mid-summer
the heat is the news
as if the heat in July wasn't sufficient, August was also going to provide unbearable temps too. we even had some thunderstorms late in the month that caused us to pause and listen!
I didn't watch many of the events of the Olympics, but I did catch the replays of some of the equestrian events. it was fun to see Snoop all decked out in riding togs. I found out that he was afraid of horses, but working with his friend and "clothes twin" Martha, he was overcoming that fear! lots of wins going on at these games!!
our garden gave us plenty of Japanese eggplant so I whipped up a big batch of my favorite Panda meal, a spicy tofu eggplant dish.
the next phase of my cancer treatment will be years of hormone therapy that began at the beginning of the month. as if I needed it, one of the main reactions is (more) hot flashes ... because the decades of warmth and flashes I've had so far haven't been sufficient?!
we're in for disappointing months at work, which started with a pathetic quarterly bonus about the value of a cup of coffee. they were also offering a voluntary separation package and an enhanced retirement package to interested employees. but the cut-off date was literally 9 days before I could take advantage; is that a sign that it is not my time yet? since Craig got laid off this month, apparently it is not.
so I kept myself busy at both my office locations. we had several of our contract workers' laptops returned, and I had to go in to the local office a couple times to gather those up and return them to our IT dept. I also took two trips on our air shuttle over two weeks so that I could bring order to the chaos that has gone on in the secure lab office at headquarters where my desk is. the paralegals haven't done much to keep things orderly, and I need to provide the tools for it to stay orderly going forward, whether I remain or not. and to top off the chaos, one of our highest admins tried to "help" and instead generated more work, and caused the paralegal who treats me like her servant to have a royal hissy to boot. nothing is boring for long at the office. it took literally a week for me to sort out all the problems that resulted. whatever will they do without me when I am gone. I did have a good time one of the times I was in the local office, attending a fireside chat with one of our division's VPs and having a pizza lunch provided too. I was warmly welcomed by several people in attendance, and the VP made two opportunities to catch up with me both before and after the meeting! these co-workers make up for the one or two grinches that I suffer with from time to time.
lots of surprises going on in politics too. I caught a small percentage of the nominating events - one can only take so much of that. I know I will be prayerful about how it all turns out in November.
we love watching this little scamp most mornings, even when he knocks over the birds' food tray while he dines. it cracks me up to see him gripping the stucco pillar with his back feet while he feeds his face with his front paws!!
as if I haven't gone through enough medical procedures this year, my GP decided I needed a colonoscopy too. Went through the horrible denial of food and caffeine, and drank the gallon of power-wash for four hours - plus the 12 hours of those after-effects - but I got a clear bill and don't need another for ten years! Maybe there will be less invasive testing by then <crossed fingers> I especially won't miss the two failed and one successful attempts to insert the IV port! the one in my hand hurt like a muthah, the middle one was a real gusher; the top one was successful.
