My precious new pet

It gets sorta lonely at work, where my closest companion is usually my new ergonomic keyboard. Coworkers seem to mostly work from home. But, hey, that's OK! I have a fine new work companion, the precious cricket who surprised me a bit when it walked up the cubicle wall this morning. Since then, it's been hanging around, looking at my Tommy poster (the white thing at bottom left). It's not the same as my bird at home, but at least it's a fellow living being. I wonder how long the little creature will stick around? Should I set out a plate of water. Funny, one cricket is sorta cute. The plague that fell on the yarn shop a few years ago was NOT.

Of course, my office plants are living beings, but they don't have much to say. Everything I have adores low light, so they all look really good, though. I have left my big pothos at home, because it got TOO healthy at The Delicious Company (what do you say when something's delicious?). I've got my waxy leafed thing I got when I was there, plus a dracenia, which are in the photo. And there is a smaller (but rapidly growing) pothos, an arrow leaf plant in a bottle of water that's descended from the one that was a farewell gift from a friend last time I was here at ALE, and a really pretty bumpy-leafed thing called a nephthytis that Lee bought for me a few weeks ago at Home Depot. It needs to be kept moist, so I hope I can handle that. It's label says it loves low light, though. I have them all under the task lights on my desk. Glad I have a normal sized cubicle, so I can have more plants. They really help with the mood thing.

My mood has been OK, though yet another shooting in a liberal place (Arkansas Democratic HQ) has me more than a little spooked. I was thinking about being a campaign volunteer, but now I don't know. Can't live in fear, I know. And I am a bit concerned about my dad, who is going to have to move to some borderline assisted living place/apartment because there is something wrong with my stepmother, which no one will tell me about. She's really pushed him to do it, and it looks like the time will be after his birthday in February. Dad is so healthy and robust and active. He needs real work to do, not "activities" to keep him busy in a "home." I hope he will be able to get out and do his thing for a long time. And at least he will be secure knowing his wife has people nearby to watch over her.

I did order a book called Are You Really Too Sensitive? which is no best seller, but came recommended by a friend, and well, I need to always be working on that issue. I am doing a lot of research on being sensitive these days. It is not a horrible character flaw, really! There is a LOT of good about it. Google the phrase "highly sensitive person" and you can probably find a test that tells you if you are one of us or not.

So, things are motoring along. The kids survived band camp, and Beccano ended up enjoying it. We had my knitting group at the pizza place yesterday, and it was fun, though there was some glare that bugged folks. Austin's Pizza really, really has good pizza. The fresh veggie one I ate yesterday was divine. Other than that, we watch Olympics and pet dogs. Lee is really hoping his job search will end. I know how he feels. It sure would be nice to have two incomes. But, we are muddling through, planning the wedding and getting ready for school to start on the 26th. Sniff. I will be the mother of a senior.

I Yam What I Yam

And it isn't Supergirl, though she was always my role model, my goal, or my standard. My office has a lovely collection of Supergirl figurines (and her erstwhile beau Braniac 5 from the Legion of Superheroes comics of the 60s-80s).

Gee, no wonder I never live up to my expectations for myself with Kara Zor-El as my model! The last few years have knocked me down a peg or two (or a few dozen), and certainly that most recent job experience could have made me feel more like Charlie Brown than Linda Lee Danvers (Supergirl's alter ego, who more resembles me).

Lee's crossword puzzle today had a clue listed that said "A verb for Popeye" and it was "yam." Which led me here. I am glad that I haven't been knocked down, just turned a bit more realistic in my goals--I know now that I can't do just anything--I need the cooperation and assistance of my coworkers and supervisors--like anyone else who is trying to do a good job. That makes sense, because very few people have the luxury of working in a vacuum. Even solitary novelists need their agents, publishers and editors for success!

So, I was pleased today to interview with a group of people who appeared very supportive and team-oriented, and who were open and honest about the plusses and minuses of the position they were interviewing for. I felt a bit more Supergirl-ish to hear them say twice that my answers were the best they'd heard so far. It reminded me that I can fit in somewhere, and that such an opportunity may very well show up in a bit! I hope to get asked back to this place, but if not, I have another opportunity developing as well, as a curriculum developer.

Now I feel like I am getting somewhere and heading in the right direction, a little more in control of my own destiny again. I am letting my inner Supergirl peek out a bit.

Sensitivity

On a similar note, I have had someone at church and someone on an email list recently dismiss my issues as being because I am "too sensitive." That one has always been a sore point with me, you know, one of those deeply rooted issues that therapists love to go into, because it's something my dad always said to put me down. Luckily, I have read the series of books on highly sensitive people (HSPs), which point out that there are many good things about being sensitive, and that it is a trait shared with millions of people, just not the majority of folks. I am proud to care deeply about others, have a (usually) good intuition (helps with tarot!), and some of the other fine traits HSPs share. If you are wondering whether you might be a lovely, fascinating HSP, take this self-test!

I'm not perfect, but I honestly do like being me. It hasn't been beaten out of me!