I am home

 

Right about this time (4:45 Eastern) I would be either on my way or waiting for the others to arrive at our weekly Meetup at the diner in Guilford.  Unfortunately, everyone had other things they needed to do.  So, they will have it next week.  I hope.  I won’t be there though.  The next time I will see them is Mother’s Day weekend for the two Brunches each day.  One is at Gouviea Vineyards and the other will be at Faith’s home.

Right now, it seems that Gil and Faith are working on the Book Club event.  It looks like Gil worked on it for most of the night last night and now faith is having a little bit of a probable adding a person.

Today was pretty good.   I got all my work done before noon.  I had lunch from the Orchids café  Down the Street.  Then for the rest of the day I did some clearing out of emails, updating calendars.

I got home at 4:30 and checked on Sky in the spare room.  I fed him and then worked on the sauce.

The sauce appeared burnt but tasted great.  I have enough for lunch tomorrow.  I also have more to add to the next batch next week.  I plan on making a bit more than what I had so I can store it.  I cleaned up the dinner and will finish the rest of the kitchen later. 

I have ground beef and chicken I need to prep for future meals as well.  They are both in the freezer and I must prepare the remaining steaks I got too.  That will be for later meals.

I also threw a blanket in and started laundry.  I don’t know how much more I am going to do tonight because I am starting to wilt.

I am currently sitting on my patio writing this entry.  It’s so beautiful right now.  I have most if not all the windows open in the house.  It’s 70 degrees out and I’m not sure how long that will be for.

Well I have a few more things to do before I go to bed.  Have a great night.

 

I was right

 

I was right.  I didn’t fall asleep until it was about the time to get up.  I got up fed Sky and went back to bed until it was time to get ready for work.  I spent most of my time in a fog and tried to have a couple of cups of coffee.  By the end of the day, I was just as tired.

I had my session with Debra, and it wasn’t the entire time either.  She is still having issues with the connection.  She said she would go to IT and get it replaced.   It was kind of irritating to me, but it has happened to all of us.

We talked about the situation with Liz and how to handle it if something comes up at the Celebration next week.  She did also say not really planned anything out.  In other words, I think she was telling me not to stress but at that time set boundaries.  We also talked about finances.  (that one will be for another post too).

After the session, I fed Sky and myself, watched very little TV and cleaned up a little.  Very little truthfully.  I got into my pajamas and had some tea.  I got into bed (had to be about 7) and eventually fell asleep. 

I think I was in a deep sleep for most of the night except for the bathroom runs.  I missed my nighttime meds, but it allowed me to sleep until 4:30 this morning.  I do need to take them now before too long.

I made time to put tomato sauce in the crockpot.  I will put it in the freezer when I get home tonight.   I also have other things to cook (they are in the freezer but not sure I will have the time to do it.

Tonight is the meetup at Shoreline Diner.  These girls are absolutely wonderful.  They have helped me and each other through so many things.  They also developed a book club for the entire group.  It will be in Madison.  They were working hard at it (actually G and F was last night).   We have two brunches coming up in the same weekend (mothers day) that should be fun.

 

 

 

Catching up Family Edition

 

It has been interesting for several months in our family.  At least I think so.  Last fall I spent some time with my brother and Sister-in-law. One month was because he had some health problems.  The other spent time with him while SIL had a day to herself.  He continues to work through health issues.  In January they finally got the diagnosis they had been waiting for.  Mild Parkinsons.  He was recently in the hospital for some serious falls and came home before Easter.  He tries to maintain a sense of humor but he told me it frustrates him when he can’t do certain things or his memory falters.  His wife J has been wonderful.  She has had to make a few hard decisions. 

I hope to visit them in the coming months.

Their kids are all good.  My SIL J’s two kids are busy working.  They share J’s former residence and they keep in touch with her as much as possible.

K still lives in Colorado and works as a barista.  I think I sent him a text or email but he doesn’t post much on FB.  I need to check in on him.  He may have responded to group chats from J when she had to let us know things going on.

E is in San Diego CA.  She has been there a while now.  She experienced a 6.2 magnitude earthquake last month.  It shook her up quite  a lot.

J Jr. is still in DC and has a girlfriend.  He is busy with Law school, cooking and living the DC life.  I can’t remember the last time I actually saw him but that could be I am tired and should be sleeping (its 2 in the morning)

I am currently having issues with my sister.  Right before easter She sent a message expressing deep emotional hurt and anger, focusing on feelings of disrespect and lack of privacy. After she had a luncheon with her recovery friends.  She initially asked me not to come.  I wasn’t going to but as I was coming home and passing a few of her “friends” they suggested I go in and get some treats that were left over. So, I went in and got them in passing that I was told to come in. I tried to explain but she either ignored or didn’t hear me. IN the text she also mentions recurring experiences of being disrespected and not heard of her opinions or views in the past.   It was a text I should have written myself to her over the last several months.  

When I got the initial text, I contacted My Niece Cheryl and basically declined the invitation.  I told her I didn’t want to discuss it further.  I also said to her that going forward to send invitations directly to me and not through L.  When Liz found out she sent me a text message explaining why she sent it.  Which she has a right to.  At the end she says she loves me (I am having trouble with that).

At the suggestions of several people whom I wanted their perspective on it, including Debra, and Mama R.  I didn’t respond to either of the texts.  They all agreed she was too harsh on something that was not important. 

There will be a couple of occasions coming up where we will be together and I refuse to discuss It with anyone else.  I will be attending the events on my own. 

To wrap this up.  It’s time that I didn’t allow her to continue to do the things she accused me of.  I don’t need her constant criticism, judging, and constantly questioning my decisions and demeaning me or my opinions.  Whether it concerns work, social, or financial matters,

Angel Brother’s family is doing as well as can be.  SIL is still in the Philippines.  She posts on FB from time to time.  I don’t know when she is coming back to the states for a visit.   If she is not sure if she will stop by or not.

My Niece D and her husband just celebrated their Anniversary, his birthday, and have been doing some traveling.  They had a challenging 2024 but managed to survive it.  Diane is working on some projects with friends in the theater world.  It would be awesome if I could make the time to see it all.

My Nephew J and his wife are going strong.  They did unfortunately, get caught in a scam and working through that.  I guess early spring was Scam season for many around the country. I am glad they are doing well otherwise.

Last winter I reconnected with my youngest Nephew R.  I had kept getting friend Recommendations from FB and finally took the plunge.  He is working as a Paramedic or still on the Ambulance service.  I hope whatever dark period he was going through he emerges from it.  His first and only marriage (so far) ended badly. 

"I am deeply saddened to inform you that my aunt on my mother's side has passed away.   R was married to my mother’s Brother R.  She was 100 years old.  She was the Matriarch of the Coulombe family (at least the branch of us from Nanny).  Now I think it may be my cousin DBH. 

All the cousins seem to be doing good.  Some of them have posts on FB. So that’s pretty much how I find out things now.  Instead of asking L.  Those who come to visit L never seem to make it to my house.  That may be more suitable for a different post.

 

Well, as I mentioned earlier its after 2 and if I don’t get some sleep I will useless

 

 

Catching up Work Life

 

Well, it’s been a while and I have wanted to start this so many times but couldn’t think of what to say.

I have been busy with work, volunteering, and going to a few meetups and spending time with family.

 

Work has been interesting.  Things are changing both in our department and overall across the university.  Since last summer higher administration has changed and have been looking at changes that could help productivity (that seems to be going well).  It is working well for me right now.

For me it made it easier.  I get the scanning done more quickly and as soon as they look over some more things (that are not straightforward) we will give them to the correct people.  It allows me to get some training and annual stuff done.    

However, we did have some inter-office issues with a coworker who has been troubled for months.  She has had several meltdowns and has caused concern amongst us.  I had tried to help by giving her rides but she took advantage of that, so I had to put a stop to it.  We are just getting back to speaking to each other, but the taxi service is closed

As I mentioned earlier, things with the union are ramping up for the upcoming contract negotiations that will start in July 2025.  It’s also trying to get more people involved with the committees, especially in our area.    There are a few people who will be retiring later this year.  EV even suggested or was hoping that I would step up and I am not willing or ready to.  We did a survey and the leadership is reviewing it, There is a theory that we are in for a fight come negotiation time.  Especially during the current climate of the country.