Tag: Cancer

The Rolling truck Stones thing.

Sara Mazariegos

I see a lot of interesting things on my commute, as one of my followers predicted. A lot of people get off at my Metro stop, so I end up trudging to my office in a Walking Deadesque crowd of sleepy people. There are loose tiles on the sidewalks, so every so often someone will trip a little and cause this sound like a ceramic plate being flipped on a table. That helps keep everyone on their toes. The restaurant downstairs has a cleaner who’s always out hosing down the sidewalk, but he’s careful to point the water away from passersby. I still always worry about getting accidentally sprayed, though.

I think of Belle seeing the same folks every morning. “The same old bread and rolls to sell…” It’s become kind of nice, especially because it’s the calm before the craziness at work. Work’s not even generally that crazy. I’ve been answering many phone calls and chats, though. That’s been a new experience for me, but it’s not super challenging, as long as I answer and I’m polite.

And the commute home is a nice little break for reading. I’m always eager to get home and be with Luis and our cats, but since I have the time, why not enjoy a good book*?

Boo successfully had her surgery yesterday, so I was extra anxious to get home and spend time with her. We received so many generous donations and a grant from a local organization that helps families with pets who have cancer. We were more than covered, and I’m so grateful. 🥲


She’s been so hyper after the anesthesia. Hopefully this evening she’ll be better able to relax, thanks to her pain meds and chill meds. She gets the entire guest room to herself, and Luis has been keeping her in his office with him while he works, set up with a bed and her own chair if she wants it. She’s very spoiled.

In writing news, things are still plugging along at 500 words a day. A big moment is about to happen in my draft, so that’s exciting. I’ve been thinking about it a lot, but I wrote the beginning first, since my brain is sequential and writing out of order might just confuse me. Luis is nearly done alpha reading my It’s A Wonderful Life-inspired novel, so soon I will be making edits on that before sending it off to beta readers. I’m liking this whole Stop Pressuring Myself mode of tackling my writing projects. I only hope I won’t get to December and think I could’ve written more.

* Or a bad book, if that’s where I find myself at times.

We were sea anemones spelling out each other’s names.

Sara Mazariegos

I’ve been at my job for one full week now! I’m finally starting to complete tasks on my own (or nearly on my own; I have to get things checked by my “supervisor” before sending them out*.) I think it’s going well. It’s a lot to learn and I’m probably going to be reminding myself that I’m not stupid for a bit, but I’m getting the hang of things. I met my first client yesterday. She came to the office to pick up her package and I showed her the space. She gave me a hug, which was unexpected but nice since I’ve been stressed about getting started.

Since work has been A Lot this past week, I haven’t had much time for writing. I’m a little behind on where I wanted to be, but I’m still doing fine. I made it to 11,000 words yesterday, writing during the first half of the Inter Miami game. 😅 My goal is be at around 80,000 words by the end of September so I can take our anniversary vacation in October.

This makes it seem like my life is way more organized than it is. You should’ve seen me flailing as I tried to learn how to turn on a Mac computer the other morning. Oh yeah, I have a Mac computer at work. My first Mac, and no one is around to help me with it. I’m slowly memorizing commands. Why the hell is it like that, though?

“Oh ho ho, no, we don’t use Ctrl; that would be silly. We use Command. We’ve evolved. We still have a Control button though, yes. I don’t know what it’s for.” – some Apple developer, possibly Steve Jobs, I don’t know how involved he was with this.

In other Sad-But-It’s-Going-To-Be-Okay news, our cat Boo (the one with the stylish pink cone) needs to have an ear and her tail removed because an oncologist looked at the tumors there and said they’re most likely cancerous. So she’s going to be a one-eared bunny cat soon. I’m a little sad about it, but relieved that she’s actually going to be treated. Hopefully she’ll be more comfortable soon. She’s been in a better mood lately, enjoying her cone-free time during the day now, since she’s been a little less itchy.

I have no doubt she will be very cute after her surgery.

Hopefully she will be able to be around for at least five more years. That would make her eighteen. Aside from the masts that have been bothering her, she’s still got a lot of energy and personality. She in no way acts like a sickly cat. Hopefully we can keep her that way for as long as possible.

Until next time,

* She’s not in the office with me. No one’s in the office with me. So I don’t technically have a supervisor. She’s more like my manager. The manager of the customer support team.