something's brewing

Magnum and I had a nice Sunday morning bike ride today. Once again, we cycled passed a [fave local brewery], and once again, there was some sort of outdoor exercise class going on. I recall coming across this for the first time last summer, and here it was again: [Cycle Sips and Lifts].

The mood seemed quite festive. I doubt that anyone who attends a workout event at a brewery is going to be too hardcore about the fitness aspects.

Speaking of local breweries, Chaco talked us into going to a different one earlier this week for dinner while he was here. He figured he "had to" go to a brewery while in Fort Collins, it's what you do. Apparently.

So we went to [Odell Brewery]. Chaco and Wolfgang could not believe! we'd never been there before. 

What can we say, we don't think to go to breweries. I'll admit that it was a nice experience on the patio on a pleasant summer evening. The food truck on site was an Italian flatbread truck. Nothing to write home about, but it was fine. 

As I perused the menu, the vegan option sounded interesting. I wondered how they would pull off the vegan mozzarella. I chickened out on ordering it, however because of the name: Vegana.

I wasn't sure how to pronounce it, and it looked so much like "vagina", so I ordered the Marinara lest I say vegana incorrectly. ( I have since learned how it's properly pronounced...)

Our 4th of July was lowkey. We were dogsitting Chaco's dog Ella, and she is NOT a fan of loud noises. Our dogs, Penny and Merlin, couldn't care less when it comes to fireworks, thunder, etc. Ella is more typical.

"What was that?!"

It was nice having the day off from work as I'm typically scheduled to work at the testing center on Fridays. I've decided to have a sit-down with Boss to discuss my future there. 

On one hand, I like my coworkers, and it's pretty decent pay as far as part-time jobs go. On the other, the work tasks are pretty mundane after four years. Because of tutoring, my availability for testing is really not flexible  - for when someone is out sick or on vacation. So I'm going to straight up ask Boss if it would be easier for him if I left and he hires a replacement (impossible!) with more flexibility.

I'm not sure what answer I'm hoping for. 

do you remember

 ... the 21st night of September?

I didn't. Not really. I realized that was last night only this morning when I got a feed in my instagram about a big play from the CU Buffaloes homecoming football game - [Earth, Wind, and Fire] providing the soundtrack. I don't really follow college (or any really) football, but it's where I live, so...

Anyway, happy fall! Flip your mattresses, change out your toothbrush heads!

Work on the screen room continues. We've got walls. Just need a roof, screens, and a couple doors.

This week got busy, and I'm catching up. I mentioned the P.E.O. thing earlier in the week, then the full work schedule, which included my turn on the Saturday rotation yesterday. So today is my 1-day weekend. Magnum and I did continue our car shopping adventures yesterday after work. We've almost got a new machine, not quite in house yet.

I worked with Mango yesterday, and we were talking of the car shopping adventure. I'm contemplating what we'll do with my little Toyota. It's a 2000 Echo that was my mom's. She gifted it to me 10 years ago after she was no longer driving - something that probably should've happened a few years sooner, TBH.

I'm grateful to have had the diminutive car. It has very little "get up and go" - so much I avoid the highway, doesn't do well in snow over an inch or so... off road?  Just. No.

But for putzing around town in good weather, running errands, it's been great. Since I typically commute on my bicycle, the car spends a lot of time in the garage between errand missions. 

All this to say that it's a 24-year-old car that has, honestly, less than 31,000 miles on it. No body damage, but it could probably use a new set of tires - not because the current ones are at all worn down, but because they are 10 years old.

We don't plan to trade it in, and I figured I'd probably sell it to Carmax. I mentioned this to Mango, and also confessed that I feel a little guilty getting rid of Mom's Car.

But Mango provided some good unbiased advice.

"This is a college town, you could probably get a good price for it - students love little beaters that are cheap to keep".

In regards to the guilt: "I dunno. Probably if your mom were to know of it, she'd say something like, 'What? You still have that thing?'"

Come to think of it, I could totally see/hear my mom saying that.

big minions, teeny hulks, and a chicken in every pot

We had our best Halloween yet since moving here. Our first was Halloween 2020, which was a bust for reasons we shall not speak. Last year was cold and wet and brought two or three groups of diehard trick-or-treaters. 

This year was a pleasant evening. I lost count of the moochers, and we nearly ran out of candy. I mainly recall two very large Minions and a teeny tiny Hulk.

Speaking of junk and food, two or three weeks ago, I decided to put a concentrated effort into eating more protein. I'd read on another blog that people need more protein as they age, so I ran with that since all blogs are pure fact. I did eventually google a bit and learn:

"Protein tissue accounts for 30% of whole-body protein turnover but that rate declines to 20% or less by age 70. The result of this phenomenon is that older adults require more protein/kilogram body weight than do younger adults" - SOURCE

Okay, I'm not 70, but I'm quite sure I'm on the other side of the peak.

But no food logs/ journals here or counting the macros - nothing quite so scientific. I just decided to up the protein - mainly in the form of eggs and chicken, maybe an occasional helping of pig (since I stopped eating cows years ago). This to supplement my usual sporadic dairy sources.

Now I'm sort of wishing I did geek out a bit and have some numbers to compare - some before and afters - because I am feeling different/ better.

Mainly, I feel I have more energy in general. Maybe a little faster on the morning slog/jogs, a little stronger on my gym game. I'm not ready to throw all my thanks on the chicken gods just yet however, because 

1. I decreased my caffeine intake at around the same time I upped the protein, so maybe I'm sleeping better?
2. We've had some recent overnight freezes that have adeptly been killing off the pesky allergens.
3. Perhaps the last vestiges of COVID crud I had last summer are finally leaving.
4. Or it's all just placebo affect.

When I worked in the dietary department at the nursing home, I scratched the surface of nutrition science. One of my coworkers was a (female) body builder attending grad school to become a registered dietician. 

Strange "sport", bodybuilding. Vee, the bodybuilder, would drink gobs of water everyday - maybe supplemented with something. Going in to a competition, she took in hardly any liquid and would become so dehydrated so as to maintain the "cut" look. It's not how you feel, it's how you look.

I'm about the feels.

Haz lo tuyo

A couple of weeks ago, a coworker, "Martha", took a vacation to Mexico.  We had a less than springlike weather forecast for the day of her return, and I texted her a heads up    ➡➡

She replied a short time later:

Well, they didn't get covid, but apparently contracted some other "bug".

Upon her return to work last week, Martha put in her notice and announced that she and her husband are moving to Mexico.  They plan to become permanent residents.

So THAT was news! I haven't really had a chance to ask her how long it took for them to make this decision.  I knew they were both close to being ready to retire, but I don't know if they'd discussed moving out of the country, or specifically to Mexico before their week long vacay.

Martha and her husband don't have kids. Both Martha's parents are deceased, and she has a "high maintenance" mother-in-law who probably motivates them to create more distance.

So they're selling their stuff, working to re-home the two dogs, and heading south.  

More power to 'em, I guess.  I'm assuming they've thought this through.  Thankfully, Martha gave a full month's notice, and hopefully Boss can fill her position soon 🤞.

And I'll miss working with Martha.  There are only six of us at the center including the boss, and she's probably my favorite to work with (don't tell the others). Laid back, good work ethic, well-organized, often brings muffins...

She was part of our recent united front against Nurse Ratched. I changed her name here to Martha so as to not confuse her with Betty the blogger.

Party Girl and I got to talking about where we would want to move to if no limitations. I never really thought about being an ex-pat. There are places I'd like to visit, but I dunno about totally pulling up stakes like Martha.  

I'm actually quite happy in Fort Collins, thanks.

More waterfowl friends

In the meantime, know someone who needs a house in Colorado? Some housewares?  Coupla dogs?  A part-time job?  Hit me up!

the ass in assistant?

I stepped into my boss's office, she looked up with a look that said, 

"WhoTF are you and why are you in my office?"

I mentioned a while back that my boss at the old folks' home put in her resignation after accepting a bigger position at another senior living place.  This is her final week with us.  There's been some speculation about who would replace her, and the most logical choice seemed to be the current assistant boss.

The present hierarchy in our department is as such:  Boss --> Assistant Boss --> Me --> the rest of the cubs in the den.  To make speculation gossip all the more confusing, Boss and Assistant Boss both have the same name, let's say they're "Audrey".

So conversations have gone something like, "Is Audrey gonna replace Audrey?  How does Audrey feel about it?  If Audrey replaces Audrey, who will replace Audrey?"

Follow?

There was a time when I thought I would want to be Assistant Boss if the opportunity arose, but lately, that feeling has waned.  Not sure why, maybe it's just spring fever.  Anyway, amid the speculation, I knew I would not apply for Assistant Boss should Audrey2 replace Audrey1.

Then...

yesterday, Boss started texting me, inquiring if I was interested in being Assistant Boss.  I said I was open to chatting about it.  We arranged to do that this morning.

I'm not working today, so I went in at our agreed meeting time when I was greeted with the aforementioned "WhoTF...?" look.  Apparently, I look quite different in my everyday than I do when I'm at work?  

After a moment, she finally recognized me and we had a bit of a laugh, her saying I look so different.  It leaves me wondering if the "different" is good or bad, but anyway...

It turns out the Assistant Boss has, in fact, secured the Boss position.  They want me to be the new Assistant Boss, so I now have a decision to make.  Honestly, I've been seriously thinking about cutting my hours at the facility and picking up more tutoring jobs, as the facility work has started to feel quite mundane. But if I take the Assistant job, I will stop the tuting altogether.

I told them I'd think about it and get back to them, so that's what I'm doing.  I did a little decision matrix just now and Assistant Boss won out over reduced hours + more tuting (57 points vs. 47 points).  It won out mainly because the Assistant Boss work would have more substance than what I'm doing now, has more potential for growth and learning, and pays better unless I take on a LOT of tutees.  

Tuting won out only for free time - which dwindles if I take on enough tutees to match the pay of the Assistant Boss - and it has a teeny tiny better commute, since I tutor online.  Even a 1.5-mile commute can be a factor when there's two feet of snow.

So I think I'm gonna say yes?  I mean, at least my name isn't Audrey.

And more importantly, do I look so different at work vs. not at work?  I took a car selfie (something I never do because I just don't "get" car selfies) after my chat with the Audreys to juxtipose with my work look (post COVID vaccine selfie)

Okay, so I'm wearing different glasses, and I don't have on the hair thing and work polo.  But I swear they're both me.  In these days of mask wearing, don't we all pretty much look alike?  

Must be the glasses.

how did I get here?

I have this photo tacked up in my home office.  It fell out of a box of other photos when we were moving in to this house.  I thought of chucking it back into the box, but paused and decided to tack it to my cork board.

Not sure why I was making that face, that smirk. But I can remember being that age - about 12 or 13 years old.  I was thinking more about who I was and what I would do in the future.  I was becoming more independent of my parents.  I was noticing boys, and subsequently, my clothing and hair choices.  Note the precursor to the Farrah hair of high school.  Clothing would need to catch up.

I remember reading - in a magazine article or such - about getting back to your "true" self as an adult.  The article suggested thinking back to when you were about 12 or 13 years old.  I guess that is supposedly our "true" self age?

So that's why I tacked the photo up.  To remind me to be myself.  

I'm thinking of this because Astrid over at A Multitude of Musings posed the question of what 12-year-old you would never believe about your current self.  

Well, the answer for me would easily be my current job in geriatric nutrition - specifically the "Front of House" side of things.  Certainly health and nutrition were of interest back then, but more the science of it.  And  geriatrics?  Nope.  Serving geriatric meals?  Heck no. 

But things change and life leads us down paths we don't anticipate.  I started out post-college life in the corporate world, which made sense to 12-year-old me.  In addition, I

• ✅ got married and had kids
• ✅ was a busy volunteer mom 
• ✅ did some teaching and tuting

This food and nutrition gig is all right, though, mainly taken on as a part-time "retirement" job.  Then the boss made me lead Den Mother.  I waivered on that one, but 12-year-old me said to do it.

Today, our boss gathered us and announced that she's resigning.  She's accepted a position that is a step up for her, and it's a good time for her to move on.  We're all a bit wary as she's a well-liked manager, and we're bracing for what could happen next.  

As she gave us the news, she noted that any of us should feel free to apply for her position once the opening is posted.  I swear I caught a brief telling moment of eye contact.

Oh, hell to the no.  Shut up 12-year-old me.  You don't know what you're talking about.  And wipe that smirk off your face.

What would surprise 12-year-old you about your life right now?

shake that axe

 

I got my Pfirst hit of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine today, and I'm Pfeeling Pfine.  

So Pfar.

After receiving the shot, I waited the obligatory 15 minutes among the foliage.  At that point, I was reasonably certain that I was still alive, so decided to go back to working.

My second and final hit will ideally happen in three weeks.  I've talked with a few people who got their second shots this time around.  Their experiences sound similar to the Shingrix 1-2-punch.  First one's okay, second one hits harder.  We shall see.

While I awaited my turn at the shot juice table, the woman who'd checked me in told me a story:

"When I was at girl scout camp one year, I was learning to swing an axe and got stung by a bee.  My whole arm puffed up, and I was sent to the infirmary.

"The nurse in the infirmary told me she was going to have to give me a shot of Benadryl, so I said, 'okay'.  But then she proceeded to tell me that she'd never given an actual shot before.  She'd only ever practiced on an orange.  I really didn't need to know that!"

Then it was my turn for the vaccine, and I was inoculated without incident after getting my paperwork in order.  I told my inoculator that it didn't hurt, she'd done a good job...

... a little confidence builder just in case I was her first, after the orange.

Looking forward to hopeful immunity.

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Linking up this week with Mama Kat for the prompt:
4. Share something you are looking forward to.

changing

 It's a nice building... from the outside.  

The hiring manager seems friendly and competent... although I likely wouldn't be able to pick her out from a lineup.

The facilities and equipment necessary for the job... sound fine

I mentioned that I recently accepted a culinary job offer at a rehabilitation facility to replace my greatly-reduced-hours culinary job at the hospital.  Although I went there for the interview and some followup, I've yet to set foot inside the place.  Hiring practices have changed.

My interview was outside under a patio umbrella.  The manager, whom I texted to let her know I'd arrived, and I both wore masks the whole time.  There was no tour.  I saw no one working.  A handful of residents were outside with visitors.  If asked for a physical description of the manager, about all I can say is she has dark hair and is maybe an inch or two taller than me.

Around the same time I applied for this job, I applied for another that sounded promising.  Once the application window closed, they informed me that I had cleared the first hurdle, then nothing but crickets for nearly three weeks.  I knew they hadn't canned my application because they would have informed me of that too.

Yesterday, they finally emailed that I'd cleared the second hurdle, and about a minute after that, the email that I'd cleared the third.  They want to interview me, but I've already accepted the other offer.  I had a feeling that would happen.

Note that neither of these jobs is high stakes, high falutin', high anything really.  My college degrees don't mean a whole lot in this realm.  So I guess I've changed too.

But in my current "season",  I'm pretty sure I would enjoy either, be appreciated, maintain a nice work-life balance, while generating some income.  Yes, that's my current season.

I did do a bit of nerdy decision analysis when realizing the second place might still call after the first offered me the job.  

I ranked each of five criteria on a scale of 1 to 5 for each job, applied the importance-to-me factor, then summed up the scores.  

According to the nerdliness, the rehab place "won" by 3 points.  Not the best for pay, but feels more secure during these questionable Covid times.  And the commute?  It's like a mile and a half from my house.  And really, as I revisit this, the pay differential isn't that great.

Feels like the right decision... Since I'm beyond "Trophy Wife" season, and mostly skipped it altogether anyway.

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Linking up this week with Mama Kat for the prompt:

4. Write a blog post inspired by the word: changed.