Year's End

As I sit here on the eve of New Year's Eve, I ponder the future. Will George really marry Breezy and live happily ever after? Will Tom and Charlie find jobs? Will Dan survive the divorce? Will my sister ever speak to me again? Will I see Fifi, Emmi and Krissy? Will Bailey come to live with me? Will my boys be OK?

Mo got a bad bite on his side that got infected. Wednesday I found him in the basement with a huge hole in his side from where the cyst burst. Shawn took him to the vet, who shaved my baby bald on his side and cleaned the wound. I'm sure it was Po' Boy - and I'm fairly certainly Mo started the fight. Thank goodness Mo is up to date on his shots. The vet said the wound looked good - I cried when I saw it. Horrible. Maybe Mo will stay away from Po' Boy now?

Well, this is the last entry for 2011 - may 2012 find us healthy, safe and happy in life.

Bailey, the Dog

Dan got his next assignment and, apparently, has had a talk with Kelly. He sent me an email saying he is going to Baku and will be in a small apartment. No one will be there to care for the animals during the day so he can't take them with him. He is looking for a home for Bailey and asked if we would take him. My instinct is, of course, to say absolutely. Shawn's instinct, of course, is to say no. There are pro's and con's but the biggest reason to do it is because Dan needs us to. I talked to Shawn this evening and he is struggling. He's asked to think about it for a bit. This won't be taking Bailey for a few weeks or months but for years - maybe his entire life. I don't know if Dan will ever be able to claim him again - and if he can, if Bailey will really remember being part of Dan's life. For sure we would have him three years as that's the average length of time an assignment lasts.

My heart is shattered for Dan. Obviously Kelly has told him she has no intention of going with him to his next assignment so one of the two will be filing for divorce. Dan has lost everything - his wife, his girls, his home, his pets, probably 70% of his salary and half his retirement. The only things he has left is his job and his siblings. His girls will probably always be visitors now - unless he retires before they finish high school and one or both of them decide to live with Dad. He's going to be halfway around the world locked in a small apartment with no family or friends. I am terrified he's going to start to get careless with his safety figuring there's no one he needs to protect himself for anymore. And all I really can do is pray for him.

No More Flexing

Word came down that we are losing our flex option at work beginning February. When Angela took over as manager and had all her let's-get-to-know-each-other meetings, EVERYONE told her the ability to flex our work hours was the most important perk of the job - the one we wanted to keep above all others (of course, it's pretty much the ONLY perk of the job!). She was so understanding, totally got our desire to keep that perk. "Yes, I hear you.' And now we find out her response is, 'fuck you' and take it away - for the good of the investors of course. God forbid they get a letter in the afternoon mailing rather than the morning mailing.

Yeah, she is SO working to improve the morale of the team. Micromanaging, taking away all the secondary roles we have so there is nothing to put in our ISPs (which translates to no reason for decent bonuses), and taking away the few perks we have left after years of losing them. I guess the good news is that the only thing left she can do (without firing us) is to make the telecommuters return to the office. And that would only affect four or five of us (of course I would be one of those numbers!)

We were so optimistic when Doug was fired and Angela took over. Management saw our disillusions, they were going to fix things and make us love our jobs again. Right; rather it's out of the frying pan and into the fire.

Count Down

So, we are mere weeks away from a New Year. Wonder what it will bring. I have always found the celebration of a new year a bit odd - for all you know, you are celebrating the year in which you will die. How cheery is that? Even if it's not the year of your demise, you are still celebrating moving closer to your end of days. Hooray, I am a year closer to my death! Let us drink champaigne and celebrate! But celebrate we do; even I try to stay up till midnight if only to offer the simple prayer, "Please, Lord Jesus, let me make something of this new year."

I have the Christmas lights on the house - actually, George came by and put the Christmas lights up. That's as far as I've gotten with the holiday decorating. I have the rest of the week off so hopefully I'll have a tree up and garland draped across the fireplace and down the banister by the end of it. I've started one of my famous To Do lists - this one for Christmas. Decorate, address Christmas cards, wrap gifts, mail packages.... I am seriously going to skip Christmas one year. But not this year.

The Holidays Begin

Got thru Thanksgiving. We had Charlie and Dan join us for the traditional meal and Tom and his clan came over for pie later in the afternoon. It was nice hanging with Charlie. Although he lost his job a few weeks back, he seemed in good spirits. Maybe not having the money to blow, he might actually cut back on his drinking nights?

Next up is Christmas. I have yet to find the spirit and am seriously contemplating not messing with decorations or lights. Why bother when I do all the work (putting up and taking down) and no one really seems to notice or appreciate them? Maybe I'll find the spirit this week-end - if not, the house won't be getting lights for sure.

I have yet to find a nutcracker ornament for Allyson (I have all the rest), a gift for Gayle, maybe one more something for Charlie and anything for Shawn. He's impossible. I have a tee-shirt ordered from Disney.com. I think that's all I have for him. I know I need to get cologne. Oh, I have a UV wand ordered, too. That's it. I am totally stumped. Maybe I can put together a New Years Eve package - that's a good idea. Hmmm. I have Thursday and Friday off and hope to find some gifts (and some spirit) then. Fingers crossed!

Breezy had a scare Sunday-she woke up to find her arm numb and unable to speak. She was rushed to the hospital where she was admitted to ICU as she was showing signs of a stroke. Long story short - it was a form of a migraine. Had a bunch of folks scared for her.

Surprise!

I helped Todd and Wendy pull off a huge surprise last night. Wendy had told me they were coming to town for a whirlwind week-end and wanted to surprise everyone. She asked if I could get Shawn and possibly Scott and Jenny to The Yard House for dinner where they and Abby would surprise everyone. And I did! And it was a great surprise - the looks on Shawn's and Scott's faces were priceless - even Jenny seemed a bit taken aback. They were all looking like they had just walked into a foreign land (totally confused as to their situation) when Todd went up to them and welcomed them to Alabama. Disbelief was the word. Then they all started chatting and catching up at once and we had a very merry dinner. Then we all walked into Del and Gayle's house to surprise them with their prodigal son and family. Gayle actually shrieked when she realized who was in their home. Very satisfying event.

Then we had Pippi stay the whole night with us - and she was great. She was asleep by 11:30 and only woke up once, at 3:30 for a ba-ba and diaper change. Then right back to sleep. George and Breezy came by for her at 6:15 a.m. The Pirate Band had a gig in St. Louis and they left right after the show. Pippi is the most adorable thing - just a beautiful baby.

Busy Saturday

Hmm, so I have Pippi spending the night Saturday - all night - AND I have to get Shawn and hopefully Scott and Jenny to The Legends for dinner where Todd and Wendy are going to surprise them all with a quick visit. I am exhausted just thinking about this week-end!

I'm not in the least bit in the holiday spirit this year. Most years I would be done with my shopping and most of my wrapping; this year the only gifts I have are the few Christmas ornaments I bought on sale at the end of last year's season! Nadda, Zilch, Nothin'. And I can't seem to find the spirit to get started. I am not sure what's wrong with me this year. I am very bah-humbuggy.

Tomorrow is Mom's birthday - she would have been 77. I can't even imagine her that old. I went by yesterday and put a sunflower on her grave and one on Dad's (for Veteran's Day). I will probably not go by again tomorrow. I also went to Mount Muncie to check out the new Hunt headstone Tony had commissioned to capture and recognize the Hunts that were in the old mausoleum. It is very nice. He went all out (and my two vases just added the finishing touch - now I can put flowers for the 1800's Hunts.)