Saturday Reflections

As I am staring out my kitchen window at the gray skies, wet lawn and rain-dappled creek, my mind is traveling back to Cancun, sunshine and blue skies. Our recent trip was a wonderful break from the normal, and it was really hard to come home again. One of these years, we will just stay down there!

In the meantime, here I am in my little corner of paradise - I love this home we're made here. It's perfect for us... I only wish we could have been here when the kids were growing up. We will be able to give the grandkids what we were never able to give our children: stability. We dragged our kids across the country and back, and though it gave them a good exposure to lifestyles in other places and taught them flexibility, I always believed they would have been better served if we had lived in the same house during their growing-up years. Maybe it's just my own history I am projecting on them, but I think a solid home location is critical for a child.

I listen when people we meet ask my kids where they are from, and they can't really answer - we lived in Washington state when they were grade-schoolers, Georgia for a couple years, Florida for a couple more, then back to Washington. And the oldest was born in Florida, though we moved back to WA when he was a toddler. Still, I sense in them a feeling of disconnectedness - a drift factor, if you will. They are citizens of the world - with no real roots.

But now, we are going to stay right here until we retire, then we are moving all the way next door! It's comforting to know where "home" is for us now and into the future. It gives me a sense of security and peace and settledness (there I go making up another word :), and I hope it will give our kids, and especially the grandkids, the same feeling. when they are "going to Grandma's house," it will always be in the same place, with the same yard, the same creek, the same trees, etc, etc, etc. No matter where their parents take them, this place can be their solid ground.

Still, Cancun is nice to visit!

Another Monday

So, here it is, Monday again. This marks my 15th since being laid off.
I think I am finally "over it."
I think it's about time...
Not that it doesn't still hurt, and doesn't still occupy much of my mind, but I really think now that the timing was good. (By now, I should have learned to trust God's timing more anyway!) I had a long chat with my old (retired) boss recently, and so many of the things we loved about CED have disappeared - not just due to the economy either. The character of the corporation has been gradually changing over the past few years, as the "old guard" folks have retired and the replacements have brought their ideas about corporate management from other companies. Nothing kills a corporate character like diluting it with other corporations' ideals and strategies. It saddens me to see it go, but I suppose a company that large can't survive in this market with a family-run business mentality.
So, onward and upward!
I had an actualy interview last week. I was not offered the position, or even a second interview. Not sure what I did or said wrong - maybe it just wasn't a good fit. At any rate, now that I've gotten the rejection out of the way, I will continue to plug along, waiting for the right position to pop up on my radar. In the meantime, I will continue to fulfill the requirements of the unemployment insurance.
Regardless of whether I find new employment, I have decided to quit wasting my days in "non-accomplishment." I have lots of projects that need catching up on, and the house and yard could really use some TLC. This morning, I went to get the paper, and it seemed warm - and windy. I was thinking it would be a good day for yardwork, but then the rain started before I even got inside with the paper! So, it's back to housework. I have a list of things to accomplish today - time to get to it!

Top 10 Ways You Know You're Addicted to Bejeweled Blitz on Facebook

10. Each time a new tournament starts, you spend hours on end trying to get the top score.

9. Everyone notices that the housework is not getting done any more.

8. You tell your family you'll start dinner in "One Minute" in a disembodied voice.

6. You plan to name your first daughter Jewel (if you ever have one).

7. You take a sip from your coffee every minute (between games).

5. Your child brings home straight A's, and you tell him "Excellent" in a disembodied voice.

4. You try not to line up your three emerald rings because you're afraid they'll disappear.

3. For your employee reviews, you rate them as "Excellent," "Incredible" and "Unbelievable!"

2. You consider naming PopCap Games as a defendant in your Carpal Tunnel Syndrome lawsuit.

And the number one way you know you're addicted to Bejeweled Blitz on Facebook:

1. When you can't reach something on the top shelf in the grocery store, you line up items on a lower shelf and stand there waiting for the item you wanted to fall down to you.

Nadir Monday

na-dir [na-deer]: 1350-1400 ME; –noun
1. Astronomy. the point on the celestial sphere directly beneath a given position or observer and diametrically opposite the zenith.
2. Astrology. the point of a horoscope opposite the midheaven: the cusp of the fourth house.
3. The lowest point; point of greatest adversity or despair.

Confession: I stayed in my pajamas and bathrobe until almost 3pm. This was after my mom came over to visit and my daughter brought her family over to visit and consult on the cabana construction. I played video games most of the day, and squeezed in a minimal amount of housework in between playing and filing my unemployment.

Is this the low point? It really wasn't that bad, though I was trying to chase dark thoughts from my head all day. I finally had a nice dinner out with the hubby and spent the evening cuddled up on the couch watching TV, then went to bed. But at 2:30, I was awakened by the sound of the water running in the kids bathtub. I investigated and found my son washing his feet in the tub. He snapped his head around at my query and told me he'd gotten splashed on when plunging the toilet to clear the clog. Which had been there since Sunday morning. When my father-in-law left to go home. Can you say "Ewww!"? So I left the boy-man to his ministrations, and went back to bed. Tossed, turned, cuddled, tossed some more... My mind by this time was whirling with angry thoughts toward my son and his wife and they way they are taking advantage of our hospitality. That's why I'm now awake at 3:30 in the morning writing in my blog. Gotta get it out of my head!

But now it is Tuesday... time to go back to bed.

Progress!

Well, there is progress on the cabana!

Watch for more pictures as the project progresses!