Sunday Salon/Sunday Post - September 28, 2025: Happy Birthday Jack!

Our boy is turning 14! And he is ready! His actual birthday is Wednesday, October 1. He already plans to ride his bike to the Kroger up the street and get a job application tomorrow, as they told him they hire 14-year-olds when he rode his bike there last month to ask. Dude has plans. 

Today I'm linking up with Sunday Salon and Sunday Post to recap my week including my reading, good things, and goals for the coming day/week/etc. You should check out some other posters, too!

What I'm reading this week:

I'm still reading Dear Writer by Maggie Smith (seriously at like 90% all week, but need to write a poem and in an ick headspace most of the week) and We Are the Match by Mary E. Roach (really enjoying this one - may finish today) on my kindle, and started A Cold Trail by Robert Dugoni in a print book (super good, and didn't even realize it's #7 in a series!). 

Three Good Things:

1. I think I found a neighbor to deliver McDonalds lunch to the birthday boy at school! Wednesday birthday isn't ideal, and he was bummed that we'll just go out to dinner that night. I had two days off for hubs' surgery last week, and need more days off for his recovery appointments, since he can't drive yet. So I posted on the neighborhood Facebook group for someone to have $20 delivered by me today so they can bring him the lunch he'd enjoy more to the school office at the right time on Wednesday. And someone said probably in the wee hours this morning. So, victory!
2. We're having family LEGO day today! Hubs can usually sit for a bit okay, so I got him a Ferrari to build, our son picked a cool Spiderman set, and I'm going to build my Halloween wreath so I can take it to my work desk tomorrow for Halloween decor :)
3. I finally sent our daughter a care package last week, and she loved it! I sent her a funny sign for her bathroom that says, "Please Don't Do Coke in the Bathroom," a pin that says, "Don't forget to water your flesh prison," a mini shark because she's 'jawsome,' some of her favorite fruit strips, some caramel dip for the apples she gets at the farmers' market, and a bag of her favorite caramel apple suckers that are mostly available around Halloween time.

Three Goals for this week/month/whatever:

1. Funny how I keep going back and forth on the jobs thing. I've gotten rejections for lots of jobs I'd be easily qualified for, and I'm completely discouraged. I really don't think I'll get hired for anything else, and will just be stuck here for as long as I continue working. My new goal is to try and match my level of caring to the other team members and managers. The effort for my best work and a quality product is just not appreciated, or at this point, required. There are no rewards for a job
   well done, and more importantly, no consequences for half-assed pushing stuff out. So, I need to try and adjust my level of effort to be just enough to stay employed, instead of stressing myself out. I miss doing work I could be proud of, instead of leaving each day disappointed in myself and what I've done.
2. The office is getting soclose to having room for a table to start my big LEGO set!!
3. The jigsaw puzzle..okay, not getting much closer...but I am determined! Hubs sat down at the puzzle yesterday and was like, okay, how are we doing this? And I had to tell him you take either a blue piece or a white piece and work your way all the way around testing it in every possible spot. Super fun - or not... LOL