The Absolute Worst

 A new champion takes the throne as the Absolute Worst Person I've ever had to deal with as a pharmacist, which is saying a lot, considering she's up against eleven years of contenders.  She's so awful that I've even gone so far as to declare that I won't be speaking with her going forward, which is a very un-leadership sort of thing to say, but hey, I'm a person too.

Sometimes you just lose.

Nostalgia, Part II: Grandma E's House

 Grandma E's house:

• The front porch (screened in)
• The wooden footstool on the porch (it had a painted animal on it -- a puppy?)
• Wind chime
• The diamond window in the front door
• The built-in dining room cabinets (with hidden stereo)
• The green sewing chair (MY FAVORITE THING EVER)
• All the stuff in the end table drawer 
• Marble-topped coffee table
• Tiles in the bathroom
• Taking baths with shaving cream and foam animals
• The hallway clock
• The hallway built-in desk-thing (?)
• Hallway closet
• The sewing room with the cat pin cushion
• Grandma's jewelry boxes
• Big fancy desk (was in Grandma's room, moved to sewing room eventually)
• Aunt Diane's room upstairs 
• Aunt Diane's closet with the curtains
• The completely hideous orange light fixture hanging from a black chain in the kitchen
• Orange counter tops
• Copper pig
• Magnets on the fridge
• Holiday decorations (especially Easter and Christmas)
• THE BASEMENT
• Old rotary phones
• Antique glass vases (I have one of the tall blue ones)
• Zodiac ashtray
• Polka-dot elephant toy chest
• Mom's old Barbies
• The china cabinet full of figurines 
• The dirt cellar (right??)
• The basement tiles looked like ants 
• The basement bathroom wallpaper
• The secret rooms under the stairs 
• The iron and brass owl with green eyes (now in my office)
• Bowling pins and other toys in the garage
• Big Wheels 
• The dip in the sidewalk 
• Washing Grandma's car
• Spying on the neighbors 
• Being afraid of the Praying Hands
• Playing with the ceramic farm animals (especially the chickens) above the fridge (also the metal objects, like the coo-coo clock, which I now have, and I think a well)
• The BIRD I was obsessed with but can't quite remember how it looked 
• Coasters
• Going to the bowling alley
• Spending a week there in the summer
• Ugly green couch with afghan 
• Seeing the red tails on airplanes 
• Grandpa calling me "Tiger"
• Keyholes in bedroom doors 

The One Thing I Know for Sure

The center of my universe has been my insane, magnificent love for my child.  He's only five years old -- so innocent to the absolute shit show of a world we live in -- and yet, when I hold him, I feel safe.

Lessons Learned at 35

 Money can't buy mental health.