Yesterday was stress central, trying to get a proposal out that we had determined we would wait on until their next deadline for submissions in July, but the powers-that-be changed their minds at the last moment and decided we should go for the earlier deadline, which was yesterday. I was informed of this Tuesday night as I was leaving, with the caveat….”If it doesn’t get out, it doesn’t get out; just do what you can.” Loosely translated, what that REALLY means is “We want this out come hell or high water.” And what it also really means, is that that they (the executive admin, if you will), who don’t know their proverbial rear ends from their elbows and can’t agree on what it is they want presented, leave it up to me to craft something (policy statements, no less!!!) that they can all embrace (as if each of them authored it personally) without too much discord…mostly because whatever it is they don’t like about these newly minted policies, they can look at each other, shrug, and say, “What can you do? She writes whatever she wants…” Now I ask you - is this any way to run an organization?

Anywho, I was all day doing rewrites, pulling together new stats, pushing and pulling various departments to spew forth their individual pieces of the puzzle, and didn’t complete the writing and hand it off to be submitted via email and via regular USPS until 3 minutes after my designated leave time which I switched, over the winter, from 4:00 PM to 3:30 PM, neccessitating that I arrive at 8:00 instead of 8:30 when I’m in the Boston office (when I’m anywhere else, the hours are a tad more flexible as the reflect “travel time” even when I am in actuality not “traveling” any further than I do to get in and out of work every day. Go figure, right?

Anyway, today should be somewhat less high-energy. Oh! DH & I did go and do our fast-walk around the park last night when I got home. Then we went to DD30’s and fed the kitty-kats, and then home for some leftover *Smart Pasta* from Wednesday night. I took a long, luxurious bath after supper, went to bed in the guest bedroom, listened to the Jon Gabriel CD for maybe five or six minutes, and fell promptly to sleep. Stayed asleep, too, which is always a plus.

Tonight, we will be attending a drumming circle about 30 miles north of Worcester faciliated by a woman named Laney Goodman, who is a syndicated radio show host - I think the name of her show is “Women in Music” (I should know this, and am embarrassed that I’m not sure) - whom we have been friends with for some years, now. We get together for dinner several times a year, and try to attend some of her events when we can. Anyway, the drumming circles are always fun and cathartic in an interesting sort of way - I think that making any kind of music with a group tends to be a very meditative and relaxing experience. It is for me, anyway,

DD30 & her DH & daughter are due to come home sometime tomorrow. They’ll be flying a “red eye” out of Cali and arriving in Connecticut at Bradley International (DD’s in-laws live in CT, and they left their car at their house) early Saturday AM. I imagine they’ll have breakfast with the in-laws and then be home sometime @ noon. So we’ll feed the kitty-kats tonight and tomorrow morning, and then their rightful family will be home to feed and cuddle them.

Tomorrow (Saturday) DH & I plan to hike the Cascades - another hiking spot in Worcester that I used to do with the kids when they were younger and haven’t been back to in years. The picture I’ve posted is a stock photo of “the Cascades in Spring” taken from a Worcester naturalist site, but it’s pretty much like what I’ve seen hiking there with the kids. I’m really looking forward to this…I’m really enjoying our recent trekking about. It beats sitting home reading or watching movies, I can tell you thta much. I am also feeling more energetic. Perhaps that’s because of the whey protein, soy and frozen fruit drinks I’ve been having for breakfasts and lunches this week? I don’t think I want to do this for the long term - maybe lunch or breakfast in the future, but not for both, I don’t think. But I made up my mind that I was going to do it for seven days and see what happened, and I’m determined to do that. I’ve got to say that I do seem to have dropped some inches, especially around the waist. I haven’t weighed myself, of course. The scales and I are SUCH arch-enemies! But I actually do think that I may have dropped a pound or three…I think I’ll wait, though, and weigh myself just before we leave for our Memorial Day vacay - I was just going to do a long (3-day) weekend, but DH - and our White Mountains friends - have convinced me to take that whole week to spend up there, and I’m liking the idea more and more. I will undoubtedly like it even better if I am as slim as I’d like to be, and in better physical condition so that I can do some serious hiking and such up there.

But, for this weekend, I’m sure that I’ll cook Sunday dinner for the kids, what with their being back & all - we’ll want to hear all about their glamorous vacay, after all - and then it’ll be another week at work for me, then two days the following week, and off starting on the 7th to visit with my DS while he’s home. He’ll be coming in Tuesday night the 6th and flying back the following Tuesday, so I’ve taken Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and then Monday & Tuesday of the following week off. I simply cannot WAIT to see that big boy of mine!

Okay, ’nuff said for now.

Back to work for me - more’s the pity, with it being so pretty outside, and rain predicted starting Sunday and for most of next week.

Hugs,

Z