Juggling

Sometimes I think I should have been a juggler. I seem to have so many balls in the air right now it is overwhelming. This is what is happening:

1. I now have 5-1/2 weeks to be out of my apartment and still do not have a place of my own to go.
2. One back-up plan has fallen through completely. The other one is sitting precariously and could go either way.
3. I am currently without a contract at work and don't know what kind of raise I am going to get to help out with my expenses, especially with supporting 2 young adults with little to no help.
4. I have gotten approval to apply for a reclassification of my position at work since the classification review process was rejected by the government after 2 years of work with it. This process will take months to be finalized, and, again, I have no idea what the outcome will be.

I started packing this weekend, but if feels strange to pack when I don't know where I am going. There is a lot of nostalgia attached too. This was the first move toward the new life I had chosen. I believe that now Chapter 1 is drawing to a close. I don't know where Chapter 2 starts, where it will take place, or what will happen. In some ways that is scary, in others it is exciting to be starting another leg of my journey.

I just wish the pieces of this jigsaw puzzle would start fitting into place. I'm trying to hold onto hope and keep a positive attitude. My intuition tells me that all will be well and I need not worry. My mind tells me there is too much to do and too little time to do it in. It is a push/pull scenario. Surely something concrete will rear its head this week. I really do not want to have to move twice. That is very inconvenient for many reasons, and will cost me more in expenses than I can afford with all the disconnects and reconnects involved and paying for people to move me twice. Something has got to give way in my life RIGHT NOW!!!!!!!

Intensity on Friday the 13th

Have you noticed how everyone's life is very busy and overwhelming in the past week? There is an intensity in the air. I have never put a lot of faith in horoscopes, and faith is a word I wouldn't use with them, but rather with my spiritual beliefs. However, one astrologer that I follow is so spookily accurate that it gives me goosebumps. He foretold last week this time, of an intense alignment of the planets that is happening. He said that my week would be intense as would those of the people around me. So ... I paid attention to see if he was right. He was dead on!!!

He tells me I am now finding myself in a situation where I am working to beat the clock. Dead on again!!! I have 8 weeks to find a new place to live and be out of here. If that is not racing to beat the clock, I don't know what is, and it is stressing me out. He assures me I can take a breather and not worry, because it will happen. Let's see.

He also predicts that my deepest, dearest wishes are getting closer and closer. Oh God, I hope so. Time will tell. Perhaps sometimes soon, the emptiness inside of me will go away. In the meantime, I will pray. That is my strongest connection: believing in the one who created the stars and planets. I believe they will all guide me to my destiny.

Mothers' Day

A teacher gave her class of second graders a lesson on the magnet and what it does. The next day in a written test, she included this question: My full name has six letters. The first one is M. I pick up things. What am I?

When the test papers were turned in, the teacher was astonished to find that almost 50 percent of the students answered the question with the word Mother.


Amazing, isn't it, that children would first think of their mother's, even in a science-related test. Today is Mothers' Day. It is a day to show your mother how much you appreciate her in your life. My children gave me gifts. I will give my mother a gift. What will you do for your mother?

Happy Mothers' Day!!!!!!!!!!

Notes

Keyboard speaks of the different types of keys. There are three others he forgot: monKEY, donKEY, and a turKEY, but they are not particularly musical, and they can't open a door.

There is a similar comparison with notes:

Post-it notes
bank notes
musical notes
real estate notes
Lotus notes
note taking
promissory note
to note something (notice)

If we have lots of keys and notes, perhaps we can create a wonderful song.

Do - re - mi - fa - sol - la - te - do
(Doe, a deer, a female deer ... )

:o) Oh happy day!!!!!

Sunshine

Funny ... when I wrote that heading intending to talk about one thing, it reminded me of something else that sort of fits in here. One of the nicknames that I have been dubbed in my life is "Sunshine." The reason for that is that I smile a lot. Just the other day, someone commented on the fact that I am always smiling. I've heard that many times over the years.

I love to smile. I'm not always successful at it because I tend to wear my emotions on my sleeve, but I prefer to live my life wearing a smile. I am a person who can see the extraordinary in the ordinary, and it makes me smile. Someone might see a tree; I see an intricately woven pattern by God's grace, a home for birds and insects, shade from the sun, and a beautiful colour come fall. I also see the strength that God has given that tree to hold on so tightly through the fiercest of winds.

What I actually started to write here were the words to a song:

I can see clearly now the rain is gone
I can see all the obstacles in my way
Gone are the dark clouds that pass me by
It's gonna be a bright, bright sunshiny day.

The sun is shining, and I am starting to feel a little less stressed about my life. I can see some of my clouds beginning to dissipate, although I still don't know what I will see in the clearing. Here's hoping for much more sun. I must remember all the reasons I have to smile!!!!!!!

Hope

Where do you find hope? I know it is in the dictionary between helpless and love. I am constantly searching for hope every place that I can find it. I need to fill the voids in my life. I hate the feeling of hopelessness and emptiness, like the things I want and need will just never be because I can't find them or don't know how to reach them. Even when I do try, nothing seems to come to fruition.

Am I trying too hard? Not hard enough? I don't know what to do. I have tried prayer, horoscopes, Tarot cards, and talking to friends. Every last one of them tells me that there is hope, that the things I need will come but will just take time. That because I have to wait, these things will be beyond wonderful, and I will have a true appreciation for them.

Yes, I will indeed treasure them with my whole heart. Having waited so long for wonderful things will enable me to never take them for granted. I only wish, beyond all wishing, that they will come soon. Some days I think I will lose my mind waiting, only because I lose patience. Please, God, bring these things soon before I go nuts!! Show me how to wait patiently, but please don't take too long.

News

Isn't there any good news on TV? It seems all I ever hear on there is the bad stuff, rather sensationalized. I would love to hear the good stuff for a change. Surely there is more good than bad in this world. Come on people ... give us some of that good stuff. If the crime rate rises because criminals follow suit of what they see on TV, then so too should it hold true that the good could increase as a result of publicizing that. So ... let the sun shine through.

One Journey Ends ... Another Begins

As I write tonight, a friend of mine is in her last 24 hours of life here on Earth. She has courageously fought the demon we know as cancer, but the war shall soon end. At the age of 51, she has had a good life. Sure, it was not without its trials and tribulations, as we have all endured, but the faith that she has has carried her through. She is a wonderful, kind, loving woman. One of God's precious jewels, and God always comes to gather his jewels.

Good night, Michele. May the angels sing thee to thy rest. God bless you!

Cell Phone Hell

You know, if I wanted to be screwed by "Roger" I would want him to be a real man. I promise you that I will NEVER again have a cell phone with a Rogers Wireless cell phone package, EVER. Yes, I am naming them here. This has been hell on Earth having a package with them. Here is the latest scenario.

My son decides he wants an upgraded cell phone, but the package we have (which he has been using all along) has 6 months left on it and cannot be upgraded. I agree to take over the remaining term and will cancel or upgrade with a different company at the end of the term. He gets the new phone, but wants the old phone number, so we are advised to switch simm cards and then Rogers will switch the numbers on our accounts, leaving the accounts in tact, in one month's time. Well ... it is now a month and 3 phone calls later and I find out that this simple request CANNOT be done because it is a "legal" issue. So my son either has to be take the new number and distribute it to his 200 contacts (which he is unwilling to do) or find a friend to take over his brand new contract then take over the one I have with the number he wants, which can now (1 month later) be upgraded. The company who sold us the new phone screwed up telling us that we could make that change, and no one will go good on it because they say they "can't." We live in the same freakin' house and both agree to the changes, but NOOOOOO it can't be done!!!!!!!

I am so ticked off. I have called them on at least 7 other occasions trying to sort out different issues with them. I will NEVER, NEVER, NEVER have a phone with them again. I will go without first. This is THE WORST customer service I have ever received. I will certainly advise my friends never to use their service. This is unbelievable!!!!!

I've Earned This

It is amazing. Our office is moving back to our permanent home next week. We have been in an awesome office environment for the past 9 months, with lots of natural lighting and big work areas. We are going back to a building that is dark, dingy, and with work areas smaller than what we had before we moved out of it.

This year will mark my 25th anniversary of working with my company. I am senior staff member. When I first started working there, I had a window, open space to work in, and a workload that actually allowed me to be bored from time to time. Now, 25 years later, I have 4 times the work, less space, less light (in fact absolutely no overhead lighting in my new cubicle), and little time to even breathe.

I am beginning to feel like a mushroom: kept in the dark and fed bullshit. Gee, I've worked here for a quarter of a century. I have earned this!!!! Gee, MouseGuy, I guess I will be in a dungeon too. Keyboard, does that cave of yours have any better lighting? Unbelievable!!!!!!! All in the name of advancement.

Hopes and Dreams

When God is about to do something great, he starts with a difficulty. When he is about to do something truly magnificent, he starts with an impossibility. — Armin Gesswein

It would seem that my house hunting, with all its restrictions, is an impossible task. I hope this quote is right, and that it will be magnificent. I've been waiting a long time for a lot of great things in my life. I hope they are all magnificent when they finally arrive.

How Men and Women Think Differently

The following are definitions as men and women see them. I think I am part male when it comes to some of these. (haha)

1. THINGY (thing-ee) n.
Female ... Any part under a car's hood.
Male ... The strap fastener on a woman's bra.

2. VULNERABLE (vul-ne-ra-bel) adj.
Female ... Fully opening up one's self emotionally to another.
Male ... Playing football without a cup.

3. COMMUNICATION (ko-myoo-ni-kay-shon) n.
Female ... The open sharing of thoughts and feelings with one's partner.
Male ... Leaving a note before taking off on a fishing trip with the boys.

4. COMMITMENT (ko-mit-ment) n.
Female ... A desire to get married and raise a family.
Male ... Trying not to hit on other women while out with this one.

5. ENTERTAINMENT (en-ter-tayn-ment) n.
Female ... A good movie, concert, play or book.
Male ... Anything that can be done while drinking beer.

6. FLATULENCE (flach-u-lens) n.
Female ... An embarrassing byproduct of indigestion.
Male ... A source of entertainment, self-expression, male bonding.

7 MAKING LOVE (may-king luv) n.
Female ... The greatest expression of intimacy a couple can achieve.
Male ... Call it whatever you want, just as long as we do it. [I can relate to the male interpretation here too. Yummy!!]

8. REMOTE CONTROL (ri-moht kon-trohl) n.
Female ... A device for changing from one TV channel to another.
Male ... A device for scanning through all 375 channels every 5 minutes.

Living Will

Living Will

I, _________________________ (fill in the blank), being of sound mind and body, do not wish to be kept alive indefinitely by artificial means.

Under no circumstances should my fate be put in the hands of cockamamy, ethically challenged politicians who couldn't pass ninth-grade biology if their lives depended on it.

If a reasonable amount of time passes and I fail to sit up and ask for a cold beer, it should be presumed that I won't ever get better. When such a determination is reached, I hereby instruct my spouse, children and attending physicians to pull the plug, reel in the tubes and call it a day.

Under no circumstances shall the hypocritical members of the Legislature (Provincial or Federal) enact a special law to keep me on life-support machinery. It is my wish that these boneheads mind their own damn business, and pay attention instead to the health, education and future of the millions of Americans who aren't in a permanent coma.

Under no circumstances shall any politicians butt into this case. I don't care how many fundamentalist votes they're trying to scrounge for their run for the presidency, it is my wish that they play politics with someone else's life and leave me alone to die in peace.I couldn't care less if a hundred religious zealots send e-mails to legislators in which they pretend to care about me. I don't know these people, and I certainly haven't authorized them to preach and crusade on my behalf. They should mind their own business, too.

If any of my family goes against my wishes and turns my case into a political cause, I hereby promise to come back from the grave and make his or her existence a living hell.

_____________________
Signature

Date__________

_____________________
Witness

_____________________
Witness

Date__________

I Can't Take It Any More!!!!

Something has got to give and give now. I have prayed and prayed and prayed. I've even begged God to help. Why won't the changes I need in my life come? I don't understand. I've been waiting and waiting and waiting and only a few small things seem to change here and there. I can't figure out if any of them are segues into the big changes I need or not. I can't take this one more day!!!

I'm at my wits end. Why won't things come? It damn well better all be worth all this waiting when it does gets here. My patience has worn very thin.

Forward This to ...

Do you hate those e-mails as much as I do that tell you to "forward this e-mail to 10 of your friends or you will have bad luck in the next 3 days." Or they tell you "If you love God, forward this."

I'm sorry, but no amount of forwarded e-mail is going to change fate. All that will do is jam up the Internet with a lot of unwanted e-mails and piss off some of your friends. If the message is a nice one or a great joke, I will forward that to my friends, generally without the "forward this" part. Sometimes I forget to remove that.

For more information about what I mean, click here. This explains it all very well.

And, before you forward to 10 of your friends thinking you will have good luck, think of whether those 10 friends would appreciate the content of what you are sending. Just send the funnies ...

Animals Are Funny

It's another nice day out there. I love the sunshine and milder temperatures. The crows woke me up at 5 a.m. It was funny to listen to them talking to each other. Luckily I was able to get back to sleep.

I was just talking to my daughter too. She has hermit crabs for pets. Strange, but true. She tells me last night one of them decided to change shells as they do when they outgrow the one they are in. She tells me it is really funny to see them "naked." They might think the same thing of her. Who knows. Apparently they make some sort of noise as they shop for shells and stick their claws inside to check it out. Gee ... I guess he is house hunting the same as I am. Only thing is he gets his for free and doesn't have to compete much to find and take possesion of a new one.

Guess I should have been a crab...

A Little Bit of Nothing

I got bored with the old look, so I've taken on a new one. I hope you like it. I almost chose a rose look, but I know my blog friends would never let me hear the end of that one. They are "real men" and don't like pink much, if at all. (haha)

I still haven't found a house to buy, and time is closing in on me. It is really stressing me out. Something has to pan out soon or I will be living in the street. Please say a prayer for me.

I had band practice last night. In one song, the piano player couldn't figure out why the chords didn't seem to fit with the song. Lo and behold, it was my fault. I was singing it wrong. Oh well ... it was actually funny when I realized I had screwed it up. I didn't even hear myself sing it wrong. Amazing ... a real blonde moment for sure. We have a lot of fun at practices and when we lead the congregation on a Sunday morning.

Who got up at 4:30 a.m. to watch the Pope's funeral? Not me, I can tell you that. A friend so graciously reminded me yesterday that my religion would not have existed if it wasn't for an ancient Roman Catholic king that decided he wanted to get divorced and branched out from the RC church to create his own religion that would allow divorce to take place. Got me there, I guess. I still like my church better. I find RC to be too "stuffed shirt" and unwilling to change with the times much. Just my own opinion. Personally, I believe in a universal church of God. I don't believe any religion has all the answers. I like to look at the big picture and not get caught up in the petty details that people fight about. They miss the point.

Anyway, I hope you like the new look of my blog. See you again next time.

These People Vote?

Scary to think ... that these people vote!

While looking at a house, my brother asked the real estate agent which direction was north because, he explained, he didn't want the sun waking him up every morning. She asked, "Does the sun rise in the North?" When my brother explained that the sun rises in the east (and has for some time), she shook her head and said, "Oh, I don't keep up with that."
. . . She also votes!

I used to work in technical support for a 24/7 call center. One day I got a call from an individual who asked what hours the call center was open. I told him, "The number you dialled is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week." He responded, "Is that Eastern or Pacific time?" Wanting to end the call quickly, I said, "Uh, Pacific."
. . . He also votes!

So my colleague and I were eating our lunch in our cafeteria when we overheard one of the administrative assistants talking about the sunburn she got on her weekend drive to the shore. She drove down in a convertible but "didn't think she'd get sunburned because the car was moving."
. . . She also votes!

My sister has a lifesaving tool in her car. It's designed to cut through a seatbelt if she gets trapped. She keeps it in the trunk.
. . . My sister also votes!

My friends and I were on a beer run and noticed that the cases were discounted 10%. Since it was a big party, we bought 2 cases. The cashier multiplied 2 times 10% and gave us a 20% discount.
. . . He also votes!

I was hanging out with a friend when we saw a woman with a nose ring attached to an earring by a chain. My friend said, "Wouldn't the chain rip out every time she turned her head?" I explained that a person's nose and ear remain the same distance apart no matter which way the head is turned.
. . . My friend also votes!

My girlfriend and I were picking up some sandwiches from the sub place last week and she asked the clerk which of two sandwiches was better. The clerk didn't have an opinion but did say that the first sandwich was more expensive. My girlfriend got a quizzical look on her face and asked, "If that's the case, why are they both listed with the same price on the menu?" To this, the clerk responded, "I don't think we add tax to the turkey."
. . . The clerk also votes!

I couldn't find my luggage at the airport baggage area. So I went to the lost luggage office and told the woman there that my bags never showed up. She smiled and told me not to worry because she was a trained professional, and I was in good hands. "Now," she asked me, "has your plane arrived yet?"
. . . She also votes!

Oh well!!!! I vote too, and probably do a few stupid things myself.

Time Change

Over at Sam's Place, Keyboard is talking about the time changing tonight. I have to agree. It makes no sense to me to keep shifting the time. There are other places in the world where they do not do this. Why do we?

I've heard of saving time in a bottle and that is possible when we dry the plants from our garden (thyme). I've heard of people making money from bottling and canning fresh air. I've seen bottles of water from the Jordan River. Perfume bottles contain "Eau de toilette" (that's just gross). But can you tell me how the heck we can "save daylight time." We can increase our efficiency so that we use less time to perform a task, but time is not something we can save. If we could, look how long we could live. We could stop the aging process. Now that, would be something someone could make money from. Hmmm ... perhaps I should look into that. I don't like the effects of aging on my body. Not at all.

April Fool

Hey, Keyboard. I wish I could have seen how quickly you reacted. That would have been a sight to behold. Some April's fool jokes can be funny. Some people play really mean and dirty tricks on people. I don't like those ones, but one in good fun are fun.

No one got me today, thank goodness.