July!

   

Where have I been this whole month of July, you ask? Or did you not even notice that I was absent?

It's been a wind tunnel of changes!!!

As expected with any career move, priorities have shifted as my life has taken a new direction. At my previous full time job, I had spent the last four months not doing a whole lot as the owner was slowly inching towards shutting the 35 year old company down. I was avidly searching for a job - but knowing that my big fortieth birthday was in July and I was ONCE AGAIN undergoing a job search, I wanted one that would LAST. I had thought this last one would last, as I had replaced a lady five years ago who had been there for twenty five years and was retiring. I wanted to be retiring from that job in twenty five years myself. But, for whatever reason, the owner of the company did not have the normal, polite, caring personality of a person who would hand down his business to the son in law who had made his business profitable for the last fifteen years. Instead the owner handed over a last paycheck with uncivil ceremony to the son in law.

The writing was on the wall however, from my point of view, since Christmas time. I had been searching for THE JOB that would feature stability and longevity. And benefits. I worked at my last job for over five years and did not take a single vacation. I took a single day off for some surgery and that was about it. So when I handed in my resignation letter, my boss was relieved, as he was able to go forth with putting a sign out front to put the building for sale, etc. Meanwhile, all he had to do was transfer his business to his son in law and many people would have been happy, but that just wasn't in the cards. Now an extended family is in upheaval and at odds with each other, and I am working at my local school district in a building that is less than a mile away. I started there on June 24, and that's when I stopped writing blog posts. I have tons of learning to do as the sole Purchasing Specialist for the entire district, and with summer here my free time is being spent with the family as opposed to cuddling up with a book. Oh yes, I am reading some - but I just don't have the zeal to blaze through books any longer. I am enjoying the sun before it gives me a heart attack, and then I'm simply hanging with the family. Zoo, movies, dinner, swimming etc. I definitely do not have the zeal to sit at the computer during my time off -- I was able to blog and blog some more at the old office, but since that isn't the case with my new career, things will be slow on the blogfront for the rest of its duration.

And my first vacation with my six year old is coming up! We are going to take an extended weekend trip to San Antonio: going to Sea World, Ripley's museum, doing a River Boat ride etc. I have lived near Dallas, Texas for the last nineteen years and yet I have never been to San Antonio. My eleven year old daughter has seen more of Texas than I have!!

This new job offers vacations built in, so when my kids are off from school, I will be off too! The only difference is the summers, but that's fine with me! Can you imagine this positive change in my life? NEVER have I had the luxury of taking days off when the kids were off from school, and NOW I will be off as well! A full week at Thanksgiving, almost two weeks at Christmas, Spring Break.. plus an additional ten days of personal time for the year. Wow. I have been so blessed and I am so glad that I was patient and held out for that perfect job that would be the best fit for my family. And blessed to be working in the business office with so many fantastic people, what a tremendous boon that is, and I am so thankful...not to mention all the extended relationships I am making with the teachers and personnel from nineteen schools.

So, now that you know I haven't really dropped off to the dark side...

 My last post was a review of Patricia Falvey's The Yellow House which put me at the halfway point of the TBR Challenge hosted by Roof Beam Reader. I then started reading the newest Philippa Gregory novel, The White Princess, and got bored so I put that aside to read Elizabeth Chadwick's newest novel on Eleanor of Aquitaine The Summer Queen which I have still to write the review, sad to say. But I devoured that one. Obviously. I haven't met a Chadwick novel I didn't like.

But Gregory is another matter.. as a fellow reader once said to me, perhaps we are outgrowing Philippa Gregory. My last status update on GR regarding The White Princess:

"Put aside to read Chadwick's. This novel was not holding interest anyway. Too many smh & WTF moments for my sanity right now. I'll get back to it, though."
That was July 6 at page 114. For some reason Elizabeth of York comes off as being as interesting as a white wall. And blah blah blah with all the dang gossipy stupid tawdry rumors that Gregory uses with relish, I am just not in the mood. Plus the fact I was sent the book to review, but not with any sort of agreement of WHEN I would review it, and once they told me to post on such and such a date, I'm sorry but I do NOT GET PAID TO WRITE REVIEWS AT YOUR REQUEST. So that just made me hate the book even more, and it was time to step away.

Now I am reading my next TBR Challenge book, Katherine, a classic historical by Anya Seton. This is also a read along at Classic Hist Fic on my Goodreads group, and it's been great reading along with others. I am about 70% through it, and the first half was great but then started slowing down. Katherine's character doesn't seem very dimensional and she aggravates me, but the writing and the story itself keeps me going.

My next read will be Jean Plaidy's Lion of Justice, which is book two in the Norman Trilogy. In my Plaidy Goodreads group we had loved The Bastard King, and so it was unanimous to choose the next in the series. We will start reading that July 28 and I have to work on setting up those discussions before I forget, so I will leave you all now!!

I hope your summers are all about being fun and amazing and most of all, relaxing!!