My New Office

When I say "my new office", I mean it literally. Since I left, my boss moved down one floor so it is brand new to me. Now, instead of walking done ten flights of stairs if the power goes out, I only have to walk down nine. Hey, that's better than what J would have to do; she is on the 57th floor.

Here's a photo of a corner of my new office. I had the printer moved to my desk as I got tired of having to go into another room just to insert an envelope or piece of letterhead. My boss has had five, count'em, five assistants since I left two years ago. That's not including temps. Anyway, it's good to be back working with attorneys. They're not much different than children, actually. I enjoy serving clients, even though some of them can get kind of needy. Did I mention they're like children? I had forgotten, though, how slow it can be some days and how during those times I would love to go out on the playground in the sun and watch the kids search for bugs or show me their latest tricks on the monkey bars. But all is well. Whenever I get to feeling that way, I just think to myself, would I rather be doing this or dealing with ungrateful parents and staff all day? This, hands down.

Here's a photo of our lobby. Very beautiful but hardly anyone ever sits there because I take them to their conference rooms right away. The flowers on the table are real and are brought every Monday morning by a very creative florist named C. My favorites are climbing orchids.

Both grandmas are in the hospital today. Here is a photo of them with my youngest on her homeschool graduation day two years ago. The one on the left is my paternal grandmother, who is 96. My maternal grandmother is on the right and is 93.

I hope everyone has a great weekend!

~b~

Goodbye Glasses!

Last month I had two eye surgeries - the first one to remove an oily drop cataract (young person's cataract) from my left eye and have a lens replacement; the second surgery to have a lens replacement on my good eye. Now no more glasses! I have worn glasses since the first grade. I remember that I had been placed in the third reading group (for slow readers). My mother took me down to TSO (Texas State Optical) in the Northwest Mall in Houston to be fitted with my first pair of glasses. I remember trying to walk through the mall without falling. It looked like there were stairs in front of me and I wasn't sure how to walk without falling down the mirages. Anyway, I was placed in the first reading group and I did well in school after that. After a month, I still wake up and put my hand on my night stand searching for my glasses. It was an expensive procedure, but so worth it. I will never have cataracts again and will never need glasses again, except for magnified glasses for reading if my eyes get tired. Yay!

Hello Old Friends

It's been a long time, huh? Much has happened in over a year. I have retired from teaching and have gone back to my old job, running a mediation office. J is busy taking care of her mom, who is recuperating from back surgery.

I have two grandmothers living, praise God! My maternal grandmother from Florida is 93 and lives with my parents; my paternal grandmother is 96 and still lives alone. On Sunday, 911 was called for my paternal grandmother. She spent several hours in the ER and was sent home, prematurely, I believe, as she is still ill. Yesterday, 911 was called on my maternal grandmother, who is now in ICU. My parents are exhausted from all this caregiving.

I would like to introduce you to our newest addition. I have been told she is a Cairn terrier mix. Meet Callie. She is approximately 9 months old. I named her after the character Callie in my new favorite TV show The Fosters. Callie is a teenager who has been passed around from foster parent to foster parent. I thought it made sense to name her Callie, since I rescued her from certain death. A few weeks ago, she was in a shelter scheduled to be euthanized. A local rescue group in Houston, Buster's Friends, sprung her out. She was originally given the name of Twinkle in the shelter. Then I called her Button because she really is as cute as a button. Then I changed it to Cricket because, boy, can she ever jump! But Callie suits her better and she is now responding to that name. That is K19 in the photo, soon to be K20. More about how she is giving me gray hair another time.

Since I know longer have to work at night or on weekends, I hope I will find more time to write on this blog. I have missed it here, and even more importantly, missed reading your posts. I see that a lot of my favorites have disappeared. Especially miss reading Tina and Jess's posts. If anyone knows if they have new blogs, please let me know.

~b~