Who Is ‘Chelle?

This year marks my 17th year working at i3 Verticals (formerly known as Kiriworks).  I still love what I do, but always wish I was independently wealthy and didn’t have to work ever again.  I haven’t had to go into the office since 2020 and I love being able to work from home.  It does provide some challenges, like thinking that doing a load of laundry or emptying the dishwasher in the middle of the day won’t disrupt my day, but it sure does.  The hardest part of working from home is when mom calls in the middle of the day and asks “Whatcha doin?”  My response every time is “Uuuummm – working!!!”  

The end of last year brought about some good and bad news.  Toward the end of July, Bradley finally bought a new house and out on his own.  When he moved out, he also took Cheech and Chong, much to my dismay.  I didn’t realize how much I would miss them, so I ended up getting my own replacements – Little Dipper and Crazy Daisy.  They are brother and sister black and white tuxedo cats and they are adorable.

Shortly after getting the 2 new kittens, we had to have Lucy put down.  She stopped eating for a day or two and when I took her into the vet, they said she had more blood outside of her veins than inside.  We could’ve done an emergency surgery to see where the bleeding tumor was, but that was going to cost $6000-$8000 and it wasn’t a guarantee that that would fix the issue.  It was a heartbreaking day.

Then in October, I had a breast cancer scare.  I had to go in for biopsies and multiple exams, but everything turned out to be fine.  At the beginning of December, I had another scare.  This time, it was something to be concerned about.  I was diagnosed with endometrial cancer.  I will be undergoing surgery for a total hysterectomy on Valentine’s Day 2025.

The bad news continued right up till the end of the year.  As of December 19th, Dad became bedridden, but with dementia, he couldn’t remember that he was supposed to stay in bed.  So, when he would collapse to the floor, Mom would call me to help get him back into bed.  For the last 3 weeks of the year, I went to Mom and Dad’s house up to 3 times a day to help with Dad, clean him up, and get him ready for bed.  It all concluded on the 30th when Dad passed away peacefully in his sleep.  

I’m trying to start 2025 on a better, happier note.  Obviously, that will have to wait till after my surgery, but I’m going to give it a shot.  This is the year that I’m going to remake myself and become who I want to be.

Sidetracked Sisters

You may ask, “What is Sidetracked Sisters?”  Well – we are 2 sets of sisters that truly embody the word “Sidetracked”.  When we get together, we have a very hard time staying on one topic.  Frequently one topic will start and before that can be completed, someone has already moved on to the next topic.  We love each other dearly, but also love to pick on each other just as much.  One of us is a control freak, one of us is a little flighty, one of us is sensitive and the other is analytical.  When I give these descriptions – I have certain sisters in mind.  Now – tomorrow – if asked to classify the sisters again – it will be a different sister that is the control freak, a little flighty, sensitive, and analytical.  We are all very much alike but also very different.