Closing this chapter

After a few weeks of contemplation I have decided that it's time to wrap up The Third Life. Whether it's an issue of time, energy or commitment, the combination has left me with this choice for now. I enjoy the journaling and hope to find another means in the near future, whether I pursue professional blogging communities or a more personal approach.

I am unsure of my following since comments left were minimal, so if you do have interest in any potential blogs for the future, feel free to drop me a note. I will keep you informed.

Thanks for caring about what I had to say... but all things must eventually come to an end, right?

One more thing

What really irritated me today...

There's this kid on Ali's invite list for the party. She must've told Al ten times that she was coming to the party and would RSVP "tonight", even giving specific times that she would call, like 4:45pm. The kid never called.

So after three weeks of no hear, I figured it was a safe bet to take the kid off the list. Today she calls 1.5 HOURS before the party and asks if it's too late to call. Ya fricken think? So I told Al it was fine, whatever. We had a last minute cancellation, so there were enough treats and goodie bag crap for the procrastinator.

The kid never showed. Couldn't believe it. Call me a bitch, but I would never pull something so rude or irresponsible. Yes, it's a 10 yr-old's party and not dinner at the White House, but still. Ali counts on these friends and she felt bad that this kid jerked her around. Will I hold a grudge against this kid? Sounds silly, but probably.

Gotta ketchup

So, it's no secret that I haven't been around much lately. All I can do is reiterate that I've never been this busy in my life. And when I do have a few spare minutes I'm usually taking time to eat or sit down. It really has been that nuts. Since our last round of layoffs, work has been a whirlwind for me. There are still a whole lot of uncertainties there, but it's employment right now and my task list has quadrupled the last few months.

I finished a few courses the other week, so at least I'm down to one right now. The current class is about career assessment and putting your ducks in a row. We're reviewing resumes and cover letters. I found out last Thursday that what I thought was a pretty thorough documentation of my last 20 years of experience really comes off as a freaking novel that nobody wants to read. So, this week I have to revamp the whole resume and pick more of a functional format rather than a chronological one. I also have to run it past an HR instructor (who is a pretty cool dude) to see if he finds me hireable based on the new credentials.

Home life is good. We had Ali's 10th bday party today at the pool. While we kept it simple, I still found out that it's a lot of work when doing it solo. I'm fricken spent tonight. A big thanks to Lisa for helping me with the drink serving and gift opening. My friends are good people.

The kid got a new bike last week and this party today, so on the 13th (her actual "coming out") there will probably be nothing more than a big hug and kiss. She'll be good with that. She owes me one, anyway. I spent 22 hours in labor with that little shit while her Chuck Brown head jammed into my back, facing the wrong way. We finally pulled her out C-section at a whompin' 8.5 lbs. The kid was a tank. I swear that was God's little sense of humor for my teen years.

Tomorrow is my day. The big M-O-M. We've mapped out a pretty nice day. Breakfast with Janie and then we're taking her to Walmart to pick out a hanging plant. I usually get her one ahead of time, but minutes ran out and she seemed pleased to pick her own. It's a win-win. We were invited to gal-pal Sara's for lunch. She is having her mother and inlaws over. I suggested she just keep it family and her responses were "It's my day and I want somebody fun here" plus " You guys are family, too". I'm thinking a little bloody mary at noon and we'll coast from there.

Happy Mother's Day to all of the fantastic ladies that were brave enough to have children. It's rewarding, even if you DO pee yourself sometimes when you sneeze.

Good times

I'm tired.

Madison was exhausting, but I enjoyed every minute of it. Each time I go to a larger city, though, I come home depressed. I'm so not a small town girl. I wish I would have made the big move in my 20s. Now I'm stuck.

My bday was about as uneventful as it comes. The drive home, a nap, some laundry... how much better can it get?

Spank that

Ran into an old beau the other day. I walked into the bike shop and he stared at me like he saw a ghost. Considering that he doesn't live in the same town that I do and he came to MY town, was it really such a big surprise? Not that I normally hang out in bike shops...

Had another round of oral surgery this morn. They numbed me instead of putting me out. It hurt pretty good, but I told them to do what they had to, just want this over with. That bastard tooth was moving and they sawed away at some bone to make more room for it to come down. The saw part was my second least favorite part. My first least favorite was when he stuck the big needle into my upper pallet to numb me. Yeah.

Immediately after the surgery I ran over to my ortho. They're buddies and talk. The ortho re-pimped my tooth with the chain and I was good to go. Cross fingers that the tooth moves down now. If we don't start seeing some more progress they will have to extract the tooth altogether and put a fake one in, which is uber bucks.

Off to Madison Friday morn. A weekend of relaxation, cocktails and doing whatever I want to with some best gal pals. I turn 41 at 1:00p on Sunday.

Born to ride

I took some risks this morning. First, I decided to drive the Vino to work. Tad bit chilly (49 when I left) and it got cooler the faster I went. I wore my little biking gloves with the fingers cut out to help cover my hands. I took Rangeline Road, which is one of the crapiest roads in the area. I hit a few bumps and flew up, almost airborne. Scared me a bit.

I decided to turn off onto the trail to get a smoother ride. Having missed the turn, I had to do a u-banger on Rangeline to go back. There was a car coming at me, but I made it in time. When I got off the trail a few minutes later I noticed a huge line of cars coming towards me. Not wanting to waste any more time, I decided to give er' and cross the road seconds before they reached me. Probably not the best idea, but again, I made it.

When I got to work I took my glasses off and there were streams of teams running down my face. My ears were numb, too. Was it all worth it? Absolutely. Having paid only $1.38 to fill the tank last weekend, well worth it indeed.

Put that in your pipe and smoke it

Through a course at school and the last few months of my life I have learned a lot about how I respond to people and/or issues. I tend to be quick to judge. I also tend to react without taking the appropriate time to step back and cool down. Knowing what I know now, I have made conscious efforts to handle things in a more laid back manner.

For instance, the last two days I have been getting bombarded with emails from an annoying individual at work. Luckily this individual lives in another state and I don't have to view their abrasive mug in person. That would make my life that much more difficult.

Annoying person has tried my patience and attacked my work ethic without even knowing it. Sadly, annoying person lives in his own Fd up little world that has rules of its own.

So, the old KB would have shot back an emailing telling this SOB exactly what I thought. Because I'm one to stick up for myself and I don't care how big annoying person is. My email would have been professional with a slight tone of bitch, just to make my point. I think I'm good at that flavor of email.

But, the new KB decided to do what was right. Not that I was concerned about adding to the conflict or having to deal with the repercussions from my boss. I felt that I needed to take the cool down time and sit on my hands for a while. It was tough, let me tell you, but I did it. And in the end, I'm the better person.

There may come a day where I snap, because hey, I'm human. When that happens I'll still be proud of myself.