2022 Happy To Be Here

Part of me is excited about working on December 24th, part of me is not. Two more days of work and I don't know when I will finish the little bit of holiday shopping I have left to do. I have one big happy for today: A few days ago I mailed a package to Texas. Today it reached its new home with TF.  It also happens to be her birthday, so the timing was good. I sent her a few things, including the earrings I made for her. The big thing I sent to her was the iPad that I won through work a few weeks ago.  It isn't very often I get something like that to give away (like ever?).  She was very surprised and happy which made me happy. The box contents. ☮ Currently reading: Pocketful of Miracles: Prayer, Meditations, and Affirmations to Nurture Your Spirit Every Day of the Year , Joan Borysenko. Currently listening to: The House in the Cerulean Sea , by TJ Klune. Thank you for being part of my happy things. Stay safe

Happy Winter Solstice! It is Thankful Wednesday. Work gave us food again, breakfast burritos. I'm thankful it was good and that I liked it. Other things I am thankful for: Being greeted by Gideon with a hug when I came home from work today.  I'm thankful for holly, jolly, Christmas movies. I finished watching The Santa Clause 2 after work.  I've finished the initial setup of the new laptop. I need to sit down with both laptops to get all the things I want onto the new one. This might not happen until Christmas.  Only three more work days left in my work week!  This is the last mandatory five day work week for me for a while.  I'm so very thankful for that. Solstice Sunset ☮ Currently reading: Pocketful of Miracles: Prayer, Meditations, and Affirmations to Nurture Your Spirit Every Day of the Year , Joan Borysenko. Currently listening to: The House in the Cerulean Sea , by TJ Klune. Thank you for being part of my happy things. Stay safe

Right after I parked my car to go to work I got a notification from the company. They were offering voluntary time off. I decided that I would go to work, since I was there already. I went in and saw that there was hardly any work to do and I (and some others) didn't have an assignment. So I put my name onto a list for voluntary time off. I got an assignment and ten minutes later they replaced me and I was out the door. Other happy things from today: I was able to sleep for about three hours before getting up again for the day.  While the family slept, I got some weaving done. I'm very close to having the first of three champion's pieces done.  Crossed fencing swords. When the family was up we made cream of wheat and toast and all had breakfast together.  Since I was home and had slept I was able to go to a craft gathering at Joann's with Keziah and see friends. I embroidered three letter D's to put onto favors.   I also finished putting the backing on ...

Happy Friday! These long work weeks for me have me forgetting what day of the week it is. Friday means I have one more night to work. I expect it to be busy. Here are some happy things from today: It was ugly Christmas sweater day at work. I wore an ugly Christmas sweatshirt. Most people didn't participate. Some did.  One person had a light up sweater, someone else had a Christmas Kraken sweater. It was nice to see people having fun with it.  We had a plowable amount of snow. I'm still having a hard time with winter this year, but the snow on the trees is pretty.  The picture doesn't show the pretty snow on the trees, just in the yard. Keziah introduced me to the show The Great Pottery Throw Down . It is a pottery competition show. I only watched the first episode and then started watching another Christmas movie. Maybe I'll get back to the pottery show after the holiday.   ☮ Currently reading: Pocketful of Miracles: Prayer, Meditations, and Affirmatio...

A weird thing happened at work today.  I was doing station reset which involves placing large bags onto shelves. While placing one on a top shelf I could see a shadow through the plastic-ish fabric that didn't belong there. Closer inspection revealed a package that someone had zipped between the layers of material of the bag. The package was from August! It has been hiding all this time! Weird, huh? Other happy things from today: One of the first things I do when I get home from work is take my steel toed work shoes off and put on the Adidas slides that TF got me. My back is aching today and this brought back a memory. My dad was a brick mason and wore heavy work boots. When I was little he paid me ten cents to take those boots off when he got home because his back hurt and he didn't want to bend over to do it himself. So, like my dad, my back hurts and changing shoes after work is a good thing. It is a happy memory.  I wonder how much Gideon would charge to take ...

Other people at my work have to work 60 hours, my schedule only requires 50 hours. I could volunteer to put in more time, but I doubt I will. My body is tired and I have learned that self-care is important.  It is especially important because I feel like I am fighting a cold.  Here are some happy things from today: Work supplied sandwiches from an unknown place tonight. The food I chose was yummy. The packages had the general ingredient list on them. It made it so much easier to find something I liked. There was also a cookie and bag of chips. I gave the cookie to Zed's mom because I can't eat chocolate and the rest of the family is away for the day. She let me have a biscuit and some of the bacon she had been cooking when I got home. This was a win-win situation.  Another thing they do at work this time of year is give away things. I won an iPad. I'm not sure what I'm going to do with it yet, I'm not really an Apple person. Winners are chosen at random,...

Only one more night to work this week. Other happy things from today: There is a place called Wrap City that is a small local franchise in New Hampshire. I’ve been to the location in Londonderry, NH but there seems to be eight in all. They have uniquely named wrap sandwiches. Wrap City supplied the sandwiches for work tonight. Unfortunately, I am a picky eater and I couldn't easily figure out what was in the wraps. I didn’t get one, but I did get some of the chips they make there, they were delicious! Yesterday and today I watched the movie, A Christmas Prince . This movie had a huge lie as part of the story line that marred it some for me. Since I have been watching all these Christmas romances, I've decided that I am a sucker for romance. I'll watch the sequel to this movie, A Christmas Prince: The Royal Wedding , next. My daughter Keziah’s van was getting a flat tire fixed today so she was home when I got home from work. She took me out for a Dairy Queen Blizzar...

It is Thankful Wednesday! I’ve been watching a bunch of Christmas movies on Netflix. They have pretty much all been romantic comedies. I’m thankful for this seemingly never ending supply of holiday cheer. Today I watched Single All the Way . It didn’t quite tick off all the same themes as most of the others have. In my opinion it was an absolutely adorable gay romantic comedy.  The other thing I am thankful for today is food at work. Sometimes, when it is busy, they bring in free food at work for the employees. Today I got an egg and cheese bagel. It was pretty good and a nice change from my usual trail mix meal.  There is supposed to be something every day this week.  I don't know what they had yesterday, I forgot to look. ☮ Currently reading: Pocketful of Miracles: Prayer, Meditations, and Affirmations to Nurture Your Spirit Every Day of the Year , Joan Borysenko. Currently listening to: The Raven King , by Maggie Stiefvater. Thank you for being part of my happy things....

Finally my work week is over. I'm happy to say that I don't hurt as much as I expected to after being on my feet working for 50 hours. Only time will tell how well I'll be feeling by the time the holidays arrive. Here are some other happy things from today: Today's Christmas movie was Christmas With You . I'm pretty sure all these movies follow the same outline with different characters. This doesn't seem to be a bad outline…  A few weeks ago we went to a baby shower and brought back a bunch of the party favors/candy.  It turns out the outside of the ball is white chocolate (colored blue), and inside are chocolate pieces. So I have occasionally been eating the outside and leaving the chocolate insides for the rest of the family. I can't eat regular chocolate, but I love the white chocolate. ☮ Currently reading: Pocketful of Miracles: Prayer, Meditations, and Affirmations to Nurture Your Spirit Every Day of the Year , Joan Borysenko. Currently listeni...

In an attempt to get more sleep this will be short. I've made it through four of the five work days this week. Many others have six days they are working instead of five. They cap the time at sixty hours. Unless I somehow get out early tomorrow, I'll have worked 50 hours. I used to regularly work 60 hours at a previous job, but that included drive time between locations. The hours had some flexibility too, I used to take naps in the car when I could. Anyhow, I'm glad I just have one more day to go this week. Other happy things today: They moved me around at work so I had more variety. I think my body appreciated that.  Today's Christmas movie was Christmas Inheritance . I should have paused it in the middle and gone to bed earlier. I'm pretty sure I caught pieces of this one in a previous year. I'm noticing similar themes in most of these movies. I'm hopeful that the movies will put me in a mood for the holiday and not away from it.  Maybe this...

Normally, Thursday is my last day of the work week. This week, because of the holidays, I have two more ten hour days. For some unknown reason, other than being really tired and achy, I'm feeling pretty good about this. I do plan to put my name on the list for voluntary time off, but from what I've noticed, there is too much work and I shouldn't expect that. Other happy things from today: My after work movie today was Christmas on Mistletoe Farm . It was aimed at kids and was an okay watch. There seems to be no shortage of Christmas movies and series on Netflix.  I'm not sure why, but I have been dreading winter this year.  However, there were snow flurries after work today.  For some reason that made me happy. Just a little bit of snow... The fleece jacket I normally wear at work has a broken zipper so I ordered a new one. It seems to fit and will be nice and warm. ☮ Currently reading: Pocketful of Miracles: Prayer, Meditations, and Affirmations to Nurture You...

The first snowfall is expected late tonight, just in time for me to go to work. It is supposed to turn into rain before the precipitation is over. I’m not ready. I’m going to do my best to enjoy what I can of this winter, but it will be hard this year. Some happy things from today: Overhearing Gideon, my grandson, practice German I was reminded to practice Spanish.  It is day 1420 on DuoLingo for me! Last week I put an application in for a different position at the company where I work. One of the managers came up to me and told me that the application looked good and she seemed excited for me to have applied. It was thoughtful and kind for her to have done this, I appreciate it. I have the faintest of memories that crept in about milkweed. I think I remember spray painting the empty pods gold with my mom and making Christmas decorations out of them? ☮ Currently reading: Pocketful of Miracles: Prayer, Meditations, and Affirmations to Nurture Your Spirit Every Day of the Year...

The job I have tends to be physically demanding. I’m happy to say that this last week didn’t seem too bad, the tasks I did varied more than usual. I’ve been asking to learn some other tasks for quite a while with no luck for various reasons. A job called Learning Ambassador has recently been opened and I put in a job application for that today. I’m not sure I even want the position, but I am sure that trying to get it was a good thing. My other happy thing for today is that I stayed up long enough to see the sunset. The time change last weekend made it a little easier for me and my weird sleep schedule.  I don’t work on Friday usually so I stayed up a little later on purpose to try to adjust my schedule a little for the weekend. ☮ Currently reading: Pocketful of Miracles: Prayer, Meditations, and Affirmations to Nurture Your Spirit Every Day of the Year , Joan Borysenko. Currently listening to: The Dream Thieves , by Maggie Stiefvater. Thank you for being part of my happy things...

Today is the day I am questioning my sanity. No, that isn't accurate, today is the day I pushed my sanity to almost breaking. I’m going to call it an anxiety attack since I have no better words for it right now. I was very close to quitting my job. Somehow, reason entered my consciousness and I stayed at work. Eventually I felt better, I think it was one young kid calling me ‘ma’am’ that did it. He seemed to be having fun, so maybe it was slightly infectious. I used to have fun at this job, I’m not sure what changed. By the end of the shift (Well, I left a little early, so even before the true end) I was singing along with the music playing. I am happy that I was able to turn around my mood. My other happy thing from today is that I found two roses, one that is mostly gone and one that is a bud. We have had frost. I think this is close enough to the house to keep it going a little longer.  It makes a beautiful, hopeful thing to end my day.   ☮ Currently readi...

One more night this week to work. I haven't decided if I'm going to try to get out early or not. It will depend on how I'm feeling. I’m experiencing a lot of aches from work and I am hopeful that sleep will make that better. My other happy thing for today is geraniums. I got them in over the weekend and put them in the open greenhouse on the porch. This protected them from last night’s frost. If I remember, I will get them ready to overwinter this weekend. For now I’m happy there are still some blooms. ☮ Currently reading: Pocketful of Miracles: Prayer, Meditations, and Affirmations to Nurture Your Spirit Every Day of the Year , Joan Borysenko. Currently listening to: The Raven Boys , by Maggie Stiefvater. Thank you for being part of my happy things. Stay safe.

On a normal Thursday I would be done with my work week and looking forward to the weekend. This Thursday I am preparing myself for two more days of work. I will be putting my name on a list with others for volunteering to leave early if by some chance they are overstaffed. When I have made it through this, I'll know I can make it through the Christmas time rush as well. Until today, I've been getting more sleep than I usually do, so that is good. Happy things for today: Talking with Gideon about making pillow/blanket forts and playing video games. The afghan is Gideon hiding. I should be studying, instead I watch Merlin on Netflix when I get home from work, weary. It requires no real physical exercise or brain work. That is a happy place after work lately. ☮ Currently reading: Pocketful of Miracles: Prayer, Meditations, and Affirmations to Nurture Your Spirit Every Day of the Year , Joan Borysenko. Currently listening to: The Raven Boys , by Maggie Stiefvater. Thank you...

Somehow,  I had a hard time staying asleep last night.  Hopefully that won't be a problem tonight.  My work week is over so I can sleep in tomorrow.   Other happy things from today include: --I had a nice talk with TF this afternoon.   Her daughter is getting married next month so there are plans and happy things going on in her life now.    --When I was staying gluten-free there were so many things that I had to stay away from.  Most of these things are obvious.  To make it easy on myself, I found three or four flavors of gluten-free canned soup that I could have.  One that I couldn't have,  and missed, was Butternut Squash Bisque soup.  I had some for dinner tonight and it was yummy.  --When I started my current job the first thing I was trained in is called stowing.  I enjoyed certain parts of the work like making the boxes fit into the big bags. Later I learned what is called picking, and then I learned ...

We were gone for a little over two weeks.  My sleep patterns adjusted and I was unable to get to sleep last night for a long time.  FitBit has me sleeping less than three hours.  I still went to work, and stayed almost until the end.  I chose to leave a little early because I was exhausted.  I'm happy I made it as long as I did.  Other happy things: -- One of the managers asked how my vacation was.  In a place where I try to be invisible, it can be good to know I am not. --The peaches ripened while we were gone.  We might not get any,  but other wildlife are enjoying them.   --We were gifted some bagels and cream cheese before leaving Pennsic.   It is yet another thing that makes me happy that I am eating gluten again.  ☮️ Thank you for being part of my happy things. Stay safe. 

It is my day to be thankful. At work I was assigned to induct the product into the building. This isn’t a place I tend to end up. I was feeling rather achy so that made this the best place because it uses different muscle groups than the other positions I usually work. I’m thankful for that small change at work. The temperature was in the 90’s today. I took a short walk and I am really thankful for the shade. I am thankful for boxes. ☮ Currently reading: Pocketful of Miracles: Prayer, Meditations, and Affirmations to Nurture Your Spirit Every Day of the Year , Joan Borysenko. Currently listening to: The Will to Battle , by Ada Palmer Thank you for being part of my happy things. Stay safe.

My day at work did not go as well as I would have liked. I dropped things or bumped into things or things bumped into me. That day is over now and I am happy that my work week is over. Other happy things for today include: Keziah and I are still testing negative for covid! Zed seems to be recovering well and Gideon is in good spirits. We have big plans next weekend, as long as we continue to test negative. As Baron and Baroness in the SCA, Keziah and I have meetings every few weeks with our chiefs of staff. We talk about things going on in the Barony and what we might need or reminders of what we should be doing. Having them close to an upcoming event helps me get into the mindset for the event. It is a fun way to anticipate the fun. This evening I took a short walk just in time to see the sky fade in colors from shades of orange to darkening blues.   ☮ Currently reading: Pocketful of Miracles: Prayer, Meditations, and Affirmations to Nurture Your Spirit Every Day of the Ye...