I am, officially, the worst blogger of all time. I don't even write anything anymore, probably because I think my daily life is pretty dull. The truth is, it could be duller. So here's an attempt to catch the blog up a bit.
Alaska:
It's FINALLY summer time here. Thank God! We've been enjoying off and on glorious sunny and almost warm weather for about two weeks now, with intermittent rainy days. I don't even mind the rainy days because our flowers and grass need it and in between the weather is so nice. The sun doesn't set until about 11 PM. Last night I went to bed at 10:45 and it looked like mid-afternoon outside! Crazy!
Work:
Things at work are much more tolerable than they were all year. My boss is generally polite to me, even though I am fairly certain he doesn't think a whole lot of my abilities. The support staff is friendlier these days too. I think part of this is that I've learned when to chime in and when to keep my mouth shut and they've learned that my reserved nature and straightforward speaking style is nothing personal. OK, that last sentence makes me sound like I'm a nightmare to work with. The truth is that I genuinely like most people and I'm not unfriendly, but in the words of a good friend, "nobody ever wonders what [I'm] thinking."
There's FINALLY been a little bit of movement in the job search. I had a first interview last Thursday and will have a second interview this Friday. Also, I'm told I should be getting invitations to interview with two other places soon, but the overall timing might be a little tight to have all my options (or lack of options) presented at once. The next few weeks will definitely be stressful and may present more questions than answers, but I am trying to navigate this process with some grace and professionalism (and with a LOT of Leigh's input). With any luck I'll know what I'm doing in the fall within the next few weeks...... eek!
Family:
This is a tough topic because mostly things are great with the family, but there's also been some new stress. Apparently my [crazy] mother has been terrorizing my [very emotional] grandmother to the point that my grandmother had her attorney send my mother a cease and desist letter. Not fun. And I've recently learned that my mother regularly stands outside of Planned Parenthood locations holding a 5 ft tall cross while heckling women going into the health center for various services. Please note that Planned Parenthood provides a lot of different health services. Anyway, I haven't spoken to my mother in almost a year (long story) and she hasn't been a part of my life for about five years now, but realizing that someone that closely related to me is one of those insane, religious zealots practicing acts of domestic terrorism was a hard pill to swallow. Actually, it was downright heartbreaking. Then I realized why my grandmother cries so often when these things happen. It must be devastating to see your child grow into someone you don't even recognize.
But things are still really good with my dad, other family members, Leigh's family, etc. I anticipate we'll have more happy news in the coming years than sad news like this.
Summer Activities:
I've been biking to work for about a month now. It's great. For some reason forcing myself to exercise a little bit two per day, and being outside enjoying fresh air before work, makes a HUGE difference in my mood and general feeling of good health. I haven't lost any weight, in fact I've gained a few pounds since this time last year (I love food, what can I say?), but I can tell my body appreciates the regular activity.
Leigh and I have spent a lot of time (and money) the past few weekends getting our back yard into shape. After having a service do a post-winter lawn clean up we started planning our beautification project. We planted rose bushes on either end of the bed where we planted tulips in the fall and planted flower arrangements in pots and whiskey barrels for the porch. Then we planted a series of tomato plants and other veggies, plus several herbs, in the greenhouse.
It looks really beautiful so far, but the real challenge has been keeping Cannelle out of the potted plants! So far she's ripped up a pot of flowers (which we replanted and barricaded with pest control mesh and mini border fencing, and tore out the catnip plant we potted for Juneau Cat. Ugh! tonight I'm going to take additional measures with the pest control mesh in hopes of keeping that 70 pound pest out of my flowers!
Annnnddddd.... we made vacation plans for August! VEGAS BABY! OK, OK, I know I'm probably the last person you'd imagine using my time off to go to Las Vegas, but we needed a vacation, somewhere warm that wouldn't take more than 8 hours to fly to, and somewhere that we can have fun without spending too much. So we picked Las Vegas (7 hour flight) and we're staying in a casino during the week (so the room is 1/3 the price of the weekend rate). We're really looking forward to a chance to totally unwind, lay by the hotel pool, eat good food and do some shopping. Plus we're renting a car for two days to do a day hike in Zion National Park, so we don't spend ALL our time in the lap of luxury in a giant grown-up theme park.
Alaska:
It's FINALLY summer time here. Thank God! We've been enjoying off and on glorious sunny and almost warm weather for about two weeks now, with intermittent rainy days. I don't even mind the rainy days because our flowers and grass need it and in between the weather is so nice. The sun doesn't set until about 11 PM. Last night I went to bed at 10:45 and it looked like mid-afternoon outside! Crazy!
Work:
Things at work are much more tolerable than they were all year. My boss is generally polite to me, even though I am fairly certain he doesn't think a whole lot of my abilities. The support staff is friendlier these days too. I think part of this is that I've learned when to chime in and when to keep my mouth shut and they've learned that my reserved nature and straightforward speaking style is nothing personal. OK, that last sentence makes me sound like I'm a nightmare to work with. The truth is that I genuinely like most people and I'm not unfriendly, but in the words of a good friend, "nobody ever wonders what [I'm] thinking."
There's FINALLY been a little bit of movement in the job search. I had a first interview last Thursday and will have a second interview this Friday. Also, I'm told I should be getting invitations to interview with two other places soon, but the overall timing might be a little tight to have all my options (or lack of options) presented at once. The next few weeks will definitely be stressful and may present more questions than answers, but I am trying to navigate this process with some grace and professionalism (and with a LOT of Leigh's input). With any luck I'll know what I'm doing in the fall within the next few weeks...... eek!
Family:
This is a tough topic because mostly things are great with the family, but there's also been some new stress. Apparently my [crazy] mother has been terrorizing my [very emotional] grandmother to the point that my grandmother had her attorney send my mother a cease and desist letter. Not fun. And I've recently learned that my mother regularly stands outside of Planned Parenthood locations holding a 5 ft tall cross while heckling women going into the health center for various services. Please note that Planned Parenthood provides a lot of different health services. Anyway, I haven't spoken to my mother in almost a year (long story) and she hasn't been a part of my life for about five years now, but realizing that someone that closely related to me is one of those insane, religious zealots practicing acts of domestic terrorism was a hard pill to swallow. Actually, it was downright heartbreaking. Then I realized why my grandmother cries so often when these things happen. It must be devastating to see your child grow into someone you don't even recognize.
But things are still really good with my dad, other family members, Leigh's family, etc. I anticipate we'll have more happy news in the coming years than sad news like this.
Summer Activities:
I've been biking to work for about a month now. It's great. For some reason forcing myself to exercise a little bit two per day, and being outside enjoying fresh air before work, makes a HUGE difference in my mood and general feeling of good health. I haven't lost any weight, in fact I've gained a few pounds since this time last year (I love food, what can I say?), but I can tell my body appreciates the regular activity.
Leigh and I have spent a lot of time (and money) the past few weekends getting our back yard into shape. After having a service do a post-winter lawn clean up we started planning our beautification project. We planted rose bushes on either end of the bed where we planted tulips in the fall and planted flower arrangements in pots and whiskey barrels for the porch. Then we planted a series of tomato plants and other veggies, plus several herbs, in the greenhouse.
It looks really beautiful so far, but the real challenge has been keeping Cannelle out of the potted plants! So far she's ripped up a pot of flowers (which we replanted and barricaded with pest control mesh and mini border fencing, and tore out the catnip plant we potted for Juneau Cat. Ugh! tonight I'm going to take additional measures with the pest control mesh in hopes of keeping that 70 pound pest out of my flowers!
Annnnddddd.... we made vacation plans for August! VEGAS BABY! OK, OK, I know I'm probably the last person you'd imagine using my time off to go to Las Vegas, but we needed a vacation, somewhere warm that wouldn't take more than 8 hours to fly to, and somewhere that we can have fun without spending too much. So we picked Las Vegas (7 hour flight) and we're staying in a casino during the week (so the room is 1/3 the price of the weekend rate). We're really looking forward to a chance to totally unwind, lay by the hotel pool, eat good food and do some shopping. Plus we're renting a car for two days to do a day hike in Zion National Park, so we don't spend ALL our time in the lap of luxury in a giant grown-up theme park.
Good to read an update! Glad you two are doing well! Your garden sounds fabulous. :)
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