•Type Like A Girl•

Look, I understand the need to have to visit the facilities many times a day. I understand that this is a natural thing, and I get it, really. But, there are some things, that you just shouldn’t do. We are all adults in the workplace, so I find it silly that these things even need to be stated, but apparently they do. So here are a few examples for you.

1. Please, please, PLEASE — do not make phone calls or have phone conversations when you are in the stall next to me. There is no phone call, that can’t wait the 4 minutes it takes you to do your business, wash your hands, and leave. Case in point: I’m at the office, I make my way to the bathroom (because the gallons of water — ok, not gallons, but at least a few glasses… like 2 most likely) have had, have rushed through my body. So, there I am. Comfy in my little stall, with the rest all open and in walks in a co-worker. Ok, no biggie right? Wrong. Not only does she ignore the other 5 stalls and takes up camp in the one right next to me, she is on the phone. Answers the phone and proceeds to have a conversation. Then, I’m trying to decide… do I stop my business? do I keep going? Is it my responsibility to STOP what I’m in there for?

2. Clean up after yourself. Ladies, ladies, ladies. Hover if you have to, place those little sanitary thing down, do what you need to do. But, and I can’t stress this enough. PLEASE. AIM. WELL. It’s a big target, you can do it. And, if by some misfortune your ‘hover’ is off? Then, clean up any sprinkles. Or, even worse… messes. CLEAN THEM UP. You’re an adult, or should be.

3. If you drop paper on the floor. Pick it up. It’s not hard. Pick it up and place it in the trash, or flush it. Simple. Right?

4. Mother nature sucks. I’m the first to agree with that. But ladies, keep Mother Nature in check. Please. I won’t go into details here, you know the issue, you know what you should do.

5. WASH YOUR HANDS. No matter your methods of hovering, sitting, drying, wiping, and so forth. Your hands need to be washed. Let’s keep everyone healthy, shall we hmmm?

This concludes this special PSA, brought to you from me. Don’t make me post a sign. Because I have pretty fonts, and decorative swirls and such that I can use, and I’ll do it!

Thank you.

xoxo
~Stori

I’ve organized (most) of my books by author. Meaning that I’ve put all of the books by the same author together. Now, I’ve decided that I also want to semi-organize them by genre. Except, I don’t have enough shelves to do that. So, I’ve sorta done it… and sorta not. And, that’s okay with me. To take my OCD-ness a bit further, and I just went through ALL of my books (well the ones that are on the bookshelves) and made sure they were all logged on my Library Thing account. I’ve still got one more plastic tub of books to go through, and now that I type this, I think that there are a couple of stray books in my bedroom. So, promptly after I close this, I’ll be grabbing the ones from my room and placing on the shelf. Because, let’s face it. I wouldn’t be able to sleep until those books are all in the proper place.

No, this is not a problem. And no, I don’t need a support group. Now therapy? That’s a whole different story.

xoxo
~stori

Okay, so… I’ve been very busy with reorganization, de-cluttering, cleaning, and all around sorting through the chaos of my home. See, I’ve been in this same apartment for 15 years. That’s right. FIFTEEN. YEARS. Do you know how much STUFF you accumulate in that time-frame?? Well, let me tell you how much. A LOT. That’s right, a lot. I have things (receipts) dating back to 1999. Why? Because when I first moved out into my own apartment, I was all about the independence. I remember, I was 17 and 1/2 and got my own apartment. It was awesome, to the finest degree. I didn’t move away to college, I moved out and treated the apartment like a dorm. Of course, one of the things my mom had told me was “Keep everything for your records’. What my mom forgot to tell me to do, was eventually, time to shred and get rid of those things. So, I had plastic boxes of things left over from utility bills, debit card purchases, and everything else you could possible think of. How, tack on 15 years of this, give or take, and you can only imagine. So, I’ve been in ‘that’ mode. Getting rid of the old, and preparing to bring in the new. And, I have to say… I feel very liberated. I’m debt free, with the exception of my car, and reorganizing and de-cluttering, really is helping me enjoy that feeling. DEBT. FREE. ME! How exciting is that??

Now, of course… Auzie (the most adorable puppy dog, EVER) is a bit — out of sorts. He suddenly has new places to explore, hide his toys, dig at the carpet (?), and run as fast as he can through the house. He’s happy, yet unsure. He keeps checking his toys, which now have this nifty blue basket to contain them. And while we are on the subject of containing, I’m working on teaching Auzie to put his toys back. I know, get ready to FAIL Stori. But, onward I go in teaching. Maybe this is how I will make it rich and retire.

More updates. The semester is over, and I’ve PASSED. I’m so happy to be over Math, that I can’t stand it. Sure, I use Math daily at work and in life, but — to be graded on it? DONE. Let’s take a moment to celebrate…. Thank you.

Now, onto the Laziness part. There are a few fellow bloggers, that I absolutely LOVE. I read their blogs often as possible. They inspire me in one way or another, and motivate me to want to write more. These are all good things. The thing is, I want to be lazy and sleep away a day or two, at least. But, I can’t. No, I sure can’t. These women post great things, and I just HAVE to read them instead of you know, that pesky sleep thing. So, I have to plug one of them here — and also to brag about how I’ve won TWO book giveaways from the wonderful MaNiC MoMMy. This lady is getting ready to move, across the country, and in the midst of all of this, has offered several Book Give-Aways. And, let’s face it.. Books + Free = Happy Stori. So, of course I’ve had to try to win every single one of them. Head over to her blog and check her out, she is funny and passionate. You will love her blog! So, thank you Stephanie for the great books! I can’t wait to read them!!

Okay, time to wrap up and get my booty in bed.

xoxo
~Stori

As the day is closing, I thought that I’d send out a Happy Mother’s Day to all the wonderful mom’s out there. Even those who are just mom’s to their pets, today… they count.

The Mother’s Day brunch at the Alzheimer’s Center went well yesterday. My grandma, mom, and myself all went to visit my Papa. Of course, the moment we walked in and papa looked up and noticed us, emotion started pouring out. We visited, ate brunch, visited some more. It was hard though. I just wanted to take him home. This is a crazy struggle that we are all having to go through. So. very. hard.

Tomorrow, is Cody’s birthday. He would have been 15 years old. It’s hard to think about that. Me, having a 15 year old. I imagine what life would be like, if I still had him with me. How different everything would be. The things I’d be doing, places I’d be going, how I’d be acting. Where would we live, our lives so very different. He touched all of our loves, so much. I know, there’s a reason for everything… and I may never know what that reason is, but it’s there. I miss him. Every year, I wonder what it will be like when the anniversary of his passing approaches. Some years, are okay, time passes without too much utter emotional paralyzation. Other years it seems like it was just yesterday, and I have to keep reminding myself to just breathe. So, as I head to bed tonight, those thoughts are roaming around my head. And, I just wonder how tomorrow will be. I hope it’s a wonderful day, full of memories and love.

You know what I hate? Well, let me tell you.

When you have this blogpost, that you typed up in Word, and yet, it’s saved on your netbook and you are now on the desktop. And, well, you don’t really want to log into the netbook and email it to yourself, or even save it on a jumpdrive.

Ok, maybe it’s not technology’s fault, maybe it’s that I’m being lazy.

Yeah, lazy.

Step One: Breathe
Step Two: Pause….
Step Three: Try to remember step one again.

Stress has been a whole new level it feels like lately. Things have been thrown at me, that either I never thought I’d have to deal with, or was in denial of them ever happening.

Let me start by saying, I’ve decided to re-invent my blog. I’ve been working on updating the design, the content, the ‘message’ that it will be used for. I don’t know if this project of mine will work, or if it will end up to the side… again. But, I really do want to try to make it work. I want to be an author, I feel that I’m a writer, sure, but to be a published author would be one of my lifelong dreams. Will it happen? Who knows… but, it can’t hurt to try, right? So, this is where I start. I have to make an effort to try to post often. More than once or twice every six months. Hopefully this grand plan works out for me.

The semester is winding down, and I can’t be happier about that. I have one chapter quiz, and then my final. I’ll be done by May 8th. Thank God. This is the 3rd Math Class in a row that I’ve taken, and I’m really, just over it.

Work is plugging along. I have more facilities that are under my workload now (basically doubled what I had), and while it’s bad because of the stress, it is also good because it makes the days go by a little more quickly, and of course… more Money.

Now, onto the rough stuff. See, all of that, is easy compared to this.
It’s hard to say it, and for awhile I guess I was in denial about it all. But, here goes. My grandfather has Alzheimer’s. This really is a horrible disease. It hurts, not only the one who has it, but it’s so rough on the family. We’re confused, hurt, feel lost as well. My Papa has always been the rock and strength in my life. He was the first male figure in my life, and has always been my sense of stability. He was always there, always worked hard, always provided. He was the one who we all would look to for guidance in just about every facet of our life. It started out with minor memory loss, of course… “old age” right? It got worse over time, repeating something 8 to 10 times in a row, and each time it’s like it’s the first time it ever happened… “old age” right? Then, it went to his conversations being confusing, not making sense, acting as if his past reality, is his current reality… “old age” right? Oh, how we were all wrong. It’s Alzheimer’s. And it hurts. I hurt. Of course, it’s probably easiest on him, in the sense that this IS his reality, and it seems normal to him. It doesn’t appear to be *off* for him. It’s all of us, that are having to pretend, having to put ourselves in what he feels is the reality. Butterflies in the bed room, people that have passed still being alive, work that has to be done; and it’s hard to wrap your mind around those realities, when you want to just cry.

So, I started this blog this morning at 9:48am, before I had went to visit my Papa. I went with my Grandma and my Aunt P. We stayed for about 3 hours or so. It went fairly okay, given the circumstances. Luckily, Papa rested some which is so important, and it was great to see him smile a time or two. He’s got a smile that just warms your heart. After we got him settled in for dinner, we hugged and kissed goodbye, exchanged I loves you, and headed out. The moment that the center’s doors shut, I just cried. I know, odd time, odd place… and I know, without doubt, he’s being taken care of. He’s safe there. He’s getting the care he needs. I cried because … He’s my Papa. I don’t know how else to explain it. I know, what’s going on around me… I knew he was getting bad, but I didn’t know the absolutely degree until about 2 weeks ago. Since that time, I’ve been in such a whirlwind of emotions. It’s effected me physically, and mentally, and especially emotionally. But you know? None of it even amounts to a fragment of what my Papa is going through. I grew up, thinking and feeling he hung the moon. Because to me? He did. He’s always been an amazing father to my mom and my aunts, an amazing husband to my grandma, and an amazing Papa to me. He still is. Even though, I know he’s not in his right mind, there is one thing that IS right, and that is his heart. And in his heart, if no where else, we are all there like we always have been, and where we always will be. His heart loves, and his heart knows we love him. But I digress… sorry, back to where I was going with that point. I cried. My Aunt P and Grandma hugged me while I just boo-hoo’d. I want to fix it, and I can’t. I want to help it, and I can’t. I’m powerless once again, by something that takes over and does what it wishes. And I hate that feeling. Powerless. With my beliefs as they are… I know, God’s will is what it is. And I know, He only gives us what we can handle. But, just this once, I want to cry and say… “I can’t handle this.” Instead, I dry the tears, squeeze each family member a little tighter, and make sure, they know how much I love them. And, together, we help guide each other through this. With the amazing strength, that we have always have together.

We are Family. We are LOVE.

xoxo,
~Stori