2010 kind of vanished...

And here we are in 2011. A new decade.
Ms. Packratty is still at the same employer, but there have been many changes, almost all for the better, including the departure of her manager for a non-managerial job. Ms. Packratty is always distressed when another woman makes a total hash of it, and severely disappointed when a woman behaves worse than men. And that is all she has to say. Suffice to say that her desire to come to work has returned to a great degree.
Charlie is well and happy and somewhat calmer and this is approximately the 5th anniversary of when I went to Alabama and got him from the foster home for Louisiana Westie Rescue. Yes, it's odd, but Charlie was rescued in TN and the closest formal rescue was Louisiana and the lady in AL was the closest person to pick up Charlie and the little girl Westie with whom he was found. Not a day passes that Ms. Packratty is not thankful for Charlie.
The latter part of 2010 brought back a return of Ms. Packratty's knitting mojo and she has completed quite a few UFOs and started a couple of small amusing projects, while staying focused on finishing things before casting on new stuff. However, there always needs to be a relatively mindless project for work. Useful to prevent foaming insanity during printer and scanner installs.
Much progress has been made toward the elimination of debt and savings - although it may be the end of this year before all but the house is discharged. Still, even with making extra payments on things and savings, Ms. Packratty often finds a bit of money remaining at the end of the month. This was facilitated greatly by a bright young AC repairman who discovered that the reason the AC was not cooling was because some aged fire dampers in the ductwork had snapped shut from old age and metal fatigue and were preventing any real airflow between the cooler and the vents. Although the summer was nastily hot, the portable wheel around ac upstairs was not pressed into regular service and the upstairs remained tolerable most of the time.
And on a final note - Ms. Packratty discovered a wonderful product and a lovely service during 2010. The product is Firefly vodka's Sweet Tea vodka made in SC and the service is organic vegetable and fruit delivery from Nature's Garden Delivered which is a special benison during the 4 long months when the Peachtree Road Farmer's market is closed. Ms. Packratty is also enamored of Malabrigo's Chunky and Rasta yarns, but yarn pashes don't count.

She does have three friends who are suffering from long term unemployment and asks any readers to think good thoughts in their direction. For some reason she is quite sure that 2011 will be a better year and hope this is true, especially for these friends.

2011 Reading to Date:

"The World Made by Hand" and "The Witch of Hebron" by James Kunstler.
"The Garden Angel" and "Secret Keepers" by Mindy Friddle.
"The Sound of A Wild Snail Eating" by Elizabeth Tova Bailey.
"Provence A-Z" by Peter Mayle.

In progress "All Clear" by Connie Willis.

I am only counting new reading, no rereads and no books on tape count.



bout to start "All Clear" by Connie Willis.