New office

Last weekend, in the wee hours of the morning, someone drove a car through the stone "monument" at the entrance to our subdivision. We don't know what happened, exactly, but there was a police helicopter hovering over the neighborhood, and the police had the street closed. There was a car smashed up against, or rather, through a neighbor's fence; we assumed that the police had the streets closed because they were looking for whoever had been in the car.

We never did hear what happened, and the monument is still in pieces. Probably alcohol-related, Bob said, and that's probably right. I was wondering whether it was a high speed chase that ended with the crash, but I guess we'll probably never know. One of the weirdest things was that there was a message from a police officer on our answering machine, asking for me, saying that they were working an accident in our neighborhood, and needed a phone number for the homes association.

I called back, wasn't able to get hold of the officer, and left a message, but he never called me back. I have no idea why anyone would have called me -- I don't have anything to do with the homes association, and can't imagine how they would have gotten my name. It's a mystery.

That same night, or the evening before, I guess, we lost power for a couple of hours. Nothing specific had happened that we could pinpoint, i.e., no storms or anything, but it didn't come back on immediately like it normally would. I had to take a shower the next morning--I needed to wash my hair--and Bob was concerned that if the power didn't come on overnight, the water in the waterheater wouldn't retain enough hot water.

So I took a shower in the dark, with him holding a flashlight. Now that's something we don't do every day!

We're moving at work. We won't be in the basement anymore--we're moving to the third and fourth floors of the building we're in now.

This will be my office ("before" pictures, obviously):

It has a kitchen! Well, it's not like an office that has a kitchen, it's a kitchen/office. But it has windows! It's been a long time since I could see out of a window at work.

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Cute outfit

The cold really hasn't been all that bad. I took cold pills for a couple of days, but they make me feel so weird that I couldn't stand it, and I've just been struggling along without. I thought I was doing pretty well, anyway; last night when Bob came to bed, he woke me up to tell me that he was going to sleep in the basement because I was snoring so loudly!

I said, "okay," and went back to sleep. At least the kitties didn't desert me . . . He came back at about 4:30, I think. This morning I told him that I'd sleep in the basement tonight, but he said no, that he didn't want me to. I guess we'll worry about it tonight. I hate that I was keeping him awake, but at least we do have somewhere else to sleep.

I was surprised that Pyewacket stayed in bed with me, but maybe she didn't realize he was in the basement. She may have thought he left. He didn't have to go in to work until early afternoon, so hopefully he was able to get some more sleep.

For some reason, this made me remember something that happened last weekend, I guess it must have been Sunday. I had been cleaning. I was wearing one of the pairs of new pajama pants that I got at Sam's; this pair was kind of a turquoise blue with white flowers on it. I was also wearing a big lavender t-shirt with an embroidered flower on the front--I think it was one that he brought me back from a vacation sometime a few years ago.

As I said, I'd been cleaning, and somewhere I'd run across a handful of stretchy beaded bracelets that I needed to take upstairs, so I'd just put them on rather than lay them down somewhere else.

When Bob got home, he looked at me, and said, "That's quite an outfit you've got on." I laughed and said, "What's wrong with it?" (I know he isn't crazy about the pajama pants, but so what, they're comfy, and I like them.) He said, no, it's fine, there's nothing wrong with it. It's the bracelets that really make it, though."

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A cold

After going a couple of years, I think, without a cold, I've come down with one. I blame Bob, of course -- working retail, he can hardly avoid shaking hands with people, touching things other people have touched, etc., and he had a bad one for a couple of weeks. I started off with a scratchy throat for several days, then started sneezing, and all the rest. For the past couple of years I've been very diligent about washing my hands constantly, and that has seemed to help keep me from getting anything. Oh well. I guess that's a pretty good record.

Bob's out of town this weekend. He went to the lake for a short fishing trip with a friend from work, so it's just been the kitties and me since Fridy. Yesterday I went out and ran some errands, but I really didn't feel like being out. I came home, ate junk for dinner, and fell asleep in my chair. Such an exciting Saturday night . . .

This morning I slept in, which was lovely, then lounged around in bed reading until Dinah insisted that I get up and feed her. This afternoon I've been sitting in front of the computer reading blogs, drinking orange juice, and making jewelry.

Yesterday the weather was wonderfull, probably about 60°; it felt like spring. I haven't been out yet today, but it looks nice, and I see my neighbor out in his shirtsleeves raking leaves. I suppose I should get out and enjoy it while I can. I know it won't last.

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Happy New Year!

I can't say that this year was bad -- no year is ever bad, really. It's all a combination of things, but as Bob and I always say, as long as we have each other, it's all good.

But this year I did feel like I was always scrambling to catch up, especially in the last half of the year. As I look back over my journal entries for the year, one repeating theme was how busy I was. I don't really think that I had too many commitments, I think that I just failed to manage things efficiently. I wasted too much time, probably, although some of that I did intentionally, telling myself that I deserved some downtime, and I know I do.

One of the good things that happened this year was finally sitting down and teaching myself how to make jewelry, and getting up the courage to put it up for sale, and actually being fairly successful at it. One of my goals for 2008 is to explore other venues for selling my jewelry--craft shows or jewelry shows or the shows that I know some big corporate offices set up for their employees. I don't exactly know how to go about finding out about those things, but I'll figure it out.

It's not that I want to quit my "day job" -- I still love what I do -- but I really love making jewelry, too, and it's almost like therapy for me. Something I can do with my hands that produces something tangible, something physical, that gives me satisfaction, and that can also bring in a little money.

Knitting gives me satisfaction, too, but I don't have any talent (or interest) in designing knitwear, and there isn't any money in knitting, i.e., aside from being able to knit a few things for gifts, it's all about personal satisfaction, and while that's important, it would seem to make sense to do something that would bring me personal satisfaction, and supplemental income.

I guess that was my biggest personal accomplishment this year. I only managed to read 46 books in 2007, but I guess that's not too bad. I used to be able to read 100, but lately a goal of 50 seems more reasonable. I'd like to try to do that this year. I'd also like to try to write more here--an average of one entry a week is pretty pitiful.

I thought this was a very interesting, though-provoking article: Three Big Rocks. A lot of it doesn't apply, of course, but the questions are interesting:

What am I endeavoring to manifest now in my life?

How can I change my thought patterns to empower my goals?

What old connections can I release now, for my highest good?

What wisdom is seeking to reveal itself to me at this time?

What new idea has seeded itself this winter, and how can I best nurture it to fruition, as the Earth nurtures her seeds?

What are the imprisoning fears that I feel ready to release?

What part of me will awaken as the rebirth of Spring arrives?

How can I best focus on my blessings this season?

How can I turn negatives into positives?

How can I make the best use of this lifetime?

Some good things to think about as we enter the new year.

Barb was in town for the holidays, so she came over and we spent yesterday afternoon together. We went to lunch, exchanged Christmas gifts, and caught up. She left for the airport in the early evening and I went to the grocery store to pick up a few things.

Bob and I stayed home last night and had a quiet evening. I made cheese fondue and we had olives and bread--a very simple meal. I fell asleep before midnight, but he woke me up at about 11:45 for a toast and a kiss.

Today was quiet and simple, too. I made pancakes for breakfast, then we had little meals and snacks through the day. I heated up some black-eyed peas, the traditional New Year's Day dish for good luck, and we had cheese and crackers, and olives, and shrimp, and I drank a cocktail of my own devising: leftover Asti Spumante, orange juice, and maraschino cherries.

We read, and watched television, played on the computer, and took naps. An altogether lovely beginning to what I hope will be an outstanding year.

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