Looking Glass

 Today is the first day I have checked out my blog in months. I popped into some of my friends' blogs to take a peek and was surprised to find that grumpy has stopped blogging as of July. I was very surprised to see that grumpy has stopped his writings and sharing his opinions of the world and current events. How is he keeping his mouth closed? (Haha) Kden (bless her) still blogs and I am happy for that.  Kden continues to post pictures on her photo blog and she shares information about her pet sitting business and employment. If you knew how much she loves pets (especially dogs) you'd understand.(A sigh of relief  is blown here.)  I have taken way too much time away from blogging, this venting system to cyber space. This sharing or shouting of life's meandering, this platform of seeking input or advice from those that care. This author-like way of putting my feelings on a page without regard to what a proofreader or publicist would say. This updated way of voicing...

 I am not sure how I will be able to describe to my friends the format and templates of Match.com and how to establish your profile: answering standardized questions, uploading pictures, and typing up to 4,000 words into preformed boxes to describe your  likes, interests or the type of partner you seek. When these templates are filled, you have your profile.  Your next step is "searching" for your match via the hundreds or so profiles of guys that did the same thing as you with the above task. At this point, you are open to have your profile viewed by them. There is the typical "thumbs up or down buttons" when Match suggests good candidates. You can also give a guy thumbs up on photos. They can then see the profile of this admirer if desired. Next, when you wish, you can send a match.com email to this person. Nice thing; you don't have to share your personal email. This mini email system is embedded right into your match.com site. There is also IM-Instant Mess...

 I look outside and see the beautiful summer melt away leaving the area abound with rain, as if the clouds were crying the loss of warmth for the world. The shedding of weathered change turned into days of rain and the anticipation of Daylight Savings time to "fall back" and loose an hour of the day loomed in citizens' minds. The annual, winter task is to happen in three days and with the Pacific Northwest acquiring a rainy reputation, it only solidified the dread of early evening darkness. But I reminded myself over and over that a positive attitude was needed to overcome the negativity of  the weather. I needed to be glad for the nice summer enjoyed and the holidays ahead. I have patted myself on the back for having a healthy jump on my X-Mas shopping, and that brings an inner, positive smile.  A random thought I had a second ago, was to get off my ass and start swimming. Yea, like that will happen; I live 1.5 miles from a ...

  The title of this post is definitely not literal.  It is quite the opposite. June broke into sunny warm days that  started the month and it exited the year by leaving hotter weather behind it. July barely had winds at all,  which is the nod to the ironic title.  The winds of July reference the surprises and activities that the month held in store for me after a pleasant visit with my nephew at the end of June. Six years has spanned our last meeting at a family reunion. He is thin, tall and bears a smile easily on a face resembling his mother, my sister Mary.  He talks happily of life with a family and a chiropractic practice despite some hard years not so long ago. His two boys are the prime ages of five and eight and they still like hanging out with mom and dad (smile here).The "family man" characteristics definitely exist for him.  He had a friend on his coattails during the three day stay at my house and thanks...

 I almost forgot. I was going to share a few random "to do's" from my list of life goals.  9. Travel to Paris, 20. Learn guitar. 32. Have multiple properties. 44. Creative writing class. 50. Take a cruise. 61. Be a paid blogger/x-tra income. 68. Ride in a private leer jet.

 Despite having another year under my belt I am not fifty five years old. That will be two years from now. Why did I title this blog referring to that age? You might ask? Or, you might not ask. It doesn't really matter because that title has a significance for me.  It is the title of an event, so to speak .  It is the title of many things that will hopefully tie myself together in preparation for the next fifty five years. Of course that is unreasonable, as that would put me at the age of 110 in the year 2069. That is well beyond my life expectancy .  Look how futuristic that number seemed from our childhood in the sixties. Look how I can write that number with a sense of reality and can loosely see it in the future. I am sure hitting these landmark years are the same ones all grandparents or aunts and uncles joke about; '' middle aged." I am there really, or have probably hit them 10 years ago. I thought being fifty wa...

 I am five weeks into my new position as a Front Office Supervisor at a community health clinic. So far it seems to be going well. I am providing leadership which makes my director happy, am developing a relationship with my 11 staff members and seem to be liked. I am so appreciative of their support and help during this learning curve. They know their stuff and answer questions for me as needed. I received a compliment from my director during a conversation recently when I told him I was willing to take on more  tasks. I told him I felt as though I needed to alleviate some tasks from him, and he said, "You're doing great. I want to take this slow so you don't get overwhelmed, but I don't want you to get bored." I mentally thought, "he doesn't know how much I had on my plate in recent times." But, I will go with his flow. I must say, it is kind of weird being on a 90 day probation. I may assess things differently than this cooperate world who employ...

  This is not going to be a pleasant blog post, so you may want to go onto the next blog of choice.  Saturday is usually a day of errands for me, and like many, this Saturday started out with being paged at 7:32 am, called upon to solve some problems with scheduling and staffing client shifts. At 10:41 am, most of the problems were solved, although I still had an evening shift to cover Sunday pm. Many calls were made to many care givers for help with the staffing, and only a small percent returned my calls. After all, it was 98 degrees here in Western Washington and that was probably a primary reason for the lack of return calls.  When the meat of my morning had passed, I showered and dressed to head on my way to accomplish something on a personal basis. The list of errands was on my mind and my territorial map was drawn in my mind in order to be strategic with my driving.  First was a bank stop which was handled via the drive thru and I quickly hit the freew...

 I have not heard a word or seen an email since my application packet was forwarded to the hiring manager at Work Source. That's OK. I am sure they have tons of applicants and I am not holding my breath anyway. No stress or worries about it...que sera, sera. (yes that is how you spell it...I asked Wikipedia...smile here.)  Out of left field a few nights ago, I received a message from a good friend and she said another friend of mine was working at a clinic that was looking for a Front Office Supervisor. I contacted the friend and she told me about the position and forwarded my resume onto the clinic director. She suggested I fill out the on line application as well.  Before I had that process completed, the director had left me a message and we played phone tag for a day. I called him this morning and he did get my completed application and set up an interview for tomorrow morning! What the hell? I can't believe that two friends told me of jobs a...

 I am sitting outside on my little patio admiring the view with my laptop at hand. I was paged at 5:40 AM this morning to a call from a care giver unable to make her shift today. Of course, that is way too early to make calls for a replacement, so I went back to sleep and started my day at about 7:45 AM. So much for sleeping in, (frown here.) I eventually handled the scheduling problems by placing several calls and disturbing other employees. It's a wonder any of them like me at all.  After a long time of  working on my laptop with my remote connection to the office computer and tinkering around on my social media sites,  I went back into the kitchen for another cup of java. For some reason, I looked up and saw the shading of a snake inside my large kitchen light. After I verified what it was by staring and cringing at it for a while, I texted my landlord/friend, KP.  "OMG! There is a snake using the kitchen light as a heat lamp!" Her text repl...

 At the beginning of last week, I had to use my friend's computer to apply for a job. My computer continued to drive me insane and links were not linking where they belonged and bringing up extra pages when not wanted. Again, this morning I was on line trying to check my bank accounts and  I felt my blood pressure rising and my time wasting away while waiting for tasks to process. "That's it, I am done. I can't stand this anymore." I showered, dressed and hit the road to the store where I felt had the best selection and deals in the area on laptops. Office Depot. There are several here in the Olympia area and it so happens, the best one is only a few miles from my house.  I spent a few minutes debating between my two favorites and playing with them on the display case. I spent some time having an associate answer some questions and despite my apprehension about the new fangled purchase, I did it. I purchased the Dell Inspirion. The screen can be utilized b...

 OK OK, it may be time for me to just break down and purchase a new computer. No matter how often I use cleaning programs and the like, this computer gets slower each week. My blood pressure goes up after six attempts to get onto Facebook or my Yahoo account. Clicking in the wrong spot brings up worlds of wierd screens...my son thinks I have a virus. I saw that the Geek Squad is running a special at the local Office Depot, so I may try that avenue of computer clean up before I spend $400-700 on a new device. I just had to buy a new cell phone because my old one of three years pooped out and the cracked screen was getting worse and blocking my view of screen icons. This was thanks to dropping it a time or two getting out of the car at work.  I ended up buying a Galaxy III Mini. I love it and it certainly dis sways the use of my crappy computer because I can access as many programs much quicker on my phone.(Ha.) I am debating about getting a laptop, of which I am not the bigges...

 I may or may not have commented on my beliefs of New Year's Resolutions and the clout they hold. Of course, it is a fine endeavor to create resolutions and do your best to follow through with them. Many gain or learn from them, and any positive connotation for your life is a good one. (Our dear friend kden had weight loss as hers some time ago...and was successful at it.) I also feel it is not a life or death matter to set them, no matter what society's push to have them is. I feel goal achievement should be attempted at any time of year and not rehearsed for others at this new time. Maybe my sourpuss attitude is a long history of failed attempts by myself, or observation of friends' failed attempts which end up hindering their mood and mentality. So, in retrospect, I can't really decide if they are worth making or not. I am undecided.  Long before New Year's was knocking at my door, I had the mind set to go to local libraries and check out audio books or tapes to...

  After I arrived at the office, calmed down after a disturbing "page" from on call, I settled into completing other tasks when  I heard my cell phone bleep.  It was tucked into my purse, sitting under my desk. Normally, I don't answer my phone or do personal pc tasks at work, but for some reason, I wanted to see what this bleep was about. Something pulled me to it. Below are the answers to the bleeps. My daughter sent me pictures of her dress shopping time. This is not the first time she has sent me pictures during her ventures for the perfect dress. This has been happening for at least 6-7 months. I love her for including me as best she can.    She asked for my opinion and I quickly texted her my answers and comments. No matter which she chooses, she'll be gorgeous. I was envious of the fact that her mother in law, to be, was able to participate with these outings. I was grateful, as well. She is marrying into a good family, and "mom to be" is maki...

 The job hunt continues. I received two rejection emails recently. One responded to my question on why I did not further advance in the application process, and the other could not comment. Reason for not being processed, "minimum Bachelor's Degree required." That is okay and I appreciated the gentleman responding to my inquisitive email. I am not surprised, as I knew lack of a degree would hinder me. I have had tons of people tell me to apply for those positions, despite my non higher education. So I am. I am only three weeks into unemployment, and I am not panicked, yet. My 3.5 weeks of vacation pay was sent to me. I rolled my pension plan into another IRA/investment type plan, but can access money as needed without penalties. I will just be deducted the income tax amounts which is fine.  My children are well. Heck, my middle child, my daughter, turned 27 today. We had a wonderful conversation when I called her to wish her a happy day. I am happy that she is actually t...

  The month of February swept past, as though I was skating on a frozen lake, slippery with new ice. My surroundings changed, as if I had awoke one morning, and overnight, fall harshly turned to winter. It is the feeling of looking out your window one morning, and there is ice, snow, gray skies and stillness that befell the landscape, which hadn't been there the previous night. You are not surprised, as you knew autumn would turn to winter. Yet, there is that moment of catching your breath when you first see the drastic change in this view. The whiteness of the snow on the yard, in the trees, on the roofs and fences. How odd, really, loosing my mother, but not being totally surprised by her passing. I did catch my breath on several occasions during my journey home, to be with her, in the early morning of her passing.   She just didn't...take another breath.   I have an unusual acceptance of it, actually. It was...

  A friend posted a quote recently, that captivated my mind. "Don't look back, you're not going that way ". I shall add this as one of my favorite quotes. I even wrote it on my dry erase board in my office, where I write famous quotes to fill the large white board. I enjoy hearing caregivers, co workers and people, make a comment on these thought, provoking statements upon entering my office. I love evoking smiles or hearing their insights in relation to them. I try to erase and rewrite a new one every two weeks or so.   Isn't it hard not to look back though? Don't we remember mistakes from the past which gain wisdom to not err again? Have you ever said, "I won't do that again", or, "I'll never make that mistake again." So, in some ways, this quote is misleading in that aspect. It is natural to look back, that is where our memories lie. Good and bad. Important or mundane. Those memories are what has shaped us, right? I think the q...

  I am curious to see what grumpy will say about New Year's resolutions. Maybe he has posted something already and I have missed it, due to lack of attention to my writing and blog. Prior to my trip to Texas for Christmas, I worked late, often, and of course, on my trip, was busy and did not even check personal emails or social networking sites with regularity. It was nice. Pressure released. Pleasure ensued.   My time off from work sped by too fast, as always, and at the office today, payroll was the needed task at hand. Pressure reinstated. Pleasure a memory. Though I will admit, I can tell the co workers missed me and I instantly became the supervisor to talk to, to handle situations and problems. I was needed. It is a good feeling.  I am curious about resolutions and opinions of such. I used to behold to them, for a month or two. Then, beat myself up with failure when I started smoking again, or failing to develop an exercise routine. Is there a point to these false...

  It is not a disturbing sound. It is not loud or invasive. It is not even annoying. It is an interesting sound. It is not calming, per say, but it is a sound which is easy to accept. This sound raises curiosity in me. It is a train whistle blowing in the distance. I can also hear the rolling of the wheels on the track. It is far away enough to not be loud. But the train sounds are distinct. You see, my new space, is in a neighborhood, one mile from an Amtrak station. It is a small station. I went there last Christmas to take, and pick up my daughter, when she traveled to Portland to visit a friend for a few days, while vacationing here. A train is scheduled to come through, only two to three times per day.  I guess the curiosity arises when I imagine the people on the train. I wonder where they are going or where they have been. I remember waiting in the station for my daughter one night. Dark and cold outside, but warm and well lit on the inside. Many benches fill it. Very ...