Fifty-eight and going strong

So much time has passed I'm not sure where I left off.  My last post was when our bird died but that was over two months ago.  In the meantime, I began the Fall term at work and it was the worst in memory.  Lots going on with other departments left my area to mop up, but we got through it.  We all moved into our new space, and there were some bumps with some of the cashiers.  Got through that too.  University life goes on.

At the grocery store, R worked crazy, difficult, uneven hours like a trooper but was thrilled when he got a call from the University to join the facilities department.  You never saw anyone so happy to be cleaning up after others, but sometimes it takes a bad job to make a person appreciate a good one.  We will enjoy days off together and he'll have paid vacation and sick leave for the first time since he became self-employed.  It feels like we landed in a tub of butter.  Oh yes, and I got a pretty substantial pay bump that was completely unexpected.  Like buttah.

I had a nice 58th birthday that was quiet but lovely.  R took me to dinner and we ate with a blind eye to fat, calories, or carbs.  Our team came back late in the game to tie up the ALDS, so the win felt like an appropriate gift to me.  Last Friday we celebrated at dominoes with friends bearing flowers, on Saturday my sister took me to breakfast and gave me a beautiful basket, a friend and her boyfriend took us to dinner at one of the finest spots in town, and on Monday another friend dropped off some Downton Abbey tea and sweet rolls while good wishes came in from the kids and grandkids.  

R and I are working on maintaining an attitude of gratitude, and we have so much to be thankful for.  It's easy to slip into whining or look for the cloud on a sunny day, but we have had a wonderful and challenging year.  As hard as it was, R had to go through the pain to get better, and he's learning how to enjoy his life again.  I really think that the hardest part of sobriety for him has been forgiving himself.  His health is so much better and he's dropped weight.  Every day he seems more like his old self.

A year ago, when I turned 57, we were just about to close our shop doors for good.  R didn't have a job lined up and was beyond stressed.  Our savings were hit hard and my paycheck was stretched thin.  We couldn't have predicted what a difference 365 days would make, but are so happy to be on a better path and thankful to be doing it together.  

Big 'ol tub.