Good grief … last week was Thanksgiving weekend and here we are just a wee bit over 2 weeks until Christmas!
Life is now back to our normal :) … as in working, being paid timely (all is caught up and resolved YEA!!!) and we had a scrumptious Thanksgiving dinner of turkey and stuff … AND hung stockings and decked halls.
That UCLA Bruin was a gift from friends many years ago. It has survived Karl, Gus, Bob, Bear and now Auggie and Emmett…
… hopefully. Emmett has “borrowed” it from under the tree on several many occasions. Thankfully, no harm done to the Bruin. I sent a photo to my coworkers who both attended UCLA … wondering how it had survived all of these years, and received this reply:
It has survived because it is ‘Bruin Strong’.
Go Bruins! Fight! Fight! Fight!
I believe I have mentioned that I love my work group and am very grateful for the team that I work with. And am grateful for work that I love that allows me to live in a place that I love and enjoy the outdoors with my pets!
So … the weather ??? After an early start to Winter … in September … some snow, some cold and now it is warm-ish but gray and low cloud deck.
So we start the dark mornings with coffee and electric fire …
…and general togetherness.
But the length of the dark mornings often leads to a bit of pestering play :)
This week, though… a new toy for outside time:
Although I played softball into my 40’s: third and then first base … my throwing acumen has seriously degenerated.
Emmett LOVES to play fetch.
So, this launch toy. It is great fun! I’m not sure which of us has more fun.
The ring goes a good distance, but it does float! Emmett is still learning about how it goes, compared to a stick or the throw toys we have played with.
BIG.FUN!!
I hope to take some video!
Meanwhile, we enjoy some spectacular color: snow up high, dark cloud background and some gold from a sun trying to break through…
Good, good times enjoying the work and play routine … the holiday vibes and just generally being beyond grateful that all has worked out to continue as we were.
I was back to work in late October and able to submit an invoice on November 1.
But, some glitches.
AND … here we are the week before Thanksgiving and I am skint! No cash for turkey :) !!! A large receivable …
Thanks to my local bank, who I have banked with here in Montana for 25 years … a small bridge loan with the Jeeper (17 year old Jeep … good grief!) as collateral, I will have turkey money on Monday.
And, I have news that the glitches re my invoice might be resolved as well … pending key persons being NOT on “vacation” pre-TDay.
Still … it looks to be that all will be resolved by early December latest.
Good grief.
I have had embarrassing and somewhat humbling/humiliating conversations with my creditors. Thankfully, 44 years of good behavior has paid off and to a “man” (bank, etc.) they have all said: “oh, a one off, we trust you”.
Still … RATS! Mostly, I am mad at myself. At the start of the hiatus, I believed in the 30 days and continued on my normal path. Many things I could have/should have done differently.
Water under the bridge.
I cannot change the past.
What I CAN do is learn from it … hopefully!!
And never fear … my pantry is full of food for me, for Emmett and Auggie. No one is going without.
But, I do know and maybe now better understand, what many, many people … without the resources I have … might be experiencing. It gives me a new perspective on food insecurity, housing insecurity … INSECURITY in general. It is not a comfortable place to be.
So.
Maybe I needed to learn a lesson in insecurity that I did not think I needed to learn.
Perspective changed.
I hope some lesson(s) learned.
This Thanksgiving will have meaning unlike any Thanksgivings in my past.
I was told last Monday that I would have a new contract with my “bread and butter” client. I don’t have it yet, but we are back to work tomorrow and hopefully all will be “signed, sealed and delivered” this week!
Crazy! July 1-October 21. Nothing played out as I was told. Process was beyond frustrating. A large part of the challenge was that I was not able to speak to 2 of my best friends: my work colleagues … to avoid collusion in the process. Outside of my work group, I do not have any “tech” buddies as in people with who I can discuss programming and tech gadgets/paradigms. So, in addition to the frustrating process, I felt somewhat isolated from the technical. Not completely, as I was doing some other work and learning in conjunction with another consultant … we just had to avoid discussion of the process details. But, the need to be careful in communication so as to avoid even the appearance of collusion … it was a bit of a strain.
Thankfully, hopefully, over.
And I will say that 95% of the time, I was in a good place of enjoying a different routine, enjoying a VERY relaxed schedule, enjoying exploring “what if” the contract did not happen and just enjoying what turned out to be a very pleasant summer and despite 2 “Winter storms”, a gorgeous start to Autumn.
The things that helped keep me in the good place: Auggie and Emmett and time outside with them!!!, the opportunity to learn some new things, a few RV visitors that got me talking about everything and Phillipians 4:6
Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God which surpasses all understanding will keep your heart and mind in Christ Jesus.
And then 4:8
Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.
So.
And now, here we are.
The owl was right. Well, I knew all would be well. What I didn’t know was what shape “well” would take and that is the uncertainty that in those 5% of the time … the kind of panic time … was difficult.
And overall, really, the worst case was not life threatening to any of us (Auggie, Emmett and me). There were and are fall back options.
I learned an incredible amount of things that I thought I knew :)
But primarily: count my blessings, enjoy what I have and my dear cat and dog and the beauty of where I am: EVERY.SINGLE.DAY.
Yep! It is end of September, we are barely past the Autumnal Equinox and we have a … these are NOAA’s words: “Historic Winter Weather Storm Warning”.
Hee…
We have been preparing!
Not a full stock at all, but plenty for my normal burn … … the overflow. Under the tarps is a plethora of split, dry firewood in case the garage adjacent supply is not enough.Wild Thing is back in her spot! Today, 9/26 … cloudy, off and on rain, off and on blustery … we await the storm!
Outside, besides firewood, I have removed all batteries, the power washer and other things that should not freeze … from garage to house. Hoses are drained. We are Winter ready :)
Chiles and Pumpkin processed and ready for freezing.
Inside, various vegetables/fruits has been processed and frozen. The Winter pantry stockup began some weeks ago and I am in good shape for whatever Fall/Winter brings.
