She Beat Me to It

A couple posts ago I mentioned about my job going sideways.  Well, it totally crashed and burned.  My contract was terminated on the grounds of  'Chain of Command', whatever that means.  I don't know exactly what I did to precipitate getting fired, but I have an idea.  The new boss I was assigned to back in November is a tyrant.  Over the past few months she has forbidden me from doing most of the things I had done for 4 1/2 years.  She didn't want me to use the skills that I was hired to use.  This past week someone from the business side asked me to do something, which is something I had always done for this person.  I didn't ask permission if I could help this person.  I just did it because I had the time and the request was an emergency.  I suspect that this is what got me fired.  Knowing the outcome, would I have done anything differently?  No, because I understand the urgency of behind the request from the business and I know that if I had asked permission, so much bureaucracy would have been imposed that the request wouldn't have been addressed in a timely manner.

My emotions are still a bit raw.  I'm glad to be out of the toxic environment.  I'm not worried about finding another job.  The vendor I contracted through was already working on getting me placed somewhere else.  There are a couple opportunities she's pursuing.  What makes me upset is that the harassing behavior of this tyrant is not only tolerated, but endorsed, by the CIO of this particular state agency.  My teammates still there will have to deal with her.  I'm sure on Monday when the tyrant tells the group that she fired me it will be done with malice in order to invoke fear.  Fear of dismissal and intimidation are her primary weapons to get compliance from her workers.   

It also makes me very upset that the inefficiencies caused by the toxic environment are ultimately hurting the people served by this agency.  They are the ones who are suffering because of the defect ridden code put out by the tyrant's favorites.  Bad code that makes it difficult, if not impossible, for the business people and providers using the systems to deliver and manage the services and supports that the clients need.

I was at that agency for 4 years and 10 months.  I feel I learned a lot and contributed a lot. The first 4 years 8 months were wonderful.  Up until mid-November I felt like that was somewhere I could work until I wanted to retire.  And my boss at the time said he wanted me to stay until then also.  Then a re-organization happened.  I saw the writing on the wall.  She just beat me to it.

Since I have some time off, my plan is to get a few of my projects completed.  But first my focus is Trisha's wedding. She and Craig are going to have a small wedding on February 13 and then a reception in December.

I made myself lemon blueberry scones for breakfast.  They and a cup of tea are tea are just what I needed.

Speaking of projects, I finished up a few lately.

First is a shawl of my own design.  I haven't named it yet or written up the instructions, but I plan to make another.  And I may post it online to sell.

It has a rectangular center panel with plain triangles on each side.  The color in the top photo is closer to the real color.  The yarn I used is 1927 Shetland I bought from my new favorite LYS, Yesterday's Ewes.  The yarn is a rustic 2-ply that feels buttery, even after a soak.  The cats love it, probably because of it's sheepyness. 

I finished another project, Love Notes.  It was a very fast knit.  I blocked it out a little bigger to give me more ease.  I made it with Urth Monokrom and Valley Yarns Southampton.

I have City Limits (Tanis Fiber Arts) still on the needles.  The sleeves are left.  I'm casting on the Pajama Cardigan by The Autumn Acorn.  I'm also starting to crochet Astri by Arne and Carlos.  I have a huge stash of Palette from Knit Picks to use for the blanket.

Now that I have all day to do things I hope to get some areas of the house organized.

Moving Along into 2021

Happy 2021!!!  Let's hope this year brings more love, tolerance, understanding and acceptance.  It's not starting out so great, but I'm hoping that is just carryover from last year.  Kind of like a hangover.  It's time to get the toxins out of our system and start making a better world for everyone.  

Since the world continues to be off limits, and I'm spending almost every waking hour in my house, I decided I'm going to set some goals for myself.  I'm going to try new things, be more disciplined with my knitting and sewing and read more.  I'm also going to spend less time mindlessly playing games on my phone and surfing social media.

My first 'try something new' was making yogurt in my Instant Pot.  It's actually quite simple, just two ingredients.  A friend walked me through the process, which took most of the fear out of it.  I used the cold start method since I was using ultra-filtered milk.  My friend told me that the longer you let the yogurt ferment, the tangier it gets.  I'm not a fan of real tangy yogurt so I cut things off at 7 1/2 hours.

The next morning I enjoyed a bowl with blueberries and granola.  It was quite yummy.

Next time I might let it ferment a little longer.  It makes a lot so I need to figure out if I can make a smaller batch next time.

After all of my Christmas gift knitting, I decided I wanted to make something for myself.  After a quick scan of my stash, I pulled out the yarn I bought to make Love Notes and cast on.  I heard that this was a quick knit, which contributed to my decision.

Squeaks agrees that this was a good choice.  She finds the yarn particularly soft and cozy.  Her approval means a lot since she is a connoisseur of mohair.

Speaking of Squeaks, we've noticed that she enjoys watching television.  The other evening we watched Nature on PBS.  The show was about squirrels.  She took a front row seat to make sure she didn't miss a single second.

Time to move along and begin my day.  Later is another bridal shower for Trisha.  She and Craig have officially postponed their reception to December, but they are still getting married next month.  Details aren't finalized.  Stay tuned for pictures.

 

Busy December

Right after the last post, my job went totally sideways.  I won't go into details.  We'll leave it at as soon as I get an opportunity to leave I will.  It makes me very sad.  I've been in my current position for over 4 1/2 years.  I've been told my work is highly regarded.  It's frustrating how just one person's opinion can change your entire life and the positive opinions of others no longer matter. As a contractor I have no recourse to fight what is happening.  I can only look for other work, which is what I am doing after the new year.

Enough of that.  Now on to what I've been up to the past month.

Thanksgiving quietly came and went.  We had dinner at Trisha and Craig's new house with his parents.  I made the turkey and everyone else contributed sides,

Later that weekend, before Blake went back to Cincinnati, we put up our outside Christmas lights.  Every year I put the tree of lights up in honor of my dad.  I love the picture below with the full moon coming up in the background.

The next week we had our first snowfall of the season.

I made several kinds of cookies this year, including spritz, peanut blossoms, snickerdoodles 

and cutouts.

I even tried macarons with marginal success.

Kristin put put tree.  Squeaks decided it is her favorite place to nap.

This year everyone was excited about the Christmas Star, the conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn.  The skies were overcast on December 21 so we didn't get to see it at its best, but I did get this picture on December 22.

This was the first year we stayed at home for Christmas.  I have to admit, I liked the slower pace.  Ed, Kristin, Blake and I had a nice seafood dinner on Christmas Eve.  I pulled out the good china and my mom's crystal wine glassed.  Our church restricted the number of people so I just 'attended' mass via YouTube, sitting in the glow of our Christmas tree.

We had our first white Christmas in over 10 years.  I've heard conflicting dates since the last one so I'm not sure how long it has actually been.  

Trisha and Craig came over.  We spent the day opening gifts and eating way too many cookies.  I made a rib roast for dinner, which was a huge hit with everyone.

The main reason I have been absent from the blog for over a month is that I was in major knitting mode.  I had the Christmas knitting for the kids to finish.

Blake got Rift from Jared Flood.  He loves it and it fits him well.

The girls both got the Weekender sweater by Andrea Mowry.

Kristin wanted hers to be grey.

Trisha chose charcoal for her color.

Craig got a pair of heavy wool socks.  He is a construction manager and spends a lot of time outside.  I thought these would be good for inside his work boots.

On the Sunday after Christmas the girls and I went down to my sister's for a bridal shower for Trisha.  Not many guests were able to make it but we had a good time.

The status of the wedding is up in the air right now.  Trisha and Craig are trying to move the date back in hopes that more people will feel comfortable with attending, but the venue is taking a hardline on rescheduling.  I pray they get a satisfactory resolution to their request.

That's about all there is to report now.  I'm taking this week off work.  Trying to decompress from all the stress life has thrown my way lately.  It's lots of knitting and mindless television.  Just what the doctor ordered!!

 

Do Rainbows Travel Around the World?

Last weekend was bachelorette party weekend for Trisha.  A group of us travelled to Pigeon Forge, Tennessee to celebrate.  More on the weekend later in this post.  While driving back on Sunday, we had rain on and off the entire trip.  After we got a couple hours away from home, we started noticing rainbows in the clouds.  The rainbows lasted for almost the remainder of the trip home.

This morning while reading through some of the blogs I follow, one talked about seeing a lot of rainbows while out on a walk.  The lady who writes the blog lives in Wales, UK.  The post was from Thursday.  It struck me that given where she and I live and the way weather patterns are, it very well could be the same weather system that was in the Ohio area on Sunday.  It struck me that maybe God is sending rainbows around the world to let us know that things are going to be better soon.  That's my hope at least.

Still slogging away on the sweaters for the kids.  No pictures, though, to show progress.  You'll just have to trust that what I say is true.  The second sleeve of Blake's is almost done.  I'll finish that today and then see what's to be done to assemble it.  Both girls' sweaters are at least up to the armscye.  Kristin's is front panel is complete.  I'll get the back panel of hers going today also.  Overall, I'm happy with the progress I am making.

I've started my Christmas shopping.  There was something I tried to get each of the kids back in the spring with the lockdowns first happened.  The game I wanted was nowhere to be found, not even Amazon.  The other week I did find it and was able to get one for each of the kids.  I also found some stocking stuffers. yesterday while I was at World Market buying the brining bag for our Thanksgiving turkey.

As mentioned earlier, the girls and I went away for the weekend for Trisha's bachelorette weekend.  

We stayed in a nice cabin in the Smokey Mountains.  It was beautiful even though the trees were past their prime color.

Friday night after everyone arrived, I made a big lasagna dinner.  It happened to also be Trisha's birthday, so we had cake to go with the lasagna, salad and wine.

After dinner we did our own wine and paint party.

The girls went on a hike during the day Saturday.  I stayed at the cabin because I had too much wine Friday night.  Saturday evening a party bus picked us up and took us into to town where we had dinner and cruised around for a few hours.  As you can see in the picture above, Trisha had a very good time.

COVID restrictions have ramped up again here in Ohio.  The wedding is 3 months away.  I just pray that she get the special day she is hoping for.  No matter what happens, Trisha and Craig are getting married on February 14, 2021.  We just don't know how big the party will be.  Let's hope those rainbows were a promise of better days soon.