That's what my father-in-law has taken to calling me lately, and rather what it feels like to me.
For some reason a lot of people I know peripherally are either getting sick or dying. None of them are close friends, no relatives, nothing terribly traumatic for me (as opposed to their friends and family, some of these are major tragedies), but the aggregate of sheer numbers is starting to get to me.
To stick to this week alone: Sunday, my FIL's lady friend landed in the ICU with congestive heart failure and is now scheduled for a valve replacement. Tuesday my yoga teacher's father (met once) died. And Friday our neighbor across the street died. None of these people had known problems a week ago. Our neighbor is particularly shocking. He was only five years or so older than Rob & I, and while he was on disability for a bad back, there was nothing known wrong that should have caused a sudden death. Rob & I are trying to figure out what we can do for his wife & kid (he had a 14-year old boy). Offers of "anything we can do" all to often turn out to mean nothing because people don't want to impose, so we're trying to think of something more concrete we can offer.
I was very glad to get to a particularly vigorous karate class last night, I needed the sheer physical work to shake my head clear. M was back again, and Sensei had him teach part of the class, which became a quickie primer on jiu-jitsu style ground work. Fascinating and vigorous, even if it gives me a somewhat sore neck this morning, due to working on fending off a full-speed/force choke attempt.
Other random news - Robbie is signed up for band in middle school next year. He'll be playing flute. Rob has started adding fish to his salt water tank: chromis, clownfish, niger, and a white-tail angel fish. And Dad W. has got to get a hobby or something, because I'm starting to feel like I have a retired husband - but I never married this guy!
Showing posts with label life. Show all posts
Showing posts with label life. Show all posts
Saturday, April 18, 2009
Friday, April 03, 2009
Random musings
I'm still here. I'm not quite sure why I haven't been posting these last few weeks (except for the week I wasn't home, that was obvious), but coming here and writing a blog post has just not tended to even occur to me while I'm sitting at the computer this last little bit.
It might have something to do with there being simultaneously too much and too little going on. I.e. there's a lot of stuff that keeps me busy, but it's all stuff that either makes for boring blog entries (like the various complications of getting my FIL stashed up here with us from TN), or I've discussed before.
Today's my fortieth birthday, and it feels like that ought to mean something. Like I should have my life together by now, or at least have a firm direction. I mean a 40-year-old ought to know what she wants to be when she grows up, right? But like topics for blog posts, there's simultaneously too much and too little. Many, many things I would love to do or be, but none that has that deep drive that would compel me in that one direction.
Maybe it's my mid-life crisis - in which case a month of dithering in a circle instead of blog posting is probably getting off easy.
The actual day today has been pretty nice. I made pumpkin scones in the morning to take to Aaron's class fiesta in the afternoon, then spent the afternoon first at the fiesta, then taking the boys out for ice cream. When Rob came home we went out to Erika's Restaurant (excellent German food) for dinner, though we decided to take a rain check on the planned movie - a combination of tired, full, and lack of enthusiasm for the current available set of movies. He gave me a gift card for some new clothes and a Wavemaster freestanding heavy bag for my presents. Tomorrow we juggle some of the basement furnishings to give me a place to set it up (right next to the giant fish tanks somehow seems like a bad idea...).
No karate this week, which makes two weeks running (drat!). Tuesday Aaron came down with strep and Rob had to work late, so that was a no-go. Thursday, Sensei called at nearly the last minute to cancel class due to an unspecified family problem combined with awful weather (thunderstorms). Between that and last week I'm feeling seriously under-exercised and under-practiced. I've gone through my katas a few times, but not the kind of concentrated practice I can get in when I go to the Y or to the dojo. I am hoping that if we can set up a corner of the basement for me, I'll be able to improve the quality of my at-home workouts. Though I have yet to convince Rob to let me practice my self-defense sequences on him. He just doesn't trust that I won't misjudge the hip throw and actually slam him on his back on the concrete.
Anyway, presuming that nobody comes down with strep next week, I should be back to a more normal schedule next week. I'll try to ensure more normal posting to go with it!
It might have something to do with there being simultaneously too much and too little going on. I.e. there's a lot of stuff that keeps me busy, but it's all stuff that either makes for boring blog entries (like the various complications of getting my FIL stashed up here with us from TN), or I've discussed before.
Today's my fortieth birthday, and it feels like that ought to mean something. Like I should have my life together by now, or at least have a firm direction. I mean a 40-year-old ought to know what she wants to be when she grows up, right? But like topics for blog posts, there's simultaneously too much and too little. Many, many things I would love to do or be, but none that has that deep drive that would compel me in that one direction.
Maybe it's my mid-life crisis - in which case a month of dithering in a circle instead of blog posting is probably getting off easy.
The actual day today has been pretty nice. I made pumpkin scones in the morning to take to Aaron's class fiesta in the afternoon, then spent the afternoon first at the fiesta, then taking the boys out for ice cream. When Rob came home we went out to Erika's Restaurant (excellent German food) for dinner, though we decided to take a rain check on the planned movie - a combination of tired, full, and lack of enthusiasm for the current available set of movies. He gave me a gift card for some new clothes and a Wavemaster freestanding heavy bag for my presents. Tomorrow we juggle some of the basement furnishings to give me a place to set it up (right next to the giant fish tanks somehow seems like a bad idea...).
No karate this week, which makes two weeks running (drat!). Tuesday Aaron came down with strep and Rob had to work late, so that was a no-go. Thursday, Sensei called at nearly the last minute to cancel class due to an unspecified family problem combined with awful weather (thunderstorms). Between that and last week I'm feeling seriously under-exercised and under-practiced. I've gone through my katas a few times, but not the kind of concentrated practice I can get in when I go to the Y or to the dojo. I am hoping that if we can set up a corner of the basement for me, I'll be able to improve the quality of my at-home workouts. Though I have yet to convince Rob to let me practice my self-defense sequences on him. He just doesn't trust that I won't misjudge the hip throw and actually slam him on his back on the concrete.
Anyway, presuming that nobody comes down with strep next week, I should be back to a more normal schedule next week. I'll try to ensure more normal posting to go with it!
Sunday, May 11, 2008
Well, That's Different
Something new happened - something that has never, ever happened to us before. Not in sixteen years of marriage and five jobs.
Rob got promoted.
For the first time in our lives so far, he's got a new job and a pay raise without us having to move cross-country, rack up new debt, and otherwise upend our lives. He not only doesn't have to move to a new city, he doesn't even have to move offices - though they did try to make him.
Of course until he can get a replacement controls engineer hired and up to speed he'll be doing both jobs, but since his new position is a new one he can ease into it somewhat. Which is good, because shut-down (the annual closing of the plant, where most of the people go home and Rob lives at the plant for two weeks installing new systems) is the beginning of July, and there's no way he could get someone going fast enough to take that over.
His new title is (I believe) North American Controls Development Manager. It's a heck of a lot more responsibility, but it also looks to be right up his alley, with more real engineering than administrative work, and likely a good deal of troubleshooting.
And we didn't have to move!!!
Rob got promoted.
For the first time in our lives so far, he's got a new job and a pay raise without us having to move cross-country, rack up new debt, and otherwise upend our lives. He not only doesn't have to move to a new city, he doesn't even have to move offices - though they did try to make him.
Of course until he can get a replacement controls engineer hired and up to speed he'll be doing both jobs, but since his new position is a new one he can ease into it somewhat. Which is good, because shut-down (the annual closing of the plant, where most of the people go home and Rob lives at the plant for two weeks installing new systems) is the beginning of July, and there's no way he could get someone going fast enough to take that over.
His new title is (I believe) North American Controls Development Manager. It's a heck of a lot more responsibility, but it also looks to be right up his alley, with more real engineering than administrative work, and likely a good deal of troubleshooting.
And we didn't have to move!!!
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