It's about time I guess to do a new Journal...

I have a new Kitty now. His name is Tuxedo Tidbit Seymour. He is a black and white short hair and he is the total opposite of Gus. Don't get me wrong, I am definitely not complaining about that. I love that about him. He is still a love and I get more than my fair share of loving from him. It's things like he loves to ride in the car and He moves all over, but his favorite place is at my feet. Gus would whine all the way to Houston and all the way back when I took him with me on overnights because I didn't want to leave him alone for 2 days. Tuxy (that's what I call him for short because it is close to kitty and he learned it very fast) is so full of energy and mischief. I totally forgot what it is like to have a kitten. Parts of it are wonderful and parts of it are exasperating. I love and hate that he can't stand to be by himself if I am home and is always underfoot and climbing up to be loved. He is absolutely adorable when he plays with the teddy bear... Imagine this, a tiny kitten dragging a stuffed teddy bear that is four times his side around the house. He drags it with him everywhere. He thinks he is really viscous when he swings the bear from side to side with his mouth. I'm finally watching the scars fade away from all the scratches this young bruiser gave me. We are in the process of learning that this is unacceptable behavior. Now if I could just disabuse him of the idea that toilet paper is just scads of fun especially the dragging it all over the apartment part....

Work is settling down for me. I almost asked to step down from being a Supervisor. One of my employees really had it in for me and took every opportunity to complain about me to fellow team mates and to HR. Several of those opportunities got me written up and on probation with a wage freeze for two years. I am now careful of every little thing I say and I do not relate to any of my employees anymore unless it is strictly business. No jokes, nothing personal...robot like. It's not enjoyable, but it gets me though the day. I had hoped to get her moved off my team. She had hoped to get moved off my team, however the Head of our department saw things differently and so she and I are stuck with each other.

They have put a stop to overtime in our department. It's a good and bad thing. Last year I had no life, but made lots of money. This year I have a life, but no money. I am dipping into all the money I managed to save last year. I have made some changes and I have paid off all of my credit cards, plus took a loan from my 401K to pay off my car. This took me from an 11% loan to a 5.25% loan that is paid back to my 401K completely and is automatically deducted from my paycheck so that I don't feel it. I am going from a $654.00 a month payment to $280.00 and I earn the interest. Yay!!! a win win situation all around.

I will be moving to a bigger apartment in the same complex on Aug 1 and I'm really looking forward to that. Getting ready for the move though is really a pain. I have arthritis and from my knees down, I swell up and can hardly move. It makes it hard to go up and down stairs. The good news is I'm moving from an upstairs apartment to a downstairs. I have needed to do that for about the last 8 months. I'll be glad when it is all over.

so there you have it... the good the bad and the ugly