Work.

We don't have any friends here, we have co-workers. It's just a hard place to make any acquaintances, even people just to wave to. I work too much to have any outside interests, after this last go around with the knitting class I've just given up. We are having another audit so it's another weekend in the office, Ray might come out the following weekend but we most likely will have no one to cover visits, so I'll be working again. Ignore me, I'm just tired and stressed. David has been picking up more and more work, so now the pets are becoming an issue. If it continues we will most likely have to start hiring a dog walker, but that's not a bad thing. And as you can see, Vincent is doing quite well - he's a happy boy, isn't he? I'm continuing to work on the shawl, I get a few rows in each night after I get home and the sock sits on the coffee table half done for now. I hope I remember the pattern by the time I get back to it. It's been raining a bit, we actually have some grass down the way which was surprising, the yard gets worked on a little, but until we can figure out the pool there's not much we can do.

From What I Understand It's Saturday. I Could Be Wrong.

I didn't even make it to 4 am this morning, I laid there for an hour or so and then finally got up and made the coffee. let the cat out. Today is my only day off this month and I'm already stressed out about Monday. The audit is over, we passed so now it's on to the next audit, I'm working tomorrow because we still have no staff - yes I'm whining. Today is the last day of my knitting class but I've given that up as a bad job - I've missed most of it and I'm so behind on the project there's just no point to it. I'll bounce back again next week but today it just feels like there's no end to it all. David and I are planning on going out today and celebrating my birthday, his birthday, and Mother's day - we could throw Father's Day in there just to get a jump on things I suppose. The weather has been cold, but is warming up a bit today, everything is super green too. We have ferns growing wild which I love and the rhododendrons are blooming all over. The ones next to the house are huge, two stories high - so they're blooming right outside the bedroom window. We keep the door to the atrium open all the time, it's hilarious for the cats because they're sitting eye level with the top of the trees - talk about Cat TV!! David has cleaned it out and will eventually tile it, now that's been scrubbed and vacuumed, the walls just need a little paint and that's about it, it's in pretty good condition. I did get to knit last night so that made me feel a little better - I think I'll eventually take another knitting class when things settle down again, one way or another.

Working The Salt Mines

As much as a good audit will whip an office into shape, it is probably the most stressful thing on the planet. We have charts piled all over the office, I'm back to doing 12 hour days and will be plowing through the weekend again. This is where I question the wisdom of going into management and whether I should have stayed on the road. Because out of all my career choices, I am an ok manager (and even that is stretching it) but I was a great visit nurse. There's a certain comfort in doing something you're very good at - it all comes easy. But it's hard for me to stay in my comfort zone. David has often commented I'm never happy - and I'm not. There is always a better house, better job, better place somewhere on the horizon and I just can't see it. But I know if I keep my head down and keep working I'll find it. It's funny how you can have an ideal of what you want - but it changes as you get closer to it. The thing with the audits is I know as stressful as it is - it will end. And then there will be some other thing to takes its place. And if I take another job it'll just be another stress, just in another form. As far as the house - we'll see. This house is pretty close to what we want in a house, the size and layout. It's just interesting enough for us to like it a lot, but not so interesting it has all sorts of problem. The yard is not. It's too close to the road and we haven't had a summer here - I suspect it's a bit like the Hamptons but without the money. As the weather gets warmer we've discovered on Saturday if you're not out on the road by ten you might as well stay home because you'll be sitting in traffic. I've gone by the parks but have not ventured into them, there's a lot of pit bulls in the area and a lot of inappropriate owners walking them. But before I get my panties in a bunch I think I'll wait and see.

Knitting Takes A Backseat

I'm going to have to miss the knitting class this week, with this big audit coming up there's no way I can justify taking off for four hours to knit. I'm disappointed, I don't have too much in the way of outside activities and this is the only thing I've tried to do. I can figure it out on my own of course and there's one more class, but I would have liked to have been able to complete the whole thing. David's birthday is this weekend and Mother's day of course - I'll have to squeeze it into my schedule so on top of that, something has to give. But I knit every night, I refuse to give that up! Not to mention what would I do with all this yarn. I got my last package from knit picks last night, I had to hunt around for it a bit of course. When you live out of town, Fed Ex becomes an interesting thing as they never leave things in the same place twice. It wasn't by the main door so David and I hunted around - not by the back door, the porch to the atrium - I finally located it by the side door of the wrap around porch, laying on the wood pile. I got the latest Vogue book and two sets of replacement needles, I do break them once in awhile and hate not to have a full set. So that's it for ordering for now. David doesn't want too much for his birthday, I think as you get older you just simply don't need as much or you can buy it yourself when you want it. Most holidays we just shop for ourselves as it saves time on taking it back to the store and exchanging it. We're going to go out to dinner this weekend and celebrate everything all at once which should be fun, maybe we'll head out of town for a couple of hours and try some place new.

Looking Ahead

We have CHAP coming so it's going to be a rough couple of weeks at work. On one hand it's a stomach clencher, on the other these audits are what keep agencies on the straight and narrow so there's not much to be done for it. Of course this is when people decide to take off time so I'm back on the road too which makes it very difficult. But I'll figure it out , I always do. At the moment we're watching a Drama where everyone is being brave and So Forth, heart touching speeches, yada yada yada. Obviously I didn't pick the movie. I'm working on the shawl for class for next week, I finally got the first pattern down pat and will be where I should be by next week (the classes are every other week) but that leaves THE OTHER pattern which looks way hard. Knitting is not supposed to be stressful! I think it's just the timing of it all - next weekend is already shaping up to be a mess but all of this will pass and we'll get beyond it. I have to see a patient today (yes, I worked all weekend again, thank you for asking) but it's just one and then David and I will be doing the weekly shopping. Our food bill is driving us crazy - how can it be so high with only too people, one of which eats little red meat and the other that doesn't eat meat at all?? I was going to have a garden but short of reenacting Alcatraz there's no way I simply wont' be feeding the bears and deer. I'm also going to finish putting out my books, for my birthday David built me floor to ceiling bookshelves so I was happily unboxing book after book. When you take books out all at once you can see where a persons interests lie - most of the books are knitting, there's a large science fiction section and then my favorite - epidemics, disease, death and vermin. My two favorites are Pox (the history of syphilis) and a great one on the history of rats in NYC, entitled Rats of course. My book on small pox is missing as is a book on knitted baby outfits, but I'll come across it.