A few thoughts for New Year

It's a quiet day in my life today...lots of thinking going on.  Here are a few of the topics:

1.  In two days, it will only be 6 months until my retirement date!

2.  Jeanne is arriving in a week--I still have a few things to do to prepare--but not too worried.  She takes me as she finds me.

3.  Taking Marge Moss out to lunch on Saturday for an early New Year's celebratory meal with Cheryl.  Marge is my surrogate mom.  Would that my own mom had lived to be 95! But glad that Marge is here and hale and hearty and pretty darned healthy.  Blessings abound.

4.  Worried about Charley.  Her cancerous nose is getting worse.  Giving her CBD in her food.  Hoping it will help a little.  Need to get official biopsy done to be sure that's the problem, despite vet being almost certain it is. She's been extremely cautious and difficult to pet these last few days.  She seems to know something is up.  Not sure I can even catch her to get her back to the vet for the test. Not sure how it will all turn out, but I'm afraid my little girl's days are numbered.  I'm upset, but resigned.

The little pink nose in the pic isn't little or pink these days...it's swollen and red and extremely nasty looking...makes me sad.

5.  Nothing to worry about re: Blaze.  He's delightful. He is smelling Charley more often than usual...smells the spots she lies in when she leaves. Not usual behavior.  I think he knows she's sick. He is perfect.  Still my Zen Boy. Happy, healthy, passive, and loving.  What more could I ask?

6. My 2-legged kid, Connie, is thriving. She's happy in her loft in Kensington, happy with her coaching, and successful at work. She has a plan for her life and that's always good. I'm delighted we have such a loving relationship. So many moms & daughters do not. My pride and love have no bounds. She did so darned well considering all that happened in her youth. Life is good.

7.  I am still and always surrounded by loving friends--near and far.  I'm blessed beyond measure with the people who support me, love me, and keep me sane. No challenge or hiccup in this life can ever replace all the prosperity and good I've experienced from friends.  It's something I'm always grateful for and will always treasure.

OK.  that's all for now.  I'm getting sappy.  I'll blog about something a little more entertaining sometime soon.

We are HERE! (OLD Post from Beijing!)

NOTE:  Just found this post in my draft folder! So, I decided to post it! NINE years later!


The techcomm delegation is in Beijing. For some reason, I can't get into the techcomm.livejournal blog, so I'm making this the official team blog for today and hoping someone else can post it.






All 20 of us are here at the Swissotel Beijing. The journey took me 29 hours of traveling--if you include the time waiting in airports! The trip from LAX to Hong Kong was 17.5 hours. Captain told us that a huge headwind was blowing our way, so they rerouted the trip up to the Aleutians, the Bering Strait, and then down through Russia to Hong Kong. From what I could see, we might have been in a windowless tube. We flew all night and I watched two movies, slept, read some trip-related stuff, and talked to Sherry Michaels who was sitting on the other end of our row. We were pretty lucky. We each had aisle seats and had 2 empty seats between us. We flew Cathay Pacific. Coach was well-served, and the seats weren't too uncomfortable. The plane left LAX at about midnight Sunday, and it arrived in Beijing Tuesday at 11 am. We completely lost Monday.






Fifteen of us arrived in Beijing on the same plane. The three folks who flew from Chicago didn't get in until about 4 pm. We arrived in Hong Kong at about 5:30 am. The place was empty. Couldn't even find a spot to buy a bottle of water. Starbucks opened at 7, but when it did open, the line was too long to wait in. The sun coming up over the mountains to the east of Hong Kong was cool. Much of the trip comprised standing in line. Security lines, immigration lines, train lines. and custom lines. And, because of my knee replacement, I have to get searched every time I went through a security checkpoint. And, I went through four of them! Had to go outside to change terminals at LAX, so that meant a new security check. Then, we had to go through one at Hong Kong (although I don't know why) and then the immigration line at Beijing.














I got a few pictures, the view from my hotel is pretty cool. It's also pretty hazy/smoggy. Our guide, Huang, says that it is the weather, and that the air quality is rather good. But I'm having a tough time believing it. The day(s) were long, but the people are friendly. We all met and connected immediately. Having the Yahoo group for these last few months worked better than I could have imagined. The hotel is comfortable, clean, and there's even several channels on TV in English! I almost left my laptop at security again. Thank goodness Sherry pointed it out to me! Here are some of the folks on the delegation:

Years later...the beat goes on!

After all the talk about me beginning the Word Press blogging site, I never really did get into writing many posts there.  A reminder on Facebook brought me back to my original Blogger site and I spent quite some time reliving the times I shared with all of you there.


Something about that more sophisticated location has never caught my ongoing attention.  It was always a chore to write there--for several reasons.  I had basically forgotten how easy it is to post here.  So, here I am: Wednesday, 6 December 2017.  Several years since my last blog anywhere.


Lots has changed...and not much has changed.  I still work for SPAWAR, but I now work as a Federal employee. I worked for OMNITEC (1 year) and then The Marlin Alliance (4.5 years) on my way back to being a Fed. I'm doing well and plan to retire at the end of June 2018.


I do little in STC these days, although I do keep up my membership and hope that I can continue to do so into my dotage! I taught at UCSD Extension for several years, but gave it up because of challenges from my regular day job.  I just wrote to them telling them I'd be available again after June.  My health is good, although these last few years have seen several challenges--a second knee replacement, a badly broken humeris (upper right arm), and a broke pelvis.  The first two required surgery; the second just a lot of time an physical therapy.  Oh, yes, I had gastric bypass in 2010...so that was a big deal, too!


My sister died in 2012. I often think of the challenges she faced and that she caused for me, and really don't miss her much.  I'm just hopeful that she's found peace in whatever comes next.  My brother is still well and fairly happy living in Indio.  I see him occasionally and love it every time I do. My nephew is in his senior year of college at University of San Diego.  I don't see him much, but am proud of all he's become.

My daughter, Connie, is thriving.  She's coming up on her half century birthday soon...still works for the FBI, but now lives in a lovely loft in San Diego, has recently completed a life coaching certificate program, and is still the light of my life.

I've traveled some--mostly here in the states, but the trip to China in 2008 was a big deal.  Hard to believe that was 9 years ago.


My best buddy, Cheryl, and I do lots of things together--trips, shopping, hanging out, movies, and dining.  It's all good and I'm always grateful that she's in my life.  I also have several other close friends who provide me with love and support. Each is an important part of who I am and I'm blessed to have them in my sphere of existence.

Karma went to the Rainbow Bridge in early 2013. Charley is 12 now, but she's still part of my little family.  I adopted Blaze in June 2013 and have appreciated his big, goofy self every day.  Still miss some of what each previous pup brought to my life, but believe that Blaze might be one of the most incredible dogs who's ever shared my life.

  

So, that's an update on the big stuff.  I wanted to test this site to see if it would still take new blogs, and I have done that...so I'll sign off for now.  Hope this works!