As an update from my last post, Laina's grandpa is doing much better and is now home from the hospital. Her dad says that grandpa is still tired, but that is to be expected for the next few months. He is 83, so I think he is doing well, given everything. Thank you for your continued prayers.
As the warmer weather approached, I didn't realize that my AC had never been installed! After days & nights of the thermostat reading up to 90 degrees, I am happy to report that it was fixed yesterday morning. It was nice to sleep in a cool room last night. The third floor allowed for a breeze most nights, which helped, but the open windows played havoc on my allergies. It is amazing how spoiled we all are as a nation. So many blessings that we take for granted like AC. It helped me to realize that it wasn't very long ago in history that people didn't have air conditioning. And there are countries where it is much hotter that people are lucky if they have homes, let alone AC. It helped me to put things into perspective a bit... not that I didn't still whine a little. ;-)
I am off to my son's graduation next week. Hard to believe that the cute little boy I raised has now blossomed into a wonderful young man. I hate that I have missed so much of his high school years. He lives in Georgia with his dad. He lost so much time with his dad as he was growing up, that I hated to tear him away when they just got back in touch. It was one of the hardest things I ever had to do, but looking at the terrific son that he is, I know it was the best for him at the time. Michael received an Academic Award as a Senior this year. I am so proud of him. I am excited to see him walk with honors on Friday. He already knows what he wants to do -- he has signed with the Air Force and will be working with electronics. I am scared for him, but proud that he made his own choices. I just learned that he has a new girlfriend named Amber. I hope she appreciates him for who he is.
This morning we attended Laina's girl scout year-end ceremony. It was a nice event although a bit windy and cold in the pavilion. It was supposed to rain, so I'd say we were blessed. It was a pretty & sunny day. Laina performed in the flag ceremony and received patches and awards for her work over the past year. I even received a thank you card and a couple of patches myself. Laina is growing up as well. After the picnic, she and I went to have our haircut and get our nails down - a luxury I haven't taken the time or money for in a long time. It was great and I think we both needed it - I know that I did. Laina looks so mature with her new cut.
Lisa has moved back to Georgia in case I haven't mentioned. She was working at Waffle House, but just started at Cracker Barrel. She is still trying to find herself. It is hard to believe that she is already 21. I still picture her as my prissy little girl and now she is this vibrant adult. Wow...
I finally purchased Lisa's dog a crate and have been crating him most days while I am at work. It has helped cut down on the mess I have to clean when I get home. I have a picture of one mess from him, but I have not learned yet how to upload my photos from my camera to the computer. That is one of my next projects. It was one of those times where I was upset and tickled at the same time. Picture this... I had inadvertently left a package of toilet tissue on the dining room table after shopping. The dog had ALL DAY to play. Those two combinations lead to my entire dining area being COVERED with tissue. Boo had TPd his own house! It was funny enough that I took a picture of him looking up at me from the center of the pile with a look on his face like "Look what I did, grandma!" Now that took a bit to clean up. :-) He has brought me joy, but also a lot of extra cleaning. He reminds me so much of my former dog, Scarlet, who passed away last year.
Mother's Day was nice, although very sad at the same time. It was the first Mother's Day without my Mom. I would try to visit her whenever I could, but would at least call. I think of her every day and miss her so much. It is hard to believe that she has been gone since January already. I just wish things could have been different. I loved her so much... I still do. My two older children were in Georgia, so I only had Laina here. I missed the kids, but what can you do. Laina and I ended up going over to my soon-to-be ex's house (court date is in 3 days) and he prepared us brunch, then went to see Star Trek, so it was a nice day after all.
Work has been hectic lately as we are in the midst of restructuring and now report to a new boss over the division. It was a hard day last month when several of my friends lost their jobs at work. The economy has been brutal to so many people. I don't think many are unaffected in some way or another. I was one of the luckier ones as I lost my job, but was offered another position at a lower pay. It was really my same job with a different title and pay structure. At least I didn't lose it altogether. It is now up to me to have my new boss see my worth and somehow get back up to where I was before. I am not good at tooting my own horn and typically leave it up to people to determine for themselves my value. It has worked for me a good part of the time, but I know it won't always.
My new condo keeps me busy as I still have boxes to unpack. Being a new place, I am still discovering things about it (like the lack of AC). The elevator isn't operational yet and with the economy as it is, the pool, garden & tennis courts that were to be in front of my building are on hold, probably until next summer. Right now it is a dirt field. LOL I really like a lot about my new place. It is roomy and everything is so new. I enjoy the granite counter tops and the hardwood floors and the huge picture windows that will overlook the garden. I am really going to miss it. I was fortunate enough that the realtor is working out something to where I can move from the 3 bedroom to a 2 bedroom in the building next door to save money (due to the huge pay cut) but I realized a few days ago that the new place will not have the amenities or space that this building had (hence the significant cost reduction). I will miss my garden tub the most as I think I was most excited about that. Of course, the walk-in closets will be missed as well. These are all just material things I know, but I will still miss them. It is going to be about 6 weeks until the new building is ready, so I just have to enjoy the stuff I have while I have it. The hardest part is deciding whether to continue unpacking. I think I will since I have been living in limbo the better part of the last nine months since Al moved out and I learned I needed to move as well. I need to feel settled. I think it will be important to me, but even more important to Laina. I also want to start having friends to the house. I haven't done that much since I was transferred here 5 years ago, and I really need to start doing that more. I love to connect with people and really haven't in such a long while. I need to get back to being "me" again.
I have so many blessings in my life -- a good job, wonderful children, and nice place to live. I need to enjoy myself more. I think as we grow older (my age) we tend to just exist and not really live, not experience things. I envy people who are comfortable enough with themselves to do that. My friend Peggy seems to always be doing something or going some where. She makes it a point to make herself happy. I need to do more of that. I have been thinking a lot about that over the past few days and was the reason behind the haircut & mani/pedi today... and even then I almost talked myself out of it. I am very glad I didn't. It was nice... and even nicer to share it with my youngest.
Right now, she is downstairs playing with our new neighbors' boys. They moved in a few weeks ago, and initially Laina was too shy to talk to them although they were always outside playing. I encouraged her to invite them to her birthday party two weeks ago (she made me give their mom the invitation as she couldn't muster the courage), but after playing with them that day they have been practically inseparable since then. They are sweet young boys, a little younger than her, and their Mom is very sweet and kind as well. I enjoy talking to her too.
OK, well I did entitle this "Ramblings of the day" but I didn't expect to ramble as much as I did. Please know that if you are a friend or family, that I love you very much. And if you are not yet either, I always love making new friends! I hope will be.
May God bless and keep you all.
Linda
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