Just Another Day

 Ahhhh, this writing thing, it feels good! I had forgotten how much. When I say the last 12 or so years have been a blur, I really mean it. I think once I went back to work, it was on. Even though it was part time, having two kids, one of them neuro-divergent, just put me into a mental and physical overdrive that I am only now starting to come down off of. I didn't really realize how much until I just kind of stopped.  Did I mention I had to leave my job? It happened just back in March.  I won't get into the particulars of it, but let's just say I was given an interesting choice by my former boss.  A choice that pretty much any worker would find impossible to make, and I said, screw it, I'm out. It was only twenty hours a week anyway and it had kind of turned into the job from hell.  I had left my cushy government job to strike out into the non profit world where I was told I could work from home! Have more flexibility! Use my years of expertise to get out and w...

 Mutate is such a loaded word, is it not? It has a fairly simple technical definition but somehow mutate carries a heavier, more loaded connotation than the word "change." And if that is the case, then you could definitely say that my life has...mutated. It seems that I am the winner of a very specific type of genetic lottery and let's just say the prize isn't a good one. A month or so after my mother's death, my Dad received a notification from my mom's oncologist, stating that one of her biopsies came back with a gene mutation that may have led to her death and it is inheritable. They recommended testing for any children, and you know it's bad when Kaiser recommends genetic testing.  So, I go to get the testing done and lo and behold, I hold the golden ticket.  Now, it isn't the BCRA gene, thank goodness, which is much more aggressive and would have a much bigger impact.  However, this gene apparently can have its hand in multiple organs, not just b...

 Hoooo boy. Welp. This is awkward. More awkward than I thought it would be. I find myself agreeing with almost everyone that as I get older, the time goes by more slowly each day, but seemingly much faster in the aggregate.  I am still working part time, although with a nonprofit, not the government agency I was with for almost 8 years. So far, I am enjoying it, especially as I mostly work remotely. My oldest graduated university in December. He has interned at the White House and done another internship with an unnamable three-letter government agency in DC.  However, with the changes that are coming in the federal government, he will most likely be walking a different path than the one he expected. I feel badly for him, for who could have predicted? My youngest is in her first year of high school, which is crazy to type. She continues to be her kind, hilarious, empathetic self, and is a joy to everyone that knows her.  My husband retired from his old job, where he ...

Why did I stop writing here? With the grace of 20/20 hindsight, there were a LOT of reasons. My daughter's journey would get tougher and tougher, and as I added work into the mix of raising two kids, it was one more thing I just didn't have time for. And well, that work thing.  It sure does suck a lot of free time away, doesn't it?  Even though I am still only part time. I will be honest, as much as I adored all the people on the blogosphere that were kind enough to grace me with their wit and time, I just could not keep up with the constant commenting that I felt was only fair to these wonderful people.   So instead, what did I do? I did what any self respecting coward would do. I ghosted, of course. Not that I think my absence was enough to cause people to be distressed, but I feel badly if anyone felt slighted. Even as I write this, I feel like I am being waaaay too self important.  Isn't that the whole point of a blog, though?  Nobody writes a blog that...

The end of the school year, finally! Did I tell you that my son went to public school this past year? Did I tell you that my daughter was in a regular Kinder classroom this year? Although it was nice to have them both in school, there were definitely things I was not so hip on, such as having to wake up at 5:20 every morning just to get everyone out the door on time.  And then after all the driving and dropping off, going to work. Such fun! I had forgotten the dreariness of having to complete mounds and mounds of homework (even though new research has shown that homework, especially for Kinder, is for shit).  Of constant deadlines and fundraisers and things I am supposed to volunteer for. My daughter had a good year, but was definitely not without its bumps. Her teacher, an older, highly experienced, practical woman with a Master's in Education, kept referring to my daughter as an "inclusion student."  It wasn't her name or just "student" but was...

Dear Driver of the Vintage Truck in front of me, If I cannot tell whether your custom (I'm assuming) sticker on the back of your cab is Jerry Garcia, Jesus, or King Triton, then your intended message to your fellow road companions is COMPLETELY LOST. Thank you, The Puzzled Driver behind you who was driving with her kids and could not snap a photo.  But, trust Her, there was no way to tell.