Nippy November

[Lavande]

Good morning friends,

It's sunny & a balmy 21 degrees here
There's no denying ~ winter has arrived way too early!

Dill, I'm not sorry that we bought & fixed up those old houses but I agree, that part of my life is long over. No way, no how could I do all that again. We both just quietly advise when the kids ask for opinions & ideas, they need to make their own decisions. Our son has a very old house as well & has done quite a bit of updating. Observe & advise but only when asked
The trick for us oldies is knowing when to downsize I think. Preferably it's before the place becomes overwhelming & begins to fall apart. Who knows?

Star, I'm going to gently remind you to keep your focus on today & don't worry too far down the road. None of us really know what the future holds :hug:

Greetings to Cyn & Papmom.
Let's all enjoy this day, just as it comes. Stay in positive mode & be grateful!

Lav

[dill]

Cyn, I loved the juxtopsition of the images of you dust covered during the day and in sequins at night! Chalk it up to youth, eh? But it reminded me of another story that burned images in my mind of you singing at the top of your lungs while walking in the woods! No, I have not forgotten that dear lady! I am not a professional singer but I am part Irish and come from a family of people who loved to sing and harmonize. So singing is another thing we share in common. But I must admit I have never sung alone in the woods. Yet.

Lav, I think it is great that you can advise your kids in that way. And that they ask your advice! It is a different world now from when we did what we did. More expensive, more regulations, etc. I wish them all the best!

Star, I hate a depressing ending to a story. It stays with me for days. Next time you pick a book, try to find something lighter that will have a happier ending if you can. I remember once reading an Oprah book, simply because it was an Oprah book. It had the most depressing ending! It took me forever to get over it! In fact, after that, I never read another Oprah recommendation! LOL Your balance will return, I am quite sure. Keep open and you will meet new friends. It just takes a little more time as we are older, but it will happen.

Hi Papmom!

I had a nice day. Did what I could to ignore the cold and wind, met a dear friend for lunch and helped her get started on a new crochet project. Glad to be AF and able to do that.

[SnoopyC]

Good morning...

Lav, thanks for the gentle reminder to focus on today and let tomorrow take care of itself. I think some of it is the cold and dark. It must take a tremendous amount of energy and resources to update an old home. But, they can be very charming and lovely when remodeled. How is YB doing? I can understand why you waited out the separation, you two have a history, and some of it was good and productive.

Cyn, I have to come home first, my kitty needs her food and a little love, then I can go out. So, I have to create new habits. It doesn't have to be for that long, just a 30-45 bout of exercise. Maybe tonight. You too have such an interesting past and tons of energy. Once I work during the day, I am done. How wonderful to have a good voice and be able to really sing. Sorry your hubby could not stay long, is he able to come home for Thanksgiving or do you have other plans? Thanks for the support and good suggestions. Part of this is just feeling the full impact of the move...knowing no one, not knowing where to live when we do buy a house, having to reinvent myself. I know, you have been doing this at your new home, have you met any good friends out there? After three months it has really hit. I don't even know if I want to put up a Christmas tree, no room in this apartment. So, will have to see.

Dill, you are part Irish too? That is where our love of books, music, mysticism comes from. Cool. Yeah, that book got to me. I could understand where she would be depressed in a man's world where no man wanted her. But suicide? I kind of suspected it as I was reading about how lonesome she was and no help...but yes, that book was not a good ending. I also want you to know I had the same experience with an Oprah book and was done with her reading list for the most part. Thanks for your support and I will keep open, I know I need to join a church, but with moving again I hesitate to get involved. This Sunday I will be free so may attend one of the Catholic services to check it out. Plus, I love Advent.

Hi, Pap, hope your week is going well. Off to my Hump Day!!!

[Lavande]

Good morning friends & happy Hump day!
It's a frosty 15 degrees at the moment but no sign of snow. I heard there's 6 feet+ on the ground up in the Buffalo, NY area. I can't even imagine

Star, it's true that we have a lot of history here. I can barely remember life before YB ~ we were just kids. He very well be extremely difficult but he also has a good heart & good intentions. I believe he gets distracted way too easily & I know that he believes the BS he thinks, we all do really. It's a matter of keeping him positive & pointed in a kinder, warmer direction. Like his brother, he can go dark pretty easily. I suppose that's been my mission all along - keeping him in the light

Dill, I can't carry a tune in a bucket so have fun singing your head off!!!

Cyn & Papmom, hope you northeastern girls are staying warm!!!!

Have a great day everyone!
Lav

[dill]

Aaarrgh! I just wrote a pretty long post that got lost! I am so sorry, but I don't really have time time to start over. I'll try tomorrow.

Lav, Star, Pap, and Cyn, thinking of you and hope you are all taking good car of yourselves.

[treegirl]

gratitude

I had some lessons in gratitude today! I was stricken last evening around 5 with a super-duper GI flu bug, just out of the blue. I have no idea how, I'm such a handwasher! Anyway, 26 hours later I am finally sitting up in a chair - at least long enough to post to you, and then I'll probably crawl back into bed. A little fever and terrible body aches is not helping much...

In the night, as I was having such troubles, I thought 'why did we do this to ourselves intentionally?' And I was SO grateful that AL is not a part of my life now - no way no how. Then in the morning when I got up to try to put a meal together for the pups, I crushed some ice. I was seriously parched. I thought that ice was the best thing I had ever put in my mouth - ice chips! It was cool and liquidy and made me feel a tiny bit better. And the in the afternoon I asked my dear across-the-street neighbor to bring me some 7 Up and canned peaches (my mother thought that would cure anything). Again, I thought they were the most delicious things in the world (the teeny-tiny bit that I had.)

So gratitude can come in strange ways, right?! Wishing everyone light and health. And I agree with Lav - in the winter particularly, ODAT is the way to go - no sense worrying about what's to come.

take care all - I'm going back to bed --

[Lavande]

Aww poor cyn :hug:
Sorry you got hit so hard with that virus! Please try to get some fluids in to replace what you've lost.
Can your neighbor help with your doggies too? Wish we lived closer together, I'd look in on you! Feel better very soon!!!

Hi there Dill - hate it when a post disappears.

My daughter & granddaughter returned my car this afternoon, theirs is now fixed. We had an epic afternoon of playing Doc McStuffins, Ha Ha.
My son-in-law arrived in time for dinner & they all left to go home around 7 pm.

I am exhausted but happy!

[papmom3]

Oh Cyn-you poor thing! So glad you are feeling a bit better. Tomorrow will be another day and hopefully you'll want to eat more than ice chips and canned peaches. Hugs from Central MA!!

Lav-when is the craft sale? Did it happen already? How did it go? How are the chickens doing in this abysmal cold? I too wish your kids the best of luck in finding a house. They are enterprising young people to want to tackle a picker upper. Like mother/father like daughter, eh?

Star-I feel so bad for you. I do get the loneliness and being done after work. Especially this time of year it takes a ton of will power to drag myself to the gym. I too have to stop at home first to let the dogs out. I miss the light and the warmth. All I want to do is crawl into bed! I would go to church even if it turns out you move in the spring. Live for the day, not the future.

Dill-I love the description of your land! You are very lucky. I remember a pic you posted of your lane a few years ago. You are living one of my dreams!! What if you were able to rent out your big house and build one of those tiny houses on your property so you can stay but not have to take care of a big house? Still, there is all the land and animals to take care of. Hmmm.....

I too don't like books that are too sad. I stick with a few favorite authors where I can lose myself in a pretend world that's better than mine LOL!

I can't believe what is happening in Buffalo! The pics are amazing and very scary. The ice storm in 2008 was bad enough. I don't think I could handle a monster storm. I'm going to have to look around for a fondue pot or something I can cook LM's dinner in without going outside if we were to lose electricity. It's so cold here it makes sense snow will be next. I have a friend living in Buffalo and I haven't heard from her. She hasn't posted on FB since yesterday and she didn't mention the storm then-I hope she is OK.

So, I got an interview already for the new job opp. its on my Birthday!! I'm taking a personal day for it and am getting nervous. I don't know if I have anything to wear and don't have any time to go shopping. All my suits were donated as they are too big. I also need a haircut badly but there is no time or money for that. I bought a curling brush to try to do something with long super fine head of hair. It's needs a color job too but that's not going to happen. Hope I don't psych myself out!

Things are getting worse and worse at work. The staff is on to the spying even tho I've been very careful. Cell phones are no longer allowed on the desks and they have to announce where they are going when they leave the office. They are not happy. Another grievance is going to be filed. Its my busy time as well so it is not fun at all to have to keep tabs on these two-really breaks my concentration and productivity. My boss has really allowed this to get out of hand over the past 3 years and now has to do damage control. Its going to blow up in her face.

OK, things to be grateful for: 2 jobs, a house with heat, dogs that are doing pretty well even with health and behavioral issues, a car that is still running, my amazing family, my quilting group, an agility trial to run in this weekend and lunch on Saturday with a dear friend.

Good nite and be well!

[SnoopyC]

Good morning...

Cyn, sorry you are so sick. Nothing worse than the stomach flu! I remember thinking the same thing about getting liquids in my system. Heaven. Take care of yourself.

Lav, thanks for sharing that about YB. Being with someone for a long time too, I get it. Fun time with your family.

Dill, sorry you lost your post, miss hearing from you.

Pap, How exciting you already have an interview. Wow. You know how to interview, so do I, if it is meant to be, it will be. Just do your best which I know you will. Better to have your suit a little loose than a little tight, right? The work environment sounds horrible, just poison. What is your manager thinking? The situation is really both their faults, employees for taking advantage of the situation, manager for not doing her job. What a mess. Now the cleanup. Eventually it will resolve itself, but so unnecessary. My new job is not micromanaged and if I wanted I could get away with stuff, but I don't want to. When I am at work, I work. Period. I still have not gone to the gym I joined. Hopefully tonight. I have really been dragging after work. Falling asleep around nine I am so tired. Just winter I guess. Thanks for the support Pap, I really appreciate it.

OK, off to my day. Have a good one.

[Lavande]

Good morning friends, happy Thursday!

A heat wave has moved in - woke up to 30 degrees, LOL!
Grateful there's no snow yet, that's for sure.

Pap, great in the job interview! Don't over worry the outfit & the hair. Arriving on time looking neat & clean is more important anyway. Keeping my fingers crossed for you
My chickens are just fine with the weather, bless their little hearts.
The craft sale goes on all week long (until Monday). The Curves owner keeps an eye on everything so we don't have to be there all the time. So far so good!

Star, I really have not made any close friends since moving to this location 11 years ago. It's just not the same but it's not all that bad either. I am able to go meet old friends once in a while but there is no one close by. You are near by your daughter now so that's a good opportunity for you :hug:

Hi there Dill, any snow in your area?

Cyn, hope you are feeling much better today!

OK, off to get some exercise - sure do need it right now!
Have a great AF day everyone!

Lav

[dill]

Hi Lav, cold and windy here, but I think we got up to around 32 for a high. We got 5 inches of snow a couple of days back but it has melted away to some extent because we've had a good deal of sunshine today and yesterday. I'm sure looking forward to more moderate temps this weekend!

Star, are there any people at your work that you might develop a friendship with? Most of my friends I made over the years at my job. I'm kind of working on developing a friendship with someone in my small town. She runs her own bakery and I stop in once a week to buy baked goods and say hello. I mostly buy the baked goods just as an excuse to say hello and chat for a minute. Anyway, the other day I suggested to her that maybye we could get together and take a walk some day. I threw it out there but didn't press it. I left the ball in her court so to speak. I remembered the name of the Oprah book that turned me off to her picks. It was The Story of Edward Sawtelle. The writing was very good, but I absolutely couldn't believe how dark and depressing the ending was!

Cyn, I'm glad you are feeling better. I can really relate to what you were saying about being grateful for not subjecting yourself to the ravages of the hangover and that the stomach bug gave you an opportunity to feel gratitude. Recently I have been thinking about the theme of how having bad things happen in one's life, tho difficult and challenging, provides an opportunity for personal growth or new knowledge.

Papmom, that's excellent that you applied for that close-to-home job! Fingers crossed for you! I am with Lav, don't stress about the hair and outfit. You'll do just fine!

I got out and did a little Christmas shopping today. Then, in spite of the wind, I got out and took a walk in the woods. That was really helpful in lifting my spirits. The funk I have been in seems to finally be lifting.

Have a peaceful AF evening and keep warm everybody!

[papmom3]

Evening all!

Cyn-hope you can check in soon so we know you are OK!

Lav-good to hear the girls are doing well in this weather. Not sure if any chickens survived in South Buffalo tho. Unbelievable what happened up there! My friend checked in and she lives in the southern towns which got nothing. Thank god.

Dill-how wonderful and brave you are to get out in the cold and wind. I just couldn't drag myself to water bootcamp tonite. 2nd week in a row! I hardly slept at all last nite and today was very busy. I'm really dragging. Definitely need to do something tomorrow after work.

Star-Hope you get to your new gym soon! No sense in paying for something you don't use. I really like the water class-it's fun to chat with everyone and it's great to not be doing it all alone. I do enough alone. So, maybe check into their class schedule-yoga, pilates, a spin class-whatever they have. You never know what could come out of it. also, check into sewing, quilting, knitting or crochet classes-I went to my first quilting class 5 years ago to humor my friend. I was hooked within 10 minutes of walking in the door!!! Have I met any friends because of these classes? No, but I sure look forward to them and the camaraderie while I'm there! And don't forget how close you are to your daughter and new GK!!

so interesting developments at work. Apparently the culture of abuse of time and attendance is prevalent across our whole division. My boss was advised to confront 2 of the other managers who were named in the pre grievance. They are reported as siding with our staffers which is not good. So we all met this morning. As expected they denied saying what the staffers are reporting they said and told us they have pretty bad offenders themselves. Then 2 other managers walked in as we were ending our meeting and got pulled into the conversation. They shared their problems as well. We all agreed we need to present a united and consistent front as we try to reset the behavior. We also agreed to go to our VP and ask for a meeting. We need her backing in order to put these procedures in place. Now, I ask you, if this culture of abuse is division wide, and all 5 managers are new and were told there were problems when they took the jobs, who is to blame? The common denominator is our VP. She has done nothing to stop this behavior. I like her very much, please don't get me wrong but apparently personnel issues are not at the top of her skill set. So, we'll see what happens and if she meets with us all and soon. My boss is really leaning on me now and seems very appreciative and sympathetic to how hard all this is for me. I'm treating it as managerial boot camp!! When they ask me at the interview if I have any experience dealing with personnel issues, I think I can answer their question with relevant examples!! As hard and painful this has been, I'm feeling more confident by the minute. The one person I do supervise seems to be dropping her armour finally and has been asking my advice and has actually been considering my point of view even if it doesn't agree with hers. That is huge progress! I really like her anyway but she's always been a bit prickly and defensive about her work. I've learned alot by being her supervisor. Oh, she and my boss are taking me out for lunch tomorrow for my birthday! Very unusual. We usually just do a cake for everyone plus my employee doesn't work on Fridays so she's taking time out of her personal time to do this. Now I almost feel guilty about the interview!!

I think I have an outfit I can wear and was pleased how the hot brush worked on my hair. Now I just have to review the job description and get some questions together.

Busy weekend with the demo (9am over an hour away! Ick!), lunch with my old work friend and the agility trial on Sunday then the interview on Monday. Whoo boy!!

Have a great nite all and enjoy the mild weather heading our ways.

[treegirl]

Thanks everyone for your sweet concern. I am better today, can't eat much, but am hydrating, so all is well.

Pap - congrats on the interview! Wow, that was fast! I second everyone else - you will look and feel great for the interview - it's your birthday, after all!

Dill and Star - I think the change of seasons is a hard time - learning to cope with the cold all over again - it saps one's energy. Good for you for getting out, Dill -- amazing. I tried to walk the dogs Tuesday, but it was 27 and blowing like crazy; we didn't get very far. Walked them for a little jaunt today so they don't get too stir crazy. They were very patient when I was sick. Good luck with keeping the light glowing within.

Lav - the animals did OK while I was down - I don't even remember feeding them in the morning, but later I saw all the dishes, so I must have. I do remember having to go out in the freezing semi-dark to help girl-dog up the steps. When it's dark she get's freaked out and can't get up them...that was not a very happy mommy at that point! So glad that you've had family time, but hope you get some time to rest now.

Pap - thanks for the gratitude list. I too have been thinking about heat and lights and a way to get around. So lucky.

And I'm grateful for this group and all the insight and life that is shared. Wishing all a good night and a great start to Friday --

[treegirl]

X-post, Pap. Hey Happy Birthday tomorrow! Congrats on all the work accomplishments, and go get 'em in the interview! Looking forward to hearing how it all goes...

[SnoopyC]

Good morning...

Happy Birthday Papmom, hope you have a great day!!!!!! I was thinking about your comments about the VP and it DOES start at the top. I have had three jobs now in the last year and all had different expectations, dress code, and culture. Good on you for getting experience in personnel management. I do need to join something and hope to soon. I wanted to go to the rec center last night but it was so cold I stayed home too. This weekend I am going for sure, I have nothing planned.

Dill, I do like the people I work with, but they live all over the city and are much younger with kids, so it is not a good fit. I am truly the oldest in my office. I don't know why Oprah likes books with horrible endings, but I need something different. Just finished a book on Bronson Alcott and boy was he a bad husband. He just flat up refused to work, at a time when women really could not earn. I would have kicked him out, but Louisa May Alcott's mother would have been shunned without her husband. What a mess it was.

Lav, I do love living closer to my daughter but it is over an hour away so always has to be planned and an event. Due to where our jobs are, we cannot live closer. Darn. It is still nice to see them more often and I am looking forward to Thanksgiving. I understand it takes time to make friends and there are different levels too. Sometimes I just get lonely and grieve a little. I never let myself sink too low though, I have the capacity to make plans whether I carry them out or not. I have interactions with people throughout the day, so don't get too isolated. It is just weird to move again and know we have to find another place to live in a year.

Cyn, it takes time to feel better after a bout with the flu, good you can stay home and take your time.

Off to make breakfast. Have a great day.