Apropros of Nothing

1. I've been away but I have been here

2. The first couple of weeks after the move to the new place, my daughter was obsessed with getting/having a sofa. While that obsession has quelled we don't have a sofa yet.

3. I may be the only person who detests, "no problem" (or worse, np) as a response to, "thank you."

4. Also, I do not like cabinet doors left in an open position.

5. One of the things I love about the apartment is that it is awash with light. I haven't decided on plants yet but there must be some.

6. This space celebrated another anniversary about a week or so ago. The party was small, quiet.

7. March 29, 2006, my, my, my what a world of changes we have seen since then.

8. Speaking of changes, some weeks ago I was given the green light to work from home. And last Thursday was my first day at home, at work!

9. Two major UPs time saved traveling and no 'bus people' interaction.

10. One drawback is without the 4 to an fro bus stop/destination walks per day maintaining my steps and MOTION goals have been a challenge.  Well, more of a challenge.

11. All things considered, I will take that challenger over daily interactions with bus people.

12. Though, I suspect I will miss the bus people.

13. Albeit, not for some time.

14. What's gone on in your corner of the world?

Whole New Month

Dropping in to say hello. Not much has changed, still moving. Still trying to put one foot ahead of the other. I am still trying to get myself back in sync. 

And that Cher song lyric, 'do you believe in love after love?' just popped in my head and won't leave. 

oy. 

Longest Week

The week between the day my mother entered hospice care and the day she died is easily the longest and worst week of my life. This week (oddly enough, very nearly the same set of days six years later) comes in at a very close second.

Earlier this month our condo building was deemed uninhabitable by the village due to the absence of running water. Mind you, we've been existing without hot water for months prior to this new designation; a fact the village was maybe not so blissfully unaware.

The water shut-off is due to polar vortex-induced busted pipes leading to water spilling about the village street. Something they frown upon.

The times, they have been hard.

Over the past several days I (we) have been furiously endeavoring to relocate before the village takes the next step, whatever that is upon a domicile being deemed uninhabitable. How many more days will they allow? I don't know. I can't afford to care. Particularly since the association is broke in every conceivable way. It. Is. Time. To. Go.

Thanks to the very fine and furiously expedited help of two local social service agencies and a very good friend, relocation is mere hours and some heft away for the daughter and me. The son is making his own arrangements, finding his own way. Happy Birthday to him, by the way.

The anniversary of my son's birth not-with-standing, I can say with fervent candor that February is doing its damnedest to earn the position of my least favorite month.

But then again, maybe this move, these series of events, will prove a very positive turning point in our lives.

We'll see.  March On!

Polar

 The Arctic. Icy. Frigid. Cold.

Much to my surprise, my employer sent a message on Tuesday that the office would close on Wednesday, 

"due to the extreme weather . . . " much like many entities. Then later Wednesday, another message: closed Thursday as well. Open on Friday again, "due to the extreme weather . . . "

Woot: two days off. Except . . . not a. vacation!  You may have heard, we've had ourselves some

C O L D  

We are coming out of the arctic temperatures now and while work resumes tomorrow for me and many others, there are other issues looming for me that will require more of my mind, energies, and resources.

Those things too, like the cold, will have an end-point, some kind of outcome. I can't see it now but IT whatever IT is will be made known to me.  In the meantime, I celebrate a return to a more normal winter.

Yay to 20 degrees on the positive side of zero. Happy Friday.  

Middle

middle of the month.  

middle of a road. 

middle of life. 

I have aunts on both sides of the family tree who are over 90. Both are in fact a stone's throw from the century mark. So I may very well be very well in the midst of a middle passage. The thought of being of this earth for the next 30 or more years is a tad . . . daunting.   

To say the least. 

Still, there are many things I want to do, many more I want to see, hear, feel, and taste. The world awaits. Or whatever portion of the world I shall choose to take by storm, awaits. Storm may be a bit strong. 

To say the least.  

I am a year, six and a half months away from my sixtieth birthday. And while I am at present devoid of energy, motivation, inspiration or hope beyond getting into and through the next twenty-four hours, twenty-four hours at a time, I know this too, shall pass. I know, I know. . . I have work to do to get from here

to there. 

To say the least.

sixty... 561 days and counting 

Twenty Eighteen

Ho Ho Ho!!

Oh wait, that was last week.  This week is Auld Lang Syne time; a time to ask that haunting question about old acquaintances. Time to reflect on the previous three hundred and sixty-four days that covered twenty-eighteen.

For me, twenty-eighteen was mostly consumed with my daughter's accident in January and the physical and financial difficulties that followed for both of us. Our personal financial difficulties were exacerbated by the homeowner's association ineptitude and our building's perpetual state of disrepair.

There were times that I didn't think we'd make it here but with the help of generous friends, luck, and grit here we are, looking forward to twenty-nineteen, planning for a future for even beyond the next three-hundred and sixty-five. Well, cautiously. One. Day. At. A. Time.

All the troubles aside, there were good things about twenty-eighteen that are worth remembering.

Meeting two blog friends in real life and experiencing the city of my birth through their eyes was one such thing.

Another was my son being cast for an episode of a network TV show. And seeing him on screen. He's been acting professionally since his second year of college and while I've seen him on stage many times, and even on the small screen a few times, this time seemed somehow...extra. Maybe because this job made it necessary for him to join the screen actor's guild, which means he'll be compelled to go out for more screen work. Let's face it, screen work means not only visibility but also money. It IS a business. It is a profession.

All-in-all, I guess twenty-eighteen sums up as a break-even kind of year.

May your days be merry and bright and may all your christm...oh wait, that was last week...
Cheers and Happy New Year to all!

"we'll take a cup o'kindness yet, for days of auld lang syne"

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A Whole New Month

Since our last meeting, I had an annual physical which included all the annual screenings women my age are advised to . . . endure.

All is well on all those fronts. The mammogram turned into an expensive bit of drama but turned out, ultimately, all good.

In the midst of these screenings, re-screenings, and additional sets of tests, the group insurance changed. The new insurance has 'wellness' incentives called Motion. Within Motion is a taking steps incentive called F.I.T.

The object of FIT is to get up and move. The incentive, earning a buck for each goal hit each day. The dollars are accumulated and may be used toward deductibles and co-insurance balances.

When you sign up for the program you are sent a tracker that tracks and uploads your steps to your profile.

As the graphic notes; The F in the FIT is for frequency. The daily goal is to take (at minimum) 6 brief walks--the walks must be at least 500 steps within 7-minutes. The walks only count if taken at least an hour apart.  This goal is harder than you might imagine.

The I in the FIT is for Intensity. The daily goal is to step off 3,000 steps within 30-minutes. Your 500 steps may be counted within your 30-minute interval if you step off at least an hour after a previous 500 step block. I now know what 3,000 steps look like. I now know what 3,000 steps within 30-minutes feels like.
This goal is even harder than you might imagine.  For me, anyway.

The T in the FIT is for Tenacity. The daily goal to meet the T is 10,000 steps. One would think this goal would be a snap after the F and the I; I mean only another 4,000 steps are needed to hit the mark.
But one would be incorrect. As it happens, since focusing on the F and the I of the FIT I hit the T fewer times than when I was just using a trusty pedometer to count steps and just focusing on 10,000 a day.

However, all that said, since going in MOTION about six weeks ago I have logged over 100,000 steps and have earned about $60.00. Okay, so if you're doing the math, $1.00 for each letter goal or $3,00 a day multiplied by 7 days a week, multiplied by 6 weeks means I'm am well below the potential earnings. But note, to earn one must 1. wear the tracker and 2. get snow boots that are better for taking hundreds of steps in succession.

There are other programs attached to FIT / MOTION getting and staying healthier; eating more vegetables, drinking more water than sugary beverages, getting more and better quality sleep, to name a few. Some of the stated goals are easier for me than others. But to reach the overall top of the mountain, so to speak, I'll have to pull all these things and then some together.

2018 hasn't been a stellar year on many fronts. I'm looking to step my way through this new month, the last of this year right on into the next whole new year.

And away we go.