Back to work

The start of a New Year!  2022 !

Let’s hope it better than 2020 and 2021 for all of us.

It is hard to remember life before the word COVID.

It is hard to remember life before wearing masks as a precaution.

Look at the dictionary a few year ago, “socially distancing” was not a common phrase.

Vaccines, boosters and testing are all a part of our lives.

How often does a day go by when we do not use one of those phrases?

2022 …

I started back to work on Tuesday after a 4 1/2 month break.

I woke up early on Tuesday.

Showered, got into my “work clothes” and turned on my laptop at 8:00 AM.

I spent the next few days working on getting system accesses.

Strange as it sounds, it is harder for returning employees to get their access back than new employees.

By Friday, I had access to most systems.

I start training on Monday and am hoping I will have access to the most important system I need.  

Fingers crossed.

Banking and mortgage have a lot of mandatory classes that must be taken either quarterly or annually.

Those classes dropped into my system Friday.  26 classes.  LOL Yes, 26.  I finish 3 of them by EOB Friday.

LOL only 23 more to go.

I know Mortgage Operations like the back of my hand considering I started working in ops 35 plus years ago.

Now, I will be learning the sales side as I assist my assigned Loan Officer’s get their loans to the closing table.

It feels so good to be back at work.

The biggest challenge this week was remembering to clock in and out.  I haven’t had to use a virtual time card in years. Clock in first thing in the morning, clock in and out for lunch (yes, I HAVE to take a lunch break- who knew?) and clock out for the end of the day.

Maybe next time I decide to take a sabbatical or retire, I will plan better as far as what to do with my free time.

Maybe next time, I won’t have the fear or craziness of COVID hanging over my head.which will provide me with more freedom.

2022…..

I am looking forward to getting back in a routine.

The routine is already working, two blog entries, two weeks in a row.

New Year, New Challenges.

See you next week.

My failures and success’s in the year that was 2021

 My Dad always said “Don’t  make any drastic changes when angry or upset.”

Great advice Dad.

Too bad I didn’t listen to it.

My year started pretty quiet.  Still working from home.

Waiting for the vaccine to solve all our problems with COVID.

Not looking forward to the change in the administration.

In February, I was made an unbelievable job offer.  More money that I ever dreamed of plus monthly incentives.  I couldn’t resist and left a job I had been in for almost 10 years.

Big mistake.

Huge.

After 6 short months,  I resigned with no plans.

All my years of working to be financially secure thrown out the window.

I reached out to some of contacts at my old job to see if I might be able to return.

Then I waited and prayed.

I learned the meaning of “not in my time but in his time”.

It wasn’t until Thanksgiving that a job opened up.  Not the job I expected but I knew my prayers had been answered.

There are so many positives to the new opportunity and returning to TD.

Lesson learned “all that glitters is not gold”

Not only had my unemployment thrown my financial plans into a whirlwind but I was also not prepared for the lack of structure in my life.

I am much better with some kind of schedule. Maybe I need to plan better for my next retirement.

I did take advantage of the time to get organized.  Jenn found jobs for me to do just about every day.

All important papers have been organized and some purged.

All cabinets have been cleaned and organized.  A fair amount of items donated or pitched.

I watched too much TV.

I didn’t read enough.  

I didn’t write enough. In fact, this is my first blog entry since mid-October.

When I work, I have the structure that works better for me. 

Blogs get written.

Bills get paid on time.  I didn’t miss paying any bills but did pay some twice, yes twice.  I forgot to transfer money from savings to checking so for the first time in over 30 years, I bounced a check. It cost me a $30 fee from the bank where I forgot to transfer funds and $12 from another bank for a returned check fee.  Fortunately, both banks refunded the fees since I hadn’t made that kind of mistake before.

While home these last few months, the days when Jenn was working from home, she limited the amount of time I could spend watching the news.  I was yelling at the TV and it was really taking a toll on my mood and attitude.

My vocabulary on a regular basis includes inflation, the border, the supply chain failure, Afghanistan, we were promised COVID would be taken care of, defund the police, trillions spent on “give me’s”,  31 trips by the President to his vacation home since January, Joe not answering the questions from the press and on and on.

Here we are just a few months from March 13th,  it is hard to believe March 13, 2020 was the last day I was in the office before COVID sent us all home.

I do like working from home. No long commutes.  Casual dress every day (although I do not  work in my pj’s). I do miss some socialization with my coworkers. My friend, Mary, with whom I shared an office, finally got approval to go in and pack up our office.

I guess if we look at the failures, it is mainly changing jobs BIG MISTAKE, the frustration with our current administration, my 401K not growing due to lack of income, COVID still with us and tragically losing  more people that I knew because of the virus, my fears of getting sick have made me more of a homebody, the not moving physically as much as I should and making my world smaller over my fears. I still believe in the vaccines and got my booster this week.  BUT I also believe that people have the freedom to CHOOSE it they want to get the shot.  The government mandates do not work for me especially pushing people especially our front line workers due to their refusal to get vaccinated.  What happened to Joe saying he would not mandate a vaccine???

The success’s are I didn’t think I could survive over 4 months without a paycheck, I am lucky to have people that had my back while I was jobless and gave me support and gave me job leads as they heard about them, I was able to get all set with Medicare and supplemental coverage (not having health insurance for a few month was very worrisome), hitting the magic number next month to be able to collect social security and it does not have an impact on my TD salary, I did read Luke each day from 12/1 through 12/24 (for me this was an accomplishment and something I will be continuing in 2022). 

I am so ready for 2022.  No resolutions.  I am called them goals. 

Lots of soups on the menu.

Veggies, veggies and more veggies.

Experimenting with my air fryer, instapot and electric wok. I even bought a cookbook for each of those items.

More movement, even it is just starting with laps around my car a few times a day (hey you have to start some where).  If the laps around the car are the best I can do due to my fear of falling then that’s what I will do and it doesn’t matter what anyone else thinks.

I plan on writing my blog regularly and getting back to work on my books in 2022.

There you go, first blog entry for 2022 done and saved.

Oh and one more thing, I am really going to miss Betty White.

See you next week.

Getting through the challenging times

 I haven’t written an entry in almost two months.

Two months.

That is the longest break I have had between entries in the over 10 years since I started writing this blog.

It’s not my job that has prevented me from writing.

I quit my job, six weeks ago.

In my 40 plus year work history, this is the longest break I have had with the exception of maternity leave and two layoffs.

The last long break was the summer before Jenn started kindergarten and that was a long time ago (sorry Jenn).

During the past few weeks, I have completed numerous household projects, pulled out the Rosetta Stone and worked on my Italian, binge watched some TV series and found things to fill my time.

Jenn keeps telling me I will miss this free time when I am back at work, which is probably true.

I am also being taught patience and faith that God has a plan for me.

What I have been able to do is find things to be grateful for until the paychecks start rolling in again .

Here is the list of items of gratitude:

It’s fall.

Pumpkin season, college football season.

Soups for dinner. 

The “BER” months with one holiday after the next.

Hallmark Christmas movies begin October 22nd.

I have mastered my budgeting skills with the rate of inflation (groceries and gas alone) impacting us all. I do think knowing the value of a buck has really helped me.

I got my car serviced and the bill was not as big as I anticipated.

Thanks to some help from a friend, I finally have the last document I need to get Medicare coverage. (I am not sure how the average person figures out how to work through this process). Not having medical coverage has been VERY scary but hopefully this issue will be resolved this week.

The challenges:

I struggle financially and mentally every two weeks when what should be my payday rolls around. I have to be honest and say I have shed a tear or two on my nonexistent paydays.

I have found myself thinking twice before making purchases which isn’t the worst thing in the world. 

Days can be rollercoasters with a range of emotions.

Days can be very long.

Nights can be long too.

Sleep patterns can have no patterns.

The better news:

I feel confident I will be back at work when the time is right.  And it is not in my time, it is in HIS time.

The surprising news:

I am learning more and more about me each day.

I have also learned who my true friends really are.  While there are some who were not aware that I have taken this sabbatical, I have learned a lot about those that have known. As my Dad used to say “you have a lot of acquaintances but few true friends”.  

It’s not that I am having a pity party but I do consider myself a caring person who at least in my opinion reaches out to others when they need support or a shoulder to cry on or a ear to listen. As Mom used to say, “if you expect you will be disappointed “.  Mom was right, I tend to think how others might feel and try to be understanding that is not always reciprocal  

The good news:

I have not second guessed my decision to quit my job.  

Without going into details, it was the right decision.

I learned that an attractive salary, bonus and signing bonus may not be all it is cracked up to be (plus I had to pay back the signing bonus). All that glitters isn’t gold.

I do have more time now for prayer as I seek answers and direction.

I am learning to hang in through this challenging time.

See you next week (hopefully).

P.S.  I bet you are surprised that I could get through a post without mentioning politics  I save those thoughts and feelings for Facebook LOL. 

  

One of the most memorable moments I have witnessed

 “This field, this game: It’s a part of our past, Ray. It reminds of us of all that was once good and could be again.” Terence Mann “Field of Dreams”

I haven’t written in a while, over two months.  

I was worried my posts might take on too negative a tone and who wants to waste their time reading negativism?

We can see the negatives each and every day on the news.

I save my comments about what I view as what’s wrong with the world for my daily Facebook rants.

I have not been put in Facebook jail yet but feel confident I have lost some friends or followers along the way. Their choice vs my opinion.

Enough about that.

I have not watched a lot of sporting events partly due to in my opinion the things wrong with sports right now, the taking of a knee, the disrespect shown our flag and country by well paid athletes.  People who get paid a lot to play a sport. Not to lecture me or be negative about the country from which their riches come.

Enough about that.

I had heard about the Field of Dreams game last year. Like many other events, it was cancelled due to COVID,

Fast forward to Thursday night.

I make sure to sign off of work on time.

By 6:00, I was showered, in my PJ’s and in my recliner.

What I saw was amazing, touching and no surprise, made me cry.

Seeing Kevin Costner walk out of the corn.  Seeing the NY Yankees and the Chicago White Sox walk out of the corn. WOW!

The setting, the music, the crowd.  

Perfect.

It did make me think back to when life seemed to be simple.

Playing outside until the street lights came one.

The family getting in the car for a ride to nowhere on a Sunday.

A picnic.

Bedtime stories (even if they were the ones now banned from Dr. Seuss).

The trip to find the perfect Christmas Tree from a tree lot. Each one of us carrying a section of the tree. Dad carrying the truck and each one of us holding a part of the tree on an alternating sides with the youngest carrying the tip.

The days when you waiting for the once a year showing of “The Wizard of Oz” or “A Charlie Brown Christmas”.

Dinner with no cell phones.  In fact, if the home phone rang during dinner, no one got up to answer it.  Dad would say”if it is that important they will call back”.

Answering the phone and not knowing who was on the other end.

Family get togethers when we would hang around the piano and have a sing-a-long.

And dad’s having a catch with their son. (OK some might say playing catch).

I know there were challenges then too.

I prefer to remember the good times vs the bad.

Watching that baseball game this week was magic.  Jenn and I nearly scared the dog to death with our screams after the two Yankee homers in the 9th inning and our groans when the White Sox won with a homer in the bottom of the 9th. 

At least for a few hours, I was transported back in time to a place where life seemed less complicated and confrontational.

Now I am back to the real world, inflation, border crisis issues, COVID number going up, our government spending money in such a manner that our great grandchildren will still be paying the price and the falling of Afghanistan.

How sad.

And yet, we can still find these moments of peace, joy and wonder.

They are out there.

If you haven’t had the chance, take a few minutes and open this link. 

If you do not feel any emotion, you have a heart of stone.

https://youtu.be/CsbdlAv3kSw

I love this conversation between Ray Kinsella and his Dad.

“Is this Heaven?” “No, it’s Iowa.” “Iowa, I could have sworn this was Heaven.

And one more note; this game had the largest viewership of any regular MLB game in 16 years.  Maybe the timing was right. We were all wanting to spend a little time in our past looking back with fondness.

I hope you have all missed me as much as I have missed you.

See you next week.

PS here is another great quote from the movie:

Embarrassment, productivity and a touching surprise

When you first move into a new place, you just want to get the boxes unpacked.

Some items you put away carefully.  Others you put into a closet or in the garage with an “I will get to it mentality”. 

You open and close the cabinets.  Ignoring the clutter.

Then one day, Jenn says “let’s clean out the kitchen cabinets this weekend.”

Saturday, we decided was the day.

Jenn empties each cabinet into bins and puts them in front of me.

The piles are pitch, keep, Goodwill or maybe.

Some items had been put away during the “I just want to get the boxes unpacked phase when I moved in here four years ago.”

The embarrassment and phase one of productivity:

Yes, four years some shelves have been left untouched or worse yet added to.

In the plastic container closet, I kept things in which to store left overs, sauce when I make it, a place to keep my lunch fresh (when I used to go to the office) and for any other reason that might come up.

There were containers from Chic-Fil-A (perfect for a serving of yogurt), KFC containers, plates with lids from Cracker Barrel, assorted grated cheese containers and the always handy Won Ton soup container.

Actually, the Won Ton soup container is a perfect size to store home made sauce.  Two containers hold the two quarts of sauce my recipe makes.

On one of the FB pages, I am a member of a group that is about being Italian.

On that page they refer to the treasure trove of plastics as “Italian Tupperware” which is pretty much the truth.  Is it only Italians that save them?

This is a sampling of what I tackled.

By the time I was done with all the closets, I had gotten rid of 12 coffee mugs.  I mean really, why did I need 18 coffee mugs? More than two trash bags full of plastic containers and lids.  I did save some of  the containers that were in good condition and had a matching lid. I gave Goodwill the coffee mugs, six juice glasses, six medium size glasses and six tall glasses. I kept six regular size glasses and six coffee mugs for myself. Why would I need more?

After that task was done, it was a quick trip to the landfill and Goodwill.

More productivity:

Once home, I cooked a bunch of fresh vegetables.  Mushrooms, asparagus, zucchini, red onion and a vidalia onion with sea salt, white pepper and olive oil left a great smell in the kitchen.

All set for my lunch for the week.

A touching surprise:

Let me give you a little background. I had a good friend who had a wry sense of humor.  One year, I gave him his birthday card a day late and since I forget and missed the actual date he held it on his home desk in the mail slot with the yellow envelope sticking out so all could see it.  It sat there for 364 days until his next birthday when it was finally opened. No one said much about it during the year, maybe just a passing remark.  Kathy and I knew he left it there in view just to taunt me.  It was kind of funny.

Back to the cabinets, when I came in the kitchen Jenn said to me “Mom have you ever seen this before?” It was a platter with a red truck and a Christmas tree on it (I am obsessed with those darn red trucks and Christmas trees). I told her I had never seen it before.  I asked where had she found it? Jenn said it was on a top shelf in a kitchen cabinet.  A shelf on which Jenn and I would never store anything we might need as it was too high and a chair or step stool would be needed to get to it.

Then I saw the post it note attached to it.

On the post it was written. This is a .....fresh cut Christmas Tree.

Kathy and Dan always had a real tree.  I did a few times but like the look and symmetry of an artificial tree.

The embarrassing part is that tray has been up on that shelf for over three years. I know that because Dan passed away almost three years ago.

Jenn  and I had no idea.

If he left it there as a test of my housekeeping skills, boy did I fail.

After all these years, Dan could still have the last laugh on us.

See you next week.

 

Mother’s Day, The Anniversary and Me

Mother’s Day:

She made corsages for my birthday. 

She made me sleep in hard curlers.

She took me shopping for prom dresses and a wedding gown.

She was one of the Mom’s that helped watch the students in the cafeteria when I was in second grade and as a grandmother she was the person who sat at the front table and greeted guests at the school her grandchildren has once attended.

She would set unreasonable punishments.  In fact, I think I am still grounded from the groundings I was given in my youth.

She taught a second grade classes to dance the Hula.

She made Jenn a lion tamer’s cape for her kindergarten graduation. (It is packed away in a box).

She was at every assembly, play and concert in which her children participated.

She was the Girl Scout cookie Mom. Yes, I volunteered her without asking her first.

She taught me how to be a Mom.

She had the ability to make all of her grandchildren feel as if they were her favorite.

She taught me how to appreciate the small things in life.

She could make a dollar stretch with the best of them.

She was my teacher, cheerleader, mentor and although I didn’t always think it, my best friend.

Not a day goes by that I don’t miss her or think of her.

She was the definition of the word Mom.

The Anniversary:

My Dad used to joke (or maybe not) about getting married around Mother’s Day was not the brightest idea due to the increased cost of flowers.

George and Irene, for 31 years they were quite a couple.

Dad was in charge and Mom’s world revolved around him.

I never once doubted my parents loved each other.

They would get through the “hungry years” when they had so little except us kids.

When their lives should have been getting much easier and their kids were pretty much grown, Dad got sick.

No surprise Mom was by his side and then became the strength to him that he had always been to her.

Too soon he was gone and my Mom had to learn to live in a world where she did not have dad to guide her.

I wish I had known in my marriage, the love they shared in theirs.

Me:

The me part of this entry.

Another week of good things.

My summer buildings have been put out on display.

Jenn gave me a great new wreath for the front door.

I saved 50% on a great sale on some”work” clothes online. Who can beat a $10 pair of shorts.

We cleaned out the freezer yesterday and made a list of what is in it.  Let’s just say we have no worries about running out of cauliflower rice or frozen veggies. (I think there may be a pot of soup in my future.)

I have tortured Jenn enough that she has finally given in to watching Mad Men and Downton Abbey with me.  Well considering she introduced me to ‘Don’t Tell Mom the Babysitter is Dead” and “Never Been Kissed”, I think it is fair she watch some of my suggestions.

At least watching there TV shows together (note I am not calling the programs as the man on the Progressive Insurance has ad advised...omg that man is a hoot), isn’t as dangerous as asking her to go see Barry Manilow with me and then getting the payback of having to go see NKOTB (yes, it did end up being a good concert).

I am learning more at my job each day and my new team is getting to know me better.

When I wake early each morning, I find time to pray for my family, friends, my aches and pains, my hopes, my dreams, the future, the craziness of our world  and all I have to be thankful for.

My prayer always begins with, “thank you Lord for giving me this day, I want to thank you for all of my yesterdays and the hope for many more tomorrows” and I go on from there with requests and wishes for others but I always say THANK YOU first.

And that’s the way it is on Sunday, May 9th, 2021.

See you next week.

I am going to be honest

 The last year plus has been a challenge for all of us.

I have started to think of my home as a cocoon. I am safe inside of it.  I have everything I need. I get paid to work in my kitchen. I have a nice view from my kitchen window. In the afternoon, when I get tired of working at my kitchen table, I move to the living room and work in my recliner.  Although this move from the kitchen means I do not have two monitors to work with it is still a nice way to break up the day.

The comfort of my home has its good and its bad.

The good is listed above and here comes the bad.

Being home for so long has made my cocoon almost too safe.

I have had a hard time going out except the once a week trip to get groceries.

I cannot continue to live in this bubble.

Add to venturing out after over a year at home, my fear of falling and there you have it.

Me, stressing about heading back out into the world.

Yes, there have been a few ventures to get a pedicure or new eyeglasses or to get my annual flu shot or BOTH of my vaccine shots but nothing social.

Well, yesterday was the day !!!!

I received a phone call from friend visiting SC that she and her husband would like to meet Jenn and I for lunch.

It would be outside and socially distanced.

I said yes right away.

Then spent the next 48 hours trying to think how to get out of it.

I was going to be sick, something came up or had to work.  All sounded like great excuses. 

I woke up Saturday morning with a bad case of nerves.  Adding to my stress was a 45 minute trip to Bluffton for a SAMS run to get Locatelli (16 oz for $12.00 vs Publix 8 oz. for $9.00)  i am so practical I will drive miles to save $3.00 and get double the amount.  LOL

Our purchase:

Anyway, from SAMS it was on to lunch.

I was shaking like a leaf inside.

When we got there, there were some tables outside spaced far apart. 

I will admit I held Jenn’s arm to steady myself and also due to the arthritis in my knees really kicking in.

There was a bench border around the outside dining area.  I chose to sit there and we pulled the table closer to us and a little further from the few other people eating outside.

The weather was in the 70’s, perfect  

Our friends arrived just as we sat down.

How did it go?

We were there for two hours.

We ate, I had a drink (which I haven’t done in over 6 months), we laughed and for a little while I took in fresh air.

Two years ago, I would not be writing a blog to celebrate a lunch out.

But for me yesterday was a major victory.

Even if only for a few hours, I took my life back.

Yes, I needed encouragement and some help (physically).

I felt good, like me and happy to be out.

I even told Jenn once the weather is consistently in the 80’s we should go to the pool just minutes from my house again.

Last year, it was closed for a long time and then when it reopened you had to sign up for two hour time slots (anyone who knows me knows that might be an issue since I habitually run late). Which means we never went to the pool last year

Well soon this will be my view again at least a few times a week.

By the time we got home yesterday, I was exhausted after the days events.

I am going to try and take my life back. Slowly.  Carefully. And still wearing a mask when warranted.  I had my second vaccine and had no side effects other than an itchy arm at the injection site. Whew!!

Will I be running out and about all the time now?  Good Lord no! 

I am taking baby steps.  And yesterday was step one.

I have learned it’s OK to ask for help when walking someplace unsteady, it is OK to admit to others your fears and its OK to be honest with others and myself.

I told a friend this week, never again will I go to a movie theatre or a crowded arena or any of those places that I would feel uncomfortable or overwhelmed. And that works for me. 

That might make my world a little smaller but there will still be options.

I will be alright thou just different.

I now look out the window with excitement and hope and maybe just a little less fear.

I call that a win.

See you next week.