Saturday, October 8, 2011

Irony - ain't it a blast?





Wendy's - yeah gotta love it.

But onto the irony.  As the fates would have it, we found out around 10 a.m. Friday that Friday (that Friday) would be Jon's last day.  His disability starts Monday.  It was either that or take a demotion/pay cut on Tuesday.  It was a no-brainer and his team lead was very supportive of his decision.

We made plans this weekend to just stay home and heal.  Neither of us felt particularly outgoing given the circumstances.  We're thinking of things Jon can do to keep him from being too bored until he settles into a lesser level of activity.

Enter the irony.  His computer broke.  OK, yes it's an older one.  When I started having to bring work home all the time, we purchased me a new laptop with imbedded 10-key and he took my old one.  It's been not wanting to charge for a while now; picky, finicky, and just plain stubborn.

So thankfully we have the Dell credit and for 20.00/month, we have a replacement one coming for Jon.  He only has to limp long (all puns intended) for a week without it and using mine if he chooses.

Life.  It's funny no?  It's preferrable to the alternative - or so I've heard.

We're still making decisions on whether to hit his 401K and pay off the smaller bills leaving only the utilities, car payment (thankfully paid off next year) and house payment.  Sadly, we shall be selling Baby - my 2002 Jeep Wrangler.  She has 100K miles and honestly, Jon cannot even ride in it anymore, let alone drive it.  Sad because she was the first brand new car I ever picked and paid for.  Then again, she's a bit of a gas hog and his malibu - while I don't care for it - is more commuter friendly.

Sucks being an adult don't it?

I took that photo earlier this year.  He's not hiding his face - he's gathering balance to get up and out of the car.  If fortunes allow, when it comes time to trade in the Malibu, we shall look for a small sized SUV which is large enough for him to comfortably ride in yet small enough not to be a gas hog.  They're easier for him to get into/out of.

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

extra garlic - tabasco optional





Two random thoughts:

I prefer spicy and savory over sweet
This photo - while not spicy - speaks to me of the relationship between fluid and stationary.

Jon has a meeting today with HR to discuss going on full time medical disability.  It's time.  His work is suffering and his health is suffering.

Still - it's sort of an end of an era.  We knew it was coming but wanted to put it off - and thus embrace the semblence of normalcy - as long as possible.

It's just no longer possible.

Harold - and the changing of the seasons - have helped keep my sanity of late.  Whenever I want to crawl in my dark black hole and hide from events that have overtaken, Harold spots a tree or a bird and I can see the wonder in creation.  That allows time for my type-A overplanning brain to take a break and for me to take a breath.

Amongst the other issues that are more than obvious, is the loss of sense of self that retired persons can face. Jon feels like he's let me down, so I spend an enormous amount of time building him up - his self-esteem, his sense of worth.  It's tough.  It's tougher for him though.

However, as I often remind him - We Are Together.  THAT is what counts.

This weekend we shall wander about The Grove and celebrate being together.  October 15th it will be 10 years since I moved out here.  I wouldn't trade it for anything.