It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas. . .

We're getting busy for Christmas already.  I've got a lunch today, we've got a craft fair on Saturday.  On Friday night, we'll be putting up our tree and decorating.  Next week we've got whatever you call a Friend's Christmas gathering.  I know some people have Friendsgiving  but we do it at Christmas so I don't know what to call that. I guess just Friends Christmas.  :-P  We should coin a word.

Anyway, I'm hanging in there at work even though commuting and working in an office is all new (again) to me.  It's interesting, certainly not boring and there is a quite a learning curve so I'm still in the feeling stupid stage of getting a new job.  I hope that passes soon, but I'm starting a new work type, so I feel like it will continue for quite a while, unfortunately.  I like everyone that I'm working with and I like the atmosphere there, so that's good.

Youngest son is almost finished with his first semester of college and doing well.  He has learned a lot this semester and is looking forward to next semester, but really looking forward to Christmas break.  :-)   His choir had a concert the other night and it was awesome.  I'd show you a video but I've had the worst time trying to transfer the videos from my phone to my computer and I tried to upload them directly to the blog but that didn't work either.  I'll try again, so if you see a video here, you'll know I was successful. I have a tiny snippet of the Hallelujah Chorus from Handel's Messiah that might work since the file size is small. 

Daughter is getting ready for Christmas at her work.  Working with preschoolers makes the holidays even more fun.

I haven't seen oldest son and his wife since Thanksgiving because they are working 60 hour weeks right now.  I did hear from them by text today so I know that they're still alive and kicking.  Hopefully, they will be okay doing this for a few more weeks until Christmas/peak is over.  Whew.

I am in a good mood about the holidays, not horribly grouchy and grinchy as I usually am.  Of course I haven't started shopping yet, so that may make me get crabby for a few days with the pain of spending money!  :-)

Have a great week everyone!  December is almost here!! 

This is unbelievable.

But, I actually started my Christmas shopping yesterday, on Black Friday.  The little gaming store where my kids play D&D was having a buy one, get one half price sale, so we went up there and bought a couple of board games.  We love board games very much.  It's a great way to bring the family together and also a great way to get together with friends.  Today we're still celebrating Thanksgiving, but after today, we will start decorating for Christmas, putting up the tree, watching Christmas movies and listening to Christmas music.  Actually, I already started the music, because my favorite radio station started Christmas music yesterday and I listened to it on the way to and from work. 

Happy Thanksgiving~!

Today is our prep day.  I've got a lot of cooking and cleaning to do.  I think that's the day-before-Thanksgiving national pass-time.   I'm not actually hosting here tomorrow, but on Saturday, but I have to work on Friday and it's pretty dirty, so we better start now.  I'm not keeping up with the housework as well now that I'm working, as is to be expected, I guess.  Also, I have to do a lot of cooking on Saturday which will cut into my cleaning time.  Fortunately, I have help.  That's the good thing about having young adult kids who live with you.  :-)

So, Thanksgiving already.  Of course, I can't believe it.  I have some kind of condition in which I can never realize how quickly time passes and I can't grasp how quickly the holidays are upon us!  It happens every year.   After tomorrow starts the Christmas season.   I'll wail in disbelief, wish for more time, whine about my Christmas shopping, finally start Christmas shopping and then get it all done quickly and start hoping, for goodness sake, that Christmas will come faster! 

Every year the same old thing.   

So anyway, Happy Thanksgiving!  Take some time and think about all the blessings you have.  :-)

Settling in.

I've almost been at my new job a month.  I'm still learning and I will be learning for a while, not the transcription part, but the administration/data entry part.  There may also be a bit of phone answering (gasp!) and filing.  I'm sure I'll figure it out but right now, they are using me as their PRN worker because another transcriptionist is out for the week, so they are using me to type and I am getting it done.  It feels good.  Yesterday, there was a big pile of dictations in the afternoon and my boss said that there was no way I'd get them all done by 4 o'clock but just do the best I could and go home at 4:00.  She doesn't know me very well.  I was completely done by 3:15.  :-)  It's nice going in already having some skills for the job and feeling like I am contributing to the team already.  I still don't love the walk, but I'm getting used to it.  Some days I can catch the shuttle and get a ride, it depends on what my hours are.  Overall, it's okay.  It's something I feel like I can do and I don't feel panicked like I did when I had that job at Head Start.  That wasn't for me, but this nice quiet office?  Much better.

Youngest son is still doing well in school.  He got a 93 on the most recent history test, has been helping some other kids with algebra and is feeling very confident and self-assured.  I don't think every kid should go to college, but I really think it's the best path for him.  He's really enjoying it.

Silly Cosmo in one of his funny sleeping positions.  

Everyone else is just doing about the same.  It's been very cold, so the 2 young adults living in a camper have been very cold as well.  They are going to get to do some house-sitting for the winter and they are looking forward to a heater that stays on for more than 3 minutes, a full size water heater and other comforts of a house.

Speaking of comforts of a house, walking in downtown the other day I saw homeless people sleeping in the street for the first time in my life.  I've been sheltered here in my small town and though working at the food stamp office, I met plenty of homeless people, I'd never seen anyone actually sleeping on the street.  It's sobering.   I've only seen them once, so hopefully they are in a shelter during this pretty extreme cold snap.  :-/

Can you all believe how close it is getting to Thanksgiving?  Some people are already putting their Christmas trees up!!!  Too soon!  Too soon!

My Old Job.

I used to work for this transcription company at home and when they let me go, I went on Glassdoor and did a review of them.  ( I was looking for something else before then, but hadn't found anything.) It's been a year and a half and every month or so, Glassdoor emails me with the new reviews that have been posted.  Here are today's examples.  There is nothing, nothing, nothing good about working for them and now from my perspective of working for a wonderful not-for-profit hospital and getting paid by the hour, reading these gives me even more pleasure. 

November is already marching right on.

Before long, Thanksgiving and soon after, Christmas will be here.  I can't believe it.  Time just marches on so quickly.  I've already done 3 whole weeks at my new job.  I don't have a lot of interesting news or anything, just getting used to the new normal, etc.  Above are 2 paintings that my daughter has done lately, one is Lucy, our dog that passed away last summer.  The other is Freckles with the Christmas tree lights reflected in her eyes.  The picture below is a shot of the pretty foliage on my drive home, which never turns out to be as pretty in the pictures as it is in real life.