Mon, Jan 19, 2026

 Happy Birthday Jodie!

Snow flurries and cold! No accumulation expected, but high winds and cold cold temps. 

Very little time to journal last week. Got both projects approved, and a flurry of activity to get them moving. I expect the same this week. But oh ho next week!! CRUISE! 

I got my 70's dress this weekend, it is so stinking cute. Also found out that the Miami Marathon will be happening the day we sail. Will impact traffic getting to the port. Also, a snow storm is predicted for the weekend, which may impact our flights. that worries me more!

Emily is so happy. I finally got her hair colored for her. I admit, it looks really good. Though I love her white hair a lot. 

Went to Cora's game yesterday. She was so tickled I was there, and definitely posed for the camera while cheering. She's so cute. 

I have a Dr's appt this afternoon, and I forgot to get my labs done. rut roh. I also tried to call Dr Brandon, and his office is closed for MLK day. crud. 

Gratitude: 

I found a Contigo tumbler in the cabinet, so I now have one for coffee & one for tea at work. 

My 70's dress arrived and fits!

Lots done at work.

Very quick Dr appt..got refills. 

Steve had to do a fed ex job in plain city, so I rode with him to keep him company.  He was supposed to take Jodie for a BDay lunch, but she wasn't feeling well. They rescheduled for Thursday. 

He didn't have any work all day, until 3pm. Then the phones started ringing. Not a lot, but enough. 

I made BBQ chicken sammies, french fries and salad for dinner. 

I did get one load of laundry done, and HUNG up! Yay me!

Steve watched the CFB championship. I went to bed at 9, after doing  a little art coloring. Working on a tunnel page for one of my journals. 

Jan 14, 2026

 Rainy Tuesday. Didn't get the wintry mix I was hoping for, so into the office I went. Rain Rain Rain. 

Woke at 4:30 with Low BG. Took forever to get it up. then it soared. ugh.  I never got back to sleep. So I have yawned all day. 

Meetings all morning/doc work all afternoon. Big CSDM call. OCM for that project may kill us. 

Tara says I can work from home tomorrow! Yay!!

Cleaners just got to Emily's about 15 mins ago. I never got a message from Daniel with what time they would arrive. 

Jan 13

 Busy day at work. Productive though. 

Attended an "attitude of gratitude" seminar today. It was very well done. I want to re-read the presentation PDF..lots of valuable information!  Acceptance of what is happening both inside & outside of our own person. Just let it pass by. Not everything needs our attention. We get to choose what our brains engage with. Mindlessness is very bad for us.  SIP = Sitting in Peace  Only need 3 minutes! Guided meditation is a good place to start.

Mood Follows Action!!! Don't wait for the mood to do things. 

Bryn's Game - the 8th grade boys trounced Newark. Bryn was fun to watch as always. It was strange to me that Cora is  now running around with friends during the game, rather than hanging with us. Bryn was rather distant...but she was absorbed with her friends. I get it. sigh. 

Find AI Course to take - I found several. Now to start on one!

Dinner-  Breaded pork steaks/ mac n cheese, roasted potatoes. 

Dinner for Thursday -  Chicken Quesadillas 

Cuddle time with Steve - fell asleep fast. 

Jan 12

 Back to work Monday. 

Got out the door in good time. 

Spent a bit getting to know Joe Kubu better. I knew very little about him personally or professionally til today. 

Got to show Amy & Tara my weekend art results. Lots of things to tackle at work today. New project setup. Troubleshooting Phy Sec issues and launching 2 new projects for them.  Also sat in on scope discussion for Cook Project. 

Also, the CSDM project got approved. There is another one to get all setup. 

Texted with Terri & Jodie. Terri is hanging in there. Jodie keeps running into road block after road block on her home/eviction process. I feel for her. 

Didn't do much in the evening,  except clean litter boxes & fill Em's pill boxes.  Will brought home some really good fish & fries. Need to find where on Eakin Rd he got it because the breading is exactly what I think he's like. 

Em and I had a nice cuddle & laugh this evening. It's so nice to really connect, and we do it via laughter more often than not. She is done taking the ramp up/ramp down meds, so hopefully she will start feeling better soon. 

My 70's top came from Temu. Definitely going to fit! 

Chatted with Cora a couple times. She rescinded her request for valentine cards. Not sure why. She didn't seem upset, I guess she found a different means to get them done. 

Caught up on 2 episodes of Landman.  

Jan 9 - Jan 11 Retreat Time

 Such a good long weekend.  Except for Terri's news about Ty's diagnosis. Played in journals and it was just what my creativity needed! 

At super great food. Did not snack!! Didn't sleep good though, but I sure will tonight. 

I am so tickled that Ann Marie came, I LOVE spending time with her. We got all caught up on the tea. 

Love listening to my new audible book on the drive there and back. 

Karen was very quiet, which isn't unusual, but I was getting vibes that she was irritated. with me is mt first start, but if so she'll let me know. 

Mike and Bryn got into an argument on Friday....nothing to do there except pray. 

Dropped off money to Jodie, so she can refile the eviction notice on her renter. What a mess she is in. 

Steve made roast for dinner, using a new recipe that Karen gave him. The roast was good, but I did not like the taste of the potatoes from the balsamic. 

Steve and I were both in bed at 8pm. He was out quick.  He did go to Cora's game today, which is good (I haven't made on e yet). and made plans for us to go to Bryn's game on Tuesday. 

Jan 7 2026

Nails this morning with Colleen. Took longer than usual this time. 

Work was kinda busy..as evidenced by the fact that I am only now working on this entry. David Johnson came into the office today, so I got to meet him for first time. That was nice. 

Finished listening to  'The Day the Lies Began' today. I'd like to read more by this author for sure. It was very engaging. Loved the characters. 

Now listening to 'Briar Heart" by Mercedes Lackey. It's a fantasy novel, based in the kingdom of Trandell. It is the tale of princesses and fae.  Completely different than the one I just finished. 

After work, dinner plans fell through (Steve ate one of the Steaks in the fridge), so he and I went up to Blu Willy's for dinner., First time I ate there. We both had the French Onion Burger. It was delicious!

Funny thing: Mike was at Blu Willy's when we got there. He was drinking, but def not drunk. He had to meet with his accountant at 5:30, which is just 2 doors down.

Afterward, I got all my retreat stuff packed and loaded.  Did some more purging- my craft giveaway box is now full! 

Steve took Corbin to Basketball practice. I guess Matt had to come home from his golf trip, because he got sick. That is so sad!

Mike and I chatted a bit when he got home. Pretty open conversation. My heart breaks for him, seeing how hurt he  is from the divorce, still loving Amanda, and mourning his relationship with her and with Bryn. Although he said she is back to saying she loves him now. She has no idea how much her doing that, and neglecting to do that impacts his heart. 

We talked about what he is praying for right now. So I've added that to my prayers. I'm very grateful to hear how God IS working in Mike's life, and I see signs of healing too. Praise the Lord!

Cora called for a chat. I'm glad because I haven't talked to her in a couple days. She said something about going to Michigan this weekend, instead of being with Mike. Amanda's idea I'm sure, since she and Mike got into a stupid fight over measuring windows this week. Wonder how that will work out. 

Made it through the day without SUGAR! So proud of myself. I tossed out sugary stuff at work, and resisted sugary things at home (like butter cookies). GOing to need God's strength to get through this weekend. I'm going to watch/mimic what Carol eats!  Can't wait to see my girls!!

Steve got home about 9pm. We chatted a bit then I tried to go to sleep, but my legs were dancing like crazy! No cramps though..I drank my coconut water! 

Jan 6 2026

 Easier to get up and ready for work today. Steve is so sore from working M/T, and now he has to work the whole rest of the week. Guys sick again today. Quinn traveling Thurs/Fri. It is so frustrating- he doesn't deserve this. 

Worked on goals this morning. Way ahead of the game for work! Home too. 

Got my retreat plans made -  Xmas cards, val cards, Black doodle journal. 

No sugar starts today! My stomach being upset all the freaking time...all the gas & bloating. I'm over it. Time to take back control. Going to sign up for the Jan Wellness Challenge at work. I can earn $25!

Made tonight's dinner last night..yay!

Got to clean litter boxes tonight!! Since I'll be gone all weekend. Hoping Steve will take down the tree this weekend, but he'll be so tired and need to rest his poor body. 

Have to pick up Emily from Colleen's and take her to get bloodwork done, and a pharmacy pickup. Then give her a shower. But she was worn out from spending over 2 hours at Colleen's. 

Dinner was a hit. They've requested that I make the porcupine balls again, and maybe make brown gravy with it next time. 

William installed Emily's new doorbell camera system today. Took a bit, but finally got it working correctly. First thing I noticed, is that Will left without telling anyone. Now this was after he had alredy gone to Meijer earlier in the day. And after the left this time, he came in and asked us if we wanted a drink...he was heading out to get some....Makes me go hmmmm. 

I've always suspected that he leaves in the evenings and doesn't tell Emily..and now I have proof. But I'm not saying anything....yet. 

I found a GPS tracker on Amazon, saved it to my cart. Thinking about putting it on his car. Didn't order yet (Keeping my impulse buying in check.). 

Caught up on all episodes of Sheriff Country. Loving that show. Stayed up a lil too late though - 10pm.

Jan 5, 2026 - Back To Work

 Although getting up was difficult as always, I was kinda excited to come to work today. Crazy, I know. 

It doesn' t help that I could not get to sleep last night and was up til Midnight. 

Got here at 6:30 and working til 3:30, so 9 hours a day for next two weeks...so I can go on retreat Friday and not spend a vacation day. 

Pretty steady day at work. yay!

Steve's crew called off again....grrr. So I bet he's late tonight. Good thing he called off for cards. 

I think I am making stuff peppers for dinner.  

Amy and I talked about doing the wellness challenge for Jan. I can do this!

Jared (my director has moved to Gahanna from WVA. So he4's now in th eoffice. We'll see what this is like!

Headed home to do some decluttering and card making! 

The evening turned out different than planned (what else is new)

Started dinner (porcupine balls instead of peppers). Steve didn't get home until after 8pm. 

Found the dies that Karen wanted, then cleaned out the tote that had all my old dies in it. Put some in the give away box, and gifted some to Amy D at work. 

I also dumped into the trash one 4x6 container of JJ embellishments!

Decided that I want to rehome items in the 3 drawer storage thingy and get that out of my office. 

Memory: I recently bought an opal ring that reminds me of the first ring Steve ever bought me. We were newly dating and saw it in the window at Meyer's jewelers original store at Great Southern Shopping center, and I fell in love with it.  We window shopped there often in those dating days. We bought our wedding sets there too. Many of our purchases happened there, and we got to know t6he owner and his two son's pretty well. Sadly, Opal stones are very soft and easily break, so we had to replace that stone several times before finally letting it go. Makes me feel so warm and loved looking at the new one, and remembering how our love began. 

Jan 3-4 : The Weekend

I slept until Cora called at 1:15 pm!  She wanted my ipad, so I ran it to her since I had to pick up a Dexcom anyhow. 

Emily is really struggling with the ramp up/down of her meds. Has her all out of whack. She was down most of the weekend. Once again, we did not get her hair colored. I got house chores done and scolled most of the weekend. Tried to go to Cora's game, but it once again got cancelled. AT least I was able to fill my gas tank and didn't wait until Monday morning to do so in the cold!

Meals: I made lasagna Sat and Chicken Fried Rice with chocolate chip cookies on Sunday. I also boiled Em a dozen eggs and baked her 6 baked potatoes for the week. 

I did catch a few episodes of Sherriff Country, so almost caught up.

Cold & Snowy Today

We didn't get much snow. But it sure is COLD outside. I overslept and missed my nail appointment which sucks because my nails are so overgrown. Now I have to wait til next Wed. 

The workday has turned into a mess of a day, dealing with errors when trying to submit JERs.  Good Grief! What a frustrating day.

I'm checking with the grown-ups but am hoping to take the grands to see the David Movie Sing Along tomorrow afternoon. Might just be me and Cora, but we'll see.

OSU plays tonight. Excited for that game. GO BUCKS!

Both Steve's guys called off sick today. talk about frustrating!

Had a couple positive interactions with my Mike today. Yay!

The "67" ornaments that I ordered finally arrived. Better late than never. 

Steve has gone to get fitted for his new bike. He may ride it home! That will make his day better!

well, the BUCKS lost to Miami. 14-7, A close game, but we hurt ourselves with penalties and less than stellar execution. That's ok. It's so hard to stay on top. 

We didn't have access to watch it at Willow, so Steve kept me up to date with scores. 

Everyone scavenged for their own dinner tonight. yay for me not cooking.

Scrolled and watch tv til about 11pm. (Fire Country and Boston Blue)

Jan 1, 2026: Happy New Year

 Woke up about 10am. 

Took the grands to see David at the theatre. They had a great time. Popcorn and slushies all around.

Afterward, we went back to my house and played a round of Yahtzee before Matt came and picked up the kids. 

Steve watched a lot of football and I scrolled then went to bed at regular time.

Karen is not feeling well again. Peeps in GA still sick, with Mom & Dad now down with it. 

Gave the kiddos their 6/7 ornaments. A bit late to the game, since it seems to be going out of style rn. But they'll have a laugh at the memory next year I think.