A Month of May - Kitchen Sink Style Entry

I am pretty sure I did not get the health and human services job. I got a notification from Indeed that they opened the same investigator position a couple weeks ago. My application status still says "screening". I am annoyed because I have to answer 2 essay questions, participate in a dual panel interview that lasted an hour, and then take another hour immediately after the interview to complete a mock investigation example and send to them. Yet, you can't send a generic email saying "no thanks" or update my online status? Rude.

However, good news is that I am being screened for another department and higher position at my current company, and I am under consideration for a position with a competing company. FINALLY. I had an AI interview for the role with my current company last week. I am still being screened, so fingers crossed. 

I recently started watching The Staircase on HBO, about that true crime case with Michael Peterson. I have not heard any podcasts or anything else about it, or watched the documentary on Netflix. I am kind of interested in listening to some podcasts about it, but I think I will let the show unfold, and then listen to them after it's done. Miles and I are watching Peaky Blinders on Netflix on the weekends, and I just finished the last episode for Outlander, I think they are splitting season 6 because of the actresses pregnancy. Or that's what I've heard. I watched the final part of Ozarks this week and like how it ended. I really like that show, but definitely have to be in a certain mind frame to watch it. 

Recently I read Inferno: A memoir of motherhood and madness by Catherine Cho. It was good, but really sad, and went through her experience of developing stress induced postpartum psychosis around month 3 postpartum. Part of the book was her talking about some childhood trauma she experienced from her father, who had anger issues. I think it is weird that I can read other peoples experiences with this, and have such empathy, but I think back on my childhood and think "it wasn't that bad", but it was bad. But I don't cry or get upset for myself, but I can feel it through other people's words. 

I also finished Nine Lives by Peter Swanson, which was inspired by Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None, and made that quite clear in the book, even referencing her book. I found the reasoning at the end to be quite lame. This is the second Swanson book I've read, and I do like his writing style. 

This week I listened to a YA fantasy series (3 books) called the Folk of the Air series by Holly Black while doing things around the house and running errands. It was an okay series, it was YA though, and more about fantasy/lore than the romance aspect, which I can only take so much fantasy without the *yearning* romance part of it. If there is not a unrequited love, or destined pair, or some kind of longing, no thanks. However, I found her world building and story telling to be creative, and recently listened to her first "new adult" fantasy release, Book of Night. It was okay, interesting world building and magic system I haven't yet read from other fantasy authors.

Last weekend (wow, seems like much longer), I absolutely devoured Sarah J Maas's Crescent City books, House of Earth and Blood, and House of Sky and Breath. So good. IMO, I liked them more than her other series, Throne of Glass and A Court of Thorns and Roses. They were just more adult fantasy, myth, magic, and world building. The writing was more grown up. She started her Throne of Glass series when she was in high school, and the writing shows. 

I am considering starting some Brandon Sanderson, but while the books themselves don't see so daunting, like in hand, I looked up the audiobooks from my library and even the younger Mistborn series is 45 hours per book. His Oathbringer series is like 57 hours. Sooooo, yeah. I think I may pause on that for now, maybe start them later this year.

I have been experiencing stomach pain lately and had a sonogram, but everything looked "normal", according to my doctor. I am annoyed because the area right at the bottom of my ribs, like where the gallbladder and liver are, and the kind of top area of your stomach, feel really hard and almost bloated, even when I don't eat or drink anything. I have been increasing probiotic and cultured foods, fiber/vegetables, and following some GERD diet things, like limiting dark chocolate and spicy foods, having smaller meals, and I've also reduced salt. I've been keeping to eating at least 3-4 hours before bedtime as well, and on my days off I generally don't eat until noon anyway. 

I am wondering if I will need to eliminate entire groups of food to figure out what the issue is. My heartburn has gone away though, that has been very nice, especially since I take a turmeric supplement at night that used to cause heartburn, but I think because I am sleeping better it is not bothering me. I am considering eliminating dairy altogether, but I really love yogurt and cultured cottage cheese--and of course regular cheese. I don't drink milk, but I do use half and half, but have been subbing that with oat milk creamer without an issue. I know that the dairy things I eat are not as problematic as having a glass of milk because they contain lactase, but eh, maybe I will just keep a food diary. How annoying.

Home Office reorganizing efforts are still in progress. I spent some time in there this weekend, and have a donation box going, was able to toss a full kitchen sized trash bag of stuff, and a bin of recyclables. This is mostly artsy stuff I have that was stored/has been stored, and I haven't touched it for years. Like, scrapbooking stuff, I haven't done any scrapbooking for so long, and I only got into it because a friend of mine in Utah was really into it (when I lived there!). So, those supplies and tools are in the donation bin, and everything else I tossed. I am in a "no mercy" mind frame in throwing things out, if I haven't used it in the last couple years, or it's not a specialized tool or supply, it's gone. 

I bought myself the Lego Botanical Bird of Paradise set as an early birthday present. I was thinking it might not be available in September, but it is still available online at Target. I really like the floral bouquet they had, but the bird of paradise had really caught my eye. I think it would look really good in my office with the rest of my (live) plants, or on my bookcase. 

I don't know why I have to give an "event" for this purchase, maybe because it is for purely fun? I buy myself whatever I want (within reason), whenever I want it, so why this hurdle? I am having the same issue with buying myself a Nespresso. Yet I buy books (some books, I get most from the library) whenever, or like when I decided to buy some perfume because they were having a memorial day sale, and it's one of my favorite scents. 

Maybe this is just something associated with growing up poor. You didn't buy things purely because you wanted them, it was a necessity, and something you maybe had to wait to purchase as well. Or you waited for it to go on sale (like the perfume). 

Anyway, I have been adding and editing those post over the last few weeks, so no, I did not read like 8 books in one week. Lol. I better get on to my homework.