December Doldrums

     I don't know about you, but I'm suffering from December doldrums. Life is good most of the time, and compared to a lot of people, I have no right to complain about anything.          So why do I feel so crummy? I'll blame it on the month of December- dark, dreary and cold. Add to that being tired, bored, and non-productive when I need to be energetic, interesting, and super high functioning.

    By the time December rolls around, my naturally positive tendencies have turned a tad negative, and my patience is running dry. I'm fed up with life, and most of all, fed up with myself, and all the things I didn't do, and worse yet, all the things I still have to do, or else.

    The best way to combat this? Keep on going, a step at a time. Look on the bright side, for the silver lining, and one day at a time. Sound familiar? Sometimes the most obvious cliche's are really true.

    As I do look on the bright side, it doesn't get much darker than it is now. Pretty soon we'll start gaining back light in the evening. And though it may be dark early, we have the wonderful distraction of Christmas to make things go very quickly. 

    As far as being productive goes, I created a wonderfully busy month of activities at my facility. Now I just have to follow through and show up for work every day and do my job! And learn how to ask for help when I need it. And take a little time off when January comes!

     Have a wonderful December! 

We Made it Through Another Christmas!

    Well, here it is, December 26th. That means that Christmas is over for another year. Do you feel relieved? I always feel better when the holiday season is winding down.

     If you've read any of my past posts at the holidays, you know my views, and things haven't really changed. I spend the entire month of December living Christmas, since I do activities in a nursing home. This year, things went very well. The decorations were up on time, and even though our large tree should go in the trash, it ended up looking beautiful. We plan on getting a new tree or two next week, marked way down. 

    I think I resent the fact that the same exact items that were full price a few days earlier when you need them are now dirt cheap. So I try to plan ahead and stock up for next year if I can make it to the store. 

    Getting back to the activities themselves, we had a wonderful party with the families invited, not to mention three concerts where Carolers sang. Then on Christmas Eve, our social worker put on Santa's suit and we passed out Christmas presents, drank cocoa, and ate cookies and little eclairs.  The staff where I work bought lovely gifts for the residents. I signed up for three residents, and even though it was supposed to be a secret Santa, they all seemed to know it was me!  The week before Christmas I had a little fundraiser sale, and raised $75.00. Not too bad for the amount of time I put in, and small amount of customers I had.

   I was lucky enough to have Christmas off, and the weather was unseasonably warm for New England--try 65 degrees! I'm not complaining, it was very enjoyable. But not exactly Christmas-y.  The visit to my sister's house for dinner was nice.  But I would give almost anything to have another Christmas at my grandmother's house again. It's been eight years since we had the pleasure of cooking dinner and driving it to her house, eating with her and my uncle, and then enjoying the fireplace, opening gifts, and being sleepy on the couch. I miss my grandfather too, but I was so close to my Grammy, it's her I think of most. She loved Christmas!

    I love Christmas too, but I have to admit I still struggle with that love/hate relationship that comes from a lack of time to do the things I really want to do. I'm just too busy and too tired to appreciate the season. Time flies and before you know it, I've had no time to go shopping for my own family! Not that I have many presents to buy, wouldn't you think I'd set aside one day to get it done? I ordered a couple of things online, and if I had tried a little harder, I could've had all my gifts online and patted myself on the back.  Instead I had to tell my sister I had no gifts for her and her hubby. Just a couple for my nephew and my grand niece. Luckily, she understood, because she works in a nursing home too.  

    I'm ordering their gifts today, and having them sent to their house. Then I'll be done with Christmas 2015, and ready to move on to the new year, and hopefully better things beginning.

My resolution for next year? The same ones I've broken the previous few years--get the shopping done early, find time to do meaningful things, like make my favorite cookies and fruitcake, and get the house decorated nicely, especially outdoors. Hear the Christmas music I like and watch the Christmas movies I want to see. I still don't have a copy of "It's a Wonderful Life" on DVD. Gotta get that.

    I guess I'm happy my occupation allows me to help others enjoy the season. But I probably won't enjoy it as much myself until I retire!

  Merry Christmas!!

Staying Busy As Summer Passes Me By

   It's been a long long time since I wrote in this blog. I just discovered that I've only written two posts this year!! I can't believe it.  So I'm taking the time now to update you (if you care) on what's going on around here.

    First of all, it never ceases to amaze me how fast the time goes by. Days, weeks, months, all gone in the blink of an eye. My line of work revolves around time: constantly planning for next month, and booking vendors for the next year.  You can almost see the time elapse, as each event you plan and worry about finally comes to fruition and you are equal parts happy it all went well, and relieved it's over until the next big event. Then you drop from exhaustion! 

    This year I had lots of big events at work-our "Spring Fling" in June where we bus 12 of our residents to the Senior Center for meal and music (along with the other 8 facilities in our company). 

      In July we had a special event at my facility, where a world renowned percussionist came in and played. He was with our former social worker, who started this non-profit organization to raise money to send Ugandan children to schools. I wrote a press release and sent a bunch of pictures to the local paper, and they printed a full page. The company bigwigs were very happy with the publicity, and I was gratified to see my work pay off. Beth and Samuel, otherwise known as Bakka2thesource, were pleased too. You should check out their Facebook page for more information. Or google it to see some videos. Maybe I can post one here!

     In August we had the "Concert on the Common" -South Natick Common, that is.  We brought a busload of residents to that, from 6-8 pm. That was a very long day for me, but I lived through it! Then we had our Family BBQ, another evening event, which went well. Before you know it, it will be Grandparents Day, 

    I'm getting anxiety already as I fear the coming winter may be as miserable as last years was. I dread the thought of trying to get around in piles of snow and ice. Yuck. I know it makes no sense to worry about something that I can't change and isn't going to happen for at least 2-3 months. So instead I'll listen to the crickets and enjoy the cooler nights. Hope you will too.

Cindy is 11 years old today!

   It's hard to believe that Cindy has been in my life for almost 11 years. I brought her home on August 24, 2004. Think of how much has happened since then. Think of how many walks, how many meals, how many bones, how many rides in the car. 

   As a mascot, Cindy has been impeccable: Three World Series victories for the Red Sox, one Stanley Cup,  a Celtics Championship, and at least one Superbowl victory, but many appearances.

    As a pet, Cindy has come a long way. She is friendlier, though still stingy with face licks (unless you're a stranger, or my brother in law).

   I'm going to try to post a video I made in 2012, that I slaved on for months. I compiled photos and set them to music. The song is a folk song called "Cindy". Maybe you know it. 

     Back from 2004-2008 we had a fantastic bluegrass duo called the Tweedlers in at my work. That's where I first heard the song, and every time I had them in, I'd request that song. Once I even brought her in to hear them perform it! They are based in upstate NY, so I have lost touch with them. 

     So enjoy the song, and Cindy, thanks for being a great pet. I love you!!! I hope it works. It didn't play when I tried the preview. If it doesn't work, I'll upload it to YouTube (maybe).

Wish I had more time for my blogs!

 Its been months since I wrote and published a blog post. In my defense, there were a couple of times I had tried, and the blogger upload process wasn't working, and it wouldn't even save my work, so I never expressed my thoughts to the world.

 I still have some of the drafts, and they would have been interesting, but now they just seem outdated.

 There was a lot to talk about since November-so I can encapsulate it by just giving you the clever titles...

"Look Ma, I'm driving!"  I don't think I got past the title on this one, but it would've been about my first four driving lessons. I took the winter off due to all the snow on the sides of the road. I've anxious to get this done, but it's not as easy to accomplish as all my onlookers think. More on this one later.

I had two Christmas essays; "Here comes Christmas Again" and "Merry Christmas-the 2014 edition". I don't remember what my brilliant observations were at the time, but it's too late to go into now.

I didn't honor my Bigfoot on February 28th or Bootsie and Chester on March 26th, as I normally do. Belated Happy Birthday, Guys!! I still love and miss you!
  
Lastly, we have "Snow doubt about it-it's been a MISERABLE winter! This one is self explanatory. I'm just glad it's now only a memory, except for those darn potholes!

 So what have I been up to since last year? The same old same old...work, work work. Day to day stuff. The happiest news? My niece had a beautiful baby girl on December 18th. She is precious, just like her Mommy. I can't believe how fast she grew up!
  At work, we just had a deficiency free state survey (dept. of public health). It's not easy to do, so I'm very happy and proud. 
  Aside from that, I'm enjoying the spring flowers and warmer weather. I do seem to be more affected by the pollen than I used to be, but I'll deal with it.
  So now that we're up to date, I'll try to get back to weekly posts-I still have my "fun with food" and "Karin's natural world" blogs to work on as well.
  Take care!!

Thoughts to Ponder on a mid-November Night

     I haven't written much lately-my blog is getting dusty. I used to write at least once a week, but it's just been too busy of late.

     Not that I'm making excuses. I thought I'd make up for lost time by recapping what I've been up to the past few months. This will be an encapsulated edition of several blog posts I started but never finished.

    For several weeks I've been lamenting the loss of warm weather and dreading the onslaught of what they promise is going to be another grueling winter. I always marvel at how I can't wait for the heat and humidity to end, yet the first frost I'm pining for a heatwave. I always have a melancholy feeling about the end of daylight savings time-it feels so extreme, how early the sun goes down. It's weird that in November, 7 pm might as well be the middle of the night, but in April or May, the night is still very young.

This year I was at my niece's baby shower the Sunday we lost the hour (I was home by dark). I tried not to pay too much attention to it.

     The main thing on my mind these days is getting my drivers license. It's not progressing as fast as I'd like, and that annoys me. I thought I'd be road-test ready by the six lessons-but after three lessons, it's clear that I'm going to need more, unless I get lots of extra practice in. One thing I have noticed is, that it seems everybody I talk to has a friend or relative that is learning to drive at an advanced age. I salute them, so maybe I should salute myself too. I know I can do it, it's just going to take time.

     The problem (and the reason I'm taking lessons to begin with) is I don't have a vehicle to drive, or a relative nearby to take me out.  All I can do is be patient and take my time. I hope the wonderful people who pick me up and drop me off will continue to be as kind and patient as they've been so far.
    I've made it to my first anniversary of my "new" job, and celebrated by taking a week off! It was nice to get away for a few days, and not think about work hardly at all. I didn't do everything on my to-do list, but got some much needed rest.
     Now I'm ready to tackle the holiday season. If I had any more time off, I'd get lazy. I love my job, I just have to solve my driving dilemma, and I'll be happy.
     2014 went fast, and I hope the trend continues! I'm happy that Halloween is over with, it seemed to go on for months. I'm looking forward to Thanksgiving and Christmas, and the start of a new year with new possibilities. And hopefully, more blog posts!
Take Care,
Karin

     

Seeing is Believing!

    Today is a special day. Sunny, warm, but melancholy as summer draws to a close.  It gets dark earlier each evening, and the loud song of chirping crickets jumps in your ears when you step outside. I make the most of it, appreciating what will soon be gone.

     

    I had a nice day at work today, and as I awaited my ride home, I chatted on the front porch with two of the residents. Suddenly, as I happened to glance at the mini petunias hanging on the porch front, my eyes widened in amazement.

   

   A hummingbird!! A real live, honest to goodness hummingbird. It was hovering around the flowers, just as I've seen a thousand times on TV. In an instant, it was gone. I couldn't even tell what color it was, because we were in the shade.

   

   I was so excited as I told the ladies, and for the rest of the time I was there, probably five minutes, I kept looking and hoping the elusive bird would come back, but it didn't. Still, I was happy. I'm almost 46 years old, and have been waiting basically all my life to see a hummingbird.

   

   I understand hummingbirds are common. My Dad often tells me that when he was a kid, and he spent summers on Cape Cod, the hummers were everywhere. If you didn't know better, you'd think they were giant bees, due to the loud buzz of their flapping wings.

     The hummingbird I saw today was a quiet one, I didn't hear any buzzing. What I saw was like magic, like animation, and before I could believe my eyes, it was gone.

       On any other day, this might just be a nice story for my blog. But today isn't just any day. It's September 3rd. The anniversary of my grandmother's passing in 2008. I realized the anniversary date when I got home, and tears came to my eyes.

     I can't believe it's been six years. The time goes fast, but in my heart, the six years seems more like sixty. I miss my grandmother and hope to be reunited someday.  I would love to think she's nearby, close to me. She'd love it where I work, we even have an orange cat sleeping on the porch.

     After waiting for a sign or hello from Grammy all this time, I don't care if other people think today's hummingbird is a coincidence or just wishful thinking.  For me, it was a moment I will never forget, and I'm very thankful. 

Maybe next year I'll see my first bluebird!

I love you, Grammy.

Here's the front porch where I work. The flowers hanging above are the ones my hummingbird was flying around.

Here's the orange cat. We don't know it's name or where it lives, but it spends a lot of time on our porch.

Here are Grammy's favorite flowers, pansies! We have a few pots of those on the porch, too.

I'll be setting up a nectar feeder on the porch to see if my hummingbird will come back, maybe with some friends. I'd love to get a picture!