Less Hustle More Coffee

Just a bit of a blog update in real time this morning. I find myself in the midst of the “impossible” last two weeks of quarter end and year end. The light is likely somewhere at the end of the tunnel but it is very difficult to see. I can’t go a blog post without saying once again that every aspect of my life (and then some) is pulling at me forcefully trying to make this month a failure for me. As mentioned in a previous entry, mainly due to the repeated snow events, I have set up the work desk from home and it’s proving to be a successful move. At this point I’m just using any available moments to work on things. I began yesterday at 6:10 a.m. in my pajamas. I saved two hours of the day in drive time and was able to can that for use toward doing unemployment returns. I got the biggest baddest ugliest one done. But there is still so incredibly much to do.

How do you like the new desk lamp. It came in this week and was easy to pull out of the box and plug in and began using. Perfect fit for small places and complete with phone charger and USB port. The light changes colors (white light, yellow light, etc.) and it dims. I love it.

Other things are starting to come in as well from Amazon that George and I ordered from our Amazon card points. Many things were to decorate my 2nd home – my work office. I will show you as I begin using them, hang them, place them, etc.

I’m in love with these little vases. You know how I love to decorate according to season and this is a small way to be able to make quick “pops” of color changes in the house. So I’m going to go to Hobby Lobby and buy little stems of greenery, red poppies or carnations, lavender, pink, blue, white – fall colors too. Just a variety of different things I can pop in there! They are small enough you can place on mantle, or stick on a dresser or in the bathroom, or used as or with centerpieces. They are versatile. I saw them in one of the Amazon influencers page. I love the Amazon Influencers as you can see the products in their home. It’s a neat thing. You can follow them on Amazon.

I had watched a YouTuber a while back, fix her hair with these BIG rollers so these have been on my wishlist for a while. I think they were around $14.99 or something. They grip into your hair and have some nice clips that also help hold them in place. They are also easy to get out without breaking my hair to pieces. Read reviews if you buy any of these, as some do not have good clips or the grip is too tight to get out. So when we had our points to spend, I ordered these. At this point in my life, I have no one to impress – might as well be me right? I don’t mind showing you the no makeup roller head version of me. It made an impression upon George. He had to take a pic “for later”. I’m sure this will pop up at my funeral one day. I hope it gives all a laugh when it does. This is the playful side of me that doesn’t get seen very much. lol. I’m usually too busy and stressed out to have fun, lol. But this was fun! I also have the rollers on again this morning as I sit and type.

I can fix up sometimes….the rollers worked pretty good. I used a blow dryer to finish them off. It was still a little damp when I took them out but all in all I think it worked pretty well. I haven’t used rollers in a very long time and I’ve not used this kind. It was always heat rollers. These are metal so if you finish off with a blow dryer, it works to help transfer the heat.

Once I had it fixed, I immediately went out into the 25 mph wind gusts. Because that is how my life rolls.

So Mom had her heart appt yesterday and we have to make an appointment for her Echo. We have to get this done before her July appointment. She has to go every six months.

We also went to Outback nearby to get a blooming onion which she has been craving. I told Mom, only she would go to a heart appointment and eat a fried blooming onion immediately afterward. I might have indulged as well. She was very happy to have the blooming onion. I told her it sounded like we were cursing!

We then found a Supercuts to cut her hair. She said she just wanted to walk in somewhere and get it cut. So that is what we did. I found a Supercuts that stayed open late. Well til 7.

We still need to go get her some good tennis shoes that she can wear that are comfortable for running around in. And we need to go pick out new living room furniture. I am giving her most of my Saturday this week. George is going to hang her curtains and move some more boxes around. I can take her to get shoes and look at furniture. My SIL is coming along to join us Saturday as George and Kevin (my BIL) goes the the Titan play off game.

Mom is getting quite the compliments on her socks lately. They have white poodles on them! Everyone notices them. I gave them to her. We love our socks! ;-).

The weather has basically just been rainy nasty, snowy, windy, or cold in the last month. I think by the end of January I’m always just “done” with winter. I also think poor “Little Bit” is too. He is inside when we are in most of the time. But in the day we put him back out and lately he has NOT been ok with that. Usually he loves his outside. On extremely cold days we can put him in the basement as we do some of the cold nights, but we also have a box made up for him (two of them) one on the front porch and one in the back – made with styrofoam and blankets. I feel sorry for him when I get an alert that a person is at the door and it’s Little Bit. It hurts my heart that he is waiting for us to open the door, but we were not home. If I talked to him through the intercom it would make him think we were home and just not letting him in. But if we are home and I see him on cam, I let him in. I think he might have figured that out. But not sure. He sure does look at the cam more often now.

George just woke up and cracked up again at my rollers. Laughter in the hallway. One day he may wake up and find rollers in his hair, if it gets long enough. lol

Last night after dropping Mom off from our extremely cold afternoon and evening out, I came home and watched some streaming on YouTube – the girl from Svalbard near the North Pole. It’s so relaxing to me – especially if I’m under a warm blanket, lol. George and I also watched Imposters and then I went to bed, but I had extreme nausea at the time I went to bed. My guess is the oils from the blooming onion did me no favors. I even predicted it and told Mom it would probably make me sick. Somehow I managed to go to sleep and not actually get physically ill but I was green going to sleep and prayed for God to make me feel better. I’m ok this morning. No more nausea. Able to drink coffee.

So today I am going into work as I have to print garnishment checks, and print several things in prep for next week’s payroll. I can never work from home more than a day or two in a row.

Not sure if I’d mentioned I found a solution to getting files back and forth. So forgive if I’ve already posted this. I use Facebook and Instagram so some of you may see somethings twice but I often try to be exclusive in each place.

Anyway, Mom has her eye appointment this afternoon so I’ll be leaving early (again) but I will have to work a lot on Sunday. Next week I’m being sucked out of the work zone by work itself – another project I’m having to be involved in that is sucking away at my time to do quarter end. I will do what I can by working this Sunday and then again some the following Saturday and Sunday. I’ve told everyone I have to have that next weekend to get things done.

Then I am questioning very seriously if I want to have another January like I’ve had this time. The answer is NO. Will I? Probably, but I have seriously thought about ordering an I hate January t-shirt, even after posting that I want to be more positive this year. lol. I hear several co-workers and a few friends say they would love to have one too. lol.

We should just hang on. Very soon we will have our life back again. George laughs when I say that. But I fully intend on doing some things in February that I want to do. Some of them very simple. And I look forward to it. And if I don’t get to do them, everyone is going to hear about it.

Was hoping to get the Roger tribute up this weekend. We’ll see if I get ANY personal time at all. I’m so ready to have my life back ya’ll. It’ll get better soon. But it’s been a rough January so far. And we are in the crunch weeks, the final stretch. I’m trying to reach the finish line, so that we can move into February having met all deadlines. I really am wondering if it is even humanly possible to finish the deadlines on time. As said before, I’ll die trying. God is trying to make things easier on me and He is with me. I can feel his calming presence. He gives me ideas, support, and circumstances in which I can lean on and trust. But can I say again how forward I’m looking to February 1? It will either be done or not at that point. Then it’s Sonya’s turn to get her agenda worked on. We have accomplished much in the past year. I need some hibernation time, time with friends, time to be creative, time to make some changes, time to finally start MY new year as January truly has not been my own in so many ways. But I Thank God for finding me little moments of sanity when I would feel like I was losing my freaking mind. It’ll get better. It has to. I don’t want to go through another season like this.

Leaving you with a little sweetness.