Saturday, March 31, 2012

Pottermore

I am so excited - I just downloaded the entire series of Harry Potter e-books to my Kindle! I've been waiting what feels like forever for them to be available - and the entire set was under $60 - which I think is a bargain. Once again, I am enthralled and amazed at technology....in under 5 minutes, the books were transferred to my Amazon account and downloaded instantly to my Kindle. Wow.... It is a cold, stormy, blustery day and there is nothing I would love to do more than spend the day reading in bed -

Friday couldn't arrive fast enough - and we had a really fun baby shower/going away party for a co-worker who is moving to Oregon for a job in the corporate world. I considered giving him advice - because he has never worked in the corporate world before and leaving education and heading into that arena is a very, very different realm. But he will do fine. His wife is pregnant with their first child - a little boy due in July....so they will have so many life-altering events in a very short time frame. We played the typical baby shower games - including candy bars melted in diapers and you guess which bar....the really funny part of that is that earlier that morning, my boss' assistant came over and sat down sort of serious-like and said 'I need to let you know we had a little fire in our building'. As the 'risk-manager' of the district, I take that seriously, of course. She said 'we're not really sure what happened, but one of the diapers caught on fire in the microwave. It was immediately put out and there was no damage. And the fire alarms never went off'. Whew.....too funny. So instead of having six filled diapers in the game, we only had five. Hmmm...never did ask what candy bar got eliminated from the competition.

Like so many, we spent the week in Mega-Millions frenzy. Much discussion among friends and acquaintances. How you have more change of being hit by space debris than winning. But the thing is: yes, but there's a chance. And who doesn't dream of a life-altering windfall? I love thinking of the amazing things we could do for family and for charities we support. What a dream. And it's worth the money to us to have that dream weekly. It was even more fun this week because people who never, ever played joined in. Everyone can dream - and that was surely a jackpot worth dreaming about. We did not win...but oh well. On to the next big rolling jackpot!

Oh, the possibilities....

Today starts week 4 of the healthier eating. This week, I did actually have an In & Out burger - no cheese, though. And I did eat 1/2 of the fries. I resisted the cupcakes at the shower yesterday - and was so thankful that someone made homemade hummus. It was delicious! with Pita Chips, which aren't that 'great' on the flour front - but oh well. Have to adapt to the things you have. There were also great rolled turkey flatbread sandwiches - and I took the cheese off and ate one of those. Still hanging in with no dairy, no sugar, no processed foods and avoiding refined flour. It's working and I still don't feel that it's a diet. It's just the way I eat.

OH - and there was one lone thin mint cookie in the sleeve on the table when I tidied up the kitchen table one night last week. And I ate it. I chewed it very slowly and savored every bite. I did not eat more. I did not have milk.

UPDATE: shortly after drafting this post, I decided to head upstairs for a nap. FOUR HOURS LATER, I came downstairs....yikes. No errands run; no work accomplished, either here or in my office. I was pooped! It's now Sunday morning, beautiful day outside and I am heading out to work...and errands. Only four work days this week and then it's Spring Break!!

Monday, March 26, 2012

Cook-Off

Good luck and a shout out to my friend Pam who is competing in the annual Pillsbury Bake-Off in Orlando! I can't wait to buy the cookbook for this year's entries and try them! And I hope she wins - though being a finalist is really, truly amazing and that makes her already a winner!

J. just sent me a text that he is going to sleep in and work at home. We have all spent the weekend in various stages of sore throat, stuffy noses, etc. He must not be feeling at all well 'cuz he rarely is not bouncing out of bed right at 6.

I am dressed and heading into work soon. Incredibly busy, very crazy week ahead....so attempting to remain enthusiastic by getting up early, getting there and getting to it! Go me! Is it working? Is it?

Two more weeks before Spring break!

Happy Monday - it's going to be a great week. (Is it working yet? All this enthusiasm....)

Sunday, March 25, 2012

Puuurrrrple

For J. - 22 years with you has flown by in a nano-second. Thank you for being my very best, most true friend; for always being there for me and our kids; for being strong and steadfast and true through thick and thin.

You are my puuurrrrple - and I'm the luckiest girl in the world.

Happy Anniversary!! I love you madly.



Saturday, March 24, 2012

Duck Dynasty

I just have to say that the new A&E show "Duck Dynasty" is a hoot! Smart, smart folks running a big business while demonstrating their clearly very unique perspective on a variety of subjects.

Examples:

Frog legs for dinner - fresh caught! They show you how! It's funny...

Want to test your duck calls on live ducks? Flood your loading dock and bring in a bunch of ducks...then sit around and test your duck calls to see how the ducks respond....

Not what I expected and I am enjoying it...

Never imagined I'd say that....

Fofina

Last night, I did the 'pet routine'. Checked on Fofy - our parrolet. And found her lying on the bottom of her cage, on her back...barely moving. She was awake and alert and I carefully lifted her and turned her over...and quickly realized she was in bad shape. She must have injured her foot in a fall backwards off the cage wall and she was not putting any weight on one of her legs. She was not able to move at all except to try to 'drag' herself along the bottom of the cage. I called J. to come up and we gave her a different, lower water dish. She made an effort to eat some millet spray that I had on the bottom of the cage. I checked on her after I'd rinsed her old water dish - and she was basically lying down on the bottom of the cage...eyes closed. Not good. She has been struggling for some time and this seemed to be the sure sign that it was time to let her go.

We phoned our vet this morning and they agreed based on our description of what was happening with her that all they could do for her would be euthanasia. So J. took her this morning.....

She was a great bird - though we all fondly referred to her as a 'brat'. When she let me touch her and move her last night - with no effort to bite me or get away from my hand - I knew she was in seriously bad shape. I don't know how long she had been on her back....but it's possible it was quite awhile. I felt so sorry and so bad for her - that no one had been in the room with her to notice she was in trouble.

Tomorrow we will clean out her cage, box up all the bird paraphernalia and put a post on Freecycle to offer the perfect 'new bird kit' to anyone out there who wants it.

She will be missed - her sweet little 'chirps'....and even her loud, crazy squawking when she was really excited or pissed off about something. She has been with us since the kids were little and long before we moved here - we think at least 15 years and possibly closer to 18.

I worked most of the day and J. went over the hill to visit his brother. Dinner was easy - the annual spaghetti and tri-tip 4-H fund raiser dinner held at our neighborhood school. The boys weren't that interested in going to the 'dinner' so we went and picked up dinner 'to go'. Resisted bidding on this year's quilt - though it is awesome! The first 4-H dinner we attended about 5 years ago was where I won the auction for a really cute purple quilt with bunnies on it. Not really my 'style' - but that's the thing about quilts. They are unique and every one is a treasure - I might go back in an hour or so and see what the bids are up to....but probably not.

Tomorrow is our 22nd wedding anniversary and we will celebrate it quietly. I think I'm convincing myself to make petite vanilla scones - using almond meal and whole wheat flour vs. white flour....something that feels 'special'. But even as I write that, I don't want to go off track..break my streak. They have dairy in them and I'm not really sure they will be even remotely the same made with soy milk. Though I guess I could try it - couldn't hurt. If they are awful, we just won't eat them -

There's a piece of yummy garlic bread sitting on a plate next to me and I am not eating it!

Friday, March 23, 2012

Friday Update

I almost didn't mention my eating changes this morning - I don't want to 'jinx' anything. And I especially hesitated because last night, I really, really was tempted to eat crap. But I didn't.

I went to lunch today with a vendor I work with. It was a nice social thing with a nice person who has helped our district a lot. It was my personal thank you to her - no district funds used. We went to a nice place that I absolutely love - and my go-to meal there has always been Pasta Carbonara. It is TO DIE FOR. It was hard to choose that place and know that I wouldn't be eating that dish. But it is the nicest lunch place around...

And I did enjoy fried calamari - and a Caesar salad. And (this is the most amazing part): when the basket of fresh baked bread and butter arrived (another former 'must have it; can't resist it' temptation), I didn't have any. And (well, THIS is the REALLY TRULY MOST AMAZING PART): I didn't want any. Didn't crave it a single bit. Not even when the person I was lunching with had some. Still not interested.

The calamari was excellent and delicious and the Caesar salad was divine.

My one treat - only one - was one homemade delectable crouton. It was great - but that was a small deviation from my plan. And I didn't order creme brulee either for dessert...and I didn't want to.

I am really proud of myself - and really glad and thrilled to realize that once you stop eating the stuff that tempts you, you get over wanting it so much. And that motivates me to continue to not eat any of those things - 'cuz I don't want to go back to where it was hard (impossible) to not eat that stuff all the time. And even more: if I wasn't eating it, I was craving it like crazy....

Hellloooo Friday!

A friend and I at work greet each other with a big 'Hellllloooooooo' - said with a slightly British accent. We have no idea why we do this - but we do - and it's consistent. She has also introduced me to 'it's been a slice'....which explains/describes so many things in any given day, doesn't it? It's all about a slice of what?

I watched the movie Cousins a couple times this week (one of my absolute all time favorite movies) and when Larry (Ted Danson's character) says 'I'm trying to make a little chicken salad out of chicken shit', I can relate to that too....because doesn't that also describe many things in your average day?

It is Friday and it's been a long week so I am glad to be heading in soon and starting the last day before the weekend. Better to get it over with....

I am not sleeping at all well the past few nights - and since my caffeine consumption is greatly reduced, I do not know why I cannot get into a restful sleep. Argh!

On a fun note, J. and I are busting open the piggy bank and spending some money to do some fun things TOGETHER - just the two of us. First, we have tickets to see Mamma Mia at the Gallo Center for the Arts in Modesto in a couple weeks. And the following weekend, we are heading up to Napa for a Lobsterfest dinner at V. Sattui! AND we are going to spend the night. In Napa! Should be fun. Hopefully some really awesome wine will help me not worry about what havoc is wreaking in our home with two young men here alone. I'm not going to think about that....I'm not going to think about that....

Today is day fourteen (IN A ROW) of the following changes in my diet: no sugar; no dairy; no processed foods; limited refined flour. I haven't wanted to say anything because you can read back and see how many times I've started and failed in an attempt to lose weight....

But this time, the simple 'change' of NOT thinking/acting/saying anything about a 'diet' is what is making all the difference. By eliminating the above listed items, it immediately changes the way you eat - so that's what it is - it's a change in the way we eat. Fresh produce, fresh fruit, lean protein, nuts....those are the things I consistently eat everyday.

And it's working. After the first tortuous weekend when the carb cravings were overwhelming (but I resisted and did not eat garbage), the cravings subsided...and now, I don't want any of those things. At least not often. My hardest time is still after dinner when Girl Scout cookies and milk call to me from the kitchen (six boxes arrived the day I started our new eating approach - but the boys are polishing them off) but I find that fresh fruit - sweet and satisfying - gets me through that evening temptation.

At some point, I will want to have a meal where I eat 'anything I want'....and I will. I will do that occasionally. But for now, the thought of breaking my 'streak' keeps me from wanting crap. And honestly, the way I feel - so, so much 'better' - is enough reason to keep going. I have more energy (except for the above mentioned sleeping issues) and feel better.

It's like a 'switch' went off in my head - and I can eat anything I want. Anything. So I don't feel 'restricted' or 'managed'. I can eat anything I want - and I'm choosing to eat very healthful foods that are in the form nature intended.

Switching to that way of thinking - vs. a 'I'm on a diet and will never be able to eat yummy things again' - is working for me. And I'm not sure why it suddenly 'worked' - but it did/has/is....

Time for a second soy latte! I'm supposed to also give up caffeine - but come on....we all know that isn't going to happen.....I do make a 1/2 decaf, 1/2 regular occasionally as an attempt to cut back - and I usually only have one iced tea a day now instead of two....but giving it up? No. Not likely. At least not yet.

My work phone just rang and scared the crap out of me 'cuz nothing good is on the other end of a work phone call at 6 in the morning. Thankfully, it was a wrong number!

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Britannica

An end of an era.....

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/upshot/encyclopaedia-britannica-ends-print-run-005141357.html

We had a set of these growing up - my mom making the investment when I was around 10, I think. I started with the A's and worked my way through - reading everything I could get my hands on. I'm not claiming I read the entire set cover to cover - but I read a lot of it. Used it often for reference and research. They were proudly stored in the built in book case in our home - and like most things she purchased for us, I'm positive she made monthly payments every month for a very long time -

I still remember how they smelled and how the pages turned...I was so in awe of all that information in one place. I could have never imagined that 40 years later, we'd have the power of having so many amazing resources available at the touch of a keypad. Fascinates me.

And speaking of 'at our fingertips', if you saw 60 Minutes on Sunday, you've probably already checked out the site. If not, please do. www.khanacademy.org

We are working on updating our district's technology standards - and it's amazing to think that Khan Academy may be delivering education in a totally new way that seems so 'right' for this generation. They want things fast and quickly - and they want a way to know where to go back when they need assistance - and there's no teacher around. Or parent. It's amazing what topics the site covers. I could watch it all day - and have been a fair amount today as I enjoy a rainy day at home doing a bunch of stuff - and doing a bunch of nothing - at the same time.

I'm reasonably sure text book publishers will not be printing paper texts much in the future. Our state has frozen new text book adoptions for years as an answer to the budget crisis - so the publishers stopped printing them. They print if you order - so acquiring the products takes forever. And we don't have much available money to purchase new curriculum - or update the existing curriculum. Will we purchase Kindle-like devices for every student? Or iPads? Or laptops? It's a mind-boggling decision to make - because once we go that route, we will be on that path for a very long time - and maintaining those items as a 'standard' will be very expensive. I'm always the money person biting my one sacrificial fingernail down to a nub worrying about 'where will we find the kind of money THAT will take'? It's a tough job and I am losing a fair amount of sleep these days...still, it's exciting. Kids of this generation may not know the joy of holding a huge encyclopedia volume and thumbing through the vast pages to find the topic you are interested in [I remember reading about aardvarks and thinking they were the most interesting animal I'd ever 'encountered' - even though it was just in print] - but they will know about the power of Google - and how information is at your fingertips in an instant. Amazing....

Washer is done - time to move towels into the dryer. Attempting to help The Laundry King - since I went to get a clean bath towel this morning and there weren't any. It's a cold, wet, dreary day but pleasant. We need the rain and it's nice to just be 'home' on a rainy day - puttering and reading. And taking a nap shortly. I need it -

Damn time change.

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Feast or Famine

Either plenty to say - and no time.....or nothing to say and plenty of time. Last week I had a Post-it full of post thoughts - but never got around to putting them on paper. Soon, I hope....though like most things that flit in and out of my head, they seem relevant at the time and then are lost in the myriad of daily stuff running through my mind.

Busy days bleed into each other - time passes in a nanosecond seemingly....hard to fathom some weeks where the days went.

The annual time change leaves me groggy and grumpy for a few days while I try to adjust to knowing that I'm getting up at 3 while the clock forces me to pretend it's 4. Or 4 pretending to be 5. I've been getting out of bed so 'late' (for me) the past couple days that it's been a mad rush to get out the door - which is ridiculous for my short commute. Starts my day off hectic instead of calm and purposeful and relaxed - which is why I get up at the crack of dawn. The hour or so 'alone' puttering away on my computer is my quiet for the day and I treasure it. Though sleeping longer is better for me by far.

Tonight, we had a contractor come to the house to give us an estimate on some long-awaited projects. Our corner pantry is likely coming out with a new custom cabinet built in that provides access on both of the oddly angled 'sides'. This combined with some 'sliding' shelves should greatly improve the amount of storage we have available...handy with the boys appetites demanding constant supply. Also getting estimates for three over-the-toilet cabinets as well. And lastly, he is having someone give us an estimate to add spray foam insulation to the garage ceiling. I am not sure what the $ will be - and not sure we can afford to do 'all' right now. But we've been saving for them and planning these projects for awhile so I am hopeful we can get them done soon. I really think that pantry modification will be a 'must-do' and hope we can afford the bathroom cabinets, too. And the insulation is an energy saving thing worth looking into - I'm going to look for PG&E incentives for that expense also. Maybe a rebate or a tax credit or something?

I wish we were more handy. I wish we lived near the family member(s) I know are very handy. I like the contractor and think he will do a good job - but he's using a cabinet company to build the unit, so that's a markup right there. Oh well. We'll see. Hoping we will end up pleasantly surprised like we did for the fence project and the front door project. If we get this latest set of projects done, we will be pretty 'caught up'.

I am taking tomorrow off - totally clear calendar and just felt like I needed a day away. Unclutter my mind. And possibly unclutter my home desk - while my work desk looks like the train wreck it is. I made the decision to take the day off before I learned my boss is off until next Thursday - so that led to an afternoon jammed with 'stuff' we needed to go over before we weren't going to see each other for 8 days. That only further cluttered my mind and made the day off seem futile. But I'm still taking it.

A girl's got to do what a girl's got to do.....

Wednesday, March 07, 2012

Hacked

Hacked.....such a strong word....so many nuances....

I'm majorly hacked off at Zynga at the moment. But within that is a fair amount of just being hacked off at myself... So I'm tamping those feelings down for now and moving on. Lesson learned.

My Facebook account was hacked yesterday around noon our time - something I discovered when I came home for lunch (very rare thing these days - but I need the mid-day break more than I need Starbucks [so that should tell you a little something about how things are going this week]) - and there was an email in my personal email box advising me that Facebook had someone attempt to log in on my account from a place 'you have never logged in from before'. Um....Indonesia! Yes, really - I went to Facebook (not via the email link in case that was a scam) and up popped an alert advising me my account was blocked and a little map confirmed the login attempt was from Indonesia. Yep, correct! Never been there. Wasn't me. That prompted a change of the password I frequently use and have used for over 20 years - it's pretty bullet proof (or was until yesterday).

So I've had to go into bank accounts, credit accounts, etc. and change all those passwords, too....just to be safe. Or less nervous that I'm not safe.

Our household budget feels out of control and I realize periodically that we have someone on our personal payroll - and that's expensive! The tile grout in the family room is looking extraordinary - but paying that young man his hourly wage daily is really tripping us up in the pocket book. Thank goodness there's a limited amount of tile...in that room. Then he can move to the other areas of the house tiled with the same tile and same grout. I might need a bank loan. Ha ha ha....

It is freezing in here - below 60 degrees - but see above paragraph which will explain why I would rather sit here and shiver than turn on the heat! And that sort of hacks me off - personal comfort is too much to give up for clean tile grout, people!

A warm shower and another triple-shot vanilla latte should do the trick. Then it's off to work for a long day of one meeting after another....and board prep as an extra bonus!

OH! And last night, J. reminded me that this is the weekend we lose an hour of sleep - and that hacks me off, too! I despise the 'Spring ahead' weekend with every ounce of my being. It is my least favorite Monday of any other Monday - and we all know how I feel about Mondays! The only good thing about it is I plan to work Sunday ('cuz we have plans with friends on Saturday - hey, we have a life! What's that?) so I will be working one less hour than I would otherwise! One less hour in the day!

The font on this draft mode just turned incredibly small and I can't figure out how to enlarge it - so this post is done. I can't see what I'm writing and we all know that with the title 'Hacked', that won't be a good thing.....

UPDATE: I opened the bag from JC Penney - four new pairs of pants. Only they aren't my pants. It's two pants and two skorts in a size I haven't worn in 15 years! All the paperwork is my order - but the actual merchandise is definitely not. Had to scramble for 'Plan B' since I'm making a presentation today in front of parents....want to look my best. Argh! Another weekend errand - to return. And then do I reorder or just give up?

Monday, March 05, 2012

Zynga!

And another thing! - two posts in one morning.....I'm patting myself on the back! Not really 'cuz I'm older and that kind of motion hurts.

J. and I are looking to 'dabble' in the stock market a little....

When Zynga had their IPO not long ago, we were poised to jump in and buy some stock. Again, not a lot of stock - but some.

I didn't. Their IPO coincided with a point where I was playing their games and getting more and more irritated every day. Things weren't working right - complaints resulted in emails back that they were 'working on it'. Argh! I was so pissed off -

I remind myself daily when I see people posting their frustrations on Facebook that these are just games! Not real life. Nothing earth shattering happening. No lives lost. No reason for angst. It's just games. It is irritating when things don't work right - but oh well, right? It's A GAME, PEOPLE!

But all that heightened angst made me think twice about investing in a company that is looking to increase their income by having people spend money to play. And when people are pissed off at a company, they won't spend money to play.

So our small investment sits in our account waiting to see - we have not invested yet. Not sure if we will.

But this morning, I am declaring publicly that I will no longer participate in any missions/goals/tasks that are timed. I'm done. It is clear and obvious to me that Zynga is structuring those 'adventures' in a way that makes it IMPOSSIBLE to complete without spending money - and while I've done that (yes, I am sad to admit) - I will not do that anymore. I am done with timed stuff. I'm going to play my games for 'fun' and find other ways to amuse myself and those damn tasks bars that show the tasks to accomplish will just stay there and torment me - 'cuz if they are timed, I will not participate.

I don't care what super-duper prize is being offered to entice us to get ourselves 'wrapped up' in completing the goals within the time allowed - I'm not doing it!

And because I'm a Zynga 'customer' and it's really pissing me off to have worked 11 days on something that I see now I have no possible hope of finishing without spending cash, I won't invest in their company. I would happily use game currency here and there to finish tasks I'm having trouble completing....like paying 4 currency to give myself credit for an item that I can't get one more person to send me....but I'm not going to complete missions that would require spending over $100 in REAL CASH to buy enough game currency to finish within the time limit. You can't make 100's of something that takes 24 hours to make in a day. It can't be done. Not with only 59 stoves.

Zynga makes me feel stupid - to have not realized five days ago that I was setting myself up to be majorly disappointed. Who wants to invest in a company that makes their customers feel stupid?

It's close to 5 now - so I really am heading up to get dressed....feeling very sleepy.

Sleep

I have been up for an hour. In five minutes, it will be 4:30 which is when I set the alarm to go off. I was wide awake at 3 and ruminating about a variety of things and getting up just seemed the best approach. I was wrong. What was I thinking? I would give anything to go back upstairs and go back to sleep for four hours - but that can't happen...because it's Monday. Officially the start of another work week. My calendar is relatively clear today and the urge to phone in 'off' and go back to bed is strong - but I won't. I have a lot to do....and one meeting that would be impossible to reschedule. So in I will go -

Working for a living sucks.

I'm hopeful I will leave at 3ish or so today - given that I will be in the office uber-early. Heading upstairs to shower shortly - navigating the trail of 'Two Boys in a Bathroom' that ensued all weekend while I showered in our bathroom. Lord only knows what I will find after two days of a 'mom-free' room.

H. worked diligently all weekend - and in a moment of creativity, re-arranged his entire bedroom. I like it except that he put the bed in the corner where his closet is so now he can only access the closet through one sliding door instead of two. Oh well....he pretty much uses the floor of the closet as a laundry hamper and not much else and that side, he can still access. It looks good - and he even cleaned the baseboards. (He knows his mom is a sucker for immaculate baseboards. The kid can't make himself a sandwich but boy, howdy! does he know how to clean near the floor!).

And he did make himself Ramen noodles on Saturday - the first thing I've ever witnessed him 'cooking' in his 18 3/4 years! He knew where to find a small saucepan to cook the noodles in!

J. has two nights of work commitments this week (Monday and Wednesday) and we are hoping to have the first construction guy come by to give us ideas for the pantry. And an estimate on other stuff we hope to get done.

Sunday, March 04, 2012

To Nap....

or not to nap....

That is the question.....

I napped yesterday - but it was a late afternoon nap. Not 'good' by any standard. Just enough to make me feel completely groggy into the evening and up until past 11. Sleep was restless and not really worth it -

Today, it's earlier....and I was up at 6:30 this morning. Just decided to get up....I don't know why....so it's approaching 1PM (prime nap time in my opinion) and I feel soooo sleepy....

It's very pretty outside and my garden could use some attention....

So do I nap? Or garden?

Both!

Ahhh...the joy of weekends!

Saturday, March 03, 2012

Musachi

A family dinner last night was a nice treat....we went to Musachi which is like Beni Hanas. They cook at the table and you get a little 'show' for your money. Sure, it's corny....when the chef rolls the egg across the cooking surface and says 'eggroll' - and it's the same routine he did the last time we ate there which was a year ago, at least - it's corny. But it was a nice evening with good food (too much food - stuffed to the brim, I headed to bed shortly after getting home. Enjoyed reading for a bit and when I woke up having fallen asleep, I turned off the light and went to bed. It was just after 8).

The best thing about a Friday night dinner there are their cocktails - they have a wide variety. And for $5 (a bargain!), you get a cocktail that will definitely result in you being more relaxed than when you walked in. I would have loved a second Blue Hawaiian but decided against it.

H. drove us home - we are very careful and do our best to set an example.

It's Saturday! Woot woot!!

I am heading into work for a bit. Retract the woot woot.....

But I will still have some of the day left and it's looking like a pretty day to work outside a bit.

Thursday, March 01, 2012

Roger, Cancel That

Re: B. going to MEPS today. He didn't. I was right. It's not as 'clear' as he thought.

I won't go into details - too voluminous and complicated for a quick evening post - I need to get to bed early tonight 'cuz multiple nights of 4-6 hours of sleep is not good (especially for someone who MUST GET UP VERY EARLY 'CUZ I HAVE A ZILLION THINGS TO DO BEFORE MEETINGS COMMENCE)....

He filled me in on everything in a long conversation - and then offered to help me make cake batter Rice Krispie treats for work tomorrow. Fun to have his help and he really did make a job I was suddenly dreading very easy and smooth. Even cleaned the kitchen table and helped me tidy up.

Then he headed to the gym.

He's experiencing many disappointments at the moment - including realizing that someone he's trusted as a mentor and friend is not being truthful in so many areas - and that's a hard lesson to learn. People can not always be trusted. I've had my guard up for some time with this individual but B. learned the hard way that when stories start to not add up over and over and over - there's always a reason. And a person spending all their energy on maintaining the falseness and the fabricated life is not someone to invest a lot of time with. I feel bad for B. - he is a good, kind-hearted young man. He feels badly about this person and their situation - and he feels compelled to help. I tried to convince him that there really isn't anything he can do - and actually, it would be in everyone's best interest for him to step back and just stay away. Permanently. This person that he thought was a friend is very confused and has a lot of 'stuff' on his own personal plate at the moment. B. has plenty of stuff in his OWN life much less taking on the problems and lies and issues his 'friend' is experiencing. Much as he wants to help, there's not much he can do - and we will never know the full 'truth' of the issues. Ever. It's hard to never know - but we won't.

That bugs me 'cuz I always want to know 'the rest of the story'. But even I - who wants to know the rest of it more than I can say - is acknowledging that it's such a murky mess of lies and stories, we will never, ever know. So just draw the line in the sand and move on. Life is too short. We can't save this person. They have to save themselves. I hope they do - but it is truly entirely up to them. And B. doesn't need to be a part of 'the rest of the story'. B. needs to start moving forward on his own story -

Good night moon. Good night. (in honor of Read Across America!)

Relish

There are currently three plastic squeeze bottles and one glass jar of sweet pickle relish in our refrigerator.

Why?

Because B. made tuna salad for lunch and when he can't find the relish in the door of the refrigerator, he opens a new one. I saw him go out to the garage (where we store extra stuff on wire shelves) and should have guessed that he was going to open yet another container of relish.

It never occurs to him that just a couple days ago, he opened a brand new squeeze bottle of relish - and there is absolutely no way we went through an entire bottle in a few days.

He gets pissy that he can't see it in the door 'cuz there's so much stuff in the fridge....and I try my hardest to not say 'YES, BECAUSE YOU KEEP OPENING NEW CONTAINERS OF CONDIMENTS EVERY THREE DAYS AND WE DON'T WANT THEM TO GO TO WASTE'.

March

I'm starting to think maybe I will just do a monthly post and call it what it is - whatever month we're in.  Here we are winding dow...