Somewhere All Bright and New

Life has been pretty darn good lately! Don't worry, I am knocking wood and throwing salt over my shoulder as I type this. 

Work

The new year started off very sadly with a co-worker dying suddenly. She was such a sweetheart with a smile for everyone. She gave me awesome hugs and listened.  I was a wreck for a couple days.  Other than that, I am enjoying my current work situation now.  

Sparkle Analyst is pregnant with twins due in May so between Baby Analyst and me, we are the pending Mama crew. I send links to articles or items that I know my cousins use/love.  Baby Analyst helps with styling and decor. Sparkle Analyst has mild gestational diabetes so I'm also the one who points out that she knew her body until two little people took over.  Fun fact, I thought gestational diabetes is just the stress of the pregnancy affecting the pancreas' processing of sugar but it isn't! Apparently, the baby hormones interfere with glucose processing.

A member of staffing who has been around for over a decade was fired last week. So, that was shocking.  There was no announcement or farewell. I just found out by seeing the discharge paperwork. Baby Analyst was very close with her so its another brick on the Should I Quit side of the scale for her. 

Nu Boss has been here for over a year so he needs a new name. UMass Sass Boss? Oh I love it when he declares something "garbage" or when he gets a pouty face, shakes his head and declares, "That's not our job - tough." He has an awesome sense of humor, has an open door policy, and works collaboratively.  I'm usually his second in command and when shit hits the fan, I'm the one who points out 1. How to catch the problem proactively and 2. How to assess the scope of the current disaster.  This past week's disaster is the new HR system vacation accrual program is not working as intended.

The HR Analyst team are my joy and sanity. There are four of us.  Three of them were born in 1989 so I"m the grandma born in 1976. They all sit in cubicles outside my office so listening to them joke, discuss current events, and complain is like having my own live sitcom throughout the day. "Okay, pause" and "This fool did X..." is batted back and forth all day.  I love it! Granted a couple weeks ago I wound up explaining why the Challenger accident was a big deal to them but the energy, humor, and mutual support is priceless.

Life

I live two blocks away from the Orange line so this past month I've been taking Lyft to or from work at least twice a week. Those new train cars cannot be deployed fast enough!  One morning I had three alerts on my phone before I woke up about delays, a dead train, signal issues etc. I went downstairs and every neighbor I could see was hailing an Uber/Lyft. 

I narrowed down my list of breeders and found a place with an upcoming litter that will be available to take home in May.  I asked for a red male and put down a deposit. Here's what the kitty could look like:

I am hopeful/nervous now. But I have four months of prep to get through the nerves. I am so looking forward to the snuggles! Here are some potential names:

Archibald

Arthur

Aslan

Balint

Bilbo

Charlie

Chester

Copper

Dadu

Finlay

Galen

Gavin

George

Lennon

Leo

Lorenzo

Malcolm

Melon

Merlin

Nacho

Nero

Norm

Oliver

Orion

Oscar

Paprika

Pumpkin

Quinn

Rory

Rudy

Sandor

Sebastian

Stewart

Sylvester

Terry

Tigger

Tony

Ty

Vincent

Wally

Wyatt

Yogi

Zoltan

I've figured out how to heal clean from grief. Let every emotion happen, talk to good people, be patient with yourself, and don't avoid or stuff things down. The more you avoid/stuff, the worse you'll feel. 

My brother has moved out of our parents house finally after four years! I'm so happy for him. That house is a black hole of happiness. We used to joke when our parents sell, we'll set up lawn chairs with beers to watch the house get pulled down. I haven't seen bro's place yet but he has been sick this past week.

Health

A ton of menfolk in my life are down with a version of the flu!  Super Boss texted me last weekend letting me know he has pneumonia and pleurisy. My brother has wicked congestion.  UMass Sass Boss sounds like Snuffleupagus. My head is a little blocked up and I have invigorating morning coughs. Roomie has been sick as well.

I had a wonderful massage a couple weeks ago that worked out so many kinks, I discovered those kinks kept nerve pain at bay! I had sciatica for the first time in twenty years. My cervical nerves were not happy either.  Now I'm all tensed up again with manageable pain.