Time & space for myself plus one

Since I’ve redone my craft room, it has become a place where we can all go there and do some crafts etc.  Little boy has decided he likes play-doh and ever since I bought him a small set…he’s been going in there every day and saying. “ma, wanna play play-doh?”.  We can sit in there, play play-doh, watch “artoons” and I can even do a little of my own crafting. 

It was funny the other night when I arrived home late from my trip to DC to see the light on in my craft room as I drove up the drive.  There was little boy…sitting there playing with the play-doh…..

As I continue to organize the space, I actually got to do a little scrapbooking.  Although it was only “re-doing” a couple of pages little boy had torn apart, I still felt a sense of accomplishment.  I have even started some little gift card boxes for xmas and plan on making some cards here real soon.  It’s amazing how you can find the time and be inspired when your space is just right.  Let’s just hope we can keep it that way for a little while this time!

I used to…….

I think age is really catching up to me because I started to think about all my good and bad changes both physically and in my every day life…

I used to be a morning person.  I would always wake up early and ready to start my day.  Usually in a very good mood.  Could get lots done at work before most of the people even got in.  Now it’s all I can do to open my eyes.

I used to be always get to work on time.  This relates back to the morning person and a little bit of a needy young child.  It’s getting worse…..I have not been on time in several months.

I used to be able to eat whatever I wanted and not gain weight.  Now if I just think about bad food I gain weight…

I used to be skinny.  Also relates back to the eating what I wanted….I remember WANTING to gain weight because I was so skinny.  Be careful what you wish for.

I used to have very limp straight hair.  This is probably due to hormones from having a child but these days my hair is so curly and full of body.

I used to have a lot of energy and was fairly active.  Now my knees or my feet hurt most of the time and I just soon pile up on the bed and watch TV.

I used to have free time…..  free time to scrapbook, decorate, cook, work in the yard.  These days it’s like there are less hours in the day.

I used to care about how I looked or dressed.  These days whatever falls out of the closet will do.

I used to be organized.  These days I just keep re-arranging the crap or piles and it’s still not organized.

I used to be very shy.  Most people I work with don’t believe this but when I was younger I would never speak up.  These days it’s hard to shut me up and I’m not afraid to speak my mind.

Yep I used to be different……I’m sure it’s my age.

A week at the Beach

We just returned from a week at the beach.  We had a good trip…only one afternoon of rain and thankfully came home before the effects of hurricanes came through.  To my surprise little boy was almost (and I mean almost) totally potty trained for the trip.  He actually held it till we came to a gas station or rest stop AND got out of the pool to potty which is totally surprising.  Most trips were with me to the Ladies Room except for that one time at a rest stop outside of Birmingham where he chose to “water a tree”.  We were very impressed.

First full day there husband got stung by jellyfish and little boy refused to walk on the sand or get near the ocean (not because of the jellyfish…just because).  We finally got him to the beach the last day but he had to be carried out there and would only sit on a towel while his mommy built sand castles and hunted for shells (and fetched shells for him too).  But he loved the pool.  We were out there every morning when the pool opened and stayed till lunch then went back out in the afternoon.  I think he only napped one or two days which was unfortunate because that meant he fell asleep before we could go to dinner.  I absolutely refuse to cook or clean while on vacation and husband loves seafood so going on is what we loved to do.  One night we couldn’t wake him and ended up having bologna sandwiches for dinner….blah….I was already eating those for lunch.

While we were down there we ran into some friends of ours.  We were waiting to get a table outside the Original Oyster House when husband went inside to the bar to get little boy some soda when a guy at the bar looked over and then nudged him…..It was our friends Rob and Z who had made a last minute trip down there for their anniversary.  We had not seen them in awhile so it was really good to see them and quite funny that we did down at the beach.

I get an email from my mom who was suppose to go check on my animals and it turns out she can’t find the key to my house.  If it wasn’t for the heat I probably wouldn’t have worried but I was afraid they’d run out of water.  Thankfully she found the key and they went and checked on everybody.  I could now enjoy the rest of my vacation knowing they were okay.  It’s hard to travel anywhere when you have so many pets.  Of course with Buster gone it feels like I don’t have hardly any but most people would agree…4 cats and 3 dogs is a lot of pets.  I can’t help being such an animal lover…you can imagine how upset I got down at the beach to see three black cats hanging outside a seafood restaurant right there on the Gulf highway (very close to the road).  Of course I gathered leftovers and gave them some (probably shouldn’t have encouraged that but couldn’t help it).

While at the beach, I made the mistake of checking my work messages one afternoon and discovered the lady who I had interviewed with had called and wanted to talk to my current supervisor.  I emailed her back and told her she could but that I was at the beach and had not had a chance to tell him about the interview.  She agreed to wait and this morning I told him….We’ll have to wait and see about that one. 

So back to the grind for us……all the animals were okay when we got home and even though we loved the beach I was sorta glad to be home…at least to sleep in my own bed….knowing all the work that needs to be done around the house isn’t fun but…it’s home….

Could it be…..?

After all my fretting over looking for a new job (since I don’t see much potential where I’m at and not happy with the direction the organization is going)….I finally got an interview yesterday.  The interview went pretty good I think and they seemed impressed by my resume……it would be more money and has great potential to get even more money because the actual supervisor of the position is not moving down here from DC with the rest of the organization.  The only thing is I’d have to go to DC for 3 weeks to get training as a condition of employment….

Number one, three weeks away from by little boy, my husband and my critters is a long time.  Last time I was gone a week, little boy for a split second acted like he didn’t know me….that hurt even though it was a split second.  Secondly, I hate to travel by myself and that will be a source of severe anxiety….flying there won’t be so bad alone but getting a rental car and driving to the location..then driving back to the airport when I leave………..lots of traffic…..I hate it.  I’m a real woosey when it comes to major traffic which is why I could never live in a really big city….people are crazy on the road.

I won’t let the 3 week training decide whether to take the job if they offer it…..sure it will be scary but I couldn’t pass this up because it’s a great opportunity.

Not sure when I’ll hear back on it since I stayed home today with little boy who is sick and then Sunday I’m gone out of town for a week.  I haven’t even told my boss I interviewed (which I had planned to do this morning before I found out I had to stay home).  Oh well…..I guess we’ll see…..I thought I was ready for a changc butit sure is scary!!

Good-Bye

Well yesterday I took my elderly cat Buster to the vet again because he just wasn’t getting better.  I did all kinds of research on what the problem might be…..suspect was Gingivitis Stomatatis (or something spelled like that) which is common in felines who are positive for the Feline AIDS (FIV).  He had all the symptoms for that which was very disturbing.  Buster had always been an indoor or restricted cat except for a short period when I moved back home with my mom and he was allowed outside.  The FIV is mostly spread through deep wounds from fighting and not so much from sharing food or water.  Buster had been in fights while living there but don’t know how bad.

Armed with this knowledge I asked the vet about it and also asked if we could try Amoxicillin since that’s what we used last year when he had an abcessed tooth and it seemed to help.  After examining him and stating that he had lost 2 pounds and was anemic, she more or less tried to hint that even if we pulled all his teeth or changed his antibiotic she was afraid it may be something else that might be preventing him from getting better. She didn’t say FIV but that could have been it…either way..even if he got better for awhile it would probably not last.

I knew what she was suggesting but neither her or my mom who I had forced to come with me would just come out and say it…..

The vet who was very understanding and nice told me not feel guilty but of course I do.  I don’t like making that kind of decision…almost playing God…  But I decided to go ahead.  I thought I was prepared for that news but you never really are.

I said good bye to my sweet boy and kissed his face and they took him away.  We brought him to my mom’s and buried him on the hill where so many other of our beloved pets are resting…..