Well, I'm sure there are many, but there is one major thing to be thankful for today - that my family is happy and healthy for the most part. Today I found out that the nephew of someone married into my family could have a brain tumor -- we're talking about a young child who is maybe about 6 years old. He's done nothing in his life to deserve this, not that anyone ever does deserve to have something like this happen to them in the first place. He hasn't been able to do anything except be a kid. I'm not sure about the circumstances or what led them to take him to the doctor's in the first place. He was flown to a hospital in a major city, where they have begun referring to it as a "mass" rather than a tumor and will undergo surgery tomorrow -- or so I have read through some random Facebook postings from the member of my family related to this young boy.
The more I think about it, the more I think back to my niece Brooke who was only with us for six days before her parents had to let her go. I was there holding that child's hand when she went to be with God, and it was one of the hardest days of my entire life. Even now it's still bringing tears to my eyes over 4 years later. But I am also eternally grateful to have 3 other very strong, healthy nieces who are constantly giving their parents a run for their money. They are the light of my life, even though I don't get to see them nearly as often as I'd like. They laugh and they play soccer and they dance and they drive their parents crazy, just as all young kids their age should.
I can only pray for this young boy now and hope for the best. He hasn't done, nor will he ever do, anything to deserve what he's going through right now. My thoughts and prayers are with him, his parents and his entire family, and I hope for the best outcome that they can possibly have. In the meantime I'll picture my nieces laughing and playing and napping and watching DVDs and all those other wonderful things that kids their age should be doing. And that's what I am thankful for today.
Friday, July 30, 2010
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Not sure what to do with myself ....
After working about 5 out of 7 days at Job #2 for the past 2 weeks, this week I only worked on Sunday, Tuesday and again on Saturday. Sadly having all of this free time makes me wonder what to do with myself. I baked one night -- cupcakes and brownies to treat my teammates at Job #1 since it's been a rather stressful few weeks and will probably continue that way for a while. And there are plenty of things I could be doing - the dishes in the dishwasher need put away so I can refill it with the pile starting in the sink. The carpet is in desperate need of a good vaccuum. And there is a pile of clothes on the bedroom floor that could be put away, although to my credit, it is about half the size that it was about a week ago (I ran out of clean unwrinkled things to wear so I HAD to do it). And I also have plenty of emails to catch up on, whether it's the ones that I get and all I have to do is click on them to earn points, or just replying to people asking me how things are going.
Looking forward to Project Runway tonight, although I'm not sure about this whole 90-minute episode thing. I'm not sure my attention span is that long. And I can't really think of anything witty to say right now either, so I'm feeling rather lame. So I'm going to try to come up with my five things to be thankful for today.
1 - Having nothing to do. Although again I do have tons of things I COULD be doing, but nothing that I HAVE to do. It's a strange feeling.
2 - Early morning wake-up calls. It's so nice to have a pleasant voice from someone you love telling you good morning and apologizing for calling you so early, even if you really don't care because you are just so happy to hear that voice.
3 - Good sleeping weather. It's a relief to turn off the air conditioning and open up the windows and not spend half the night tossing and turning from the heat and humidity.
4 - New purses! Ordered myself a Harvey's Seatbelt Bag for my birthday. It arrived yesterday and everything was promptly transferred to the new bag. Fighting the urge to buy the next one, but I really can't justify spending that much money on a purse at the moment. Maybe next week :-).
5 - Wasting the evening watching movies on TV that I haven't seen yet. Lifetime is running a lovely marathon of "No Reservations" and "Because I Said So" prior to the premier of the new season of Project Runway. Nothing like mindless TV to fill up the hours!
Until the next time, peace out, peeps.
Looking forward to Project Runway tonight, although I'm not sure about this whole 90-minute episode thing. I'm not sure my attention span is that long. And I can't really think of anything witty to say right now either, so I'm feeling rather lame. So I'm going to try to come up with my five things to be thankful for today.
1 - Having nothing to do. Although again I do have tons of things I COULD be doing, but nothing that I HAVE to do. It's a strange feeling.
2 - Early morning wake-up calls. It's so nice to have a pleasant voice from someone you love telling you good morning and apologizing for calling you so early, even if you really don't care because you are just so happy to hear that voice.
3 - Good sleeping weather. It's a relief to turn off the air conditioning and open up the windows and not spend half the night tossing and turning from the heat and humidity.
4 - New purses! Ordered myself a Harvey's Seatbelt Bag for my birthday. It arrived yesterday and everything was promptly transferred to the new bag. Fighting the urge to buy the next one, but I really can't justify spending that much money on a purse at the moment. Maybe next week :-).
5 - Wasting the evening watching movies on TV that I haven't seen yet. Lifetime is running a lovely marathon of "No Reservations" and "Because I Said So" prior to the premier of the new season of Project Runway. Nothing like mindless TV to fill up the hours!
Until the next time, peace out, peeps.
Sunday, July 18, 2010
Life and all its craziness
Work has gotten the best of me this week. After only being scheduled at Job #2 on Sunday and Friday, I ended up there every day except for Monday. And Job #1 is slightly insane due to staffing levels. Fixes are on the way, but it's going to be rather painful for everyone in the meantime. But I'm looking forward to my new temporary adventure, even if it's been delayed a few weeks.
I'm not scheduled to work this weekend, so I've had two full days to myself. I cancelled my volunteer shift at the zoo just because I have so many other things I need to deal with - grocery shopping, a trip to the pet store to restock on cat food, cleaning the blasted apartment. And I work at Job #2 four out of the next five days as well, so I need to at least try to make a dent. But so far today has been spent on Facebook and now blogging. But I have a list and shortly I hope to start checking things off that list. At least I did get the dishwasher emptied out so I can start filling it all over again.
Yesterday I was having one of those slightly resentful days where I hate having to do everything by myself. Carrying in the groceries and other assundries took 3 trips, which is even worse when it's 90 degrees outside. Then I had to put the new grill together by myself - granted it's a $25 portable one from Target so it didn't take much, but that's not the point. And there is a sink full of dishes - most of which will get dumped into the dishwasher whether they are dish washer safe or not - that need to be dealt with. I've been doing this for 14 years now and it officially sucks. Or maybe it's the idea that someday, hopefully sooner rather than later, I won't HAVE to do it by myself. It's been over a year since William was here, and granted he was only here for about a month, but it was a nice change of pace to not have to do everything by myself all of the time. There is so much work to do between now and then, but hopefully time will go quickly and soon I'll be adjusting to a new way of life.
I'm not scheduled to work this weekend, so I've had two full days to myself. I cancelled my volunteer shift at the zoo just because I have so many other things I need to deal with - grocery shopping, a trip to the pet store to restock on cat food, cleaning the blasted apartment. And I work at Job #2 four out of the next five days as well, so I need to at least try to make a dent. But so far today has been spent on Facebook and now blogging. But I have a list and shortly I hope to start checking things off that list. At least I did get the dishwasher emptied out so I can start filling it all over again.
Yesterday I was having one of those slightly resentful days where I hate having to do everything by myself. Carrying in the groceries and other assundries took 3 trips, which is even worse when it's 90 degrees outside. Then I had to put the new grill together by myself - granted it's a $25 portable one from Target so it didn't take much, but that's not the point. And there is a sink full of dishes - most of which will get dumped into the dishwasher whether they are dish washer safe or not - that need to be dealt with. I've been doing this for 14 years now and it officially sucks. Or maybe it's the idea that someday, hopefully sooner rather than later, I won't HAVE to do it by myself. It's been over a year since William was here, and granted he was only here for about a month, but it was a nice change of pace to not have to do everything by myself all of the time. There is so much work to do between now and then, but hopefully time will go quickly and soon I'll be adjusting to a new way of life.
Saturday, July 10, 2010
So what's up today?
I haven't been scheduled to work for several Saturdays in a row now and I'm certainly not complaining! I'm struggling to fit in all of my volunteer hours at the zoo this year due to working two jobs, so this is giving me a good chance to try to catch up on some of that. I spent a lovely, yet extremely HOT, evening this past Wednesday at the zoo for Zoo Friends night. I hung out with my boys, Bebac and Mokolo, who were well behaved, mostly because it was too darn hot to do anything, and caught up with some friends I haven't seen in a while. It was also nice to have a lovely, intelligent, coversation with an older couple about the plight of gorillas and our two boys. I love those two boys dearly and it was a pleasure having an adult conversation about them with people who truly cared.
This week also started a new, yet old, adventure, moving back into a faux management role while my boss is on maternity leave. I had the opportunity to start easing back into that role after having been a manager years ago, and while it is very different this time around due to an evolving department, some things still feel comfortably the same. I'm looking forward to the change of pace and getting a second opportunity to do something that I feel like I failed at miserably the first time around. It's a clean slate and I'm confident that I can fill the shoes that I'm being asked to fill.
What do I have to be thankful for today? Let's see ...
1 - Spending time in a non-work setting with coworkers at Carrie's baby shower. That was a lot of fun despite the fact that at moments I sometimes don't feel like I always fit in with the people I work with anymore. It was nice being able to celebrate new life and hopefully someday I will be on the receiving end of that as well.
2 - Being able to turn off the air conditioning and open the windows. I hate having the apartment all closed up and it seems like the ants and spiders try to find refuge anytime you close the place up to turn on the A/C for more than 2 days in a row. Also makes for a much more pleasant sleep.
3 - Sheetz - not only do they normally drive down gas prices in the areas where they are located, they have a kick-butt Made-To-Order food selection/espresso bar.
4 - Not spending my entire weekend working. It's nice to have a weekend day off where you get to feel like you can do what you want to do, when you want to do it.
5 - Harry Potter movies. I'm looking forward to the final two but I will be sad when it's over.
Today I had a very old friend ask me how I met William as she said she was sure it would be an interesting story to tell. I'm still amazed each day at how our relationship has progressed and that we have managed to stay strong dispite the distance between us. I feel fortunate every day to have found him and I'm sure that someday soon the struggles we have endured will be over and we will be a stronger couple for it. That day can't come soon enough for me.
Night, peeps.
This week also started a new, yet old, adventure, moving back into a faux management role while my boss is on maternity leave. I had the opportunity to start easing back into that role after having been a manager years ago, and while it is very different this time around due to an evolving department, some things still feel comfortably the same. I'm looking forward to the change of pace and getting a second opportunity to do something that I feel like I failed at miserably the first time around. It's a clean slate and I'm confident that I can fill the shoes that I'm being asked to fill.
What do I have to be thankful for today? Let's see ...
1 - Spending time in a non-work setting with coworkers at Carrie's baby shower. That was a lot of fun despite the fact that at moments I sometimes don't feel like I always fit in with the people I work with anymore. It was nice being able to celebrate new life and hopefully someday I will be on the receiving end of that as well.
2 - Being able to turn off the air conditioning and open the windows. I hate having the apartment all closed up and it seems like the ants and spiders try to find refuge anytime you close the place up to turn on the A/C for more than 2 days in a row. Also makes for a much more pleasant sleep.
3 - Sheetz - not only do they normally drive down gas prices in the areas where they are located, they have a kick-butt Made-To-Order food selection/espresso bar.
4 - Not spending my entire weekend working. It's nice to have a weekend day off where you get to feel like you can do what you want to do, when you want to do it.
5 - Harry Potter movies. I'm looking forward to the final two but I will be sad when it's over.
Today I had a very old friend ask me how I met William as she said she was sure it would be an interesting story to tell. I'm still amazed each day at how our relationship has progressed and that we have managed to stay strong dispite the distance between us. I feel fortunate every day to have found him and I'm sure that someday soon the struggles we have endured will be over and we will be a stronger couple for it. That day can't come soon enough for me.
Night, peeps.
Monday, July 5, 2010
It's been a lovely holiday weekend
And tomorrow we all return to the daily grind. So before I tuck myself under the covers in my lovely air conditioned apartment, I want to reflect on those 5 things to be thankful for today.
1 - Grandad smiling and laughing with me. It gives me a glimmer of hope that he actually remembers who I am sometimes.
2 - Air conditioning. Seriously ... just mentioning it above doesn't give it enough credit on 95 degree days.
3 - Sunscreen, cause without it I would have turned into a lobster on Sunday.
4 - Reality TV - makes my life look normal.
5 - A text message just as I'm going to bed. You can never have too many of those.
1 - Grandad smiling and laughing with me. It gives me a glimmer of hope that he actually remembers who I am sometimes.
2 - Air conditioning. Seriously ... just mentioning it above doesn't give it enough credit on 95 degree days.
3 - Sunscreen, cause without it I would have turned into a lobster on Sunday.
4 - Reality TV - makes my life look normal.
5 - A text message just as I'm going to bed. You can never have too many of those.
Thursday, July 1, 2010
Today was one of those days ...
where I could find a million things to complain about if I wanted to and it wouldn't take much thought. But I'm not going to. I'm going to think long and hard about those 5 things that I promised I was going to reflect on every day.
1 - I think that my neighbor's cat likes me more than she likes her owners. Each day when she's outside, she runs to greet me when I come home from work, meowing and curling around my feet. Do my shoes smell like cat food?
2 - Brisk pre-dinner walks around the neighborhood with my iPod blaring in my ears. Definitely helps clear the mind after one of those days.
3 - My wedding dress, even when I have no idea when I'll actually get to wear it.
4 - Knowing the guy that has other people going "OMG, who IS that??"
5 - Really not caring if Lebron stays or goes. I've been over it for like a year now. All these people that are coming in from New York, New Jersey, Chicago, LA, whatever, are just causing traffic jams in downtown Cleveland. Oh wait, I guess that would actually be one of those things I could find to complain about today. Oh well -- 4 outta 5 ain't bad.
I'm enjoying these days when I can come home from work and it's not so stinking hot that I can't go outside and take a stroll around the neighborhood or I have to scarf down dinner and go to work again. Having a healthy lifestyle has never been a big focus for me, so I'm trying to change that. The good news is that Real Age has calculated that my real age is only about 6 months older than my actual age. I'd like to reverse that and have my real age be 6 months less than my actual age -- baby steps. Funny thing is that I don't feel my real age at all. Mentally I feel like I'm about 10 years younger than I actually am. Some people would tell you that mentally I'm about 20 years younger on some days. Whatev ... I am who I am and you can't teach an old dog new tricks, right?
On that note, I now need to go clean off the cup of coffee that someone dumped down the side of my car in the parking garage at work today. I hope that it was a triple venti soy something with extra foam that they paid about 6 bucks for at Starbucks. I love my car -- it deserves better than a home-brewed Folgers.
1 - I think that my neighbor's cat likes me more than she likes her owners. Each day when she's outside, she runs to greet me when I come home from work, meowing and curling around my feet. Do my shoes smell like cat food?
2 - Brisk pre-dinner walks around the neighborhood with my iPod blaring in my ears. Definitely helps clear the mind after one of those days.
3 - My wedding dress, even when I have no idea when I'll actually get to wear it.
4 - Knowing the guy that has other people going "OMG, who IS that??"
5 - Really not caring if Lebron stays or goes. I've been over it for like a year now. All these people that are coming in from New York, New Jersey, Chicago, LA, whatever, are just causing traffic jams in downtown Cleveland. Oh wait, I guess that would actually be one of those things I could find to complain about today. Oh well -- 4 outta 5 ain't bad.
I'm enjoying these days when I can come home from work and it's not so stinking hot that I can't go outside and take a stroll around the neighborhood or I have to scarf down dinner and go to work again. Having a healthy lifestyle has never been a big focus for me, so I'm trying to change that. The good news is that Real Age has calculated that my real age is only about 6 months older than my actual age. I'd like to reverse that and have my real age be 6 months less than my actual age -- baby steps. Funny thing is that I don't feel my real age at all. Mentally I feel like I'm about 10 years younger than I actually am. Some people would tell you that mentally I'm about 20 years younger on some days. Whatev ... I am who I am and you can't teach an old dog new tricks, right?
On that note, I now need to go clean off the cup of coffee that someone dumped down the side of my car in the parking garage at work today. I hope that it was a triple venti soy something with extra foam that they paid about 6 bucks for at Starbucks. I love my car -- it deserves better than a home-brewed Folgers.
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