The To-Do List

The Husband took vacation this week to get stuff done around the house. A few weeks ago, he erote done a list of things he wanted to accomplish. He showed me that list today.

"Nice," I said.

"Look at the last thing," he said.

The last item on the list read "Make a pie for Elder Son."

And I thought, that's nice.

And then I thought, why are we making a pie for Elder Son?

And then I realized the handwriting was slightly different. 

At some point over the past week or two, Elder Son must have come over to do his laundry. He must've seen the list. And he added to it.

Clever.

And SO funny.

3 Things 7/23/2026

Something that went well 

Got my donut! 🍩😋

Something to look forward to 

I get to work from home tomorrow! That means I get to sleep in and have breakfast with The Husband.

Something nice about me 

I am smart, the work I do is important, and they'd be stupid to fire me.

The Treat Day Donut

3 Things 7/22/2026

Something that went well 

Today seemed a lot harder than it felt like it should've been after yesterday. I tried really hard to be positive, but it was a hard struggle.

Still, I did my job. I didn't drag anyone's day down. And I kept my paranoia to a minimum.

Something to look forward to 

Treat Day tomorrow! I still want that donut.

Something nice about myself 

Even when I'm tired and a little down, I'm still funny, and people still like me.

3 Things 7/21/2026

Something that went well 

- I finally had a Mai Tai today 🍹🫶

- The award speech I delivered this morning went well. The recipient laughed and teared up in all the right places. 🥹

- I went into today's big meeting with a positive attitude, open to receiving whatever was offered. What I got was a better understanding of how I can play a bigger role in providing valuable user data to my coworkers. I have value, my work is important, and they'd be stupid to fire me.*

Something to look forward to 

- A chance to provide valuable user data to my coworkers right away tomorrow at our weekly planning session. 

- Camping with friends later this summer

- I think I'll get a donut for Treat Day Thursday, and I might buy a dozen cookies for everyone else in my department. We'll see.

What's the best that could happen?

They could actually value me and my work and let me keep my job as long as I'd like.

* my new mantra, assembled with assistance from The Husband 🥰

3 Things 7/20/2026 w/attitude adjustment

Been developing a negative attitude lately and couldn't sleep last night. Time to get back to taking the 3 Things seriously again.

Something that went well 

Took my new eyeglasses back to the optometrist today and managed to explain how they weren't working for me. I'd tried last week but had no luck properly expressing my difficulty, and I had gone home sad and frustrated. Today went better. They're going to have them redone at no cost to me.

Something to look forward to 

There's a big quarterly meeting at work tomorrow that I had been internally grumbling about because the previous quarter's meeting had resulted in a frustrating situation for me. But I'm curious how it'll go this time. Plus, it's informal, so I've already picked out my favorite jeans and t-shirt to wear 😁

Also, I get to present an award to someone who deserves it, and I am very much looking forward to that.

What's the best that could happen?

I could be overthinking the whole "I'm going to be fired" thing. The more I think it, the more things I see that prove it'll happen. Maybe if I start telling myself they think I'm valuable, I'll start noticing evidence of *that* instead.

I'm emotionally tired with the worry, and it could all be just in my head.

3 Things 7/19/2026

Something that went well 

I started the weekend by asking the yarn shop owner if she could afford to pay the balance of what she owed me for the website I built for her.  She could, and she did. She actually seemed happy to. That was a load off my mind.

Something to look forward to 

I seem to have made decisions about my current job. I've assembled an up-to-date resume and uploaded it to LinkedIn. I've also noted some talking points to pull up in case I'm called into a sudden meeting with managers and HR where they inform me my position has been eliminated.  They might offer me another position, or they might give me a box to pack my things. If they offer alternate employment, I want to request a specific job, and I'd like to be able to ask calmly and coherently, which will probably be difficult in the moment when/if it goes down. So having bullet points written when I'm thinking straight will be very helpful when I'm emotional.

Is that really something to look forward to? Mm, it's at least something I'm preparing for. 🤷‍♀️

What's the best that could happen?

I could regularly attend social yarn crafting events at the yarn shop, make new friends, and possibly be hired for more work as she establishes herself more and can afford permanent staff.

Gas Chamber

All the entryways into my work building have vestibules. There's an exterior door, an interior door, and space to stand between them when they're both closed. It's a little pocket barrier to keep the world's atmosphere outside and the climate controlled environment inside.

The way it works is you enter the first door and any hot/cold weather that follows you in gets stopped by the interior door. By the time you open the interior door, the exterior door has shut, keeping the rest of the hot/cold weather outside. At most, just a little hot/cold residual temp gets past the interior door as you pass through where it dies a quick, climate controlled death.

Despite the frequent opening and closing of both interior and exterior doors, the vestibules don't get a lot of fresh air. There's no good cross breeze to circulate the air in there. When one door closes, another one opens, of course; but they're never open at the same time, you see. And when the weather is hot like it has been this week, it gets downright stuffy and warm in there.

Image a warm, stuffy, closet-sized space on a 90 degree day. It's unpleasant, but you're in there only a moment, so it's fine.

Well, today someone decided the main vestibule was a good place to release a nice, juicy fart bomb. Skillfully, nay, masterfully placed. Steamy, moist, and trapped in a hot door sandwich.

That took some real talent, forethought, and discipline. 

Truly, we hire only the best.

Follow-up to the Job Application

Got a "thank you for trying" email response today. Not a lot of places would bother, so this was a very nice experience. Made me want to take them up on their invitation to apply for other job postings within their organization. 

The benefit of this whole exercise is I now have an up-to-date resume ready to rock when the next opportunity presents itself. 

I also learned that I'm okay with the idea of stepping away from the job I thought/hoped would be the last job I'd ever want/need.

It was exactly what I wanted for a good long time. But, several things have evolved, and parts of it don't work for me anymore. 

I can let go.

...as long as I can find something else first. 😉🤪

Take It to the Lily

The Husband and I went out for date night tonight. A friend of ours performs in a band, which was making an appearance at a bar nearby. So, that's where we went.

As we ordered our drinks, it occurred to me that Lily's birthday is coming up this week. Ever since she passed away, I have always wanted to drink a toast to her with a Mai Tai, her favorite drink, which I had never tried. So, that's what I ordered. Unfortunately,  the bartender didn't know how to make one and couldn't be bothered to look it up. I settled for a Malibu and pineapple instead, my favorite drink, which is similar to a Mai Tai anyway.

The band set up outdoors. The weather was perfect. The crowd was small. It was absolutely lovely.

I was very much enjoying my not-quite-a-Mai-Tai when the band started to play the Eagles song "Take It to the Limit".

Back when Lily and I shared a bedroom, we often listened to the radio in the dark. One night, Lily rolled the tuner endlessly looking for a song she liked. From my side of the room I'd hear static, then a bit of a song, static, then another bit of a song. 

"Ugh! Just pick one!"

After a while, Lily pointed out that the same song kept popping up. She'd scan, find that song, scan, find that song again. Over and over. I don't know how many times she went up and down the dial, but it was amazing how many stations were playing the same song at the same time. Just amazing!

Maybe you figured it out right away, but it took me decades to realize she had been dialing away and back to the same station each time. 

Yup. She was a trickster, and I was a dufus.

That song was "Take It to the Limit", and every time I've heard it ever since, I've been taken back to that amazing night in the dark.

So, here I was today with a drink I had ordered to honor my sister listening to a song that reminded me of her. I smiled to myself, lifted the glass, and silently wished her a happy birthday.