Reaching for Nonsense

Bad day, good day

Elizabeth — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 02:03:44 +0000

Bad day at work. No reason, just me and my psyche are really having issues with work. But when I got home, I made yet another bag. I made a draw-string bag from this tutorial but with different measurements. It’s for the purpose of carrying my shoes to and from work when I wear my boots. It’s a bit of a tight squeeze, though, so I may have to make another. Considering I just held up my shoes to the fabric and started cutting, it actually came out pretty well. It’s delightful how quickly I can finish things by sewing! About a gazillion times faster than knitting.

Here is the cute little bag! All lumpy and full of my shoes.

Lined with blue and stuffed with shoes...

So many things…

Elizabeth — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 19:28:36 +0000

So many things can happen in two years. I had not realized how long it had been until I read my last blog post. Things have not quieted down enough since then for me to catch my breath. Until now, perhaps? I will have to think some more about how to summarize the last two years. I suppose, in short, my search for a job that would be more challenging resulted in a work situation that spun out of control. I am finally looking for a way to scale back at work and find some balance that has been terribly lacking. I don’t think I will say much more about it at this point.

I have been knitting like a maniac for the last two years. In the past week I have been sewing. With a sewing machine. I made three tote bags. Three! So exciting! (If I can figure out how to post pictures, I will do so.)

I am re-embracing my life, my creativity, and my health.

and as if that wasn’t enough

Elizabeth — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 21:30:49 +0000

On December 7th, W broke her ankle in three places. And required surgery. And is now the proud owner of a plate and six screws holding her ankle together. And has been out of work since then and can’t put any weight on it until at least the end of January.

On the other hand… we are well past the solstice, so I’m coming out of my light-deprivation cocoon and feeling more human again. I’ve been knitting lots of scarves including an Irish Hiking scarf (if I were cool I’d link to the pattern, but hey, apparently I’m not that cool–I bet if you google it you can probably find it) with a really luscious alpaca/wool/something else blend yarn.

Soon, maybe, I’ll be back in a place where I can actually share my life on a more regular basis. No promises, but I’m hoping.

let’s put it this way

Elizabeth — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 22:27:22 +0000

Yes, it’s been a long, long time.

1. new job (yay!)

2. new puppy (double yay!)

3. taking a night class in accounting (eh, fun but not exactly ‘yay!’)

I’ll work on getting some pictures of the new puppy up here somehow. His name is Frankie, he’s a Bichon-Yorkie mix, and he’s 6 pounds of total cuteness (and attitude). And yes, we’re insane for getting another dog. (We already had two dogs and two cats.) Frankie is my little buddy, though, since the other two (larger) dogs are more for W. It’s a miracle I talked W into letting us get a little dog. She’s never been a fan, but Frankie won her over. It’s going very well so far, except that Frankie doesn’t like the cold weather. To be more specific, he doesn’t like having to poop outside when it’s cold. Can’t say that I blame him, but luckily I’m not a dog.

Oh, other new development–I’m knitting! Having fun with it. So that takes away from blogging time, too. But I’m still here, still doing well. Very well, actually.

just when I thought everything was quiet

Elizabeth — Thu, 02 Aug 2007 23:53:25 +0000

I got a phone call at work this morning from the HR department. The woman was wondering if I had noticed a particular job posting and if I was interested in applying for it. So I ended up talking to the director of the relevant department who drove over to “drop off a resume” but was really just checking me out for the job. And then I had to tell my current boss I’m applying for yet another job. (That’s the way it works at my company–in order to transfer, you have to fill something out and give it to your current supervisor.) Then a half hour later, I was asking my boss about something else, and she said, “Promise you won’t do anything while I’m away.” (She’s going on vacation next week.) I told her of course not, because I’m on vacation next week, too. (Yay, yay, yay!!) “Good,” she said. “When you come back I’ll have options for you.” Veeerrry interesting.

So yes, this is all good news. Options are good. People wanting me to apply for jobs is good. (It’s that math major thing. People get all excited.) But, as I wrote the other day, I’m finally feeling content with my life and my job. I know, I’ll probably be bored again next month. It was just a stressful day with all this decision-making and phone-calling and so on. New Coworker overheard all these conversations and got very stressed-out looking, too. And I hated telling my boss I was applying for something else. Although, if it prompts her to come up with “options” maybe that’s a good thing. We’ll see once the options are explained, I guess.

I am grateful, though. Grateful to be appreciated and recognized at work. And the best thing of all is that even if none of the options work out, my fallback position is my current job, which I quite enjoy. What’s that phrase from Getting to Yes? Best alternative to negotiated agreement. BATNA. Yep, my BATNA is the status quo, and I’m enjoying the status quo. It’s a very nice place to be negotiating from.

In other news, it’s unbearably hot. We’re leaving for Illinois in less than two days. Woohoo! A whole week off! We’re driving, which I’m actually looking forward to. Have you ever seen AAA’s online TripTik thing? The coolest thing ever. And we’re stopping at Niagara Falls on the way home.

I talked to my mom after work, to tell her about the job situation. She told me that Grandma (the reason we’re going to the Land of Lincoln) had called the other day, concerned about terminology, as my mom put it. Grandma is 84 years old, and everyone just loves her. Me included, of course. Anyway, she called to ask how my parents usually introduce W to people. Apparently she can’t quite bring herself to call her my wife. (This is rural Illinois we’re talking about, a very different place than Massachusetts.) So she wanted to know if my parents thought “partner” would be okay. I just adore my grandma. Not only has she been incredibly loving and accepting towards me ever since I came out to her (totally not something to take for granted, given her age and where she lives), but she has always been so welcoming and accepting towards W, too. I was a little concerned I was going to have to call W my “friend” for a week, but willing to do it to make Grandma feel comfortable. I know that one of her best friends is openly and out-spokenly homophobic and Grandma has never told her about me. I don’t know if we’ll see that friend on this visit. I just think Grandma is so brave and generous and open-hearted.

This is probably the last post for about a week, until we’re back in the land of the internet-connection. (Grandma may be awesome, but she doesn’t have wireless internet in her house.) I know you’ll all muddle along without me somehow. Be well!

happy

Elizabeth — Wed, 01 Aug 2007 01:43:51 +0000

It’s been pointed out to me by a couple of friends that I come across as pretty sad lately on this blog. I think I mainly have been inspired to blog when I’m worried or upset or sad about something, so the emotional balance here is skewed. Anyway, it just occurred to me as I was walking to my car after work today that I’m so happy right now. I love my job. Yes, the job I’ve been desperately trying to get away from. That’s right. Because all of a sudden I have more than enough to do, I have a new coworker who looks up to me and thinks I’m nice and funny and smart. I really like being the senior person and not having to hide that I’m better at our job than the person who taught me. And we have a nice new office with really big desks. So I’m feeling recognized and appreciated and no longer bored. It’s making a big difference.

And I also feel like I’m suddenly making some friends. Maybe I reached the tipping point, maybe I started making more of an effort, or maybe the Universe heard my request. And vacation is only days away. And W and I had a really nice relationship talk last night. Don’t worry, no big crisis or anything, just one of those ‘Where are we now?’ talks that brought us to some nice conclusions and felt affirming and good. So, don’t worry about me, I’m doing great.

At the same time, there was sad news today, too. Big love to Jen and Jen. Sam was a great dog.

a fun day

Elizabeth — Sun, 29 Jul 2007 04:35:06 +0000

We (Greta Jane and I) went to Webs, the Montague Bookmill, the Meetinghouse used bookstore, Whole Foods, the Northampton sidewalk sales, and then back home. A very fun day. And we did it all with the help of W’s new GPS thingy for the car (an early anniversary present) that told us how to get from one place to the next with absolutely no stress. It was wonderful.

And then I had gluten-free pizza and gluten-free beer for dinner. Heaven without the tummy-ache.

a visit

Elizabeth — Fri, 27 Jul 2007 21:27:52 +0000

A friend from school is coming to visit this weekend. She’ll be here very soon, in fact. We’re going to go play in Northampton and other nearby locations tomorrow, then to a concert at Tanglewood on Sunday. I’m very excited. W has tons of around-the-house projects to attend to, so Greta Jane and I will be on our own. (I’d call it a girls’ weekend, but all my weekends are girls’ weekends, considering the gender of my spouse.)

And my darling little car has a new left axle. And we’re going on vacation in a week! I love my new office, (even though I was hoping not to have to be in it for much longer.) So, all in all, I’m a happy woman today.

I just heard a car, so my buddy may be here. Have a wonderful weekend!

yet again

Elizabeth — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 22:07:38 +0000

I didn’t get this job either. The one that “Bob” called and spent 45 minutes trying to talk me into applying for. That one. The one that I was doubtful about, then excited about. The one that made my soul lift and gave me hope that I could be myself again. He just called and told me he gave it to someone else. Fine. I’m so glad I served as a backup for them.

I’m being really bitter about this for some reason. The truth is, I had some serious misgivings about the whole thing. We would have had to give up our great health insurance, I would have had to drive hundreds of miles a week again and spend time away from W. It would have been stressful and crazy and I’ve really been wondering if this is right.

In fact, on my way home, I was worrying about all those things, the stress level, the drive, the everything. And something inside me just suddnely said to the universe, “I trust you.” I trust you to lead me to the right job for me. So I’m going to try to get myself back to that place.

But first, there’s just a little bit of “F*** you, universe, for messing with my head.”

done (no spoilers, I promise)

Elizabeth — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 10:09:32 +0000

I finished Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows last night just before midnight. I was going to post this last night right away, but I fell asleep. Way past my normal bedtime, you know. All I’m going to say is that it was really good.