Sunday, November 23, 2008

November – first half

We Cheer for the Wii. It's awesome, cheesy fun! And it is exactly what you think it is... It is actually really hard to do – and even kind of a good workout. I love it!

Training 2 people at a time: We get Christmas help at my job, usually they come in around September. But because business, like so many others these day, is a little on the slow side, we didn't get lots of new people until the first week of November. Hence training everyone at the same time! 2 one day, 2 the next. Some people got it, some didn't. But at this time in the game, it's sink or swim. Some sank, some swam.

Went to a work friend's wedding. It was beautiful. And it was fun hanging out with some of the girls from work. After the wedding, I was showing a friend some of the pictures that I had taken, and I dropped my camera. And the battery door broke – so now it is taped up with electrical tape. It looks awesome... Daniel said that if I wanted a new camera, all I had to do was ask for it. I didn't need to break the one that I had!
And the “breakage” continued the next day. After church, I took my black boots off (my church staple for the winter) and the “leather” ripped right down the front. Great. So I went out that afternoon and got some new boots. It took me about 3 minutes to decide which boots I wanted, but 45 minutes to leave the store. The lady was so busy with so many customers, but was so nice and caring that I felt totally taken care of. Usually in a situation like that, I would just leave. But I loved the fact that she was taking pride in her job and cared about every single customer that she had. Even though I had to wait so long, it was probably the best customer service that I have ever had.

October

Training new people at work – this is especially challenging, seeing as how I just learned what I am having to train, just a few short weeks ago. With things being new, that means EVERYONE is new, even the people that have been around for a while. So I, the trainer, have to answer questions from everyone, including the actual new people.

The lost credit card: I had a missed call and a text message that said, “Please call me asap” from Daniel one day. I knew something was up. He asked me if I had taken his credit card out of his wallet. I hadn't. And he said that it was missing. He went home and checked to see if it was on the computer desk. Nope. And he did check to see if there had been any action on our credit card – but none since I had gone to the grocery store. So he called the credit card company and cancelled our card. The lady said that we would get our card in 5 to 7 days. But then, she looked at our transaction log, we guess, and said that she would expedite our cards and that we would have them in a day or two. So we both felt better. Later, he did find the card under some things on the floor. It had fallen out of his wallet. We were glad to know that it hadn't been stolen. I was glad that he found it on the floor that day, than to wonder what had happened. Better to be smart, then feel dumb – than to be dumb, then even dumber. And we got the new cards, the NEXT day. They had been overnighted to us. Guess they really wanted us to spend money!

I got some new (awesome) jeans. And the first day that I wore them, the button popped off. It's hard to not read anything into that... But I kept telling myself “faulty button” - and that's probably what it was. So the next day, I took them back to the store. I was a little apprehensive about taking them back, since I had already worn them. But I was so excited about the fit and the wash – the jeans were great. I just wanted them to button. But the salesgirl was so nice – she said “of course we'll exchange them for you” and even went and pulled the new pair for me. And then I did some more shopping! You know, since I was there... I had a coupon for 20% the entire purchase – so I took advantage of that!

Fall is definitely here. We turned the heat on today (the 19th). It got down to 67 degrees in the house. And my nose was running. And with both of us being sort of sick, I didn't want to be cold too. The leaves are already covering the front lawn. And the rustling outside at night in the brisk air when walking the dog is a sure sign that cooler days are coming. I'm starting to like fall. It's a great season. I've learned to accept that summer leaves quickly, and not to try to hang onto it, but to embrace fall. I love the leaves falling. And it's still pretty warm during the day, so that I can open the sunroof and have the heat on a little – one of my favorite things to do!

Daniel went to Palm Springs for a conference. And that was when it was unseasonably cold here. Down to the 30s. Me and the dog were freezing, while he was telling me of 90 degree desert days! Poor thing! His luggage did get lost. He finally got it that first evening when he was there. But my suggestion of packing a change of clothes in his carry-on (which he didn't do) didn't seem so ridiculous then!

Went to see High School Musical 3 – in the theater. And since I'm not a mom, nor a 13 year old girl, I went with a friend from work and her son. He was dying to go, and she didn't really want to. So together, the 3 of us, had fun at the movie! And it was great. A wonderful guilty pleasure!

Gas Main Leak/Explosion:
I was heading home for lunch with Daniel – who was home for a “vacation” day. But when I was almost, there was a sheriff blocking the road. He said that I could turn left, or I could turn around. That the street was closed. I asked him if I could just go right there – my street – it was only about 10 yards away. And he said in a snarky voice that yes, even that street was closed. That there was a gas main explosion and that the whole area was being evacuated. I panicked! I tried to ask him where people were being evacuated to – if at all – but it didn't come out right – and he just got ruder. So after driving down the road, turning around, panicking, talking to Daniel – who hadn't heard anything about an evacuation – I ended up just going back to work. So I talked to Daniel about a hour later and he said that the sheriff had just come to the door and told him to leave. He did tell me that he had seen the explosion while he was walking the dog. The gas shot up in the air behind the house on the end of our street – about 3 stories high. He and the dog were “homeless” for 6 hours – she went to the vet, he went to a movie. He tried to go home about 5 pm – after picking up the dog from the vet – but the road was still closed. So he went and got dinner for us – and we ate together in the parking lot of my office – with the dog in the backseat. If I had been evacuating, I would have gotten valuable and supplies, just in case. The dog was getting hungry – and restless. But when he tried to go home the second time, the road was opened. Not the vacation day that Daniel had planned.

Halloween – Dressed up at work, sort of. We all just wore hats. So I got a cute wool newsboy hat that I could wear afterwards. Not a crazy, silly hat. I'm all about the useful.
And our trick-or-treaters – the first group – they were taking prayer requests, to pray for the people that they talked to at a bonfire they were having later. In the second group, a little girl found her lost kitten near our front steps. It was a great trick-or-treating time!
Then after the candy time – all 8 of them – we went to a concert. It was freezing!! But it was fun!

We have decided that if we are thinking about doing something, and we say “Eh” - and give some lame excuse, that we are going to go ahead and do it. Getting out there and enjoying life to its fullest!

September

September began with Marissa & Jeremy's wonderful wedding!
It was so wonderful to be a part of the whole weekend. To see how God has brought these two people together – and how special they both are.

We got involved in a Life Group at church – basically a small group for bible study, discussion and fellowship. God put this group together. I could tell from day one that this group of people was no accident. It will be exciting to see how God brings us closer.

I joined the choir at church. It is fun to be back in a choir. Music is really an important part of my worship. And I love singing. And meeting new people at our church.

I went back to work full time. That first Monday back was pretty hard, after having every Monday and Friday off for basically the past 8 months. And with new stuff happening at work (new systems, new printers, new people) – I just had to jump in – the deep end!

And gas prices went up – something about a hurricane... But when everyone was panicked at lunchtime – Get gas now, they are “running out” - I thought they were just overreacting. That happens quite often. But, nope, when I left work that day, and for the week after, there was no gasoline at the stations. Everywhere I went, you could see bags covering the pumps. As I drove around in my Jeep. But I didn't have to fill up. This is one of the fantastic things about living 3 miles from my office!

I ordered 2 Tampa Bay Buccaneers shirts – to get in the spirit of fall – and football season. I'm usually reluctant to let go of the summer. So this year, I wanted to embrace the fall!

I watched Evan Almighty – it might seem weird that this is a major something that happened this month. But it really meant something to me. The message behind this secular movie was amazing. I thought that I wouldn't like the movie, because of the plot and the stars – but I loved it. And my favorite part: “Let me ask you something. If someone prays for patience, you think God gives them patience? Or does he give them the opportunity to be patient? If he prayed for courage, does God give him courage, or does he give him opportunities to be courageous? If someone prayed for the family to be closer, do you think God zaps them with warm fuzzy feelings, or does he give them opportunities to love each other?”
What a powerful message to (surprisingly) come out of a movie!

I had enjoyed watching the Buccaneers play – well, watching them on the Game Center on the computer. It is amazing to see the red lines “go” across the field. But what is more amazing is the power of my jersey that I wear on game days. It is an Alstott jersey – he retired a few years ago, but the power remains! One Sunday, when we got home from church, they weren't doing so great. Then I put on my Alstott jersey. And they started playing so well! Then at halftime, I went to the grocery. When I got back, the Bucs were struggling – but I put on the jersey and they won in overtime!! The power of the jersey!

I had a very exciting lunch one day, while eating outside at work on the picnic tables. An 18-wheeler was turning out of the side street across from my office and he crunched on something, then stopped. I thought that he had taken out the curb like so many other have done before him. But he had a car underneath his back tires. She had turned behind him, then tried to pass him on the left – but he was just swinging out big – in the right lane, straightening into the left lane. So she got crushed. The driver was ok – just stupid and impatient. And speaking of impatient. Another 18-wheeler that wanted to make that same turn, while the wreck was waiting on the cops, and he couldn't make it. Well, duh, there's a big truck in the way! So he did a little Austin Powers backing up – and took out the mailbox for my office while trying to get around the wreck. And the cop that was there for the wreck ran over and gave him a ticket for that! Quite an exciting lunch!

Had an awesome lunch with Talia. We had a great talk. It was great to have a girly day – and to hear encouragement and love!

So much to do. Too much to do. What do I do? I usually run into the problem of planning too many things to do in the amount of time that I had. It's usually at home. But I did that at work. I thought I could get 5 things done in an hour, but I only got 2 things done in an hour and a half. It always takes longer than I think. Why can't I remember that?

New Blog Location...

So I moved my blog, but didn't actually MOVE it....
So this is what I've been up to: