Well good morning everyone, I know it has been a while since we have visited, however I am still here. As you all know I live in North Texas, we are having incredibly strange weather, it is December and it is muggy, yes muggy, my hair is so curly it is ridiculous. I try and try to straighten it, but I just look like the wicked witch of the west. Ugh!
It is almost Christmas, almost time for my vacation, almost time to spend an evening with my amazing children. Almost, when it is almost time things seem go to in slow motion. At times I wish I were the Flash and could get everything done in an instant and the almost time would be gone and I would be at the good parts.
I am still reeling that someone who knows the little girl that went through so much found my blog and was able to give us all an update. I am still offering up thanks to God for her health, happiness and safety.
I love my mornings now, I awaken, watch an episode of Angel, have my coffee, ok, coffee is during Angel, then get dressed. I am loving it. TNT is playing the last season of Angel now, they are at the episode where Fred becomes a big blue meanie. I am loving it. I still miss Cordelia Chase, I identified with her character so much.
Angel is an interesting concept, redemption, we all want it, however can we earn it by doing good deeds? The bible teaches us that the only thing we have to do for redemption is to accept Jesus Christ as our lord and savior, accept that he is born of a virgin, died on the cross for our sins and rose from the grave three days later. I accept that. That is heavenly redemption. To gain redemption from our loved ones and those we have wronged here on earth is a different matter. That requires major hoop jumping, I don’t care if they seemingly accept your apology, one still has to show the wronged party they have changed and want to do better. It is a daunting task indeed and few are up to the challenge, but when one is, well it can be soul cleansing.
“Thank you for calling Angel Investigations, we help the hopeless”
Updates
This morning I awoke to a pending comment for my site, it was from a woman wanting all of us to know that A.L. is a happy, healthy nine year old girl who is well loved and cared for. She will never know how happy I was to read that simple statement. A.L. was the child who was tortured and abused by someone I had worked with, I wrote about the case earlier.
I don’t know how this woman found my site, I am just happy she did, God does answer prayers and I know He is looking out for this little girl and will continue to do so.
This weekend was filled with shopping, I am almost done which is amazing, I am one of those people that don’t Christmas shop until Christmas Eve! I only have a few things left to get Freddy and some things for Elizabeth. I will buy a tree on my way home from work on Tuesday and put it on the back porch to “fall”, then this next weekend will be decorating time! So excited, and I only have 6 and a half days of work left, then off for a week! Beyond excited about that.
I have plans to get my nails done, and baking, yes baking, and cleaning out things and more shopping and all kinds of things! I already sleep late, well later than 3am! I now wake up at a normal 6:30 am, I usually get up at that time on weekends as well. So, I will more than likely get up at that time when I am off.
Carpet cleaning was great yesterday, except moving all of the furniture! That stuff is heavy, I managed to get the dining room table on its side to move it, however when the man left, it was really tough getting back upright! Everything is in it’s place now and the carpet is very clean, I had him go over the dinning area twice, as it is a particularly high traffic area. Everything looks shiny and new. So yay me!
TGIF
Thank Goodness It’s Friday! Yesterday was another team meeting, there were even more team members there, and I changed desks yesterday to be closer to my new team. Another productive team meeting, everyone was fully engaged and contributed, it was just plain old fashioned good.
So far this weather has been great, cooler temperatures, we all know how much I love that. Boots, sweaters, leggings and cool leather jackets are the rule of the day. I am in heaven!
This weekend is a very busy one for me, carpet cleaning, the Irishman has his children, he wants to go see the Muppet movie with them. Then possibly shopping with Elizabeth Anne on Sunday. Then work for a week, then the following week one and a half days of work, then off till the Tuesday after Christmas! WooooHooooo! So excited, I love Christmas, I love this time of year. This is the only time I actually cook, like real food. I know!
I hope everyone has a great Friday and enjoys their weekend!
Simple Comforts
I love this new schedule, I find I love having a leisurely morning where I drink my coffee, sit and read the funny papers (online) and Dear Abby. It almost feels like working part time hours, I am no longer exhausted to the point where all I can do is come home and lay on the sofa. Now at the end of the day I still have energy, I can stop at the store, go shopping, do laundry, in other words a normal life. It feels good. I feel human again, I honestly did not realize how tired I was until I started working this shift, and realized how good I felt, physically.
I am still getting used to the Mac keyboard and the different ways I can spell check. I always use spell check, I am a fast typer and mistakes are inevitable. The last time I took a timing test I was at 95 words a minutes, with minimal mistakes. Of course that was looking at words on a paper and typing them. When I am typing something from a paper, I don’t even see words, I see characters. I don’t even know what I am typing until it is over, then I read it.
A lot of times I write out my thoughts then type it, I am very old fashioned. There is something about putting pen to paper, it clears the mind, one becomes more cognizant, at least I do. It could be due to the fact that when I was growing up there were no computers in houses, we had a typewriter, but it was a manual one, and difficult to use if you were a fast typist, the keys would get tangled if you went too fast. So writing on paper was it for me. It is comforting to me, that creative process.
Oh well, I must stop now, get dressed and go to work to help the people with their internet connections!
When Did Integrity Become Unpopular?
When did integrity become unpopular? When did doing the right thing become something of the past? These are questions I ask myself these days. Growing up I was taught by my Grandfather and my Dad that I come from a long line of people that stand up for people who cannot, for whatever reason, cannot stand up for themselves. We always do things the right way, even when it is inconvenient. Even if it makes us unpopular, we stand up for what we believe is right. Because in the end, when you are standing in front of God, you have to answer for not doing the right thing. Just because you can do something doesn’t make it right, just because it is not illegal doesn’t make it moral.
Being raised the way I was, becoming a Union Steward was a perfect fit, at least that is what I thought. Working in the core telephone company, I didn’t see members (that is how we refer to dues paying union members) taking advantage of lower seniority people. Seniority was and continues to be respected by the members. When I moved to a subsidiary, I began seeing things that were questionable. You expect management to try and get away with skirting around seniority, but you don’t expect your peers to do it. I admit it took me a long time to see this particular thing.
But when I did, I questioned it, I was told this was just the way it was. I became a Union Steward, I fully admit, since this did not effect me, I didn’t pay that much attention. Last year, I noticed someone with very high seniority, who had vacation the week of Thanksgiving, has signed up for Thanksgiving Day and the day after. I asked her about this, I said aren’t you going to be in California. She said oh I took that shift for someone else, and she named the person. This person was much lower in seniority than I. I said you took a shift I could have gotten with my seniority and worked and gave it to someone with lower seniority? I was furious, so I began to pay attention and talk to other members. I was told there was another union steward that does this every holiday. He takes a shift, he has no intention of working, so he can give it to a lower seniority person that would never get that shift otherwise. Thus making sure the people in between never have the opportunity to get that shift. Seniority was circumvented. Later after the holidays I spoke to the chief steward regarding this situation. I talked for two hours before she seemed to understand how this circumvented seniority, even though she had been an offender herself. She said she would speak with the one who was the most obvious offender.
Well, a year went by, no one came to me, thus I thought he had stopped. This Thanksgiving, someone said I believe he has done it again, so I checked and sure enough, he took a shift he had no intention of working with the intent to give it to the same person with lower seniority. What makes it obvious is that it is the same person every time.
I sent a text to the chief, who was clearly irritated I would not let this go. She finally said are you just pissed you didn’t think of it yourself, I would have done it for you. I said the difference is I would never have asked. She then went on to say she saw nothing wrong with it and I was ordered to let it go.
I talked it over with the Irishman, he was very angry with the situation as well, and it does not effect him. He wrote a post on her Facebook wall, which she ignored for almost a week, then when she did answer it was filled with double speak and political correctness. She deleted his post. So he created a note and posted it to his Facebook, I shared the note, as I thought it was well written and stated nothing but fact. I was attacked on my Facebook by two people. Please note I was not the one who wrote the note, however I was the one attacked for it. I was called classless for sharing it.
I then spoke with the chief who threatened to sue me if I did not take it down. I resigned from being a union steward, I am not afraid of being sued as everything that was said was the truth, however I was tired of fighting for something that people in power had no problem with.
I have thought about this for a long time, I am disgusted by the behavior of circumventing something that is so precious to us. It is all we have really, I have worked hard for mine, which my chief said I did not, I simply showed up to work and filled a seat and managed to not get fired.
I want to know when it became ok to treat people like they don’t matter, that what they have worked for doesn’t matter. Those are questions I would like answered. I can only surmise that not everyone had a dad and a grandfather like mine.
My Cousin Gary
I found out last night that my cousin Gary passed away, he died of cancer. I am not going to pretend to have been close to Gary at this stage in our lives. What I am going to do is tell you about the cousin Gary that treated his kid cousin like she was his equal.
When I was 12 years old I noticed that my cousin Gary stopped coming to Grandma and Grandpa’s when the family was gathered. So, being the inquisitive thing I was and still am, I went to Grandma and asked, “Where is Cousin Gary?” Grandma “He’s in the Pen.” Me “I dont’ know what that is Grandma” Grandma: “It’s jail.” Me: ” Why is he there?” Grandma: “He was framed.”
That was my grandma, if any one of us got into trouble it was never our fault, I miss having someone in my life with that kind of blind faith. However, even then I knew it was not the truth. So I went to my cousin Cindy and asked her why Gary was in “The Pen”. She told me, Cindy is always honest, always has been, always will be. The woman sugar coats nothing. I am not going to tell you what it was for, as that is neither here nor there, what I will tell you is he was not framed.
Some time later, I don’t remember exactly when, my grandmother asked me if I would write to Gary, as he was lonely and missed his family. I am sure she asked others as well, she never said. I said sure, so I wrote a letter to my cousin Gary. I never expected him to write back, I was just a kid and I was positive he had other things to do, even where he was. He did write me back and we became pen pals, so to speak.
Gary didn’t write to me like I was just his annoying younger cousin, he wrote to me like I was his equal. He got out later that year and began rebuilding his life.
At that point we were no longer pen pals, we were cousins, distanced by miles and age. I’ll never forget how Gary treated me, never like an annoyance, always with respect. So, that is the cousin I mourn today, I mourn that his parents, my aunt and uncle, have to bury their child, I mourn for his brothers and sisters, that they have to bury their sibling, I mourn for his wife and children and grandchildren.
I don’t know how Gary lived his life after the pen, I’ll be honest the last time I saw him was probably at our grandmothers funeral. Like I said, miles and age distanced us. However, Gary, if you are with grandma, can you give her a hug for me and tell her I never bought that you were framed.
Meep, Meep, Meep
This is my first post from our new Mac Mini computer; yes a Mac is a computer, so there. So far I love it, however this keyboard is taking some getting used to. It is more compact; therefore I have to adjust my reach while typing. Interesting.
I have a lot in my head that wants to come out, however it is harder to organize my thoughts this time of year. I have so much to do! So very busy. The Mac, in case you are wondering, is a Christmas present. No, not just for me, the Irishman and I decided instead of buying each other separate gifts, we would get something we both really wanted. A Mac, he has wanted one for a long time and I have always been intrigued by them. Everyone that has one loves it, so this is what we got, I don’t know the details of the machine, if you want to know that you will have to ask him, I just know that we have a huge 27 inch monitor, Cityville is feaking huge on it! Everything is so clear; it is amazing, so far so good.
Typing still taking getting used to, have had to delete and retype words, maybe I just let it go and let everyone see the issues I am having. No, not gonna happen.
I got my nails done this morning, I decided to go with a color, more festive for the holidays, I chose OPI color meep, meep, meep, yes that is the name of it, that is not my typing skills on this keyboard.
Ok, leaving you all now, have to begin getting ready for tonight, don’t judge, it takes a while for me to get all fancy.
Wacky Wednesday
I shall rename today Wacky Wednesday, for no apparent reason. I woke up to having to make my own coffee, which is fine, however I like the Irishman’s better. Once again I am having honey in it, you know it really brings out the coffee flavor. I am rather enjoying it.
My nails are looking rather raggedy right now, nail appointment on Saturday, I think for the season I am going to forgo the french manicure for a color, a holiday color. I am thinking red, I know, original, maybe with some sparkle, since I have a party to go to Saturday night and a football watching thing on Sunday. I want to look festive, I have found the perfect dress in my closet to wear Saturday night. It is red, fitted and amazing, I have only worn it once, then could never wear it again. I got it from Victoria’s Secret so you know it is incredibly sexy. Not something most people think of me as, but at times I can look incredibly hot. So, for Saturday night I choose to look hot, or at least in my mind I will. And seriously, that is all that counts. Shoes, that is the big question, I have the smokin hot Carlos Santana ones, however they are red, would that be overkill, do I go with black to break it up, or go with the red shoes and carry a black purse to break up the red? Decisions. And Sunday, what do I wear? It is a football watching party, do I wear the pink Cowboys jersey I bought to support United Way? Do I wear a cute outfit? I think we all know I don’t really watch football, ok, not at all, I go for the social aspect. I like these people, they are nice and fun, I am in such a quandary as to what to wear. I’ll ask Rachel what she is wearing. Whew, disaster averted.
Ok, I am off to get dressed and start my day, I am still loving my tour, I am finally getting enough sleep and am waking up rested, a heady feeling indeed.
Terrific Tuesday
Ok, so, every day my dad would eat a tablespoon full of honey, he would spread it on his toast, of course this was honey that we got from the honey man up the road. He said that someone told him a long time ago that if you eat a tablespoon full of honey one would never have weight problems. My dad was not fat, so there may have been something to that, or it could have been the fact he was very active and ate healthy otherwise. We shall never know which it was, anyway, Elizabeth Anne told me she started eating honey because someone told her if you ingest local honey it would help with allergies. So, I was at Costco on Sunday and they had a local vendor there that sells, you guessed it, honey. Honey made in Frisco, so, I decided to give both theories a go. I bought the honey and am having a tablespoon in my coffee instead of sweet-n-low, I figure it has to be better for me than chemical sweeteners. It is two weight watcher points and I only have the one tablespoon per day. My coffee actually tastes better, so far so good, don’t really know anything regarding allergies or weight loss as of yet, but the taste is good.
I am looking forward to this weekend, very busy, getting nails done early Saturday morning, then shopping, then Christmas gathering with the Ladies that Lunch, this time no lunch, dinner. We are mixing it up folks! Cause that’s how we roll. I crack myself up.
Elizabeth Anne came yesterday while I was at work, she organized my closet, cleaned my kitchen and, yes, organized my boots and shoes. I love that girl, then as a reward, I took her to Taco Bueno, ok, so Bueno was always in the plans, but still, we went, had good food and good conversation.
I hope you all have a Terrific Tuesday (thank you Anissa for the phrase)!
Wedding Update
So, for all those wondering, I am not getting married December 31, 2011, it was unrealistic to try and plan something for that time of year. It is wickedly expensive and I have to be honest I don’t want to spend the money on that and not spend on Christmas. So no wedding this year, maybe next year, I don’t know. I am thinking I want to get married on a Friday the 13th that is a good luck day in my family. There are three next year, January, March and July, one the year after in September. But how cool would that be, to get married on a Friday the 13th in 2013.
I have to be honest, I am in no hurry, and really at this age the only reason to get married is so that person can make medical decisions for you in case something happens. But I have to tell you, I already have Elizabeth for that slot, she knows not to pull the plug, and I want to live as long as I possibly can. So really, what other reason is there? I can see it when you are young, but I am not a 19 year old, impressionable young girl any longer. I am older, jaded and not very good at planning things. I am also ambivalent toward the whole thing. I mean seriously, what changes with a marriage certificate? I know, I would no longer be living in sin, however in bible days all you had to do was say we are married and boom you were married. Or you walked around a tent three times, I can’t remember exactly, but it was also easy to divorce. The man just said the words; I divorce you, and boom, divorced. Will I be no less committed without a piece of paper? Well I have been committed this whole time, so nothing changes there; a piece of paper will not change that.
I mean I have done the big, white dress, champagne fountain huge wedding thing, I don’t need it again. However if I do decide to get married, then there will be a wedding, a small one, with very close friends and family. It won’t be July, can you imagine? The heat in Texas, at a wedding, ugh. So if we miss the March window, it will not be until 2013.
