My son-in-law

[judy]

I missed this, Gayle. I am sorry! I hope that Bryan is home from the hospital, and feeling better! How is Brooke feeling?

Why are they so stressed? Maybe this is a teachable moment, and they will cut down on stressors if they can.

How are Emma and Abi doing? Poor Abi! Big sisters sometimes have to be strict!

[gja1000]

Bryan got to come home Sunday and he is doing OK. He still has pain and tenderness in the lower abdomen, but he is not feeling any worse. It can take some time for a diverticulitis flare-up to go away.

Bryan is stressed because of his job. He was sent to Houston because his company bought a concrete company in Houston - BUT - the previous owner has not yet retired (he is a really nice man thankfully), and Bryan is in charge, but all the employees are loyal to the previous owner and so it makes for some really sticky situations for Bryan. He is trying to learn the company, learn Houston, learn their customer base and generate new customers too. The company is losing money because their operations are antiquated and Bryan will have to clean house and change lots of things - when - the previous owner retires (which should be pretty soon). It was the "deal" that was made when the company was bought, that the previous owner could work a while longer before retiring. Anyway, it will be OK, Bryan just has to walk on egg shells right now. And when Bryan is stressed, it always shows up in his colon - but - he didn't know he had diverticulitis. So, now he is going to have to make some lifestyle and diet changes. When you've never had to do that, it is hard, but he will be OK.

My daughter just basically doesn't want to be living in Houston. It is so different from Austin, plus she has never lived more than 10-30 minutes away from me. So for example, if they still lived here I would have been at the house with the girls all weekend while Bryan was in the hospital. Brooke has had a pretty easy life with not many major bumps, so she has never really learned how to handle hard times. Oh, she thinks she has lots of stress and problems, but compared to what her life COULD be, it is a breeze. But she doesn't see it that way, so that is her reality and I understand that. So, I guess her stress came out in shingles. She also has an anxiety disorder so she can get all worked up and have an anxiety attack pretty easily. She does take medicine for it.

Abi and Emma made it without any blood shed. They are good girls, but Emma can be a little twerp! She is an adorable twerp though!

[DianaB]

That's really hard to come into a job with the last boss still there. Hopefully the old boss will leave soon so things can settle down......even then some people still have a hard time switching to a new boss. I hope things work out well for Bryan!!

[Janet]

If there are people giving him a hard time.....they need to remember that there are others out there wanting their job. Don't know why people can't be more accepting.

I hope your daughter learns to like Houston a little more. It would be so much easier on her.

[judy]

My Dad did that when he sold his business. I doubt if the new buyer had problems though. There were new employees. My father mainly brought the new owner around to meet his farmers and his buyers.

I hope Bryan's "consultant/old owner" retires very soon! That sounds dreadful for him.

Brooke will learn to like Houston when school starts and she begins to meet some other mothers, hopefully. She might also become more independent, which is never a bad thing.

[gja1000]

I found out today that the previous owner has gone to two days a week, which is good, BUT, there are NOT new employees. Most of them have worked for many many years for the previous owner. That is not good, but many are of retirement age, so they may be gone before too much longer. One of Bryan's problems is that he has to modernize the company's operations, and so many of the employees have been doing things the same way for years, so they don't want to change and it creates lots of problems.

OH yes! Brooke becoming more independent is a really good thing. She is very strong, decisive, and can readily take charge of a situation - but I can see now that they are in Houston, how much she really relied on me and how much stress it causes her to be 'on her own'. She'll be better in the long run though, I am sure.

Wouldn't you know it today, someone stole her cell phone (iPhone). They were eating at Chik-fla-a (fast food restaurant) and they finished and walked out to the car. Brooke said she hadn't even had time to get to the car when she realized she left her phone on the table. She went right back, but of course it was gone. She was due for an upgrade so it only cost $200, rather than $400, but STILL, that is a lot of money and A LOT of hassle.

She did not have her passcode turned on, and she had her home email on the phone with lots of important documents in the email folders, so she had to go home and move all her stuff into new folders. YEESH!

I wasn't using my passcode on my phone either, but needless to say I turned it on today!

[Tiramisu]

If only stress were rain! Wish your babies lived closer and I could be a pinch grandma.

My boss that recently transferred out had an iPad stolen and easily convinced me to use a passcode on my iPhone, iPad, and work phone. It's not that annoying to do.