The middle of the day

Still trying to get used to this no (paid) work thing. Yesterday, I went out to school for a "let's celebrate; we've finished the commentary lunch" with the author. I also had to haul out all my books from one of the libraries because I'd failed to renew them in time to avoid dragging all 29 of them in to show the librarian that, yes, although some of these books have been in my possession for almost two (!!) years now, they still exist and are in decent shape.

Then last night I helped out at the church with crafts for the children who gathered in their costumes after going trick-or-treating.

Today is the first full day I've had free to study, I was going to say without interruption, but this morning I HAD to go to the used biblical studies/theology bookstore for their sale....Now my big orange cat, Leo, is curled up on my lap sleeping and keeping me warm as I sit at my desk.

At loose ends

It's the middle of the day and I feel guilty for logging onto the computer to post here. I'm still adjusting to being out of work, and student mode hasn't yet kicked in again. Yesterday and this morning, I worked on a handwork project I was trying to finish for tonight as a gift for my (now) former boss. But it was one of those things I've not done before, and thus much thought and experimentation and running around asking for advice and looking for things and just trying to figure it out have been going on. I finally ended up having to let someone else (i.e., an expert) finish it, but that means it won't be done for tonight. When I get it back (sometime next week), I will post pictures of the process and of the finished product. Then you will know what "it" is.

I now have a lull of a few hours until I go out this evening. I should study. I should tidy my MESSY house. I should figure out a plan for the next few weeks, if not the rest of my life. I should...I should...I should....

Last day

Today was my last day at work. At 2:00 I was told, oh no, something happened with your paperwork and your last day technically isn't until the 30th or 31st. But by that point, I said, that's OK, I'll go with what I've been told all along; today's just fine. I don't need to come back. Anyway, I'm hoping to work something out with another department in the company. Meanwhile, there's a ton of other stuff to be done.

I was so busy doing "real" work today that I didn't have time to clear out my desk until it was almost time to go. Then I drove home, the last time to carpool with my colleague. I will miss the conversation on our drives, but hopefully much of our group is going to end up back together, but in a different department.

On Saturday, I FINALLY printed out the final version of the commentary manuscript. So that project is off my "To Do" list. What a relief!

So, suddenly, I have a whole new landscape to cultivate. I think I will sign off here and sink onto my couch in relaxed oblivion to watch whatever might be on TV and not torture my readers any longer with this entry written as I decompress from the recent events of my life.

Lunchtime update

I finally got a break from a hectic morning, which is only part of a hectic week. My To Do List finally is finished, except that when I tried to print the ms. Saturday night, the printer decided it would not print nuns. It would print the transliterated Hebrew letter just fine if I printed one page at a time, but would not print any nuns when I printed a chapter at a time. And because I am not going to print a 600 page ms. one page at a time, I've got to figure out something else.

I feel like I have been running flat out. I know things are going to change soon, and maybe then I'll have a chance to gather up all the scattered pieces of my life and try to order them somewhat. But right now it's just blind running.

Early morning

I drove by myself to work today and arrived rather early. I listened to a Mozart piano sonata, No. 15 in B Flat, as I drove through the Santa Susana Pass with the slightly-less-than full moon hanging over Rocky Peak in the blue-grey sky. Now the day may begin.

Like the end of term, part II

The signal that the end of term truly was at hand was when we'd come up to the dorm after class was over and find that our large suitcases had been taken out of storage and placed at the foot our beds ready to be packed.

Like the end of term

At work today it feels like the end of term at boarding school. There's not much to do at the moment—all my projects are on hold waiting for responses from others. I also have a couple phone and e-mail messages "out there" for which I'm rather impatiently expecting return phone calls. Those of us who've been laid off were told we could use work time to look for other jobs, so the rules have suddenly relaxed. Which is why I'm posting here even though it's not yet lunch. There's also that feeling of anticipation, tinged with excitement, about what will happen next.

Then I just finished a half-hour conversation with the professor whose manuscript I'm working on about the pros and cons of whether he should upgrade his current computer system or buy a new one. It is so easy to absorb his intensity, even though I can manufacture plenty of my own. Intensity is not a bad thing, it's just exhausting, especially in the midst of other intensity-generating situations. I think I will take a walk around the block at lunch, after writing my report, to try calm my mind.