A Long One

Wow - so it's been 10 days since I've posted. Those ten days have been full of highs and lows - as they all are. Let me give you a recap.

The last weekend in November Sheralee's dear cat Mia escaped. We searched and searched and Sheralee was certainly heartbroken. After 15 days on the run, presumably with a very beautiful boy cat, she has returned home! I spent many of those 15 days with Sheralee, calling her name over the neighborhood, posting signs, and simply sitting in the sadness. I can't tell you the sheer joy that I felt when we finally found her out in the alley. Someone from about 8 blocks away thinks that she was hiding out in his basement - which is great because it's been snowy and the temperatures have been in the single digits at night.

Simultaneously I was dealing with a car that kept overheating. The mechanic replaced my radiator (this was not entirely a surprise) but when I got it back it was smoking. The mechanic assured me this was because there was some antifreeze on the radiator that needed to burn off. But it was really smoky, and a day later it started overheating again and then on my way home from the grocery store there was smoke coming in through the heater. In the middle of a snow storm. Thankfully the tow company agreed to take my car without my presence so Sheralee came and picked me up.

That same evening we celebrated Sheralee's sister's birthday with a pasty party. (The U.P. kind of pasty - not the boob kind of pasty.) It was great fun, even though Sheralee was still missing Mia. We ended up playing Apples to Apples and with this group it was truly enjoyable. At this party was a friend from Radius days I had not seen in at least a year. I totally forgot how much fun this particular friend was and I have seen her one time since the party. I hope I can see her more often.

I'm settling into my job. There are frustrating parts - particularly dealing with one of the people that I work with who is great to work with one day and abusive the next. I'm hoping for more good days than bad. I'm also frustrated to be on the placement agency's payroll yet - mostly because it means no holiday pay - but I'm more than half way through that program and thankful for that. The women who sit in the cubicles next to mine are great and I'm really starting to settle into the environment.

That said I'm also excited to work only two more days this week before I head back to Michigan for Christmas. It looks (fingers crossed) that Denver is not fated for another Christmas blizzard and I'm really hopeful to make it to GR as planned for the holiday. I'm looking forward to spending time with my family as well as a number of great friends who I miss dearly.

My internal journey has also been feeling positive these past few weeks. I've been talking with a number of people about how even though things are positively hard right now I feel more content with where I am than I have in quite a while and for that reason (mainly) I'm better equipped to deal with the struggles that are being sent my direction. I hope that this contentment and peace continues to grow and that I can continue to settle into myself in the coming years.

I think that's a good summary. Hope things are well for you. mg