Change Abounds...

...before the New Year.
My Dad has been moved to a nursing home facility in Lebanon.
Since my Mum doesn't drive...she didn't get to see the facility before he got moved there. She and my sister saw it Sunday and were content with it. Clean and bright. Everybody in clothes...no jammies in wheelchairs.

Hard thing my Mum has come to accept...still coming to terms with...he's not coming back to the home they shared. He has a new home.
One of the persons Mum talked to at the new place said he would be able to come home in about five weeks. That would be a no.
When Dad came home from the hospital a bed was moved downstairs to the family room. It looks like a lovely hotel room. That's where Mum is now sleeping.
I think back to last Christmas. Everyone sat where we always sit...did what we always do...but it didn't feel right. Think it was really the first time it was in our face that Dad wasn't quite Dad.
Do remember thinking last Christmas...this is the last one in this room we've had for years.
A season of change.

My Dad...

...is in a Senior Behavioral Facility. Good Sam Cinci.
Things came to head.
My Mum has been ignoring the reality for a really long time. Well...she can't have been totally ignoring it...she's been living with it for years.
She's been hiding it. Trying to be two people..keep it normal..for years.
I'm glad they're away from  each other right now.

Hindsight....

Moments lived....thought we were through...but come back in a different form. 

My Dad is not doing well. He's kind of gone off the rails. Think it has been happening slowly over years.

My gentle bear of a Dad shook the the TV because the Japanese were invading. He tried to hit my sister and my Mum. 

My Mum has been trying to keep everything normal...meaning she's been covering up for a looong time. 

What I realised when I was driving with her....she was in control. A constant comment. Made me realize that he was operating the veichle...but she was driving the car. 

Dad is in Good Sam....the Senior Behavioural Unit.  Seems like a place that answers will be found.

My sister gets a huge halo.

I'm Back!

I thought I had lost my little blog....and thanks to my husband saying it's still out there...I found it again.
I've missed writing.

The Work Experience...

...oh...the work experience...was thinking about it coming home tonight...thinking about it.

Have been made redundant twice...never a good experience to be made redundant. 

The first time...should have...could have...been talked through.  I couldn't have been that hideous an employee because she came to me a couple of years later with a great opportunity.  She was expanding in a new direction....opening a new store...and wanted me to manage the store. She told me when we met to talk that I was the first person that came to her mind to run the store. I turned the offer down.   I think one of the reasons I turned it down...didn't deal well her second in command.  We just didn't gel.  Sometimes I think it was the one of the dumbest things I've ever done...not taking that offer.

Second time made redundant...surreal and funny  It was my birthday...sang to me...we ate cake...and then "Can I see you in my office?"  So yes...after "Happy Birthday"...an immediate we're letting you go.  I remember Scott...my immediate boss saying  in the office meeting "I'm just sick about this."  Looking back...I tried my best and probably could've done better.  The tell...spring came...time to wear short sleeves.  I was hired in winter...kind of freaked my boss out when he saw my tattoo.  He never verbally said anything...but it was a quiet freak.

So...thinking about work...thinking about what I have learned from bosses.

My good take aways...

Expect nothing less than you expect from yourself.
Never ask anyone to do something you wouldn't do yourself.
Learn to use your words better...meaning take the time to explain stuff to the newbies and don't expect them to understand the shorthand.
The lead by example...meaning do the right thing.

My not so good take aways...

The company has deemed you (the manager) the caretaker of what they own...it's not your realm. It's not a playground to come and romp on when you please.
They don't do the good take aways.

Thoughts on the New Year...

...a month late.

In random order...

Griffin Oxley is the best name on the planet.  He makes his debut in April. He's got great parents.
2013 is going to be a really good year for us...Bob and I.  2012 kind of beat on us.
My husband is a great man.  (He flew his colours brightly in The Moving of Evelyn.)  She is  happy and likes being here...even though she "doesn't see us for months."  (Really...she sees us once or twice a week...)
Evelyn is the best inspiration to find joy in the moment...and she is in the moment...vital and vibrant.  She just doesn't remember the moment beyond half and hour.
We shouldn't remember dumb stuff that pisses us off...and most of it is dumb stuff...beyond half an hour.
I want to do theater again...keep wondering if I have something to say...to put out there about myself.
Thankful for our Commune...our Tribe...our great circle of friends. Brilliant.

Mostly...I feel hope...just good stuff coming.

I hope you do as well.

Being Surrounded by mirrors...

...everyday is not easy.  It can and often does make you pick yourself apart.  I see that everyday with women in our store.

It's an amazing thing to watch women in front of a mirror...you can just see the mind working...mostly concentrating in that reflection on their "flaw"...that part of their body that make them feel...well...frankly nuts.  Funny thing...nobody else sees it!

My most hated thing I hear from a customer "That's so not me."  My comeback (works sometimes) "Try it anyway.  Nobody outside of these walls has to see you in it if you don't want them to."  I understand don't like that colour...don't like that style...but so not me?  It's like you quit...stop growing.

Had a customer come in today who I admire.  She's a high powered real estate..she just looks money.  She just has style.  Funny thing when I was working her today...she complemented me on my dress...not company brand...thrift store. A little bonding moment...but would never be able to shop her thrift/consignment stores. 

If I had my own business...she would be my ideal customer.