Whew, this coming up for air deal is pretty weird. After writing for nearly seven weeks straight, 14 hours a day, reality seems… strange.
Today was my first day at my new job. Let me tell you, after directing conversation between horrified, angry people and resolving their conflicts, sometimes, having a face to face chat is a challenge. I had trouble even answering the phone because I kept wanting to type out my “hello, how can I help you?”
I’m not saying the past couple of months have been reality free. I think that may have been part of the reason for keeping my head in the books so much. My cell, laptop, and car all had electrical issues all within a couple of weeks of each other.
And, I have a new mouse, too. His (her?) name is Broke Butt. Yes, my toothless cat caught this one. Broke Butt has leg troubles but not from having a 15 pound cat catch him. His back legs are slightly deformed. If he was able to stand on his hind legs and walk, he’d basically look like a furry penguin. I don’t want to pick this poor little one up too much to check on gender yet. But, yes, I now have kitty TV #4. And, yes, the cats are still watching kitty TV #3- the empty 55 gallon fish tank. Still cracks me up. They are also now watching the original kitty TV- my 25 gallon tank, which is also empty and not lit up. I’m converting that one into a plant tank.
While I loved my gold fish, and loved having the tank, I’ve had fish for 20 years. I still have two, a beta and a cory, in separate 1 gallons on my kitchen island. But I think it’s time to give up on the larger tanks for a bit. Do something else for a change. Maybe actually have an indoor plant that doesn’t turn into kitty salad.
I am so looking forward to this season. I have Christmas lights- white- that stay on two walls all year long, as gentle lighting. The tree will be up soon. That, to me, is Christmas. Not presents. Just the tree. While it is bitter sweet, all the memories of my family long gone, I can still enjoy it with my sister. And, while I miss him dearly, not having Sandy around anymore to ride the tree to the floor is somewhat a blessing.
My aunts, who I was unable to see very often for very personal reasons I will not be putting on a post, gave my sister and I Christmas ornaments in the mail every year when we were kids. My great grandmother made ornaments out of felt. I still have a great number of them, and they are older than I. I hang pine garland across the ceiling and nearly a hundred clear glass ornaments glitter. So, each year, I either make or buy at least one new ornament. I try to make them. A couple of years ago, I started in July and made four counted cross stitch stockings- beautiful and helped me reconnect with those bittersweet memories.
This year, I bought. And they are so awesome. A cross between Granma’s hand made felt and the rustic charm of most of the others I have. So glad I accidentally bumped into the shelf of them. I was looking for completely clear glass globes for Halloween for next year. I found a really cool design for floating eyeballs. Okay, so that’s an odd thing to put into a Xmas post, but hey, those are my two favorites, so… DEAL! (Yes, NBX!!!)
So, yeah. Coming back to reality from starving people and a virus outbreak and corpses everywhere to Christmas, faulty electronics, and hey- what the heck happened to fall? Odd. Plus starting a new job. Plus…
You know? I think it’s time I got off the one “dating” website I’ve been on. Or at least… well, here’s the thing. It is a dating site. But it does state, right on there, LOOKING FOR FRIENDS only. And I did put right in my profile- I take my time getting to know people. I know some of these places are just hook up sites. This one’s a bit different. Why I like it. It doesn’t quite have that greasy, let’s go get smacking feel to it. At least, it mostly doesn’t. So I’ve started scaling back my profile. A lot. And I’ll probably cancel the account. Even though I do enjoy the personalities I see. Sometimes, it helps with writing, so maybe not.
But on happier news, SURVIVAL:HEAPS has been live released into a local game store. That’s on MB6, if you want info on that.
Last night was the kicker of my week. I had someone say just about one of the nicest things anyone ever has to me. You know that feeling when you’re slightly chilled and you step into a hot shower, your body relaxes and your brain turns to goo? It was like that. And it’s stuck with me. All day. Been almost 24 hours and, despite the oddness of not getting up to spend all day writing and some unpleasant statements made by others and starting a new job, that “goo” feeling has stuck with me. It’s going to stick with me for a very long time, and I feel almost completely at peace…