A SpotsBug’s World

where have I been???

So it has been brought to my attention that I have not written in about a month.  First of all, I’m surprised to discover that there are more people reading this than I thought.  I pretty much figured I had only one loyal reader – my mother…

However, now that I realize there are more of you out there, I suppose I need to update a little more frequently.

So – where have I been???

Life has become super crazy the last couple of months and I don’t see it slowing down anytime soon.  Work has really picked up with several new projects, I’ve taken on a few new personal commitments that are taking extra time, and I’ve travelled.

I’ve been working on some database solutions at work.  And since I have no formal programming training it has been a long road of struggle for me.  But with persistence, I am slowly chipping away at the task one line of code at a time…

As mentioned in an earlier post I joined the church choir so that is taking up a little extra time each week.  I am enjoying it and we have started to work on the Christmas program (which will require some extra rehearsals above our standard Wednesday night).  I am also in the middle of a 9 week bible study that I’m taking with my mother.  This too has been an enjoyable experience and it is a spiritually challenging study, but again, it has been another thing to add to my schedule.

I have also travelled a little. 

I spent a couple of days in Charlotte for some Sharepoint training at the end of September.  While there I fit in a dinner with my sweet cousin who lives there now with her husband and adorable new kitten.  She shared with me the idea of potty training her kitten Sophie… hmmm, I told her to keep me updated on progress.  If successful, I’m wondering if that’s a realistic plan for my two little devils at home… Anyway, my cousin and I had fun spending some time together.

Last week I headed to Charleston for the Southeastern ContentDM Users Group meeting – sounds exciting right?  Actually it wasn’t so bad.  Always interesting to hear what others are working on, learn a few new things about the software that you might could implement on your own system, and network with people.  The bonus of this trip was that I was able to go down a day early with my mother and we spent about 36 hours exploring the great city that we used to call home.  It brought back all kinds of memories walking the historic streets with her.  We hit the aquarium and the market downtown, and shopped at the Tanger Outlets in the evening.  We also decided to take a nostalgic drive down memory lane which landed us on the street where we used to live.  The house where I spent much of my young childhood is always a treat to see.  It reminds me of where I came from and revives that little girl full of hopes and dreams that still lives within me.  That little house holds so many memories of days gone by.  Amazing how a person can form such an attachment to bricks and mortar.

So here I sit, currently in another hotel room in Atlanta awaiting the start of a conference that is focused on best practices for digitizing film and audio.  I arrived safely and found the hotel with no trouble.  However I realized quickly after checking in at the hotel that Atlanta is definitely not a place I’d want to live.  I got out and explored a bit and the traffic along with the one-way streets (those who know me know that one-way streets are my nemesis), all combine to create a city that I don’t believe I could be paid to live in.  What I thought would be a quick adventure down one street on the outskirts of the city to attempt to find dinner turned into a full tour of the downtown area as I got trapped with one-ways.  Round and round I went until I finally navigated back to the original street.  Who knew I would need a compass to venture out in Atlanta. 

I then returned to the hotel.  One that has probably already seen it’s best days – many years ago.  The room however, is a suite style room with a full kitchen, sitting area, etc…  I started settling in for the night only to have a set of blinds from one of the three windows completely dislodge and fall to the ground.  All I did was try to close them for some privacy – promise… I jumped clear across the room and then proceeded to laugh harder than I’ve laughed in quite some time.  All alone in an unfamiliar city with those cursed one-way streets and a window gaping open for all the world to see.  So here I am typing and staring at a jumbled pile of wooden slats laying in the floor.  Glad I’m on the third floor with only trees outside that window.  I suppose I’ll notify the hotel at some point in the very near future. 

Anyway, I’ll be glad to return home in a few days.  I do like to get out and explore, but it’s always nice to return home.  My travel isn’t over however, in a few short weeks I will jet off to Texas to visit some friends.  No work on this trip thank goodness, just good times with good people.  I’m very excited for this visit with everyone.  I know it will be lots of fun.

Well, that’s where I’ve been for the last month.  I’ll try to do better here, wouldn’t want to disappoint anyone… ha ha…

the lost month

I have failed at posting any content over the last month.  I’ve had a multitude of things going on that life seems to always have a way of hitting you with all at the same time and it has caused me to be either too tired, too busy, too emotional, or too numb to write anything.

So here’s a brief recap of the events and I know I will expand upon some of them a little later in separate posts.

1. I’m still dealing with a break-up - a major break-up of a nearly five year relationship.  It’s not something you just get over in a day or two.  It hasn’t helped that this emotional chaos is playing out in the background of my life, especially during the last four or five weeks.

2. Work is picking up with lots of new projects starting while still trying to maintain the day-to-day activities and several ongoing projects.  This has left me a little stressed and frazzled many days thinking about how in the world is one little me going to get everything up and running and do it well all by myself.

3. It is known to many of you that my brother and I have had somewhat of a relationship meltdown over the last decade and so things seemed to reach a boiling point and I had a meeting with him to discuss how we can all work to make things better.  I’m still not sure of what the outcome will be, but I can’t let myself ever stop trying.

4. My lovely grandmother passed away at the age of 86.  She was a strong, Christian woman and so I have no doubts about where she is and who she’s with, but that doesn’t mean that I don’t miss her tremendously.  In the weeks that have followed, I have tried to catch up with family in hopes we can all stay in touch (my grandma was the glue that held us all together), and I have helped my aunt and uncles with some of her things at her house.

5. Just last week I lost both cats.  I am still hoping they will return, but it has now been a full week since I have seen them.  I have made two heartbreaking trips to the animal shelter, put flyers in some of my neighbor’s mailboxes, searched the neighborhood all over calling for them and called animal control to check traps.  Nothing. 

With all this emotional drama, I’m trying to hold myself together.  I’m sure I will be fine – I’ve faced much worse, but I do hope that the month of May brings some better news.  I’m hoping that “April showers bring May flowers” so to speak.

I’ll write more later and provide more detail about a few of these subjects.  In the meantime – all I can do is pray for God to mend my heart and help me to understand that He has an ultimate plan for me and whoever my life parter will be.  Pray that He helps relieve some of the work stress and exhaustion I feel.  That He helps me build back the bridge that will reconnect my brother with our family.  That He will provide me comfort in my grief, a feeling I’ve come to know all too well.  And a small prayer that my little, furry friends will return home and continue to provide me the constant companionship I’ve grown so accustomed to.

a few weeks of catch up

Okay so its been a few weeks since I posted last.  It has been a busy, busy few weeks.  I’ll catch you up on the happenings of my life with brief summaries… more detail to follow.

TSO performance – I went with my mother to see the Trans-Siberian Orchestra.  I enjoyed the show and realized that the stage was just as much one of the performers as each musician was.  The lightshow and stage movement work was amazing.  I think my mother enjoyed herself too and that’s the best thing.  I always enjoy my time with her.

Annie visit – Over Thanksgiving I kept Annie, one of my best friend’s dog.  She is the cutest Boston Terrier and was great visitor to have.  Very well behaved and I can’t complain.  My house actually felt a little empty after she left.

Grandma’s for dinner – I spent Thanksgiving Day with the people I love the most.  I had dinner at my grandmother’s house along with my aunt, uncle, mother, and boyfriend.  It was a nice day, wonderful weather, and allowed an opportunity to stop for a brief minute to count my blessings.

Carolina/Clemson game – My boyfriend and I took in the rival game at my friends’ house, Nick and Esther.  All I can say is GO CLEMSON!!!!!!!!

Mom’s second Thanksgiving feast – Mom usually cooks for Thanksgiving and since this year we went to my grandmother’s she cooked a secondary Thanksgiving meal on the Sunday after.  She had already thawed the turkey when my grandmother invited us so it had to be cooked anyway.  But it was a lovely meal shared with the two of the most precious people in my life – my mother and boyfriend.

catch a cold – Two weeks ago I caught a cold that knocked me out of work for two half days.  I’d try to go in and then would have to go home.  Nasty, nasty cold.  But I stocked up on Vitamin C and Tylenol Cold and that seemed to do the trick.

Chicago travel – I got all better in time to travel to Chicago for a work conference.  The city was beautiful all decorated for Christmas and it SNOWED!!!!!!!!  I’ll write more about this soon.

Christmas shopping – I have started Christmas shopping.  I have just a few more things to purchase to finalize this years gifts. 

more petsitting – I have also now become a professional petsitter apparently.  I checked in on Phoebe, my godcat, who is owned by the wonderful pair Matt & Shea.  And then the following weekend I was responsible for checking in on a trio that belong to Nick & Esther… they are Dusty, Ally, and Roscoe.

So that’s been my last few weeks.  Along with working, it has been extremely busy.  I’m hoping it will calm down soon so I can think.  But the holidays are making that difficult.  Hopefully I’ll have more time to write again and more frequently soon.  I still need to make final comments on my California trip and now Chicago as well.  Stay tuned…