Reconnected

Dear Friends and Family,

Living without internet for the past week has been both a blessing and a curse. It frees up time that we spend on-line, but it makes things like looking up P's rash impossible to do.

Since we last spoke, we went home to visit my college roommate and celebrate her son's birthday. In the process, I had a chance to catch up with the whole college crowd. It was so good to see them and to talk and relax and enjoy ourselves. We had takeout brought to her house on Saturday and everyone gorged while the kids ran around the living room. Let me take that back, the boys ran around the living room while P played quietly by herself. Sunday, we had brunch and a quick trip to the museum before coming home. It was a perfect weekend trip.

The thyroid update. I'm 3 weeks into my new dosage. Eyes feel good. Hands feel good. Heart feels good. Less sleepy at night which is good. Internals feeling less convoluted which is good. More blood work on Tuesday. Fingers crossed. I'm not sure what for, but still, life feels better with fingers crossed than not.

Work update. I have a new boss. I'll see how much I like him. He's promised me extra people to help in my work and a raise - both good things. But, truth be told, I had a MAJOR blow-up with someone I work with. I'm ready to tell my boss I can't work with that someone any more. I can't. I think he'll be replaced in mid-Feb so this may resolve itself on its own. All that being said, I'm still more jazzed about my idea than I am about work. And, I still have my timeline framed up for leaving sometime between September and December as long as P gets into school this March. We'll have to see how school turns out before making any giant commitments for the fall.

P update. See it's been busy. P had pink eye starting Friday afternoon. She had fever starting Saturday evening. She had rash starting Monday evening. She stayed home with Mr. mouse yesterday. She's staying home with me today. Let's hope we can make it over the hump otherwise we need to reschedule her play date this Friday. Wait, that's tomorrow, isn't it? Lovely. Fingers crossed.

Home update. So much to do. Financial aid forms. Trip planning. Party clean up. I'm frazzled just thinking about it.

It's good to be back on-line.


Cheers!
mouse

Treading Water

Dear Friends and Family,

Officially, I didn't make much progress on anything this week.

1. I got rid of stuff by sending it to my sister.
2. There wasn't anything school related this week.
3. I didn't make much progress on my lists.

On a plus note:

1. I didn't add much to my lists.
2. I made a list of potential candidates for my idea.
3. I made it through the week with Mr. mouse out.
4. I made some progress on party clean up

Four steps forward, three steps back. I guess that still counts as progress.


Cheers!
mouse

Week 2: Where's mouse At?

Dear Friends and Family,

Following thyroid issues can make even the most sane person into a hypochondriac. The symptoms are subtle and open to interpretation. On top of that, it's easy to attribute them to things not related to your thyroid. A pound weight gain could be eating too much or it could by your thyroid. Being cold could be the weather or it could be your thyroid. Dry skin could be winter or it could be your thyroid. Rinse. Repeat.

So, how am I doing? Nothing noticeably different from last week. I have woken a few times before my alarm. I'm not passing out as often the second I get home. My internals seem to be going a bit faster. Yesterday, I felt my pulse race when I had an Almond Joy. I can drink caffeinated teas without much concern. I've stopped the steady creep in body weight.

All in all, I guess that all equates to feeling better. Two weeks down. Two more weeks until my next check-in.


Cheers!
mouse

52 Things Will Leave the Mouse Pad (Round 2) Update

Dear Friends and Family,

It's a new year. And, I'm beginning another round of my clutter diet. The goal? I am going to try and have 52 things meaningfully leave the mouse pad this year. It's a purposeful decision to remove something that has found a home in our home. I'm evicting unwanted tenants.

There's different questions different people use to gauge what should stay and what should go. There's do I still love it, does it serve a purpose, when did I last use it, etc. My guiding light question will be knowing what I know today, would I buy this today?

The List (most recent departures listed first):

1. Mr. mouse is going on a business trip that brings him within a short drive of my sister so we're doing another scrub of the basement for stuff that P is done with. The biggest and bulkiest would be the five baby gates that my sister needs that P is done with. We took the last ones down late last year so I'll be glad when they're out of the house. Three made it on the flight. Five was too bulky.
2. There's five books that P never really took a liking too. Two have licensed characters. Two we got as gifts, but P had moved beyond those books before we got them. And, one, kinda got lost in the basement. Apparently Mr. mouse took down more than five books. No definite number, just more than five.
3. There's three noise makers. P got them for her first Christmas. He took down two.
4. There's Mr. Potato Head. My friend at work got it for P. It was a life saver on our first trip with it when I had P with me in a middle seat. We played with it for hours. She's since outgrown it. Apparently she hasn't outgrown Mr. Potato Head. She was very sad to hear about it and pointed out that Mr. mouse had seen her playing with it last night. So, Candy Land and Chutes and Ladders went down instead.
5. There's a pull toy elephant that my best friend gave us. The one time P got attached to it was when we put it out during her second birthday party and Little Miss I Haven't Learned to Share Yet lost it and started crying about the elephant. The elephant went.
6. There's a peg puzzle with farm animals. P liked it, but she's outgrown it. The puzzle went.
7. Last, but not least, there's a bag of blocks. I think P might at some point develop a greater interest in blocks. But, I'm hoping the five bags of blocks we have will be plenty to build to her heart's desire. One more box of blocks went for a total of two sets of blocks. So, ultimately, some changes in what went, but I'll keep the tally the same.
8. We have four plants in the house. We are not plant people. Three were gifts, one is a basil plant gone wild. They don't bother me. But, given what I know now, would I buy them today? And, the answer is no, outside of the basil. So, I'm giving one of them a home with a friend. I told her not to tell me if the plant dies. Somehow that would make me sad. It's hard letting go of things. But, I feel like I need to be brave or be okay with a house full of stuff that makes me feel like I have no control of my life. I will be brave.
9. My colleague at work wants an exercise ball. I have an exercise ball that needs a home. I still love the concept of an exercise ball, even if I haven't used this one ever and I've had it for close to five years now. If at some point in the future I become enamored again with the concept of an exercise ball, I will buy a new one. The going rate is $25. One down. 51 to go.

The tally from 2012?

1. junk: 15
2. useful, just not for us: 14
3. toys: 11
4. baby gear: 7
5. odds and ends: 3
6. books: 2

We'll see if I can get to 52 this year. I'm cautiously optimistic.


Cheers!
mouse

52 Things Will Leave the Mouse Pad (Round 2) Update

Dear Friends and Family,

It's a new year. And, I'm beginning another round of my clutter diet. The goal? I am going to try and have 52 things meaningfully leave the mouse pad this year. It's a purposeful decision to remove something that has found a home in our home. I'm evicting unwanted tenants.

There's different questions different people use to gauge what should stay and what should go. There's do I still love it, does it serve a purpose, when did I last use it, etc. My guiding light question will be knowing what I know today, would I buy this today?

The List (most recent departures listed first):

1. Mr. mouse is going on a business trip that brings him within a short drive of my sister so we're doing another scrub of the basement for stuff that P is done with. The biggest and bulkiest would be the five baby gates that my sister needs that P is done with. We took the last ones down late last year so I'll be glad when they're out of the house.
2. There's five books that P never really took a liking too. Two have licensed characters. Two we got as gifts, but P had moved beyond those books before we got them. And, one, kinda got lost in the basement.
3. There's three noise makers. P got them for her first Christmas.
4. There's Mr. Potato Head. My friend at work got it for P. It was a life saver on our first trip with it when I had P with me in a middle seat. We played with it for hours. She's since outgrown it.
5. There's a pull toy elephant that my best friend gave us. The one time P got attached to it was when we put it out during her second birthday party and Little Miss I Haven't Learned to Share Yet lost it and started crying about the elephant.
6. There's a puzzle with animals. P liked it, but she's outgrown it.
7. Last, but not least, there's a bag of blocks. I think P might at some point develop a greater interest in blocks. But, I'm hoping the five bags of blocks we have will be plenty to build to her heart's desire.
8. We have four plants in the house. We are not plant people. Three were gifts, one is a basil plant gone wild. They don't bother me. But, given what I know now, would I buy them today? And, the answer is no, outside of the basil. So, I'm giving one of them a home with a friend. I told her not to tell me if the plant dies. Somehow that would make me sad. It's hard letting go of things. But, I feel like I need to be brave or be okay with a house full of stuff that makes me feel like I have no control of my life. I will be brave.
9. My colleague at work wants an exercise ball. I have an exercise ball that needs a home. I still love the concept of an exercise ball, even if I haven't used this one ever and I've had it for close to five years now. If at some point in the future I become enamored again with the concept of an exercise ball, I will buy a new one. The going rate is $25. One down. 51 to go.

The tally from 2012?

1. junk: 15
2. useful, just not for us: 14
3. toys: 11
4. baby gear: 7
5. odds and ends: 3
6. books: 2

We'll see if I can get to 52 this year. I'm cautiously optimistic.


Cheers!
mouse

01.21.13: Partied Out

Dear Friends and Family,

Our winter cabin neighbors got in Friday along with Joey, a close friend we've known forever.

The house was cleaned. The food and drinks were purchased. Decorations were put up. And, we got a chance to enjoy a fun evening with our friends. And, then, two evil colleagues started a drinking game. Before I knew it, it was 2AM, and I'm not 100% sure where the time went. I'm getting too old for this.

P enjoyed herself and was a great hostess, sharing toys and snacks and getting juice boxes for her friends. She was a little sad going to sleep, but enjoyed gorging on the shrimp chips enough to make up for the shortened story time.

Sunday, in a spurt of productivity, the men swapped out the garbage disposal and fixed the hose drain for our dishwasher. We can now use both sinks. Nicely done!

We also took Joey to church where the theme was around using our talents. For me, that's an easy one. I need to work on my idea. That's my road ahead.

Still, it's not all simple. I also need to get through the next month. The road ahead is littered with the final to dos for school applications and with a couple of trips we MAY take if we can figure out the trip logistics.


Cheers!
mouse

Lovely Friday Feeling

Dear Friends and Family,

Each Friday I get that lovely feeling of having made it through another week. Our list of school to dos is getting shorter. It's slowly shifting out of our control and into the school's control.

We're continuing to tread water on our to dos.

We're still gainfully employed.

I'm still making progress on my idea.

See what I mean, that lovely feeling of having made it through another week?

Mr. mouse is off today. I've got a busy day at work after missing one and a half days to school interviews and a broken retainer.

New retainer this afternoon.

Friends are coming in town tonight.

Party this weekend.

It's not too late to come and do reports from here, my friend.


Cheers!
mouse

Another Day, Another Interview to Bomb

Dear Friends and Family,

I didn't have a chance to write about it on Tuesday, but we had a bad interview on Tuesday. We clearly did not have the correct answer for the first question. The interviewer asked it multiple times. We answered multiple times. It was not good.

We built no rapport with the interviewer. The interview ended at least 20 minutes early. It doesn't get worse than that.

I don't know what to say. She wanted to know what differentiates her school. We told her the curriculum since it's an IB program, the teachers since they rotate every three years, the flexibility which we brought out an example from the school tour, the facilities which are all new, the fixed costs since the school does no outside fundraising, and then we ran out of answers. Honestly, to this day, I have not a clue what she wanted to hear.

Well, we have another parent meeting today. And, after that, I'm going to begin researching houses in the suburbs. I feel like I'm up to my eyeballs in craziness.

I don't want to rant, but she's a good kid. It's not like I'm trying to move damaged goods at clearance prices, here. I've seen the gnomes and trolls, and P's not one of them.


Cheers!
mouse

52 Things Will Leave the Mouse Pad (Round 2) Update

Dear Friends and Family,

It's a new year. And, I'm beginning another round of my clutter diet. The goal? I am going to try and have 52 things meaningfully leave the mouse pad this year. It's a purposeful decision to remove something that has found a home in our home. I'm evicting unwanted tenants.

There's different questions different people use to gauge what should stay and what should go. There's do I still love it, does it serve a purpose, when did I last use it, etc. My guiding light question will be knowing what I know today, would I buy this today?

The List (most recent departures listed first):

1. We have four plants in the house. We are not plant people. Three were gifts, one is a basil plant gone wild. They don't bother me. But, given what I know now, would I buy them today? And, the answer is no, outside of the basil. So, I'm giving one of them a home with a friend. I told her not to tell me if the plant dies. Somehow that would make me sad. It's hard letting go of things. But, I feel like I need to be brave or be okay with a house full of stuff that makes me feel like I have no control of my life. I will be brave.
2. My colleague at work wants an exercise ball. I have an exercise ball that needs a home. I still love the concept of an exercise ball, even if I haven't used this one ever and I've had it for close to five years now. If at some point in the future I become enamored again with the concept of an exercise ball, I will buy a new one. The going rate is $25. One down. 51 to go.

The tally from 2012?

1. junk: 15
2. useful, just not for us: 14
3. toys: 11
4. baby gear: 7
5. odds and ends: 3
6. books: 2

We'll see if I can get to 52 this year. I'm cautiously optimistic.


Cheers!
mouse

Week 1: Where's mouse At?

Dear Friends and Family,

I've been on my new medication dosage for a week now. I've had a couple of scare moments. There was one when I noticed hand tremors on Saturday at lunch and another when I noticed palpitations on Saturday at dinner.

I'm going to chalk up dinner to whatever I ate at the restaurant because I've had that happen before and because I wasn't under any stress (physical or mental) when it started.

The hand tremors? Not sure what to make of it. Will have to watch it for now.

Still a little sensitive to the cold. Still weighing myself every day to manage the weight gain associated with high TSH levels.

All in all, I'm glad I went on the medications. Still, I'll be glad once I'm off of them again.

We have a parent meeting this afternoon, another parent meeting on Thursday, a kid screening on Thursday, coupled with a new boss, a broken retainer, and our annual new year's party.

Let the chaos begin.


Cheers!
mouse

01.14.13: Sad, The Weekend Was a Blur

Dear Friends and Family,

It's Monday and I'm tired. The weekend was a blur of activity and now it's Monday.

We took P Saturday morning for a play date for school. The teacher told us she did great playing with the toys and volunteered to help clean up. She got an orange star that she saved from the morning.

The afternoon involved a long car ride up to P's friend's house to celebrate her fourth birthday. It's odd seeing kids turn four. That'll be P soon. Wow.

Sunday morning we sent our Christmas tree off with a wave and got ready for church. We went for brunch afterwards and hit the department store to restock on makeup. P fell asleep on the way home which makes for a very abbreviated Sunday.

I had work to do last night. And, now it's Monday.

Truth be told, I'm not motivated about this week. Work just feels so underwhelming. Friday was fire drills. Today is a useless exercise in useless reporting of useless details in a witch hunt for dollars that will not lead to me. But, I need to complete the report anyway. Sigh.

On a more exciting front, I wrote three people about my idea in the hopes of lining up my first customers. I also picked a company for payroll and worker's comp insurance. They do payroll roll taxes and sales tax on top of that.

Time for me to write a job description and think about hiring my first employee. That has me jazzed.

This week will be a blur as well. Parent meeting tomorrow. Parent meeting and kid meeting on Thursday. Party this weekend. Friends in town as well so the basement needs to get cleared.

Happy Monday!


Cheers!
mouse

Losing People Left and Right at Work, Gaining Momentum at Home

Dear Friends and Family,

It's Friday. I made it through another week at the office. Another person is leaving work. We're losing people left and right. It's beginning to get a little lonely.

I also faxed in my paperwork for my application for worker's compensation insurance. Hopefully that goes through okay. Which leave me with three more tasks, figuring out general liability insurance, hiring my first employee, and reaching out to friends to find my first batch of customers. I feel like this is all so much easier once you get some amount of momentum. After all, I don't want customers without an employee and I don't want to start payroll without any customers.

I guess I will have to work on it simultaneously and hope for the best. It's beginning to feel almost real.


Cheers!
mouse

Week 0: New Medication Dosage

Dear Friends and Family,

I went in Tuesday for some lab tests to gauge the progress of my thyroid. And, in true mouse form, it's swung radically in the other direction. From 0 to 15. Keep in mind the normal range is 0.3 to something like 3.0. Yep.

My doctor told me to halve the dosage of my medication. And, to check-in with him in four to six weeks. So, last night, I didn't take my medication and this morning I will.

I'll consider it progress of sorts.


Cheers!
mouse

52 Things Will Leave the Mouse Pad (Round 2)

Dear Friends and Family,

It's a new year. And, I'm beginning another round of my clutter diet. The goal? I am going to try and have 52 things meaningfully leave the mouse pad this year. It's a purposeful decision to remove something that has found a home in our home. I'm evicting unwanted tenants.

There's different questions different people use to gauge what should stay and what should go. There's do I still love it, does it serve a purpose, when did I last use it, etc. My guiding light question will be knowing what I know today, would I buy this today?

The List (most recent departures listed first):

1. My colleague at work wants an exercise ball. I have an exercise ball that needs a home. I still love the concept of an exercise ball, even if I haven't used this one ever and I've had it for close to five years now. If at some point in the future I become enamored again with the concept of an exercise ball, I will buy a new one. The going rate is $25. One down. 51 to go.

The tally from 2012?

1. junk: 15
2. useful, just not for us: 14
3. toys: 11
4. baby gear: 7
5. odds and ends: 3
6. books: 2

We'll see if I can get to 52 this year. I'm cautiously optimistic.


Cheers!
mouse

01.07.13: Weekend of the Epiphany

Dear Friends and Family,

Sometimes events happen and in isolation they don't amount to anything more than one of a million and one things that can happen to you on any given day. And, other times, they build to something more. I had one of those moments.

First, there was an article I read and a line near the bottom that said God is experienced in family and community. This is a central tenet of Buddhism, but I had never applied it to Catholicism.

Second, there was a discussion with a friend, about Mormonism. I told him I actually agree with a lot of the teachings on lifestyle (like you should have an adequate amount of savings), but I don't buy into the theology. And, he pointed out that it's because I'm objective driven.

Third, I went to mass this weekend. Originally because P is applying to a school and I told the Admissions counselor that I am open to attending mass and seeing if there is a fit. Masses I remember were stuffy affairs in dark churches full of incense and theology. But, I went. And, I enjoyed it. The homily focused on asking what are we searching for. And, that's a question I can ponder for a long time in a good way.

I think, I enjoyed it enough to go back next Sunday and give it a second try. I'm still not interested in the theology of it. I'm not going to try and convert Mr. mouse or P. I'm not going to change my beliefs on marriage equality. But, I am open to the idea of improving my lifestyle and I do believe much of what I seek is seen through interactions with family and community. Perhaps I'll find something I didn't expect.

We'll see where this leads.

The rest of the weekend? We took down the tree decorations. I helped a friend with business school applications. And, that was the weekend, as far as I can recall.


Cheers!
mouse

Glorious Friday Feeling

Dear Friends and Family,

See, I'm alive. Yeah!

It's been a busy week kicking off the new year. I made a lot of progress on Monday on my idea. I've been trading emails back and forth with a couple of agents who may be able to get me some of the insurance coverage I need before starting my business.

We submitted one more school application - seven down, one to go. We've scheduled most of our parent meetings and play groups - two done, six scheduled, four to go. We submitted one of the financial aid applications - one down, one to go.

We returned ALL of the things we needed to return from the holidays.

The tree will be coming down this weekend.

It feels good. For all the cold weather, I like January. It's like that new car feeling without a new car. And, it's free.

We made good progress on retirement in 2012. Each month at work, I mentally tick off that this is my last of that particular month, for me, at my current work. I plan on either working on my idea or taking some time off or switching jobs once we hit the fall.

I'm feeling better too. I need to go in for new labs between now and Tuesday.

I'll continue to savor that new car feeling a little longer.


Cheers!
mouse

I Have Not Forgotten You

Dear Friends and Family,

I've just been swamped. I'll be back tomorrow. I promise.


Cheers!
mouse