OFF FOR CHRISTMAS

Yes the schedule came out last week and it is official...I am off for Christmas! I get to wake up at home with my family. I have asked that we do the things I have missed on Christmas Morning the last few years. We wake up and in our jammies we open gifts. After the fun of that we eat breakfast consisting of brown ham and biscuits. Yes brown ham. There is pink ham and there is brown ham. (For those who don't know brown ham is a boiled ham.) After that Eryn, Caleb and their parents come over and we again exchange gifts. Then the rest of the family comes over for lunch. Basically it is who is left from my mother's 3 brothers and their families. This may sound like alot of people but our family has decreased by half in the last decade or so. There were 6 other brothers and sisters in Mom's family. The best part is I get to see my family. Talking and laughing over coffee and fruit cake. My aunt makes an eatable one. The one gift I have asked for is a Scene-It Disney 2 game. Why? Because I play against Eryn and Caleb. There is satisfaction in winning against a 12 year old and a 6 year old.

Thought I was Dead...

Did you think I was dead...me too. I have changed locations, changed careers, changed how I look at my job, changed my insurance company, and changed underwear frequently. During the last year or so life has been a dizzying experience. Mornings were the last thing I wanted to see with a familiar "Not again," groan. Now I am in a new situation. Corporate America and I am starting at the bottom...(wait I have always started at the bottom). I have a drive to move up. My goal is to be in a new position by this time next year if not sooner. One thing I like about this new company is that they take education and degrees seriously! I mean seriously. They have as a requirement for alot of positions having a degree or pursuing one. To them, having a degree of any kind means determination and dependability. If you can put 4 or more years into a goal you are paying for then what can you do for the company when they compensate you for a goal. Compensate... I like that word. And they do try their best to compensate the employees for their work. Not only by giving good salaries but by other important areas such as recognitions and time to celebrate. They have staff people to do nothing but think up ways to celebrate as a company and compensate the workers. They want you to improve and find a job you can love. I want to work hard for them and I will. But it is still a job, which means it is not perfect. I also have been given an understanding from past jobs that I am someone that they can do with out...I believe they call this expendable. I would like to think I was indispensable, but history does not support this theory. So here I go into the unknown. For the 2 people who read this...come along for the ride.

Simplicity

It is the simple things that bring about more wonder than miracles. I am not knocking miracles they are great and needed; but the things that seem to matter more down the road are the things that are ordinary. I can not get rid of the yearning to return to a simple time in my life. Let me descibe it to you. Before the I started my ritual of begining school, I had a perfect life. Early in the morning Mom would wake me up and get both of us ready. She was perparing for work & I was preparing for Grandma's house. After the brushing our teeth and fixing our hair we would go out into the world. Our first stop would be at Johnny V's. This was a small drive thru that sold sausage biscuits in the mornings. We would buy 3. One for Mom, one for Grandma, and one for me! Under a time scehdule, not to get Mom to work on time, to get me to Grandma's before Mr. Ed came on the TV. I didn't want to miss Mr. Ed. Forget My Little Pony, Mr. Ed could kick those stupid ponies butt! I would run into the house, sausage biscuits in hand, and jump on to my perch. Grandma had a brown chair with huge arms on each side. Arms bing enough for 5 year old me to sit. There we would eat our biscuits and watch Mr. Ed's next adventure. It was perfect. It was simple.