Another Fast Week

Last week passed in a blur....Monday rolled around again and I really felt/thought 'did last week happen'?  Things just crashing together one after another after another.

Exhaustion creeps in - everyone in the house has some kind of sinus-y thing happening - plugged up ears and for me, tinnitus which means I hear a constant high pitched sound that doesn't really bother me much until it does bother me - but luckily, that's not too often.  Not keeping me awake (too much) but it's definitely something that reacts to the position of my head.  I can make it stop when I'm in bed by elevating my head a bit so that's what I've been doing.

The phone rang early Monday morning and it was B. .  Said "Mom, I'm having the absolute worst morning" - he'd done laundry and someone took all his uniforms out of the laundry room.  He had none so he reported to formation in a borrowed uniform that barely fit.  Needed a loan to procure some new uniforms pronto.  We happily obliged while encouraging him to go through whatever procedures there were for letting command know someone had stolen his uniforms.  Maybe it was an accident.  Or a prank.  Who knows.

I brought a ton of work stuff home this weekend and did a good cleaning out - got some things ready for my assistant to plow through.  She's so fast, it's hard for me to keep up but we're getting there.

I am off Thursday and Friday this week and next week is Spring break so I will try to wedge in a couple more days off next week, too.  Then the long, slow busy slide into Budget, etc. will commence.

I booked a conference in mid-April followed by a week in Disneyland with J. and am right where I thought I would be - wondering how in the h - e - double toothpicks I am going to be out of the office for that length of time.  Weekends will be my friend and they will be very long days - but oh well.

We also booked a trip to Vegas in late July - crazy time to go with the heat there but if we're considering relocating there at some point, might as well test it out.  Rooms at the Mirage are so cheap, we couldn't pass it up.  We are flying in, cabbing to the hotel and at some point, will rent a car for a couple days so we can drive around and look at houses.  Mesquite, NV is our current primary area to consider - we've got a list of new home developments to check out and I'm looking forward to getting away.  And slots!

The check engine light came on in J.'s old Camry (which H. is currently driving).  J. prepared me for the worst - a new battery is $4,000.  He phoned today - said 'it is the battery and it will be $4591 to replace it'.  Then he said 'the battery has a 10 year warranty so the new one will be covered for 10 years'....and then he said (wait for it) 'and we still have 2 months left on this battery's warranty so it's going to be FREE!!!'.  YAY!  I felt like we'd won the lottery!  They want to do a 120K service which is $1200 and I said "Go for it!!".  Being prepared for $4-5K and having it only be $1,000 is awesome!!  They will replace every single filter, etc. and the car will last another 10 years, easily.

The sun came out this past weekend and H. mosey'd downstairs in shorts and a t-shirt - and I gasped to see how much weight he's lost.  He's down to 129 pounds on his 6 ft. frame and (to me) looks like a walking skeleton.  Every time I've asked, he's said '145 or so' - but he's down 15ish pounds at least. We are heading to his oncologist on Thursday and I'm glad I'm off so I can go.  He thinks he's just having appetite issues but I'm not so sure.

So many things are happening at work that I wish I could get off my chest here - but I won't.  Maybe that's why writing is more sporadic - things on the tip of my tongue threaten to fly off my fingertips and onto these pages and while I would be kind, and do my best to be the best 'Majah' I can be, it would be hard to keep things in check.  Tumbling, swishing, frantic things keep happening that leave me pissed off, fed up, tired, exhausted and discouraged - all on a regular basis.  So I keep silent.

On a good note, the team of folks in my department are having a blast - gelling like champs and everyone is pitching in to help with anything and everything needed.  It's like the change in Payroll staff lightened the mood so much - and everyone is just happy to keep things moving.  We've had way more fun and laughter the past couple months - a very refreshing change in 'climate' that I'm grateful for.  And also really glad for 'cuz being so filled with angst at times myself, it would really suck to have a tense, down-trodden department -

We are even all going to a 'painting night' at a local establishment next week!!  Actually doing something social together!!  The stars are aligning....

Time to check some lottery scratchers!!  This might be my lucky day -

Weekly

This blog is starting to be like Weekly Reader...not intentionally but truth is, it's the best I can do lately.

Lots to update.

The week passed so quickly though it was a fairly drama filled work at week.  Not often that I totally lost it about something our County Office of Ed does - but it happened this week and let's just say that I have a lot of patience for all things...until I don't and then you're going to know that it's not working for me.  I made waves - which I also very rarely do - but waves were needed and they had the expected effect....creating crashing and undertow and then the ripples that will be felt for a long, long time.  The end result was good - high fives all around and all is well - but it was a long week.  I hate having to pull the 'I'm the boss of our district's Business Department so here's what needs to happen' card but I did.

There are very few perks to my job - but making waves when needed that work is one of them, I guess.

My new assistant has been truly awe-inspiring - jumping in and working through things one by one. She's a dynamo...and I like that.

B. was here - though we rarely saw him.  He met a girl - and he spent pretty much every night this week and most of the days with her.  We had the pleasure of meeting her on Friday night at dinner and she's pretty amazing - and they seem pretty mutually smitten so we'll see.  She's interviewing this week in Los Angeles to go to Japan for a year to teach English - and then law school upon returning...so who knows if their stars are truly destined for each other but for now, they had a great week and I get the feeling it was harder than usual for B. to head back to ELP.

Easier to say goodbye this time knowing he'll be returning for 3 weeks in June before he transfers to Ft. Campbell in Kentucky.  I'm sure we won't see much of him then, either....but it's OK.

On Friday, the news that Keith Emerson of Emerson, Lake & Palmer, had died sent me straight back to 1977 when I would listen to "Closer to Believing" non-stop.  I played it (thank you, You Tube) most of the afternoon on Friday and was transported back to my Junior and Senior years in high school.  My world was topsy-turvy and this song spoke to me of the certainty of uncertainty.

And while it resonated with me then for many different reasons in those days of high-school angst and huge life transition, on Friday, it resonated with me more for J. .  Because of J.....

On this rainy Sunday.....for my love....here's most of the song.  At 5:34, it never got a lot of radio airplay....but it's a beautiful song from start to finish and you can find it on YouTube if you're interested.

From the opium of custom to the ledges of extreme
Don't believe it till you've held it life is seldom what it seems
But lay your heart upon the table and in the shuffling of dreams
Remember who on earth you are

I need me....you need you.....we want us....

But of course you know I love you or what else am I here for
Only you not face to face but side by side for evermore
And I need to be here with you for without you what am I?
Just another fool out searching for some heaven in the sky
Take me closer to believing take me forward, lead me on
Through collision and confusion while there's life beneath the sun
You are the reason I continue so near for so long
So close, yet so far away.  

I need me....you need you.....we want us

To live forever, don't let the curtain fall
Measure after measure, of writing on the wall
That burns so brightly, it blinds us all

I need me....you need you..... we want us

To be together on Sundays in the rain
Closer than forever against or with the grain
To ride the storms of love again

So be closer to believing though your world is torn apart
For a moment changes all things and to end is but to start
And if your journey's unrewarded, may your God lift up your heart
You are windblown, but you are mine

So True

Steady Wins the Race

J. made the annual trip to San Fran yesterday to meet with our finance guy.  I would have loved to go. It's always loads of fun to be in 'the city' and enjoy a nice lunch.  Even the issues around parking at BART don't negate the fun of making a trip there.  I just couldn't wedge it in - so J. had to go solo.  I spent evenings getting stuff together and running scenarios and printing out info about my retirement pension, etc. - and sent J. off with a list of questions.  (Some/most were questions we've asked previously that haven't been answered clearly - which is fine except as we get closer to milestones like J. being 70 1/2 (still a few years away but looming) and being required to take 'mandatory withdrawals').

I've been down in the dumps a lot lately 'cuz I've felt like we've done so many things 'wrong'.  Surely, we must have - right?  'cuz here we are with me working away, feeling like retirement is a million miles away and scratching my head thinking 'we've been saving so much - how is it possible that I STILL can't see clear to retire'.  The good thing about the meeting is the realization that if it weren't for The Great Recession, I likely would be able to not work again - but like many people, that multi-year event hit us hard.  But it's OK - and honestly, considering how bad it was, we are in pretty decent shape.  I will plug along, with days passing so quickly, I can't believe that it's already March; another school year under my belt and winding down.  And soon - probably quicker than I can imagine - we will be there.  Ready to pick up and move to Nevada and start our next adventure - with plenty of savings and good income and lots of fun things to do.  Weekly trips to the library come to mind. It will get here and the longer I work, the more amazing the retirement will be.  So I shall.

Days like today when I come home and seek alcohol are few and far between (thank goodness).  But the next few months may be the hardest few months ever - and I say that with a slight amount of trepidation.  Having no payroll (except me) and no assistant (except me) for the past few months has been hard - and I now have two great people in those jobs and we are making steady progress - but it's really time consuming and awe inspiring to realize the stuff that's heading our way.  It will be OK - I am sure of that.  And a peer was so stressed out today, she was practically frantic and I sat there thinking 'really?  You have so very little on your plate compared to me and I'm not freaking out'. Then I remembered that comparing yourself to others is never a good thing - so I came home and had a beer.  And ignored the email she sent where she's basically asking me to do something for her - I won't.  But I won't reply to that email until I've had a little more sleep and am less angst filled than right this moment.

On a good note - you know your 25 year old son is truly growing up when you realize he used your car last night (way late 'cuz he was here when I went to bed) and returned it with a full tank of gas. He's driven it all over the place this week and we've been doing OK logistically and I don't mind it a bit but it sure was great to have him paying for the gas he's using.

Chicken pot pie, Blue Moon and 4 thin mints.  I'm calling it a night soon -

Blink!