weekend countdown - part one

Weekend countdown! Does anybody really read this? Comments on my blog have dwindled to nothing… which either means that I leave you speechless… or I’m the only one reading this… or everyone that reads it is a hardcore lurker… Ultimately I write mostly to entertain myself and I am entertained! A little validation here and there wouldn’t hurt my feelings, though!

The other night Austin was changing light bulbs in my bathroom. I have the big vanity type lighting over the sink that requires the bigger light bulbs. He dropped one – and I said – “be sure you clean all of that up or I’ll end up being the one who gets cut.” Guess what happened last night? I impaled myself on a shard of light bulb glass. It hurt so bad! I stood like an obese flamingo dripping blood all over the bathroom floor. To his credit… Austin ran in with a paper towel and even cleaned up the blood… but wow! That stung! Pulling it out was the worst part!

Nine hours to go until the weekend! It’s supposed to be a scorcher here in Georgia today. June in Georgia, this is to be expected, but I hate it! I hate the hot, muggy weather. The summer that Michael and I got married (two years ago) was hotter than usual (I guess the closer you get to hell, the hotter it is, right?) and that summer I was working for Tommy in a brand new office building. It was so hot that you could see the heat rising off that newly poured blacktop. Whenever I think of hot… I think of that new office. And I think of Las Vegas in July… who does that? It was 118… that kind of heat just saps the life out of you.

*deep sigh from co-worker* You know how I feel about negativity, right? To me… the deep sigh is just a passive aggressive way of saying, “pay attention to me…. Ask me what’s wrong… pity me…” and it’s not that I’m lacking in compassion. It’s just never ending “woe is me”. Life is hard, I know. Sometimes you gotta just pull your face out of the ick far enough to let the sun shine on it. When you keep your face buried in the mud, you miss out on a lot of blessings and you miss out on the opportunity to be a blessing to someone else. Whatever your thorn in the flesh… the world is watching us as Christians to see how we handle it. I hope I’m handling most of mine with humor.

I’m the girl who complains about the complainers. Ha!

Having lunch again today with the red-headed soccer players! They want to treat me to lunch. I’m always available for a free lunch! That lean cuisine lasagna can be dinner. Good times!

Austin is working a car wash with Tasha’s youth group today. They’re raising money for a missions trip. I don’t know that Austin will be able to GO on the trip with them but the money can go towards Tasha’s part of the trip. I love that they’re both actively involved in church. This is good. Austin will go on a mission trip to Myrtle Beach in July for a week.

I’m toying with the idea of a lunchtime bible study. Our office has a great conference room that would accommodate ten people comfortably. I don’t know how many women I know that are in this area during lunch but it would be worth a shot. I’m ready to do more than just sit and soak. Sometimes you gotta squeeze a little bit of yourself out. For a time, when my kids were little, a group of us mommies would get together at the park for bible study… we’d do it right beside the playground… the kids could play while we talked. It worked well.

8 hours to go! I made a grocery run yesterday. My friend Pam works as a checker at the Ingles. She’s a precious lady and I’m always glad to have the opportunity to chat with her. Her divorce story is similar to mine only she was married to a pastor… and they have two children together… I can’t even imagine what disappointment that brought into her life. My life with Michael was always on shaky ground. From the very beginning I knew he was hiding things from me – so to unearth another woman was no great surprise – a great disappointment but not surprise. But to think that you’re married to a Godly man and find out that he’s dishonoring you, your family, his God… how devastating! Pam and I always have a fun conversation while she’s checking my groceries. She commented that Austin must be home… since I was actually buying more than $25 worth of food. I still bought really healthy stuff… just as I wanted… lots of fresh produce, whole grains, fish, beans, skim milk, yogurt… I’m also trying to make sure we’re eating at home and brown bagging to work… I always do this, I just don’t talk about it much. I’m really good at stretching a grocery dollar.

I’m drinking my water today and it’s working like gangbusters… I was UP in my weight this morning which was aggravating but I did have a bit of a pig out last night. Never mind… back on task today… not going to let one night of the munchies lead to another ten pounds… just surrounding myself with healthy options and trying to keep my eyes on the goals I have for a healthy lifestyle. I can do this.

Today’s not been busy. It’s been one of those days that I have ONE issue that I’m having to deal with that takes all my energy, effort and expertise. I enjoy it… learning new things. I also had an issue with a home whose mortgage is through a bank that was taken over by the FDIC. There is a delay in issuing payment for the homeowners insurance through escrow and people have had to pay their own premium, despite there being money in the escrow account. Yet one more example of why BIG GOVERNMENT equals less help for the people instead of more help. I also had an issue *deep sigh* with a co-worker who cannot seem to go the extra inch – forget the extra mile. And her moaning, groaning and *deep sighs* make for a real negative work environment.

Anybody getting the idea that I hate negativity?

Closing in on the 6 ½ hour mark until the weekend. I would consider working tomorrow but I’m not even considering working tomorrow. I’m just operating too close to burn out.

I found a solution, with Duane’s help, for the ONE issue that was consuming my time this morning. This is where it helps to work for an agent who is available and approachable. All the product knowledge in the world doesn’t give me the authority to do certain things. I love when we can go out on a limb and handle things in a way that is still within our guidelines but just makes life easier for the customer. That’s my job. That’s where going the extra inch / foot / mile makes a difference and that’s why it frustrates me when others don’t. it’s well worth it. Happy customers don’t leave. Lots of customers means lots of business and lots of business means jobs. It’s so simple.

I had a great email last night about some of my economic woes from a wise, older mother hen. Her suggestion made me laugh because it’s so simple yet so true – essentially I need to make more and spend less. Just like to lose weight I need to eat less and move more. Maybe all the problems in our lives boil down to these simple types of formulas… love more / hate less, trust God/resist the devil… have more faith/worry less - you get the idea. So for now... I'm going to focus on work more and blog less... hope you have a great afternoon!