Looking Glass

 In order to write again, I need to feel whole; I need to review, reflect and decipher.  I need to  accept where I am at this moment, from either going backwards in life or stepping ahead to the present.  The year 2016 was a year of much self growth. Partially with my challenging job at Sea Mar as the Front Office Supervisor of a community health clinic. I supervised the reception team of five, whose primary responsibility was to check in patients, schedule appointments, process sensitive documents to our records department and adapt to changes put forth by administration, of which there were many. We also were responsible for informing patients of health measures being implemented and dealing with all types of people. Some grateful for the OBAMA care, and others, not so much. I was complained to or yelled at daily by patients who used me as their sounding board for health and political topics.  Out of 32 clinics, my team always performed within the top 2-5 pe...

As happens with me sometimes, I remember I used to have a blog. I decided to see if my old friends were still writing, and to my relief, they are. I didn't miss the fact that I hadn't written in thirteen months. 2016 and 2017 were definite years of change for me. Not sure I want to go back and review them, I prefer to look ahead at this point, and keep my view of the past two years behind blinds for now. I will open them at some point I am sure, but for now, I will make efforts to post on occasion. I hope to spend some time in the near future to catch up on blog reading.

 With the very busy holiday season and changes with the Toastmaster's club, Match has not been my priority, however I check that system emails, etc...search a bit for a catchy profile, but certainly did not dwell with the site.  One guy living in Olympia who is 6'2" and has a aforementioned profile, connected with me through Match email. Most photos were decent but his kind eyes caught my attention. The second photo was a pose on big steps in an officer's uniform. His 6'2" frame wore it well.  Through emailing we bantered or wrote back and forth and finally, decided to meet for coffee on a Saturday morning at 11:00 AM.  Nice looking man walked through the coffee shop door while I stood waiting for my latte' to be made. The morning was very nippy in the PNW, and the coffee house patrons filled all of the tables. This guest reprieve from the cold created a brief awkwardness when he paid for his coffee and we noticed there were...

 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...

 Whelp, yes, I finally did it. After prodding from friends, listening to humorous, horror and heartfelt stories, I finally did it. I took the plunge and joined Match.com. I haven't been involved with anyone for 4 plus years and my last attraction when apartment hunting three years ago had left me quite satisfied with my independence. I have been content with my life. I am proud of the steps I took in the last few years to land me on my feet, yet again.  Am I lonely? No. Do I need a man to feel whole? No. Do I miss sex? No. Do I miss companionship with that of a man? No. Was I forced to take this step into the cyber world of dating? No. I actually don't have a strong need for this. I think I just thought it might be nice not to be alone for the next twenty, thirty years. I think I just need something to do other than hang out with my girlfriends of Toastmaster friends for social outings. I guess it would be nice to have someone to converse with in the eveni...

 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 ...

 This day, September 23rd, 2015 my mother's house will be completely void of her ownership; living or deceased. I signed the papers to sell the house yesterday. Of course, the phone calls to the family a month ago sealed our decision to take the offer, despite it being 29k under asking. (Purchaser got a hell of a deal.)  I have already called businesses and started cancelling things like insurance, garbage service, notifying the association of the development in title. I contacted the attorney a week ago to review the real estate docs and start closing the estate. He reviewed the documents but said it was pointless to start paperwork until the sale was a "done deal.." The bank accounts will be a piece of cake as I have managed them well and have a plan thought out for sending final documents to my family. The unbound fact is this sale will alleviate many bricks from my shoulder. However, my Executorship won't be completely over until tax season next year a...