the in-between days, 2011
I know, LiveJournal. I really have been neglectful. I like you, I really do, and I miss you, especially your more-than-140-characters allotment, which allows for those slightly more substantial meanderings of which I am so fond. (And in which I seem to be indulging right now.)
It's just been a little nutsy. I somehow seem to have gotten a second line of work as a recording secretary for governmental organizations/boards - probably in part because, as usual, I undervalue myself. But it's something, I do at least have a bit of an interest in things civic, and it's kind of nice to be wanted ;-). And while I do have to travel to the meetings, I can do the rest at home, which has its own appeal. Keeps the Pippa-cat happy. There are four meetings in the queue at the moment, so I have enough to keep me busy. I even need a calendar again, which is kind of fun.
The Really Good Job is still out there in limboland, so I'm more than thankful for this other stuff. It's certainly not conventional - I'm working with 2 different temp agencies and as a contractor, so keeping track of everything is also a challenge, while a third staffing agency is keeping the Really Good Job lines of communication open (being headhunted for that was also an ego-boost) - but in some ways, I think this style of employment is becoming more the norm than not. There are good things and bad, but right now, this is what it is and it could definitely be worse.
Let's see, I wrote something just after Thanksgiving, so... Christmas. I keep thinking I'm going to start earlier, and I actually did buy some presents a couple of weeks before. Nearly had a heart attack when I couldn't find them to wrap them, which reminded me of why I usually do all my gift shopping in one fell swoop (and why it's generally all books - because they're just so much easier - for me to choose, to wrap, to everything) shortly before Christmas Eve.
It was interesting to note that Barnes & Noble did a steady run of business, at least whenever I was there, and actually ran out of stock on some books. This heartened me to no end, since the constant prediction of The End of Books As We Know Them has always been very irritating to me. I also LOVED hearing my 11-year-old niece explain why she doesn't use her ebook reading thingie - because it's not as good as a real book. LOVED that. All the kids asked for and got books, and seemed pretty happy with them. Except for Nephew A, who wanted something radio-controlled that flew. ALMOST got him some science kits, because they looked really intriguing - and he might get them for his birthday or something. And I had this lovely little encounter with these teenage boys at the bookstore while they were buying books for their female friends/girlfriends - they were so adorable. Bill at Subterranean Press, you owe me for sending these kids your way! I do love going to the bookstore.
So it's the week before Christmas and I suddenly don't have anything ready and I'm getting called in to work, and I've got deadlines, and a meeting in Detroit. When you don't have a schedule, and then suddenly you do, things just seem a little more hectic than they should. But everything was wrapped by the 22nd, all the dinner ingredients were bought, and a niece and I started on making Christmas Eve dinner after I got home on the 23rd. (I won't even mention the saga of Me and The Unsalted Butter, or: How I Nagged the Grocery Store To Get Me a Case of Butter At Half-Price. [that's 18 pounds of butter, for the record])
I have to say, dinner came out very well this year, and we all had a good time. One of our neighbors came, and since he had helped my dad resurrect the turntable, they had to test it out. Well, actually, I had been listening to WDET all day, but the world music program wasn't feeling very Christmassy, so I put on the Brandenburg Concertos. Because I love them and they seem to be celebratory no matter what the occasion. I love playing them on Easter Sunday as well. So Mike handled the DJ duties during dinner, and we all stuffed ourselves, and then Dad pulled out his Scottish Singalong album - oddly enough, I had woken up singing 'Scotland the Brave' about a week earlier - and then I started yelling for Marty Robbins' 'Gunfighter Ballads', which really, truly stands the test of time - what a great voice he's got! - and we just kept on singing. Mike's friend came over later and we closed out the night with Cheap Trick 'Live at Budokan' and Pink Floyd 'Dark Side of the Moon'. It was all good.
The chocolate mousse didn't survive the night, but we've basically been living off the leftovers ever since. I think today will be the first day I actually have to cook something.
The week between Christmas and New Year's has always been somewhat sacred to me as a time out of time, but this year it's only really hit me today. So I'm going to clean and prepare for the New Year, and try to get some reflection time in. It's a good time of year for that.
Well, dear LiveJournal, I don't know if I can promise to be more communicative in the coming year, but I will try. I hope everyone has a wonderful and prosperous 2012 (this is, of course, in case I don't come back between now and New Year's...) - may it be a better year for us all!
It's just been a little nutsy. I somehow seem to have gotten a second line of work as a recording secretary for governmental organizations/boards - probably in part because, as usual, I undervalue myself. But it's something, I do at least have a bit of an interest in things civic, and it's kind of nice to be wanted ;-). And while I do have to travel to the meetings, I can do the rest at home, which has its own appeal. Keeps the Pippa-cat happy. There are four meetings in the queue at the moment, so I have enough to keep me busy. I even need a calendar again, which is kind of fun.
The Really Good Job is still out there in limboland, so I'm more than thankful for this other stuff. It's certainly not conventional - I'm working with 2 different temp agencies and as a contractor, so keeping track of everything is also a challenge, while a third staffing agency is keeping the Really Good Job lines of communication open (being headhunted for that was also an ego-boost) - but in some ways, I think this style of employment is becoming more the norm than not. There are good things and bad, but right now, this is what it is and it could definitely be worse.
Let's see, I wrote something just after Thanksgiving, so... Christmas. I keep thinking I'm going to start earlier, and I actually did buy some presents a couple of weeks before. Nearly had a heart attack when I couldn't find them to wrap them, which reminded me of why I usually do all my gift shopping in one fell swoop (and why it's generally all books - because they're just so much easier - for me to choose, to wrap, to everything) shortly before Christmas Eve.
It was interesting to note that Barnes & Noble did a steady run of business, at least whenever I was there, and actually ran out of stock on some books. This heartened me to no end, since the constant prediction of The End of Books As We Know Them has always been very irritating to me. I also LOVED hearing my 11-year-old niece explain why she doesn't use her ebook reading thingie - because it's not as good as a real book. LOVED that. All the kids asked for and got books, and seemed pretty happy with them. Except for Nephew A, who wanted something radio-controlled that flew. ALMOST got him some science kits, because they looked really intriguing - and he might get them for his birthday or something. And I had this lovely little encounter with these teenage boys at the bookstore while they were buying books for their female friends/girlfriends - they were so adorable. Bill at Subterranean Press, you owe me for sending these kids your way! I do love going to the bookstore.
So it's the week before Christmas and I suddenly don't have anything ready and I'm getting called in to work, and I've got deadlines, and a meeting in Detroit. When you don't have a schedule, and then suddenly you do, things just seem a little more hectic than they should. But everything was wrapped by the 22nd, all the dinner ingredients were bought, and a niece and I started on making Christmas Eve dinner after I got home on the 23rd. (I won't even mention the saga of Me and The Unsalted Butter, or: How I Nagged the Grocery Store To Get Me a Case of Butter At Half-Price. [that's 18 pounds of butter, for the record])
I have to say, dinner came out very well this year, and we all had a good time. One of our neighbors came, and since he had helped my dad resurrect the turntable, they had to test it out. Well, actually, I had been listening to WDET all day, but the world music program wasn't feeling very Christmassy, so I put on the Brandenburg Concertos. Because I love them and they seem to be celebratory no matter what the occasion. I love playing them on Easter Sunday as well. So Mike handled the DJ duties during dinner, and we all stuffed ourselves, and then Dad pulled out his Scottish Singalong album - oddly enough, I had woken up singing 'Scotland the Brave' about a week earlier - and then I started yelling for Marty Robbins' 'Gunfighter Ballads', which really, truly stands the test of time - what a great voice he's got! - and we just kept on singing. Mike's friend came over later and we closed out the night with Cheap Trick 'Live at Budokan' and Pink Floyd 'Dark Side of the Moon'. It was all good.
The chocolate mousse didn't survive the night, but we've basically been living off the leftovers ever since. I think today will be the first day I actually have to cook something.
The week between Christmas and New Year's has always been somewhat sacred to me as a time out of time, but this year it's only really hit me today. So I'm going to clean and prepare for the New Year, and try to get some reflection time in. It's a good time of year for that.
Well, dear LiveJournal, I don't know if I can promise to be more communicative in the coming year, but I will try. I hope everyone has a wonderful and prosperous 2012 (this is, of course, in case I don't come back between now and New Year's...) - may it be a better year for us all!