OK, So Here's What Happened Part II

My sister's marriage didn't go as planned. It's not really right to rehash the details but let's just use the phrase "irreconcilable differences" and leave it at that. I live in the house still, with just my sister, as she is the sole owner of it. We're working together to get the garbage cans in and out on the appropriate days and keep the place clean. We've coordinated our grocery shopping and cooking to share what we can, when we can. She handles the heavier yard tasks while I try to keep the weeds at bay (and put down that funky fabric to keep them from coming back). It's a process, and with the weather as hot as it's been, I haven't ventured outside to do yard work this weekend. I mean, why stress myself? So now, it's the Sister's House, and we enjoy ridiculous movies and TV shows when we are together. Today, we're taking turns vacuuming. I'm doing laundry and cooking, and she can help herself to whatever I've made. That's the agreement. Work is nutty. We're having layoffs about every 6 weeks now. I anticipate more in about 2 weeks. I am not sure who there has what plans for me/my position but it's hard to plan that far ahead. I keep myself occupied with meeting up with my writing group and seeing my friends. Being in Tampa is great because I've had friends here for years: from college, from doing theatre, from former jobs. Just about every weekend, there's a food date and accompanying extracurricular activity. Yesterday, I went to Ybor City with Justine and had lunch. We ran around and laughed about all the adventures we've had in all the different places there.

The weekend prior, Mindy came up and we had breakfast and then birthday massages. Then, we went to our respective homes and napped. We can agree that it was top drawer. My friend Cherie recently took me out to dinner for my birthday. Again, the conversation was top-notch and the gluten free hamburger was great too. My b.f. Claudia visited a few weeks ago and we were off to St. Pete to see our friend Lisa, whom we met on our trip to Ireland in 1995! I am very thankful for all of these friends- and the others here too. Plus, both of my sisters are here, one brother-in-law, two grandparents, a niece and a nephew. My parents live about 70 miles inland, too. I find it wise to simply enjoy my time here and enjoy having a steady paycheck while it lasts. After all, I have so much to be grateful for, so why grumble about it? Usually when I lose something I end up with something better. I just have to keep that in mind. -GALA