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Summer Vacation 2023

As I mentioned in this post I started a new job in April.

After 9 weeks of training and 2 months with my new team, it is finally

Vacation Time!

Long awaited and much deserved.

All last week I was getting daily texts from LB that included a countdown to vacation.  We’ve been looking forward to our trip to Treasure Island near  St. Petersburg, FL. We had planned to leave on Sunday and spend a few days on the beach, relaxing in the sun.  Like this.

But first, yard-work.

On Saturday, my first official day of vacation, we spent time in the yard working: trimming hedges, weeding, etc.  I was outside for about 6 hours trying to clean up the yard and destroy my fingernails.

LB was still working in the front yard when I decided that I’d had enough and announced that I was going to get in the pool.  LB said he would wrap up what he was doing and join me shortly.

There was something invigorating

about that short swim.

I started thinking that LB would be coming to get in the pool and knowing him he would decide that instead he should be cleaning the pool.  Since I had a received a burst of energy, I decided to get out and grab the pool brush.  I walked all around the pool and swept the sides.  Then I stepped up on the hot tub and started working on that.  When I was finished, I gracefully stepped down.  As I watched my foot hit the pool deck, I realized that it wasn’t hitting flat, but turning inward, like when you “roll” an ankle.  Call me crazy if you want, but I think I heard something pop.  I thought I was going to pass out and throw up all at the same time.  Fortunately I was able to get to my phone and text “help” to LB.  After the initial sickening feeling I had experienced, there wasn’t much pain unless I tried to walk.  As I sat watching TV with LB and Elvis on Saturday night, I honestly thought it was not a break, and would be better by morning.

Well it wasn’t better by morning and we made a trip to the Baptist ER in Oakleaf.  Dr. Lim explained that it was a metatarsal fracture.

Yep I broke my foot.

This was a first for me.  I had never broken a bone in all my 57 years until Saturday, August 5th.

On Sunday morning the staff at Baptist Oakleaf fixed me up and sent me home in just over an hour.

I won’t be going to Treasure Island today.

And I’ll NEVER try to clean the pool again.

~

Thank you for taking time out of your day to stop by my blog.

A Supervisor Story

I started a new job in April.  Still with the same company, but there is an entirely different vibe.  The job itself is intense.  So much so that the training lasted for 9 weeks, and we still didn’t cover everything.

During the eighth week of training, I and my 5 training team mates learned who would be our new manager.  Up to this point I had very mixed feelings.  Two of those managers had sat in on the training.  That said, I knew my new manager, before I knew he would be my new manager.

I wish I had a photo to post here.

It turns out that he is quite a character.  Yesterday he announced that he would be leaving the office at noon.  I was busy, but heard him say something about his son’s soccer practice.  I think.

This morning he did his typical walk through, stopping at everyone’s desk to ask how we are doing.  At the end of this daily practice he had something important to share.  He stood at the end of the cubicle trail and told a story that absolutely captured my attention.  I won’t be able to do it justice, but I’ll give it my best shot.

On Thursday afternoon he was standing at a food truck, waiting for the meal he had just ordered.  He was standing there alone for a short time until a man, whom he does not know begins to approach him.  The man had exited his vehicle, walked across a ‘ditch’, stopped in front of my manager and said, “I am going to faint”.  My manager, not knowing why he responded this way, said to the man, “just fall into my arms”.

This is exactly what happened.

The stranger passed out cold and was unconscious for “at least a minute”.  My manager said that he thought the man had possibly experienced a heat stroke, which would make perfect sense on a July afternoon in Florida.  Another man approached, and my manager appealed to him to call 911.  Shortly thereafter the unconscious man regained consciousness and did so with a scream.  He did not know where he was or what has happened.  When he finally composed himself he did not want rescue to come, nor did he want anyone to drive him home.  The man called his wife, who arrived within minutes, did not get out of her car, but instead simply followed her husband home.  Weird.  It took my manager 10 or 15 minutes to share this story, and he did it much more justice than I.  CLEARLY he had been traumatized by the event that left him dazed and confused as he watched the man who caused the scene drive away unscathed, followed by a dispassionate wife.

I gained a new appreciation for my manager today.  He is a kind and caring individual.

I hope he never has to fire me.

LOL

~

Thank you for taking time out of your day to stop by my blog.

Friday Favorites

Well, its Friday.

Other than that great news there is also the fact that I only have three days left to work in my current job.  It has been 11 years and 6 months since I started and at one time I thought I would be stuck there until the END of time.  Or until the guaranteed surplus finally transpired.

The bad news is that I will still have to deal with traffic going to the same office.

But back to the good news… it is Friday.  And I have favorites.

Monday was…

Favorite # ONE

Spring is not my favorite season, but I like it better than winter.

I’m so glad to see the flowers blooming and everything turn green as opposed to winter brown.

Time to get to work on my secret garden!

~

In this post I proclaimed my recent LOFT order to be one of my favorites.  That was before the package was delivered.  I didn’t like anything, so LB and I took a trip to LOFT for an exchange.  I managed to find a few replacement items that I really liked.  My favorite is

Favorite # TWO

Those are Sailor pants.  They are really cute.

I also hit EXPRESS for a few tops

Favorite # THREE

This top looks like a lavender taffeta bridesmaid dress.  I love it anyway.

I need a closet purge badly.

~

I typically like to add something that I’ve made for dinner or dessert to a post every now and then.

My most recent attempt at cake was supposed to look like this…

Instead, it looks like this…

Favorite # FOUR

This experience taught me that you can make the cake in advance, but you cannot assemble it with Lucky Charms marshmallows until the day you will be cutting into it.

It started out okay, but eventually it wasn’t pretty.

Favorite # FIVE~

Thank you for taking time out of your day out of your day to stop by my blog.

Friday Favorites

What a long week it has been!  Monday – Tuesday – Wednesday – Thursday – Friday!  It takes FOREVER to get from Monday to Friday.  And with everyone in the United States moving to Florida, the traffic is INSANE.

[Although it is comforting to know that the majority of people in the US are republican DeSantis lovers.]

YES, it has been a long week, although it has not been a week without excitement.

Last Saturday I had to opportunity to spend time with the glambabies.

Sunday the whole FamDamily got together to celebrate a birthday.  We have no shortage of birthdays in my family lol.

Monday, I received a glorious job offer.  LB and I celebrated as soon as I got home.

That job offer has turned into a fiasco [in my mind] because some felt they were treated unfairly and now the union is involved.  There is a lot more that I could say on this subject, but I’m going to try to remain positive at this time.  Although I’m irritated.

Nevertheless, I’ve selected five favorites for this Friday.  Here they are…

Favorite # ONE

Little Visitors

They enjoyed being creative at Glammy’s

 

~

Favorite # TWO

A future little visitor

Richard says he has a big [Starling] head

I think he is perfect.

Thinking about the future I was searching Amazon for a walker for this little one.

He won’t be able to use it for a while, but this is in my cart…

Favorite # THREE~~

Favorite # FOUR

My latest LOFT order arrived today.

Here it is…

I told LB this morning that lately I’m not liking the way anything looks on me, so we may be making a trip to return everything sometime this weekend

~

Favorite # FIVE

That’s my Amanda.  Back in D.C.

~

Thank you for taking time out of your day to stop by my blog.

Friday Favorites

It has been difficult coming up with favorites since I’ve been working from home, or rather, since the 2020 lock-down began.  LB and I rarely go out anymore.  As I mentioned in this post, after 3 years of working from home, the company called me back to the office this week.  Unbelievable as it is, all I can come up with now are my most un-favorites LOL!

Here are some examples…

My office

Traffic

Getting up early

Being sleepy all day

Job searching

I’ve had 2 interviews this week.  The questions are insane, and the interviewing managers want detailed answers and dates, if possible: “tell me about a time when you had to assist a customer who was irate…  what did you do the change this customer’s perspective about the company?” or “tell me about a time when you disagreed with someone on your team… what did you do to resolve any conflict that ensued?”

OMG!

Luckily my head hasn’t exploded.

Face Wow Sticker

There’s an idea for a favorite and it should be my first…

Favorite # ONE

My head

[pictured below]

I am still in one piece.

With all of the life upheaval this week, I have not fallen apart. And mostly this is thanks to one person, who keeps me grounded and stable

Favorite # TWO

LB

He doesn’t like the new/old normal any more than I do, but he has a way of keeping me from losing my mind.  I’m thankful for him!

It looks like I’m going to need to reach back to last weekend if I’m going to complete my list of favorites…

Favorite # THREE

Salsas

at Marietta Square

There is a new-ish Mexican restaurant nearby, so on Saturday LB and I went out for dinner.  We invited a couple of friends to join us, since we missed our annual Super Bowl party with them.  LB and I had our usual fajita dinner and it was great.

While we were driving back from the restaurant, we spotted some furniture at a neighbor’s house.  Two baby cribs and a chest of drawers.  I wasn’t sure if Richard and Emily still had their crib, so, with the help of his friend and friend’s truck, LB picked up everything and brought it home.

The reason we were interested in this furniture is…

Favorite # FOUR

A new baby is on the way

Baby Boy GIF by www.greetpool.com

He will be here in June!

And last but not least…

Favorite # FIVE

FRIDAY!

Friday is incredibly important again!

Thank you for taking time out of your day to stop by my blog.

Happy Tuesday

Happy Tuesday…

Sort of

After 3 years of working from home, I was ordered to return to the office.  It takes me about 35 minutes to drive there if traffic is agreeable.  Today I left an hour before log in time… just in case.

Wouldn’t you know it, there was an incident on the Buckman bridge.  A bad incident.  I have nothing to complain about in comparison.

58 minutes after I left the house, I arrived at the office.

My badge didn’t work (long sigh).

I climbed the stairs and immediately tried to turn down the wrong hall.  Luckily Gary was there to correct me.  My area is empty as the members of my team have greater seniority than I and get to stay home until later this week. My desk was set up with new monitors and a new phone system.  I had to have a quick lesson on how to log in.

Then I unlocked my drawers.  The first thing I noticed was a can of mixed nuts.  They were stuck to the bottom of the drawer.

Thinking back to March 2020, it was assumed by all that we would be returning within a few weeks… you know… long enough to flatten the curve.  A few weeks may have been fine to stash items I left in my office drawers, but a few years was just a bit too long.  Like the 12 oz. can of soda.  I’m not sure why I saved it.  It was a freebie and not my type.  Maybe someone would need it someday [yes, I am one of those people who save things because someone might need it someday].

That can of soda was still unopened but had somehow found a way to leak out over time.  Everything was stuck to the bottom of that drawer.  And Everything was sticky.  I threw most of it away, then spent time trying to clean up the sticky mess.  When I checked my progress, I found everything was still sticky.  I let it all dry and wiped it again several times.  But every time I touch something at my desk, I feel like Clark Griswold trying to enjoy his evening after he put up his sappy Griswold Family Christmas tree

By 10AM I was back in business with work…  and thinking about finding a new job LOL (I’ve applied for 2 in the last week)

😊

The company has decided it would be nice to have lunch catered as we each return.  Since today was my day to return, I enjoyed a great big chicken Caesar salad from Panera. With the salad was a bottle of water, an oatmeal cookie, and an apple.  LB will appreciate the cookie.

It was a long day, and I suppose I’ll do it again tomorrow.SO here we are – back to the old normal –  Except I’ve been STICKY all day!

~

Thank you for taking time out of your day to stop by my blog.

Thirsty Thursday

  Since I’ve been working from home, there hasn’t been much to blog about.

Having made it through last Thursday, I now have something to blog about.

The day began when the clock sounded at 7 AM: I put on clothes and crawled back in bed to wait for my 8 AM log in time.  I was too tired to do anything to my hair or put on my makeup.  What did it matter anyway, I’m working from home.

LB and I had been invited to go out for dinner and a show the night before. 

 Apparently we had stayed up too late.

~

Every weekday at 10 AM I take the first of 2 of my required breaks.  As I headed to break just after 10 AM, my phone rang.  It was Mama, so I answered, but she did not reply.  I said “Mama?” and then she responded, “Kim I need a diet coke, do you have a diet coke?”

Boy she must be THIRSTY

And that is how it started.

Being that I do not support Coke, I said, “I have a diet Pepsi and a Zevia diet cola”.  As we continued to speak I could tell something was very wrong.  I told her I would be right there, grabbed the 2 cans from the refrigerator, told LB I was going to Mama’s and headed next door.

I called my sister Gina while I was walking to Mama’s house and told her that something was wrong and I was walking next door to find out.  She stayed on the phone with me and I put her on speaker. When I opened the door to go in I set off the alarm, of course.  I tried to get to the closet to talk to the Safe Touch lady, who had been trying to get someone to respond, but she had disconnected and called Gina.

At this point I’m already a nervous wreck

Walking into Mama’s room I saw that she was in bed, on Daddy’s side, wrapped in a blanket, and shivering.  She was shivering and shaking so forcefully that at first I thought she was having a seizure or a stroke.  But she wanted that diet Pepsi and she wanted it ‘NOW’.  So I helped her have a drink and tried to figure out what was happening to her.

Mama thought she might have an infection and fever which cause the shivering/shaking, but there was also extreme pain.  Since she felt it would be best to call the rescue, Gina dialed while I gathered some of her things.  The 911 operator called and told me rescue was on the way.

I don’t do well in a crisis.  And it didn’t help that I had on NO makeup and my hair was balled up on top of my head.  I remember at one point my aunt Sharon coming in to see what was wrong, but the details are fuzzy.  The rescue fellas arrived quickly and took Mama to the ambulance.

I grabbed Mama’s things, ran to my house to grab my things, and LB and I followed the ambulance to the Baptist ER.  My friend and co-worker Kathy took care of everything for me at work and let the company know what was going on until I was able to follow up.  I’m grateful for her.

When the hospital staff finally let me in to be with Mama, I understood that this was even more serious than I had previously thought.  The shivering/shaking had stopped, but she was clearly in pain, enough to make her cry.  So I cried too.

Then Gina called.  “Are you okay” she said.  “Yes”, I replied.  “No you aren’t, I’ll be right there.”  What would I do without her?

A couple of things are embedded in my memory forever…

First I thought we were going to lose her

and second, she was so thirsty.  She wanted something to drink, but they would not let her have anything.  If we were going to lose her it would be tragic if she was thirsty too.  I did what I could for her, but I won’t go into detail for fear of coming across as a complete idiot.

It was A LONG DAY!

After the CT scan it was determined that she had diverticulitis.  About 40 minutes later we were informed that she had sepsis and they would need to keep her to administer “aggressive” antibiotics.  Apparently that’s a thing.

I’m not sure exactly what time it was when they took her to her room, but she would spend the next three days there.  And we would be there too.

She was still in bad shape on Friday, but sometime on Saturday afternoon she seemed to perk up.  And she told me to go home lol.

And on Sunday, the doctor released Mama to go home.

We were relieved!

She was so happy!

And still a bit thirsty!

~

Thank you for taking time out of your day to stop by my blog.

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