident.
You get one chance to get a buttonhole right. "Maybe I can just wear the jacket open," I thought. Quit stalling, Kathleen. You can do it.
What's a funny up-and-down experience you had?
8
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I remember being sat recovering in a psych ward, (two thousand and eight), with people l knew quite well by then, and watching the news thinking that the world outside was much madder than the reality that we were living in. Especially when I saw an ex friend rallying against the government’s Sorry to the Australian Aboriginal People; I couldn’t believe my eyes.
It certainly is a funny old world.
girlwithsmiles
Level 8
Apr 7, 2020
2
Curses! Can't get the buttonhole setting to work.
This often happens. It's tricky.
LiterateHiker
Level 9
Apr 7, 2020
0
There are no mountaintop views without deep, dark valleys, something I have learned in a life full of high highs and very low lows. Becoming a millionaire by the time I was 28 was a wild ride to the top of the mountain but by the time I was 30 I had lost it all, had my house burn to the ground and my first wife leave with the kids since the money was all gone. Since then, life has continued to amaze and surprise me and I have the love of an amazing woman who is my partner and best friend to share those highs and lows, thankfully mostly highs.
Surfpirate
Level 9
Apr 7, 2020
3
I will not go there with the sexual part at all, so aside from that, nowadays i only get downs when I see trump on tv or anywhere else, can't stand that lying POS any longer. My ups right now are very subdued, maybe I am too level headed or too logical, not sure, I'm happy when the day is uneventful.
Mofo1953
Level 9
Apr 7, 2020
1
This may be in the wrong section but
"what goes up a drain-pipe down but will not go down a drainpipe up? "
Old ones are the best. Ups cannot exist without downs and vice versa.
Mcflewster
Level 8
Apr 7, 2020
2
Umbrella? Life would be very dull without its heights and troughs!
@Marionville You have heard this one before!. Not that it is impossible to work out.
@Mcflewster Yes...I’d heard it before, but it’s not too hard to figure if you just think about it.
My ups are the almost daily walks in a local park, keeping distance from other park-goers, and careful not to touch anything with my bare hands. (I use a rubber glove for picking up litter as I walk.)
My downs are the Corona Virus, and worrying that the U.S. president might be re-elected in November.
BestWithoutGods
Level 8
Apr 7, 2020
5
It looks good, with or without buttons.
BestWithoutGods
Level 8
Apr 7, 2020
2
@BestWithoutGod
This jacket has one button. "The hardest part was deciding where to put the button," I told people.
Last September, I made this jacket in no-wale corduroy. You'd think experience would help.
@LiterateHiker You are a talented clothes-maker! Both jackets look great. 
Amazing! There must be some ups, but the downs are so pronounced.
BitFlipper
Level 8
Apr 7, 2020
3
The pancake analogy is perfect.
Mitch07102
Level 8
Apr 7, 2020
3
Thank you. My mind keeps me amused.
@LiterateHiker It keeps us amused a lot, too. Thank you for doing that so often for us.
What a nice thing to say!
I appreciate you.
@LiterateHiker I appreciate you, too, Kathleen.
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