Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Just a brief update

Nothing, really, to tell you. I will be gone for the next week-and-a-half. Hoping I am making the right decision, but going ahead, anyway.

I may or may not provide an explanation, eventually. Sorry to be so circumspect, but some things I just do not feel comfortable in sharing yet. Sigh...

My plane leaves at 8 am tomorrow, which means I'll be hittin' the showers very early and heading out to the small (old) airport, Hobby, which served Houston long before IAH (aka Bush) was on the scene. Southwest flies out of Hobby, and I am glad, because Hobby is SO much closer to my home. And my flight is with Southwest. Betcha had that all figured out by now, dincha?

So wish me luck and I hope to at least enjoy myself, with no thoughts of work or the packing or the painting, et al, that awaits my return.

'Bye!

Saturday, January 17, 2009

Moving ... and moving on

Well, I took some big steps today. Rented a storage unit at a nearby facility, and bought one of those multi-box-size things for packing. Seems strange to be making these choices by myself. Hope I can discipline myself to do the necessary packing. The guy who manages the storage place is originally from Michigan, so he and I had those common Midwestern roots to chat about. He's not a Yooper (what we call folks from the U.P. of MI) but enjoyed traveling and cross-country skiing up there. My parents were both Yoopers, thus my appreciation of that area.

Packing: I think I will start with the photos and slides that Greg dragged back to Houston following his father's death in March of 2008. I can feel safe in just packing them away and getting them to the storage unit. When I get back to MN, I can sort them into two groups - one for each side of his family, his dad's and his mother's. They don't belong to me anymore. I know of at least one cousin on each side who has expressed interest in the documents, photos, etc. His only sibling does not want any of this stuff, sad to say.

Took some more stuff up to the church donation place. Funny - the guys who work the afternoon shift up there on Saturdays, know me by sight now! This time it was watches and turtlenecks and miscellany. I am leaving a smattering of his clothes and shoes here in the closet, so that when the open houses are held, it will look like a guy is living here. It seems the safest thing to do.

Well, don't know how I managed it, but I did somehow just log myself off the internet. Magic! And I'm ba-a-a-ck...

Hey, P - you didn't tell me that you sneaked in a spicy chocolate truffle with the four-pak that you gave me. Thanks (I think!). Had to pour myself some milk to tamp down the fire in my mouth a bit - wasn't expecting that.

Good news: got a phone call from the lawn guy, who will resume cutting today. And while he was here, we talked about him putting down some weed-n-feed, and he'll do that for me, too. (I had mentioned to him that I was gonna contact ChemLawn because I just cannot keep up with this lawn stuff.)

And even better news - a phone call from the painter, who WILL be able to start power-washing my house this week. The nasty cold weather delayed that activity last week. AND... Leroy (painter) told me that Ruben (master electrician) will also be available, so he can install my new outside lights outside the door, front entry and back entry. Progress is about to made, people! So the investments that I made a week ago (new lights, 10 gallons of paint, 6 tubes of latex) will actually be put to use soon. I got those motion-detector lights. I think that is the wisest move for me. They are on a low-light program unless motion is detected, then BRIGHTS ON! The element of surprise may offer me a little more protection, and definitely more peace of mind, at the least. Damn, it is a bitch to be a woman living alone sometimes.

It is the 17th today, and two days ago marked the 8th month since Greg's death. It is getting a bit easier, but a part of him will always be with me. Not the least of that being, his pretty good-sized vinyl (records) collection - those former musicians tend to do things like that. And now I am trying to find folks who might be interested in certain artists. My sis wants a Rascals album that was played when she and her "kids" were here in May, and my niece wants a Whiskey River album (WR was the band that Greg played with for 10 years). A nice guy who works at the Cooking Collection (at our local H-E-B grocery store) expressed interest in any jazz albums. And I know I will cull some albums out for myself, too. Currently, there are ONLY about 6 wooden crates of albums upstairs. I think we moved about a dozen-crates plus, down here in 1984. And with the advent of CD's, he was growing that collection, too. A-a-a-r-r-r-g-h-h!

My neighbor across the street wants the rolling tool box thing-y that Greg had in the garage. I thought I might be forced to put it on Craig's List, but that will certainly save me the trouble. I really don't care how much I get for it - I just want someone to have it who will put it to good use. Now that means that I have to actually open those drawers and see what tools I will keep. When I met Greg, I had my own little tool box with some good-quality tools, and he gradually intermingled some of his and mine. Then I was looking for something specific one day (probably my needle-nose pliers) and had a fit when I couldn't find them. So he sorta restored "my" toolbox. I did lots of little fix-its back in the day, when I was single and had a little house of my own in a south Minneapolis suburb.

So... makin' progress here, folks. Each day, one step in front of the other. That's the only way to move forward, to reclaim and rebuild ME. I think I am startin' to like the new me - I am more light-hearted and laughter comes much more easily now. It ain't a walk in the park, but it now seems do-able. And that's a discovery that is surprising to me, after all those days and weeks in a fog, and then stumbling a lot, too.

Anyhoo... it's about quarter to ten as I am finishing the post. Gotta grab me something to eat - popcorn for dinner! Yummy. Catch y'all later in the next post.

Sunday, January 11, 2009

How did you find this blog?

Well, I am occasionally (okay maybe obsessively) glancing at the traffic feed on the far right side of my blogpage. And I am noticing several who are coming in to this point (back in July '07, when I was ranting about a change-his-mind-constantly client when we were doing faux painting). And noticing several Aussies (hi, y'all, from Houston!) and a few others, notedly, someone from Gdansk (my mother's Polish and I am sure she would say hi, too).

This post:
http://akanancydrew.blogspot.com/2007/07/please-release-me-set-me-free.html

But, what oh what are you searching for (noticing that some came in from Google-ing in their own countries)? That particular post mentions Ralph Lauren (paint, folks - this is not a promo for ol' Ralphie or any of his multitudinous products). Also once a mention of Benjamin Moore (paints, again).

And a paragraph about me doing some serious oversleeping, which is the price you pay when you burn the candle at both ends, as I had been doing back then, between my regular job and this faux crud we were doing. The client that time was a free agent that had just been given a tryout for the Minnesota Vikings (they did not pick him and let him go just before the season). We were amused because he phoned us from training camp - us, with our Minnesota roots, painting for him down here in Houston. Although he did not know the connection at the time.

Or maybe someone was looking for song lyrics? Sorry, if that was your goal.

So if any of you ever read this post and want to let me know what was so all-fired interesting about that one, please let me know.

Gotta run now. My tummy is telling me that it's hungry and I am TRYING to pay attention to it more carefully. Another bagel half is in my immediate future! Panera to the rescue.

Friday, January 9, 2009

Can I feed myself?

Well, I seem to be lacking in several skills lately. Obviously, if you have read these things at all (and you have my profound apologies, if you have), you may have read the one about dressing myself.

Yesterday (Thursday) at work I was sitting in my cubicle at work. The folks nearest to my cube were both gone - one, out of the building (I think) and the other in a conference call in a cube about 20 or 30 feet across an aisle-kind-of-thingy. And suddenly my vision was darkening and I felt like I was gonna lose consciousness. I though I had heard a guy about 2 cubes away (nearest co-worker) and I wasn't sure if my voice would or could be heard. But I called out his name, got no response, then turned up the volume and repeated his name. Fortunately for me, he answered me and I asked if he could come over to my cube. Which he did, and I told him I thought I was gonna pass out. So he stepped close enough to rub my shoulder and ask questions like how did I feel, etc. And (according to him) I proceeded to pass out - just for a minute or so - and was still sitting, but slumped a bit to the side. Of course, I was not the best witness of me, at that time. I don't know how the crowd started showing up in my cube, but they got me to lie down (lay down? I am never sure what is the right word to use) on the floor and they elevated my feet and made sure that my head was lower than my feet.

Next thing I knew, my dept. manager and also the head of HR (call her M) show up. Some of them want me to go to an ER to get checked out. And all I can think of is the co-pay that I will be responsible for. Well, M suggests getting one of EMT's to check me out. These guys operate out of the Marine Dept., so she phones the dept. head and he's not there; and neither is his secretary. By now, I am laughing about this - good thing it was NOT a real emergency, eh? And I am feeling like I am probably NOT going to pass out, so someone grabs my cup of water off my desk and then my smoothie, and I drink most of the water and finish the smoothie.

Then come the questions about how much I had had to eat that day. And I had to admit that it probably hadn't been that much. Not intentionally - but it just happened, and there was a trend like that for the several days preceding that day. My conclusion is this was from low blood sugar. So I am trying - really I am - to eat something at every mealtime. Today I had half a bagel (Panera - yummy!) plus a small cup of coffee in the a.m.; half a burger and half a malt (Beck's - yum again); and a bowl of chicken wild rice soup (thawed from a batch that I had made and frozen back in December). And I am sippin' at a glass of red wine - I think that I poured it about 2+ hours ago. I will have to work at that drinking pace...

They would not let me leave by myself (usually I take the van pool to work, but I'd driven myself that day). So one of the guys who rides in the same van was elected to ride with me (I think they thought he would drive, but HEY, it's MY car). Anyway, I dropped him off at his car at the parking lot, and I got him there just fine, thank you very much. And then got me home - also just fine.

So now I have failed at dressing myself AND feeding myself. Can an assisted living center be coming far behind this?

On unrelated news: my sis put in her two cents' worth on this "my sister's boyfriend" replacement. She wasn't fond of that "beau" word, either (P - you will be very happy about that!). So I think I will just call him "my sister's guy". P (friend from high school) had suggested "my sister's friend" and I said that I didn't like it, because someone might think my sister was gay. And he replied (this was on back-and-forth e-mails) that that was politically incorrect of me (in a kidding fashion); I retorted that this was, after all, MY blog and I got to choose! So R, you are offically "my sister's guy". Well, I guess you have been for some time - but now you have that name on my blog, as well. Love ya, sis! Hugs to your guy!

Tuesday, January 6, 2009

I.am.so.boring

Miss Nancy regrets to inform you that she is so d_mnedably boring that she cannot.write.about.anything.today. After my Christmas trip to the Great White Cold Country up North, I had way too much fodder to write about, and y'all would have quit reading if I ranted and raved anymore than I did, about those eight.days.with.Mom. And now that I have the distance between us (whew) I feel like a new woman. But incredibly boring.

If anyone finds any energy or get-up-n-go to spare, would you ship it to me? I really REALLY need some. My house will not purge itself of unneeded stuff, and there is no one here to do it for me... but if you do not have any to spare, I certainly understand. I am hoping that this is a post-holiday lull and that I will come back to my senses.

Trying to resume some level of exercise, too. It is too late, too dark to get a walk in when I get home (6:30 or so) and the same is true in the morning before I leave the house (6:20 or so). So that leaves me the NordicTrack ski machine. It is a used one, have had it for years. It is also very boring, so we two are a good match, but it IS a good cardio workout that can help my legs and my arms at the same time. Gotta build up my time on it gradually. How many times have I done this, only to fall off the exercise bandwagon? At least I have given up on that ol' gym routine - I hate waiting in lines to use the equipment stations, and this is NO time of the year to join a gym. Every dog and his puppy are doin' that in January, and the gyms are even more crowded than when I threw in the towel (pun NOT intended) on the last go-around. Liked it when I first joined it and not a lot of people were using it. Foolish, foolish me, thinking that I had this nearly exclusive place to use. If I had my own elliptical to use (in place of the NordicTrack), I might use it more. Or not. I will take ye olde NT with me back to Cold Country, and may upgrade it to an elliptical. I remember when I first tried using the ol' NT - I had never, ever done any cross-country skiing and could not get the hang of the stride plus using the handles that simulate the ski-poling action on x-country skiing. Well, Greg walked in the room while I was visibly frustrated with this poor ol' NT. And being a guy, offered helpful advice. I just shot him THE look (ladies, you know the one I mean) and he did a quick exit. And then I figured it out and I was okay from then on. Sometimes I think that I am part male, because I really do not take instructions well.

So ends my boring post. I'll try to be more interesting next time.