My Year in Review 2015

Jan. 1^st -      Justin and Kasey took me to Olive Garden for soup; salad and bread sticks to thank me for driving them home on New Year’s eve.

Jan. 26^th      Blizzard of 2015

My neighbor to the left (only have a nodding acquaintance with them) used his snow blower to clear the end of the sidewalk where the town had plowed it in. I waved to him in thanks.

Some random guy with a plow on his truck saw me shoveling and plowed my driveway for free. I’m going to hire him going forward. Good strategy on his part.

Jan. 31^st      I learned how to scan old photo’s into my laptop today. Sent pics of Tracy and Paul Conklin to Darlene Duffy (their sister). Tracy has been dead now for some time so the new pictures were a welcome surprise.

Feb. 27^th      Went to an Island Party at the CT Science Museum with Anne; Lynsey; Beth-Ann and Leslie (Anne’s friend). Fun!

Mar. 2^nd      I took an online typing test today. I can type 55 wpm! Not bad for not having typed anything consistently since high school.

                   I did excellent on my first two quizzes and two papers I did in my Psychology class!

Mar. 6^th       While going thru a stack of paperwork that has been in a pile for years…I came across the ‘Glamour Shots’ that I had taken with Carol Krewalk when I was 40 yrs old. I look great and it was nice to find them. I’m thankful Carol made me do it. Wish she was still here so I could tell her that.

Mar. 17^th     Talked to Sonia from work today. It was great catching p with her! (Today is Amata’s birthday. She’s 5 yrs old. Such a sweet little girl)

Apr. 19^th     Anniversary of Carol’s death – 1 yr. Took a 2 ½ hr hike at McClean’s. I took pictures of turtles on a log sticking out of the pond. It was a beautiful sunny day. Posted pictures on Carol’s Face Book page that night. I miss her so much.

Apr. 25^th     I went hiking with Justin and Don at Onion Mountain. Found a tick in my head that night. I managed to get the whole tick out in one piece. I saved the body in case I get any symptoms of Lyme showing.

Apr. 26^th     I jammed up my paper shredder. Opened it and fixed it myself! First time doing that!

May 4^th       I stayed after class tonight to talk to Prof. Percy. I never thought he’d be as open as he was tonight, both in class and after. I really like him – wish I knew him as a friend.

May 8^th       I finally have a state job I can apply to! Clerk Typist….probably won’t get it but I’m going for it anyway!

May 8^th       Prof. Percy told me I have an ‘A’ in his class. We talked for about an hour after class. I like him very much – he’s extremely intelligent but messed up too. (Extreme introvert and highly intelligent) He made me think really hard; raised the bar. I may not need to take the finals in his class – probably won’t. I’m going to miss him. Wish he could continue to assign me work. I’m afraid I will sink back into being stupid and stressed.

May 12^th     JD called me and we got to talk for quite a while. He was laid off from BOA too. (Along with Ted Maniatis and Don Sheehan) I never would have thought they’d let JD go but I do recall him and Phyllis telling me he wasn’t being assigned enough loans….and that was back before I was laid off.

May 13^th     Volunteered at Dakin. I got to play with puppies!! There were 3 different litters of pups that were all different age groups. I picked the middle-aged ones….more lively and fun to play with. Playing with the pups helps them become socialized with people and sets them on the path to becoming better pets later on.

May 22^nd     Went hiking with Bunny and Kaylee at Blackledge Falls in Glastonbury. I had been there previously with Justin; Kasey; Jess; Matt and I believe Carlos too. That day Matt carried a banana throughout the entire hike but never ate it. Of course we teased him that he has to bring a safety banana on all hikes going forward. Blackledge Falls were very pretty and we climbed up over the top of the falls to check it out too. The stream that feeds the falls (when we were there) was only a tiny little thing that was easily stepped over.

May 23^rd     Volunteered to play with puppies again. Anne couldn’t make it. Had to clean and feed 5 pups and their mother. Tough getting them all back in the pen at the same time! Cute puppies!

May 30^th     Volunteered with Anne at Dakin. We took care of the 5 puppies and their mom (who has now been diagnosed with kennel cough). They were wall to wall shit! We worked our asses off! Luckily we always have extra gear on to cover our clothes because that was a hell of a dirty job. Afterward we went to Denny’s and Anne bought me breakfast. She’s having a little cookout at her house tonight too.

Jun. 3^rd        Attended the “First” program in Hartford today. It’s a free program put on by the state of CT to assist unemployed people in getting another job. Had fun in the class. I had lunch with Tony (one of the instructor’s). Unfortunately I was sick with a roaring headache the next day so I didn’t finish the 3 day class. But Tony said he’d help me finish class on his Thursdays at CTWorks. Yeah!

Jun 9^th         Had a wonderful day at Hammond Castle with Justin and Kasey! Crossed the castle off my bucket list and got to climb across huge rocks at the edge of the shoreline there with my son. Gloucester, Ma. was an awesome town…..very close to Rockport too.

Jun 14^th, 15^th & 16^th      

                   Jean is visiting from Alaska. Got to see a lot of her and laugh our asses off I haven’t seen her in about 4 yrs. so this was a real treat. She seems to have the same sense of humor I do so it’s very easy to have fun with her.

Jun. 13^th      I stopped at the Broad Brook house (which will always be Dotty’s house in my head) to help Jean with her tag sale. I met her friend Nina; Anne Pitney Harrington (sister to Jeanne Pitney) and her husband, Kenny Harrington. We all ended up laughing our asses off. I needed that!

Jun 14^th       Pool party at Jean’s house in Woodstock. I brought Mom. Patty and her boyfriend Mike were there too. Jean and I laughed our asses off again of course. Gary (Jean’s husband) made an effort to be social – pretty good job for him but he’s really difficult to be friendly to most of the time. He enjoyed talking to Mom I think. Anne and Kenny Harrington were there too. The pool was awesome. Good times!

                   Making beef stew in the crock pot for the dogs. I hate beef stew….they love it. I’m a good mommy.

Jun 15^th       Worked with Jean and Gary at the Broad Brook house for hours cleaning out stuff to donate and throw away. Gary bought lunch (dinner really) after….that was the deal he threw out there for me to help them. I discovered Gary is a tightwad for sure….trying to make sure I didn’t spend too much of his money. So I teased him that I was going to ask the waitress if I could order lobster but I’d settle for a good steak. I ended up having a salad as I always intended but it was fun to get him going…so easy to do. I had been calling him dumb-ass most of the day and he thought that was funny. He really is a dumb-ass actually. Lol

Jun 20^th       Got a call from Dr. Allen. The tumors that have been growing on Bell’s ear are not cancerous!

Jun 22^nd      Took both dogs to hike the green trail in Granby. Saw and photographed a young doe in the field. The dogs (and me too) played in the water. I need to do this more often. Screw the job hunting, my life is passing me by.

Jun 27^th       Visited the Lockwood-Mathews Mansion in Norwalk with Bunny today. Only got a mini tour. Art show outside but it was raining and cold. A very long ride to only get a mini tour and go home. Somewhat disappointing day. Rained all night after I got home.

July 3^rd; 4^th & 5^th

                   Had Kaylee 3 days with me. We went to see the movie Inside Out and had lunch at Lulu’s together. Then I bought her a pain set and paper to make artwork.

July 3^rd        Had a great time with Justin and Kaylee. We brought Zack; Maggie and Bell to Powder Hollow to play in the water. Kaylee actually went swimming too. Fun times!

July 21^st      For two days I’ve been trimming the huge (grown out of control) bush in the front yard. The beast is looking better now!

July 22^nd     Made a tree and a screaming face with water color paints today. It made me happy. I put it in Kaylee’s keepsake box. She’ll have it when I’m gone someday. J

                   Painted most of the front stairs today. They look pretty good. Neighbors behind me moved out. They sold their house pretty fast and for a lot more than I would have paid for it.

July 27^th      Had a nice interview with “Ashley” at Reliable Temps today. Sure hope they get me a job. They are in Agawam. I’m going to go check out more companies in that area too. (As it turned out I never heard a word from them again. I wonder how the temp companies stay in business if they never follow up with people).

Aug 5^th        Had an interview at Pratt & Whitney today. Thought it was going to be too corporate for me but I liked it. I liked Dan Kunec who would be my boss. Now I want this job! Probably pays better than the other places too.

Aug 6^th        Had a phone interview for Volunteer Coordinator position @ Dakin. The interview was with Leslie (the director) and Laurie (don’t know her position there but she generally pretends to be in charge). I liked them; they liked me. Leslie wanted to hire me but the job doesn’t pay enough for me to live on so I had to decline.

Aug 7^th        Picked up Kaylee early from day camp and went to the lake. We got there around 4 pm; ate and went swimming. Had a really ice time with her. She swims like a fish and actually I caught a little fish in my hands too! She is such a sweet little girl! I am so very glad she is in my life. She makes me forget all about stuff going wrong in my life and helps me live for the moment. J

Aug 13^th      Just had an awesome interview at Carrington Mortgage Services in Windsor.

Aug 22^nd     Took Kasey to the hospital because she was leaking. I’m pretty sure she was going into labor but I didn’t want to scare her. She is 3 weeks early.

Aug 24^th      Monday, Aug, 24^th at 6:23 am Shaylynn was born via C-section at Johnson Memorial Hospital. She weighed 5 lbs 13 oz. and is 19 inches long.  I am a grandmother again!!

Sept 2^nd       Went to the lake with Kaylee today. It was a lovely hot day for it. There was a loose dog there called Lucas – a Dalmatian (but w/brown spots). He was bothering other dogs a bit and looking for food from everyone he saw. He belonged to nice older gay men that were wandering around trying to get him to come back to them. Funny!

Sept 12^th     Had lunch at Lulu’s with Anne. She brought her Aunt Betty with her who is 85 yrs old. Nice lady – very slow without her walker but very nice! LOL

Sept 16^th     Hiked at Laughing Brook Wildlife Sanctuary in Hampden, Ma. today. It’s a nice place but they don’t allow pets and its isolated enough for me to want one of those dogs with me. I met a creepy guy that was coming out when I was coming in….he asked me questions after he had gone past me. I did not like that or him one bit. I had my hand on my bear spray the whole time.

Sept 23^rd     Had Shay most of the day today. She is so sweet! I miss her as soon as she goes home!

Oct 2^nd        Took my first drug test for my new job at Carrington today. Turned out to be a urine test and I was expecting a blood test. Who knew??!

Oct. 6^th        Went to Nevers Road Park in South Windsor with Kasey and Shay. Shay slept through the walk but woke up enough to try to poop on me when I was changing her diaper. She did manage to pee all over my hand. J

Oct 7^th         Had Kaylee overnight and took her to school in the morning. I wish I had more time with her. She told she shaved her legs for the first time. I think it’s too soon for that crap –she’s only 12 yrs. old. But I doubt she’ll keep it up. It’s a lot of work. Kids grow up too fast these days.

Oct 18^th       Had Kaylee overnight last night. She sat with me in the chair for a while and She read to Me before she went to bed. (Where the Sidewalk Ends). This morning we painted our papier mache birds but they aren’t done yet. They need a few more coats of paint I think. First day of work for me tomorrow. Kaylee wrote on the board for me: “You’re #1 Grandma remember you’ll do great!!” Love that little girl!!

Oct 19^th       Finally started my new job at Carrington Mortgage Services!

Nov 6^th        Got my 1^st paycheck from Carrington. I may not be crazy about the job but it sure feels good to have some money coming in again!

Nov 8^th        Went hiking with Tin; Kasey; Zack and Shay at Whitaker Woods Trail (the white trail) in Somers today. This was the babies 1^st hike and she slept thru the whole thing. We had 3 giant dogs come running at us to meet us. Justin thought the 2 black ones were bears. Hysterical watching him trying to grab bear spray from a knapsack on his back!! LOL

Nov 11^th      Got Bunny an interview with Jarrod at work. They are going to hire her! We haven’t worked together since we were teenagers and worked at Gunver in Manchester.

Nov 25^th      Job has been tough going with my trainer. Michelle is such a nitpicker about the smallest detail of the job….I can’t do anything good enough for her. Jarrod started training me on the fees today. We had a conversation about how I was doing good and started back-sliding because of losing confidence with my trainer picking out every tiny error. He’s much better at training!

Nov 28^th      Hiked Peaked Mountain in Monson, Ma. with Justin and Zack in the rain. First time hiking in the rain for me. The view at the top was Fantastic!!

Dec 10^th      Taking care of Shay on Thursday nights is the best part of my week!

Dec 18^th      Today I was moved across from Jarrod’s desk. I disclosed my first loan today! It’s about time too. If the training was better and consistent it would have happened sooner.

Dec. 31^st      Spent New Year’s eve with Shay. Such a cutie!