Back to the Unfortunate Reality of My Reality

Ugh.  Today is back to work.  I have come to the conclusion that I don't mind working as much as I mind my crap job.  And my incredibly rude - and often just plain mean - co-workers.  It's bad enough on any given day, but after four days off, it's just insulting, you know??  :-)

Oh well, such is life.  Since I can't afford to retire, and I have no other prospects, it's time to suck it up and enjoy the other parts of my life as much as I can.  That's what I did for four wonderful days.

Last Thursday was my birthday, and in keeping with my personal tradition, since I had accrued some vacation, I took Thursday and Friday off.  I will admit that I am always surprised these days when I consciously think about how old I am.  This was my 63rd birthday, and of course that always comes after your 62nd birthday, right?  I guess part of it is that I have outlived my father by ten years at this point, and if I am lucky enough to live for a few more years, I will outlive my mother as well.   That just seems weird, but then again, I'm glad to still be here!

The Tim baked me a birthday cake, which looked really yummy.  He placed it on a table where I warned him that it could either a) be knocked onto the floor by the kitties, and/or b) be reachable and therefore eatable by Hamlet.  He responded in a way that made me sound like a crazy person, so I left the issue alone.  You can see where this is going, right?  Thursday afternoon at one point, I came into the living room and thought, hm, what's different?  Well, the cake was on the floor, and half-eaten by a very pleased doggie!  When The Tim got hom from work, he said, "Gee, I guess I should have put it someplace else."  YA THINK????  Anyway, we had birthday candles to blow out in some Rita's Water Ice, and another cake was baked the next day which was placed out of reach, and best of all, no sick dog!

Friday, I had an occupational therapy appt in the morning and then headed to the dentist to get my teeth cleaned.  Then Hamlet and I went for a long walk, since it was a lovely day.  Thursday was also perfect weather-wise, and I took a long walk with him in the morning, and then a really wonderful long walk myself in the afternoon.  I couldn't believe that it was so nice for two days in a row when I was actually home from work!  Usually the days I'm home are the ones with terrible weather. 

Saturday was also nice, but really really windy!  I walked over to Loop to get some double-pointed needles in the early afternoon.  Friday evening I had started to try and pick up stitches and start knitting the sleeves on my Neverender sweater.  After a few rounds, I frogged what I had knit and just decided that the needles I was using were making me miserable.  They were a really old pair that I'd had for years, from when I started knitting and there was not a lot of choice in different types of needles.  They had some kind of covering that almost felt like rubber, and it was making it truly difficult to move the stitches around.  Fortunately, Loop had a good variety, and I came home with a set of Knitter's Pride wood needles, which so far are working really well.

Yesterday was of course, St. Patrick's Day, so I went to church first thing (growing up we *always* went to church on St. Patrick's Day, and then if it was a school day, my parents would let us stay home).  Then I did a small amount (emphasis on "small amount") of cleaning, and then baked some Irish Soda Bread, which turned out really well.  For dinner we had a vegetarian shepherd's pie and some Guinness.  The only thing I didn't get to do yesterday was any knitting, but I still had a really enjoyable day with Hamlet and the kitties.

It felt good to do my own thing without being sick or having other problems for a change.  It would have been nice if The Tim could have taken a day off as well, but we had a good Saturday together, and enjoyed our evenings.  (For all I know, he might have been relieved to not have a day off with me, since he had quite a few over the last months, LOL.)

So, though I am not necessarily thrilled that it's Monday and that I have to be back at work, I'm glad to still be here for my 63rd year, to see what might happen going forward.  Here's hoping that it will be more enjoyable than the latter part of the year before!

Hope your week is off to a good start.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

May you have the hindsight to know where you've been,

the foresight to know where you are going,

and the insight to know when you have gone too far.

Have a lovely day and may St. Patrick send blessings your way!

Reading, Ravelling (and Thankfully, No 'Rithmetic!)

First of all, thank you for your kind comments on my last post, and wishes to Milo for his birthday.  I read them all to him, and he was quite pleased, doing that slow blink thing that cats do when they are happy.  He got a catnip goldfish which was a big hit with everyone, and everyone had celebratory treats, so it was a good day all around.

Today is Unraveled Wednesday, and I'm joining Kat and the others to talk reading and knitting.

I recently finished A Week in Winter, by Maeve Binchy, which was a lovely, quiet book and just made me enjoy reading it.  Next up is this book:

The Tim recently finished this book, and recommended it to me.  Since we do not often read the same things, I thought it was worth giving a try, so today at lunchtime I'll get it started.  He mentioned that he had read that they are making a movie of it, and the plot sounded interesting, so he decided to see what he thought - his verdict is that it's "a page turner."  Well, we'll see.

It's been quite a while since I could share any significant knitting progress here, but over the weekend, I finished the body of my Neverender sweater.

Now if I can get the sleeves knit, soak and block it, I'll have an FO, which will be so rewarding.  Of course, I'm pretty sure that by the time I accomplish this, warm weather will have arrived ... oh well, it will be "new" then next year!  :-)

And that is what is happening around here.  After today, I have the next two days off, so I can read or knit or do whatever I want, which will be the best.

What are you up to this week?

Lucky #7

Seven years ago today, a feral cat had a litter of kittens in South Philly.  The feral cat was lucky, because she was in the backyard of a friend of ours, who had created a shelter for feral cats and fed them.  Once the kittens were weaned, she was able to find homes for all but one kitten, as well as take the mom to be spayed.  We had recently adopted Dug the Doodle Dog, and I told The Tim that we should adopt the kitten because Dug needed a kitten.  After a few weeks of reminding him of this, and some agreement from the friend, that kitten (aka The Koodle) joined our family.

He was so little!

By the end of the same evening that he arrived in May of that year, he and Dug were inseparable, causing The Tim to say, "I guess Dug did need a kitten."

Of course, his real name is Milo, and he has been a real character for sure!  He and the other cats have always been friends, but when Hamlet joined the family last summer, you could tell it made him really happy.  They are such pals, even though Hamlet is still figuring out the whole cat thing in general.

He embodies the adage, "When he was good, he was very very good - but when he was bad, he was horrid."  

Happy 7th Birthday, Milo the Koodle! 

 We hope you'll be around to drive us insane for many more years.

In the Mood Again for a TGIF post

Well.  Here we are, another Friday has arrived and March is underway.  I am now on a once-a-week schedule for my occupational therapy, and it's scheduled for Friday mornings at 7:30, which works really well for me.  It means that I get it all done first thing, and then even when I have to still go to work, it's the last day of the work week. 

Having said that, since I am not at work until later in the morning, I have more time that belongs only to my and my brain.  Here's what was rattling around in there earlier.

Thinking About - how undervalued it is anymore to be average and/or normal.  Everyone is obsessed with the Most Wonderful People.  But it's the average, normal people who get up every day and go to work and do the things they are supposed to do  (often providing support to the Most Wonderful People).  And most people do well enough in their schooling to advance through the levels of school.  But only the Amazing Smart People get the recognition.  They go to The Good Schools - which has always made me wonder: Are there parents and teenagers who - if not Amazing Smart People - say to themselves, Oh well, I guess I'll just go to A Bad School, or An OK But Not Really Good School? 

Getting Ready For - a big week coming up.  We have Milo the Koodle's birthday, my birthday, St. Patrick's Day, and then St. Joseph's Day which means zeppoles!!

Interested In - trying to find the best way for me to get myself and my life organized a bit more.  Most people who know me think I'm already incredibly organized, and I am by nature someone who likes to be that way, but since I broke my wrist and have been recovering so slowly, things have fallen by the wayside.  I've decided to try and figure out something this weekend, or at least get some ideas.

Funny - this falls into the category of it's funny but I do know it shouldn't be.  I saw a link to this article on Twitter, and not only does the headline amuse me greatly, but a) it's ironic it would appear on International Women's Day, and b) some of the Twitter comments were hilarious.  My inner 12-year-old boy was amused by the person who said that it proves that "money can't buy happenis." 

Have a good weekend, and be careful out there.  :-)