Where does the time go?

I can’t believe it’s already been more than two months since my last update. So much has happened, I’m not sure where to begin. Maybe I’ll pick a topic and update one thing at a time.

Home: I’m ensconced in my new apartment in Kentville, and still have boxes to unpack and organize. Why does it take forever to unpack after a move? However, I like my little apartment so far, and am settling in quite happily. My neighbours seem decent sorts, and it’s pretty quiet. There’s a church behind my building, so I can’t say they’re very noisy in the wee small hours. It’s a nice change from having two bars down the street letting out at 1 in the morning after Friday and Saturday nights.

Work: Continues to be insanely busy. I was supposed to have my three-month review on December 14 but we had the worst wind and rain storm on the night of the 13th. I was without power at home until about 11:30 Wednesday morning. Power was restored to the clinic by 9 a.m. on the Tuesday, but I had no phone for them to contact me. Phone lines were also down and the battery was dying on my cell phone, so I shut it off for a few hours. Oh well. When I turned it on and saw voice mail, I dashed down to the clinic. They had already rebooked most of my clients, so I waited for one person who hadn’t been contacted to see if she would turn up. She didn’t so I went home and spent the rest of the day and evening reading by daylight and candle light. It’s a good thing I’m a candle freak. It’s also good that it was quite warm out (15C, about 60F) so no one was in danger of freezing to death. My review is scheduled for this coming Tuesday. My boss has already told me she’s giving me a raise, so we’ll see what comes of that.

Family: My son and his fiancée had a baby girl on October 18 by scheduled C-section. Unfortunately, the baby aspirated some nastiness during her birth and at 2 a.m. on the 19th, she was airlifted to the IWK in Halifax. The IWK is a hospital for children and new mums. She ended up in the NICU on O2 and nitrous oxide to help her breathe, and on intravenous antibiotics for 9 days. It was a tense time, but she’s fine now and growing like mad. This is Auron’s baby sister, and her name is Tifa Rose (pronounced "Tiffa"). She’s adorably cute. You can see her here. This makes for 4 grandbabies aged two and under. Reese turned two on Oct 20, Auron is 1.5, Ryker is 9 months old, and Miss Tifa is now 2 months old. And both families have an 8 year old as well. Well, Miss MacKenzie will be 8 at the end of this month. Remember when she was born? Can you believe it’s been 8 years already? Holy crap.

#2 Daughter ended up dropping out of her course due to financial issues. I don’t know if she’ll be able to go back to it soon or not. We’ll see. She’s bounced around the city some, after spending way more time at my friend’s place than anyone had originally intended. She finally dumped the D-bag boyfriend, and I think she picked up a girlfriend instead for a while, although that seems to be going nowhere. I’m not really sure, and I don’t really care. If she’s happy and being treated well, she can date Sasquatch (or Ms. Sasquatch, as the case may be). She also finally got a job and I’m hoping it will last past the Christmas rush. She wants me to pick her up on Christmas Eve and bring her home and then take her back on the 26th. Lots of driving over that few days, but it’ll be nice to have her here for my b’day. I’ve invited A to have Christmas dinner with us, if he would like to come over. We’ll see.

Relationships: I finally talked to A and told him that being his significant other was making me deeply unhappy and that I would prefer to be friends, and leave the door open for more sometime down the road if we decided that it was the thing to do. So far, we’re doing fine as friends. I happen to know he’s joined a different online meeting place; not so much a "dating" site per se, but something else. One of my nieces invited me to join, and when I clicked on the link to see what the invitation was all about, whose picture should I see on the banner page? Apparently, if you click through from the hotmail link, it will show your friends who are members. My niece’s pic was also on the banner page. That explains the secrecy of all the trips he’s been making to Halifax lately. I’m guessing he’s out there meeting people again and giving it the old college try. He’s so not ready for a real relationship as far as I can see, although maybe he just wasn’t ready for a real relationship with me specifically. I don’t want to be unfair here. On the other hand, he has some very serious issues that he needs to deal with before there is room in his life for anyone else’s needs. I realized some time ago that his favourite topic of conversation is himself. I don’t think he realizes it, and I don’t think it’s from having a huge ego. I think he needs to hear that he’s capable, or smart or whatever it is and that he has self-esteem shit going on. In any case, I prefer being friends, and if we stay that way, it’s good, and if we drift, that’s also fine.

I get to talk to R about all this as well and get his perspective. It’s good to have men friends whom you trust. I’m trying to find friends in Kentville to do stuff with, and actually had lunch the other day with a fella from the post office. No spark of any kind, at least from my end, but he’s pleasant enough company to chill with from time to time. I’ve got to find friends that don’t have weird, random health issues, though. Seriously. I’m also debating whether or not to invite him here for Christmas dinner. His family is in Ontario and I don’t think he has anyone in Nova Scotia. I’ll have to think that one over, and speak to my daughter. I should look around for other random lone people to invite. I might, but then again, I might not.

Work fun: We had our Christmas do at the Port Pub in Port Williams on Dec. 9th. I invited A to come along and there were between 30 and 40 people there. Wine and other drinks, food, chatting, socializing–it was a very pleasant evening. The boss knows how to build a team and forge team spirit. It also helps that she picks up the tab for all this. Like the retirement party in October, it’s a tax write-off, but it’s a great way to make your employees feel appreciated. I thought it was VERY cool that the couple who do the cleaning of the clinic at night were also there for the Christmas do. That was a nice touch of class on the boss’s part, I thought.

<span style="font-family: Comic Sans MS;”>Okay, so I think I’m caught up. Life rolls on. No time for writing lately, or no inspiration, more to the point. I work and then come home and play on the computer and listen to the TV in the background, or I play on the Wii (got hooked on the Lego Harry Potter game for a few weeks, then moved on to the Lego Star Wars), or read. I had to cut out phone and internet for a few weeks. The company I was with was just too expensive. However, I hooked up with the cable company for phone and internet and will save about $300 a year with their current plan. AND they don’t tie you up with a contract. Sweet.

I’ll be back on Christmas Day. I try not to miss Christmas Day entries. And since I’ve been on OD since 1999, I have quite the legacy to live up to.

Blessings of the season to you, whatever your reason to celebrate. And bring on Solstice! I want the sun to come back!