home alone

MonsterMustDie is in Alabama for the weekend. He is in a wake for the living with his mother, who has taken a turn for the worse this week. She has not been able to or simply refused to eat or drink for a week now and hospice workers have contacted him and his cousin to let them know that she is not expected to live past this weekend. He left work this afternoon and is now at his mother's bedside for the weekend. Hopefully, he will be spending the night with friends in Birmingham tomorrow but tonight he is at June's side at the hospice.  

As for me, I started a new job and just finished my first complete week there. The hours are the same as my last temp position but with a longer commute, which means I have to be in the habit of waking every morning at 5:00 a.m. to be able to make it to work on time. This, of course leaves me very few options during the week to see friends or do much since I have to give myself an 8:00 p.m. bedtime to be functional. I don't always make it to bed and to sleep at 8:00 but that is my goal for now. I am thrilled to finally have full-time employment after freelancing and temping for so long. At last, I can make a budget for myself that I feel good about. It is also a job that I am learning new skills at, which is another very big plus. 

an interesting week

Most of last week, we were out of electrical power at el Rancho. I was out to eat with a neighbor during a 10-minute storm that appears to have included a small tornado throwing trees around in the hood. Our house was spared of any fallen trees or large branches but most of my neighbors were not as lucky. Powers was out until Saturday and then out again Sunday & Monday after a thunderstorm. Everything I could not put on ice in the cooler either melted and/or spoiled in a couple of days. The freezer is still empty and will remain so until we see all the broken poles, fallen trees, and low-hanging wires cleared out of the neighborhood. The refridgerator has mostly things that will not spoil immediately if the power goes out again, like fresh fruit & veggies. The pantry is stocked up in soup now. We still need to restock some batteries and re-think alternative devices and chargers when the power goes out again.

Looks like I've finally found a job this week at a company I have been familiar with for quite a while - several printers I have worked with in the past have outsourced work to them. It is going to be a bit of a commute now, since it takes me an hour & 15 minutes to drive home in the evening. The hours are generally long, starting at 7:00 a.m. for me. Hopefully, I can continue to come into work that late. Some of my co-workers come in as early as 5:00 a.m. or 6:00 a.m. and recently have been working 12-hour shifts. (This is one reason I was hired, no doubt, to relieve the work load a bit.) I am very happy to finally have another full-time position that I can count on. The adjustment to the commute and new hours will be hard but I need work and income more than anything else these days. I'm just happy to be there. This job offers the opportunity to catch up and reacquaint myself with the type of work I've done in the past and to get my skills back up-to-date and compatible with everyone else. This is a hard industry to survive in these days.

MonsterMustDie is already grumbling about my 8:00 p.m. bedtime but it is necessary for me to be up and running by 5:00 every day with less time in the evening to catch up on things. Time is suddenly quite important and he will eventually adjust. He'll be going to Alabama to visit his mother tomorrow. His cousin phoned yesterday to tell him that his mother is not eating now. She's apparently lost a lot of weight and she doesn't want to be here anymore. Her Alzheimer's disease has progressed to a point where she is in a lot of physical pain and she just wants to be released from this life. It's hard to watch both of them go through this but I really don't know of anything I can do to help.

Simple

The newer folding wallet design for pocket-size Kleenex tissues is much better, easier to use, and more durable than previous versions.

old folk home

Mother is home again with her terriers and feeling better after a blood transfusion and and incredible about of (mostly unnecessary) tests. The medical experts found no cause for her anemia, disease or otherwise, again this time. I expect her to be back in a month or two for another transfusion. 

The Green Tower

My uncle Ron just phoned to let me know my mother is safely checked into her hospital room for another stay in the green tower. Her two dogs are in the kennel and he was in the room with her. Glad she's there and that he called to let me know her status.

Joy O Family

So my mother phoned me just to let me know she is going into the hospital tomorrow morning. Her red blood count has gotten dangerously low again. Her doctor wanted to put her into the hospital immediately today but no, she had to take care of things at home - things she won't let me do for her -  before driving herself to the office of her doctor, who will immediately put her in the hospital.

My brother and nephew are leaving for a father-son trip. I'm not even sure my of my brother's family know she's going into the hospital tomorrow. I could, if she would only let me, take tomorrow  off work, take her to the hospital myself, and take her dogs to the kennel or Rancho de WereMonster. It would not be easy or convenient but I could certainly do it and she could already be in the hospital. 

As things are, I will do nothing and just hope I can keep up with how she's doing. 

File this under Irish Martyr Syndrome. 

the Memorial Day weekend

So I missed the Twistin Tarantulas show at the Star Community Bar during Bubbapalooza Saturday night. I felt bad physically - a bit queazy from the greasy lunch we had at Six Feet Under with John and Kathy English, who were visiting from Birmingham, Alabama - and so tired I could hardly hold my head up at 8p.m. I had also failed to get in a good nap before the show, which was going to be the last set of the night, starting at 12:30 a.m. I started to take a nap at the house in Buckhead after taking care of cats there but I woke up thinking I was going to be ill because I felt so nauseated. As it turns out, I did not get truly sick but I was not well enough to go out.

I came home and went to bed and stayed down all night. I still got up pretty early the next morning. The low-paying part time job I have in Tucker has me on a schedule that forces me to get up at 5:00 a.m. to make it to work on time. The only partial mercy this week is, because the upstairs A.C. is out in the House Of Cats, I can't really sleep there well and their downstairs room mate has agreed to give the cats their morning scoop of dry food, since she's there anyway. This frees me to have a shorter commute in the morning and I can go there straight after work to handle feeding and cleaning and other miscellaneous duties at the house in the late afternoon. It really has been a life-saver this week, with the AC partially out in the house, to be able to spend the night at home this time. Of course, the holiday weekend helps as well.

Yesterday, we spent some time in Snellville with Clark and Beth, who had a very small gathering of friends at their house for burgers and games. We brought fresh pineapple and watermelon. There was some good potato salad and chunky guacamole there as well, so I had plenty to eat other than red meat.

They got some bad news on Clark's health this week. It seems his cancer has spread now. He's having to make some decisions on whether to change his treatment or not. He told me that he kinda wants to just play it through, like Wayne did, and keep working and making music as long as he can. I agreed that seemed like the best use of time to simply keep living. Doctors would like to stick him into a hospital and make him into a lab monkey but that seems like a great waste of time and energy for him.
I would imagine whatever he decides to do also depends on how Beth and Nate feel about his future. I plan to stay close.

Ages

Roommate is beginning to forget things and it is worrying both of us. He can't seem to keep up with his inventory lately and has had to decline buyers of things he has on sale because he can't find the items and doesn't recall if he should still have them or not. He's also loosing simple things around his office and the house. He asked to borrow my xacto knife today because he can't find the one that he keeps in his office. He sleeps a lot more now too. I don't know if this is a sign of being under stress or foreboding something worse. When he is short-tempered and needy simultaneously, it already gets to be too much for me. I feel sorry for him and I want to bitch-slap him at the same time.

The 600 pound gorilla in the room is how his mother's family has a strong occurrence of Alzheimer's disease. I would think he should have at least 15 to 20 years before he has to worry about that but he has been breaking apart on a daily basis lately. He is normally someone with a better than average memory and sense of organization. Now, when I'm home, I have to manage him. In a way, the time I get to spend house-cat sitting in away from home is a bonus, not just because I get to take a vacation from home, but because it also shows him that things get out of place or go missing when I can't be blamed for it. It gives him a bit more humility when undeniable lapses of memory occur that he can't blame on me and he has to face up to. He appreciates me a lot more when I'm not there.

Still, he could just be suffering from too much stress. Here's hoping this problem will be past us soon.

Wednesday

Okay day at the part time job that only affords me spending cash for groceries.

The Universe often knows when I need answers and responds. Was thinking of inviting a rather-difficult-but-disabled neighbor over to Saint Patrick's Day dinner at el Rancho de WereMonster. Got home and found a crumpled package in my mailbox that was erroneously stuffed inside a neighbor's box this afternoon from the same sad fellow I was considering inviting to dinner. Inside the hap-hazard brown wrapper was an odd magnet set, a brown Zildjian cymbals "Made in USA" T-shirt (in reference to a facebook post I made on this company - I admit the shirt is kinda cool), a book titled "Body Types" and a note, with alternating words "MURDER" and "REDRUM" scrawled in red on back, telling me to put on the T-shirt and show up at his house at 8PM to go out to eat sushi. With this, he has effectively pushed the envelope. I have had so many stalkers and fan-boys that I have very little patience for this sort of behavior because I've seen it spiral out of control so many times in the past.

I think I will pass on the invitation.

No acts of kindness go unpunished.

Metal is not the best material for a desk on a cold day.

It's chilly here at el Rancho de WereMonster. Facebook friends report that there are snow flurries all over Atlanta but I've seen no snow or rain here northeast of the city.

Last night, I made it out to the first screening of Zombie Crush at the Plaza Theatre and hung out with a lot of my friends and co-workers from the crew. Makeup artist Chris - a.k.a. Rotzo The Clown - had a demostration of zombie-making in the lobby before the film. The Bontrager Twins introduced their project and answered questions from the veiwing audience afterwards. This is a tweenage/teenage zombie romantic comedy, made by kids for kids. We are still looking for more funding for this project, which is 90 percent completed. We have plans/ideas for at least two more consecutive "episodes" for the story. I think this would make a great TV series and the Bontragers have a great sense of humor in their work.

Today, I'm keeping most of my activity indoors until I head out this evening for a friend's 50th birthday party in L5P. I will be the small woman in the corner, indoors, with a camera and possibly a glass of wine in hand. Wondering if I could still find Gluehwein anywhere in this town to bring to the party. The search for that heat-friendly spirit might pull me out of the house for a little while today. Otherwise, I'll see if there are any snacks I can make or scrounge from the freezer to bring.

Curry Ketchup

I found curry ketchup and mustard sauce on aisle 11 at the BHFM today. It is always hard for me to locate it.

Sometimes I feel I have missed my life.

Ugh! Totally forgot about Vinophile meeting last night at the home of 2 of my favorite people. Now, what am I forgetting about or missing today? 

I just finished another week of cat-house sitting. This time I-285 got the better of me and I came in late on two mornings. Usually, the opposite is true during the weeks I spend in Buckhead because I adjust my schedule to give myself at least an extra 15 minutes on my commute + time to run into the Starbucks at Kroger on the way to grab a nonfat grande misto to take in with me. Accidents and more congestion than I've seen in the past killed my best laid plans. On the positive side, maybe it's a sign of a recovering economy. I can hope for  the best. 

On the job front, I got two references from friends that have not returned my calls or emails but I made one cold call that has landed me an interview on Thursday.

Now, I'm looking for something to do with my weekend that is fun, creative, productive, or all of the above.

professional perspective

"If we die tomorrow, the company that we are working for could easily replace us in a matter of hours... But the family & friends we leave behind will feel the loss for the rest of their lives."

The uncle of a friend of mine illustrated this once by sticking his finger in a glass of water. "This finger is you and the water is the business you work for." He pulled his finger out of the water and showed him that there was no hole left by his absence in the company. That's pretty much how businesses work. 

When I was stressing over where I could find a job that would allow me to leave a full two weeks notice (or more) at my current employer years ago, while working under a lot of stress at one place as an Art Director, my best friend reminded me that they would never give me notice if they let me or any of my staff go and they could replace everyone as needed. I was screwing myself by fretting so much over setting up an easy transition and passing up opportunities that, perhaps, I should have taken. 

Heard at work

"Don't make me dot your I this morning."