I talked to the apartment manager this morning, and in order to move to the building by the street, our rent would go up $300, not to mention we would have to pay another $400 pet deposit. So it's to an apartment locator we will go at the end of February. A new place means new memories, so I need to get my mind in that mode.
We -- yes, "we" -- are invited to my brother's house on New Year's Eve for a party. He's making ribs, jerk chicken, and his famous cream of poblano soup. J and I are going to Unity first to attend our first burning bowl ceremony. I'm afraid if I was given the chance, I would fill the bowl completely all by myself; I have so many regrets to burn.
If all goes well, I will start Hatha yoga on Monday. In order to do this, we will have to eat light dinners from now on. If you have any suggestions, I would love to hear them. Right now I'm thinking chef salad, soup, baked potato, sandwiches, breakfast tacos. I need something that will take as little time as possible to prepare and we will be eating late, around 7:30, so it does need to be light. We prefer to eat together on those nights because on the other weeknights, J eats at her mother's. I will only cook full meals on weekends. Maybe this will help my waistline. I'm going to try really hard to order light meals when I get a free meal at work, like a bowl of soup or a scoop of chicken salad, minus their parmesan crackers that I love so much.
I'm supposed to be on vacation. My temp didn't show up yesterday and my boss had to go it alone. J graciously offered to temp for me today and tomorrow. This works out great because it will pay for our fabulous overnight in Galveston we had Sunday night. We think the temp left with a lot of our snacks but have no way to prove it.
Speaking of our overnight, we saw the Manhattan Transfer at the Grand and the show was fantastic. I could have done without some of the scatting, though; it's not my thing. We stayed at the fabulous San Luis Resort on the seawall. It was cold and rainy so the view wasn't great of the water, but we got a wonderful upgrade which included a full butlered breakfast and free champagne. It may not sound like much, but we are not used to such treatment.
Before the show started, we were discussing the Neil Diamond tickets J bought me for Christmas. She finally told me that we are also going to see Bette Midler that same month.
I hope each of you have a wonderful new year. 2015 has got to be better.
Namaste,
~b~
Tuesday, December 30, 2014
Saturday, December 27, 2014
2014 is ending. Thank God!
2014 has been a year of ups and downs, one helluva year. I am ready for it to end and looking forward to new beginnings.
I got quite a bit of writing done this year. Reverse Skate is 99% complete so I have started on the editing, which for a person with OCD is extremely stressful. It's hard to stop editing. I've pretty much decided on using Create Space to self-publish. I have also started the research for my next book "Day Trip", which I hope to write during the next NaNoWriMo in November of 2015.
2014 was the second year without my maternal grandmother; I miss her so much. I still can't erase her contact information from my phone. I finally took her photo off my phone screen. I created a FB place to honor her called "Grandma's Beautiful Smile." You can go there and post things about your own grandmothers.
My paternal grandmother turned 98 in November. I'm not sure if she's going to make it to 100, and I'm not sure I want her to. She is so miserable. We moved her into a different apartment at the beginning of the year but she was so isolated and started going downhill physically and emotionally. We moved her into assisted living a few months ago, but she's not really getting any help yet. She wants to do everything herself, which is commendable, but I'm afraid she's going to fall. As of last week, she's almost completely blind. Go to my around and around blog (link at top of this page) if you want to read about my thoughts on Christmas Day of considering driving the two of us off a bridge.
My youngest, K21, became engaged on Christmas Eve. Let's just say I'd like her to wait awhile to marry. I'm going to leave it at that.
My oldest, K24, started a relationship with her first boyfriend this year. No engagement plans as yet, but the relationship is thriving.
J and I are going to Galveston on Sunday to see Manhattan Transfer. One of their singers dies a while back, but the show must go on. We will spend the night. We went earlier this year to see Vicki Lawrence; she was hilarious. I cannot tell you how much we need to get out of this city! I took a two-week staycation from my job; I don't think I realized how tired I have been. It's been heaven to be able to sleep in. I have eight days left; I don't want to go back. :)
My dad has been very ill since August after having what was supposed to be a routine rotator cuff surgery. He developed an infection that had nothing to do with the surgery, but settled in the surgical spot. He had intravenous antibiotics twice a day for three weeks, but then he developed a bacterial infection in his gutt and a yeast infection in his esophagus because the meds they gave him didn't work. Now the infection is back and he and my mom are so tired of dealing with this.
We are not sure if we are staying here much longer. I'm actually the one who's pretty dissatisfied with the place now. I talked J into moving here. She went along with it as long as we put a Charlie bar on the balcony door, the bar that locked me out not long after we moved here.
Our current place:
On the plus side:
1. cheap for where we are
2. lots of square footage
3. quietest place I've ever lived
4. very secure on the inside of the complex
5. security guard SUPPOSEDLY on duty from 10 p.m. - 6 a.m.
6. one housekeeping appt per month included
7. washer/dryer inside unit (but they are the extra small ones)
On the minus side:
1. common areas outside looking old and dirty
2. flower beds near our building seem to get the least attention
3. we are in the back of the complex (not as many parking spaces, takes longer to go on dog walks and sometimes I think back of complexes are more unsafe.)
4. I DON'T FEEL SAFE WALKING MY DOGS! This is the most important thing of all to me. Men walking up and down the street at all hours. I have to walk basically in an alleyway part of the way. Cars constantly splash us going 15 + miles over the speed limit. I have actually seen cars jump the curb before.
5. closet space sucks
6. carpeting - to have hardwoods costs $100 extra per month
7. parking lot floods at the drop of a hat
We decided to sign a six-month lease while we decide what to do. I would like to live in a house or patio home where I could let the dogs out into some grass after dark to do their business. J is not thrilled with the idea; and truthfully, houses, patio homes, etc. with small yards are out of our price range in our area.
We have another plan and that is to get on a waiting list for an apartment exactly like ours with hardwoods instead of carpet in the building at the front of the complex. J could stand on the balcony and watch me walk the dogs after dark. Drawback to this is there would be more street noise for Callie to bark at. Plus side is there is more parking near the front and less flooded area, wouldn't take me long to get in and out with the dogs, and I would be in J's sight most of the time.
I'm not sure if anyone is even reading my blog anymore, but if you are, I wish you a wonderful 2015.
Namaste,
~b~
I got quite a bit of writing done this year. Reverse Skate is 99% complete so I have started on the editing, which for a person with OCD is extremely stressful. It's hard to stop editing. I've pretty much decided on using Create Space to self-publish. I have also started the research for my next book "Day Trip", which I hope to write during the next NaNoWriMo in November of 2015.
2014 was the second year without my maternal grandmother; I miss her so much. I still can't erase her contact information from my phone. I finally took her photo off my phone screen. I created a FB place to honor her called "Grandma's Beautiful Smile." You can go there and post things about your own grandmothers.
My paternal grandmother turned 98 in November. I'm not sure if she's going to make it to 100, and I'm not sure I want her to. She is so miserable. We moved her into a different apartment at the beginning of the year but she was so isolated and started going downhill physically and emotionally. We moved her into assisted living a few months ago, but she's not really getting any help yet. She wants to do everything herself, which is commendable, but I'm afraid she's going to fall. As of last week, she's almost completely blind. Go to my around and around blog (link at top of this page) if you want to read about my thoughts on Christmas Day of considering driving the two of us off a bridge.
My youngest, K21, became engaged on Christmas Eve. Let's just say I'd like her to wait awhile to marry. I'm going to leave it at that.
My oldest, K24, started a relationship with her first boyfriend this year. No engagement plans as yet, but the relationship is thriving.
J and I are going to Galveston on Sunday to see Manhattan Transfer. One of their singers dies a while back, but the show must go on. We will spend the night. We went earlier this year to see Vicki Lawrence; she was hilarious. I cannot tell you how much we need to get out of this city! I took a two-week staycation from my job; I don't think I realized how tired I have been. It's been heaven to be able to sleep in. I have eight days left; I don't want to go back. :)
My dad has been very ill since August after having what was supposed to be a routine rotator cuff surgery. He developed an infection that had nothing to do with the surgery, but settled in the surgical spot. He had intravenous antibiotics twice a day for three weeks, but then he developed a bacterial infection in his gutt and a yeast infection in his esophagus because the meds they gave him didn't work. Now the infection is back and he and my mom are so tired of dealing with this.
We are not sure if we are staying here much longer. I'm actually the one who's pretty dissatisfied with the place now. I talked J into moving here. She went along with it as long as we put a Charlie bar on the balcony door, the bar that locked me out not long after we moved here.
Our current place:
On the plus side:
1. cheap for where we are
2. lots of square footage
3. quietest place I've ever lived
4. very secure on the inside of the complex
5. security guard SUPPOSEDLY on duty from 10 p.m. - 6 a.m.
6. one housekeeping appt per month included
7. washer/dryer inside unit (but they are the extra small ones)
On the minus side:
1. common areas outside looking old and dirty
2. flower beds near our building seem to get the least attention
3. we are in the back of the complex (not as many parking spaces, takes longer to go on dog walks and sometimes I think back of complexes are more unsafe.)
4. I DON'T FEEL SAFE WALKING MY DOGS! This is the most important thing of all to me. Men walking up and down the street at all hours. I have to walk basically in an alleyway part of the way. Cars constantly splash us going 15 + miles over the speed limit. I have actually seen cars jump the curb before.
5. closet space sucks
6. carpeting - to have hardwoods costs $100 extra per month
7. parking lot floods at the drop of a hat
We decided to sign a six-month lease while we decide what to do. I would like to live in a house or patio home where I could let the dogs out into some grass after dark to do their business. J is not thrilled with the idea; and truthfully, houses, patio homes, etc. with small yards are out of our price range in our area.
We have another plan and that is to get on a waiting list for an apartment exactly like ours with hardwoods instead of carpet in the building at the front of the complex. J could stand on the balcony and watch me walk the dogs after dark. Drawback to this is there would be more street noise for Callie to bark at. Plus side is there is more parking near the front and less flooded area, wouldn't take me long to get in and out with the dogs, and I would be in J's sight most of the time.
I'm not sure if anyone is even reading my blog anymore, but if you are, I wish you a wonderful 2015.
Namaste,
~b~
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