Blog Catchup

It's been months since my last posting. Months filled with loss and despair and joy and sadness and fulfillment. Let's see...

I Lost Lori
My "Sister from a Different Mister," Lori Reynolds passed away in hospice on December 12, 2016. I was privileged to spend time with her in her final days, taking her for wheelchair rides and holding her hand. Toward the end, when she lapsed into her final coma, all I could do was sit beside her, hold her hand and sing "Amazing Grace" to her. The photo above is how I remember her, from happier times. This is how she looked at hospice:

Fuck cancer. It was Lori's passing that made updating this blog so difficult. I wanted to write a memorial to her every day, but writing seemed to make it real. I just couldn't bring myself to do it. Needless to say, this dampened my enthusiasm for Christmas and New Year's Eve. Lori's memorial service was April 8th at the Cuyahoga Falls Eagles. Here is a link to her obit on Ohio.com.

I Gained a Roommate and a Cat

In February, my buddy Joe moved in with his cat, Dirt. Joe's home situation was deteriorating and he needed to save money for his planned May move to Los Angeles with his girlfriend, Jade. I have lived alone the vast majority of my life, so I was worried about the compromises that would be required to share living space with not one, but two sentient creatures. Fortunately, I love Joe well and truly like a little brother, so that part wasn't too difficult.

Dirt, though, was another matter. I had to overcome my cat allergy and adapt to his curiosity about everything in his new home. He liked to eat my houseplants. Several he just dumped onto the floor. He was into everything/anything. But something weird happened as the weeks flew by. With Joe spending increasing more time Jade's house, Dirt and I started to bond. When I came home in the evening, he was waiting for me at the door, wanting attention. When I sat at the dining room/office table, he would paw at me, wanting to be held and petted. I grew to love the sound and feel of his purr. In the final weeks before they finally moved to L.A. on June 26th, he slept beside me and walked between my feet in the morning, trying to get me to stay with him. I can now honestly say that I miss him intensely.

And of course, I miss Joe. Saying goodbye to him was the hardest thing I had done since Lori died. Don't get me wrong, I am happy he chose to follow his dreams with the woman he loves. I just miss him so much. Here he is with Jade, just before they left:

And here he is from a modeling photoshoot he did a few weeks before his departure:

I'm so proud of him!

SAP Project Consumed My Life
I was put in charge of my company's conversion from PeopleSoft to SAP last year. Starting in March, I was working 10-12 hours days all week with at least another 4 on Saturdays. The 50-60 hour weeks were hard, but I had a good team and we got the work done. Starting Friday, June 30th, I worked 12 straight days, most at 16 hours each. The project went live on Wednesday, July 5th and implementation was successful, even smooth, by most accounts.

Among my many duties was making sure the Project Team of up to 20 people got lunch during the project phase and 3 meals per day during GoLive implementation. Of course, this meant lots of pizza and sub and Chinese delivery, seldom healthy options. Long work days + bad food + exhaustion + lack of gym time = sad Tim. Time to get back to my healthy routine.

Looking ahead
I plan to take a couple of weeks off work in August. I'm going to L.A. for a week to visit Joe & Jade & Dirt. After that, I will hit either San Francisco or Seattle. In October, my employer is moving locations and I need to oversee the I.T. infrastructure. Huzzah, another major, time-consuming project to look forward to!