Of course, coming back here with any regularity is just not going to happen. But here I am again, with lots of changes to report.
First of all, my stepfather (who was "father" to me longer than my own father) passed away on January 24. It was a quiet passing, and it has left us all with mixed emotions. The heart of the matter is that he was not the same person he was when he first came into our lives. He was chronically unhappy, and in his latter years seemed determined to make all of us unhappy, too. At the very least, he wanted us to know how unhappy he was. I'm so sorry he ended his life that way. He was determined not to live well, so at the end he just let his health deteriorate, refusing to help himself or to let the doctors really help him. And he was so angry with my mom, who, admittedly, can be hard to live with. Anyway, I'm afraid that what people feel now is a little relief, because Mom still has some time left to live and she is in a place where she can be around people and be happy. There was no funeral, really no acknowledgement of his passing. I was not there when he passed, but he was surrounded by a circle of family who said their goodbyes. I hope he's happier now. When we speak of him, we're starting to remember the better days.
Secondly, I'm back at San Clemente. Not the "real" library, but in the bookmobile, a temporary place for our patrons to come to. I've only been at work for two days, but I can tell I'm going to love it.
Recap on Rule #1 - Not too bad. There are times at the end of the day that I have to remind myself that the day's irritations don't have to be carried into the next day. This is primarily kid related. C has been particularly difficult lately. I'm irritated/angry with him a lot. And it hurts because I love him so much and want his love in return. And I tend to project current kid problems into the future - what if he's always like this? Kind of silly. So I'm working on it and feeling better. Work irritations have kind of disappeared with the move.
So, Rule #2 - Use what you have whenever possible. There's a lot of waste that goes on here. In addition, I find that all of us immediately look to the "new" for solutions - books to read, meals to eat, yarn to knit. The house is chock full of stuff, much of which could be eliminated altogether. But that's another post. My own personal goal is to not buy yarn until at least half of what I have is knitted up. There's a really fun podcast called "Stash and Burn" which I suspect was begun for that very reason. I need to check into their blog more frequently. The second area I can work on personally is groceries: plan and prepare meals based on what we already have in the house. Reduce waste! Yeah!
And on to Rule #3 - Move! I got a Fitbit for Christmas. Counting steps is great, and I'm finding other aspects useful, too. Sadly, no weight loss, but that will come, I think. The Fitbit is making me more aware. I find I like the 2,000 steps (on average) that come with walking the dog, and my latest commitment is to walk him every day. I'm finding it best to do it in the morning before I shower, etc., for work. I think I can begin taking a short walk during my day at the library, but not yet. For now, this is helping.
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