Kiddo's Bunk Bed Fund

I don't ask for much. Not really. Right now I'm asking for help in trying to get a bunk bed for Kiddo's room. We're getting to a point where it's really and truly necessary to do something about the sleeping arrangements for the kids. Little Bit is just too long for her toddler bed and Kiddo really needs a better bed. I've got Little Bit's room under control - but it's kind of a big secret as to what I'm doing with it. I've managed to spend very little and get quite a bit - though I still need a decent white bookshelf. None of it is at home right now as I am waiting on Hubby to take the kids to see his mom for a week before I begin the transformation. Don't ask me any questions, 'cause I'm not gonna tell ya! But Kiddo's room is another ball of wax. He really needs so much more than she does - but the main thing is he needs a bunk bed. The bunk bed is kind of essential because then when we have visitors, he and Little Bit can share the bunks and our visitor can sleep in Little Bit's room. I don't really know what else to say to explain my reasoning - I'm not really trying to redecorate so much as make sure the kids both have what they need. Little Bit isn't comfortable anymore and Kiddo's current bed is definitely past its prime and should be put out of its misery. So here's what I'm asking. If you feel you can help me with a dollar or two, I've added a "Donate" button on the right side of my blog called "Kiddo's Bunk Bed Fund." I know it's really out of the ordinary to ask for $$ though my blog, but I don't know another way right now. CraigsList has turned up nothing in the 3 months I've been searching, eBay is scary, I don't want a piece of junk from a yard sale - but there IS a bed at BigLots that seems nice and sturdy and it's $229.00. The only other thing is, if I get the bunk bed, I'll need to get mattresses, too...but I guess I'll cross that bridge when I come to it. Anyway - just think it over. Thank you, in advance, for any way you think you might be able to help. TTFN JMS

VBS, Power Outage, Found Friend

Today is Thursday, right? It should be Friday. I'm just sayin'. **** Tonight is the last night of VBS and we're havin' a Hero party. The theme (curriculum?) is Hero Headquarters: Where Kids Join Forces With God. It's been a blast. So last night we passed out little invitations to each of the kids and told them to give them to someone who is a hero to them and invite them to the Hero party tonight. There will be a closing assembly at 5:30, then we'll eat (dogs and burgers etc) and then we'll have a party. Our Youth Director rented 4 huge inflatables, a bounce house, a slide, a Velcro wall...and something else I can't remember at the moment...and a cotton candy machine, a popcorn machine (which actually belongs to the church, I believe) and a Sno-Cone machine. It should be a great, carnival-type atmosphere and I hope it doesn't rain. It has been clear and hot and beautiful every night so far and of course, the one night we really need it NOT to rain, it's forecasting scattered thunderstorms. So we'll see. **** There was a power outage last night at my office. About 3:57 PM the air conditioner thumped and shut off and about 10 seconds after that all the lights and power followed. The power went out and 5 minutes later the phones died, too. (I am reminded of something from Robert Fulgum's All I Need To Know I Learned In Kindergarten. To paraphrase: "The washer got all lumped up on one side and did this herky-jerky lurching dance across the floor and blew itself up. It was frothing around mouth because I guess I must have fed it too much soap, too. Five minutes later, the dryer expired. Like two old people who follow each other closely in death, so closely are they entwined.") So we set up in one of our windowed small conference rooms and dialed in to the Command Center (where anyone effected by an incident calls in to determine what to do) and proceeded to beat the situation to death. In my mind it was simple: No power. No phones. No network or Internet or email. No Light. No air-conditioning. 103 outside. 80 inside. Send. People. Home. It's already after 4PM for goodness sake! But of course we didn't have a hard-copy of our Business Continuity Plan to refer to. And our Emergency Response Plan was in electronic copy, too. So we had a mad rush to find someone, via cell phone, who had access to that information and tell us what to do. About the time the decision was made to send anyone home who had the ability to telecommute, the power came back on at 4:47 PM. Needless to say, I have several copies to print and bind today. **** I was upset on Monday because I was thinking about a friend I thought I lost...and couldn't figure out why. I was even about to write a little blurb about it on my blog here. But I decided against it because I couldn't come up with the right words. And I'd worked myself into feeling a bit hurt. Anyway - about 11:30-ish that morning, I get a text from her. BAM! Outta the blue! She texted (that's a hard word to say, but not so tough to type) me a picture of the cover of a book in a series she and I have been following. I couldn't really see it so I asked her which one it was and she told me. I said, "Oh, I've already read that one! It's been out for about 2 months!" She'd gotten me all excited thinking ANOTHER one had come out already and I was going to have to make good use of the Barnes & Noble gift card that is burning a hole in my wallet. I called her a bit later on my way back to the office just to say hello and make sure everything was OK with her. She's busy and she said she's kind of fallen off the grid, so-to-speak, and hasn't really talked with ANYONE in months. Sad to say it made me feel a lot better to know that, because I really that I'd lost my friend. I'm glad to know she still thinks about me, even if we don't see each other at all any more! Hey G? You know Eclipse is coming out next week, right? I'm headed to the theater on Saturday night - wanna come? TTFN JMS

What's kicking MY rear this year?

VBS is kicking my rear this year. VBS - as in Vacation Bible School. Actually - it's really not VBS that has me all goofy and exhausted all the time, but it is most definitely a contributing factor. Not that I'm complaining. Ok, see, my very good friends K&NM and family went on vacation and asked me to water their outside plants while they were gone. She had a green-thumb, most definitely, and has some very beautiful plants in front of and behind her house. So sometime between 6AM & 6:30AM every day I am over there watering their plants. Then I head to work to arrive around 7AM - so I can organize my day, get some coffee, use the restroom, and whatever else I need to do before my day actually starts at 7:30AM. Work all day - like a maniac, if I may say so - to get off at 4:30PM. Then I'm heading directly to the church to arrive at 5PM to get changed into my khakis and white shirt (VBS Staff Outfit) and take my place at the registration desk to help check in the kids as they arrive. Then, around 6PM I have to fly over to the library on the other side of the church and do a quick transformation into Super Cooper - the 6.5' tall black and white dog who is the mascot of this VBS curriculum. (I did this last year, too - and had a blast!) It's sweaty and stinky inside that costume, but it's LOADS of fun and I can be a complete goofball in front of who-knows-how-many people. (Side Note: We're raising $$ for kids in India to go to VBS there, and right now we've raised enough money to send 80 children! It's a competition between the teams. Last night we were told that if one of the teams' total reached $150.00 then someone would eat a bug! [That someone, of course, anticipating this, ordered gourmet salt and vinegar crickets!] ICK!) VBS goes until 8:30 and at some point Super Cooper has to shed his super fur and become well..me again. I'm in that costume from 6:00PM until ALMOST 8:30PM and I sweat like the dickens the whole time. Like I said, it's definitely uncomfortable, but I have a ball! I'll do it again next year, too, if Super Cooper comes back! (Side Note: If wearing Super Cooper for 2.5 hours each night for 5 nights doesn't help me lose weight ON TOP OF the weight I'm losing with Weight Watchers, well...then...I think I might just crawl into a hole and hide.) So when I get home with the kids they get into their jammies and get in bed and I get a much-needed shower to de-Cooper-ify. And then I'm doing laundry so my stuff can be ready for the next day. And then I'm laying out my work clothes. AND THEN...it's finally time to crawl in bed. Though as exhausted as I am, I'm totally wound up and can't sleep so I read for a bit and finally, around 11PM, I can turn the light off and be reasonably certain of rest. Just to pick up and start all over the next day. Worth it? Absolutely! I LOVE VBS and I LOVE this time of year! PS: Did I tell you that I'm permanently taking over teaching the 1st and 2nd grade Sunday School class? Just one more thing to be excited about! TTFN JMS

Insight

I've purposefully avoided talking too much about my new job. I honestly just don't want to jinx it. It's a good job, with good people and good pay. I tend to be a little bit superstitious about things and what if...just what if...I say too much? Silly? Yep. But there it is. I'm not the "if-a-black-cat-crosses-my-path" kind of superstitious, though. (And for the record? If a black cat does, indeed, cross my path, my first instinct would be to find out if it has a mommy or needs a home! Come here, kitty kitty kitty!) But seriously, I guess I am just a bit gun shy right now when it comes to my job. I'm coming up on the 1 year anniversary of when I was laid off last July; a time that marked the beginning of some serious depression and self-worth issues. I think I've managed to come out on the other side OK, but I'm a different person; driven. And here's another thing. I don't know what it is about this particular job, but everyone here seems to think I'm wonderful. I feel very strange saying that out loud, to be quite honest, but it's the truth. I'm busy from the second I set foot in the door in the morning until the second I leave at night. I'm constantly directing folks toward things they need, troubleshooting technical issues, ordering equipment, returning assets that are no longer needed, submitting mounds of paperwork to process HR-type requests, onboarding new employees, terminating old employees, submitting for in-office moves, submitting for Work at Home transfers, coordinating employee activities and events and, of course, the usual simple administrative stuff I've always done including setting up conference calls, watching multiple calendars, meeting set up etc.... And paperwork, paperwork, paperwork. (GASP!) I am, in a word, busy. All. The. Time. So back to the "...seems to think I'm wonderful," statement. I cannot, for the life of me, figure out what I am doing differently here than what I was doing at my other jobs. Why is this job different? Why do so many people, on a regular basis, send me thank you notes, or words of praise or even make a point to stop my manager to tell her what a great job I'm doing? How come this is the first place I've ever worked where these types of things happen? Have I come out on the other side of the last year that vastly different? My hubby, and SM, seem to think that it's been a personality issue all along. When I first heard that I got a little bristled because I've always tried very hard to maintain a very professional attitude and be pleasant to everyone as much as humanly possible. But what they meant by saying that was the fact that I have a very STRONG personality; a personality that doesn't sit back and take whatever gets thrown in my direction by sitting down and keeping quiet. I'm a doer. A take-charger. I don't do well in menial (forgive the word, please) positions that don't require some actual thought on a daily basis. On an hourly basis. I seem to be more focused when I'm busy than when I'm bored. So are people afraid of me? Is that what this is all about? The first place I worked when I came to Tennessee...were they afraid of me? Is that why I felt like I was constantly treated as if I were dog-poop on the bottom of the manager's shoe? Why she made a point (and said out loud in my hearing range that she made it her mission in life) to make me cry. I was there for 2.5 years. The second place I worked, in an attempt to escape the first, was really no better. My new manager treated me just the same way my old manager did, except she pretended to be sweetness and light whereas the old manager didn't even pretend. I lasted 3.5 years there...and when I'd finally had enough I was able to secure a job at the place I was laid off from last year. That was my 3rd job after moving to Tennessee. It was a great job, I loved the people, I loved the location, I loved what I did. I was there for 3.5 years until... The 4th job I'm not even going to talk about because it was a nightmare from beginning to end. However what I will say about this job was that the personality clashes were blatantly obvious here. They wanted someone who would sit down, shut up, and never ever question anything. I am most definitely not that person. So, what I'm saying here is that I don't feel like I've changed my work ethic or my personality or my drive. I think maybe, just maybe, I've found a place where I can be my own, special, assertive, and not-quiet self, and STILL do a great job. But, finally, in a place where those attributes are appreciated and encouraged. I wonder if the quote, "I will not go quietly into that good night..." applies here?

Updates

I have an official 1st Grader! Kiddo got excellent marks and comments on his end-of-year report card; he's done so well and Hubby and I are thrilled! The little notation at the bottom next to "Grade recommended for Fall:" was 1st! I don't know why - but that makes me feel good. He is such a smart, loving and wonderful kid and I'm just so proud of him. I can't wait to see how he excels next year. Now if I could only teach him to pick up his room. **** Little Bit is an incredible 3 year old. She has an attitude a mile wide, and a smile to go with it. I suppose she makes up for in attitude, though, what she lacks in size. She may be little, but she's tough, that one. She don't take no crap from no one! (Ugh...that sentence was as hard for me to type as it will be for you grammar nerds to read!) She heads into the "Big Kids" class at Pre-School in the Fall, but she still has 2 years before she can start Kindergarten. I almost wonder if it is worth trying to get her into Kindergarten at 4? Has anyone had any experience with that? She, too, is super smart - and I want to encourage her learning and education, not hold her back and make her bored. I think at 5 years old, Kindergarten might be boring for her, and not a challenge...kind of like it was for Kiddo. **** I'm still working - thank God! The job is a very good one and I'm really enjoying it. I'm busy from the second I set foot in the office until the second I leave at night; they really do keep me hopping. Yes, sometimes it's overwhelming and/or stressful, but I really am loving it. I come home exhausted and nearly dead on my feet most nights - but then the shrieks of, "Mommy's HOME!!!" make all the stress and aches melt away. (SIDE STORY: We had a busy Sunday. When we came home from church, Kiddo, Little Bit and I took a big nap - in my bed. I had one on each side of me, their heads tucked into my shoulders, and we just crashed. It was wonderful.) Anyway, I'm still plugging along. **** Hubby is doing great! He's still doing Massage, and is the best Stay at Home Dad there ever was! He's still tinkering with his 1990 Volvo 240 Wagon; the most recent addition being tri-color tail lights. He replaced Little Bit's baby swing with a big-girl swing; she'll swing forever if given the opportunity. He's lawn-guy extraordinaire. He's just awesome. So I guess that's it for updates. I'll probably have more sometime soon. TTFN JMS

Mary Pam

I've had several false starts lately on this blogging thing. I don't know what's up with me, but I'm really struggling to keep up! I heard someone once say: "I can't get outta my own way!" That's kind of how I'm feeling right now. There isn't anything really wrong, just....I don't know. Actually - I do know what's wrong. Today is the 21st anniversary of an event that drastically changed the course of my life: I miss you Mary Pamela Nolton Greening. Mother. Sister. Friend. Wife. Daughter. She was a lot of things to a lot of people - and everything to others. It's just a "blah" day. I wasn't going to talk about it or call attention to it, but I need to remember her. And I know others that need and/or want to remember her, as well. So here's to you, Mom. I know you're lookin' down on us and I hope you're pleased with what you see. Love, Jenny

The Holiday Inn Bathrobe & an Au Pair from Wales

A long long time ago, I used to have this bathrobe...

wait.

hang on.

let me start over.

A long long time ago, when I was very young, we had an Au Pair living with us by the name of Anna J.  She was from Wales and she was petite and blonde and I absolutely worshiped the ground she walked on. SHE had this bathrobe that was, at one point in its existence, from the Holiday Inn.  It was white and blue and had the words "Holiday Inn" written all over it.  It was just a thin, cotton cover, but I coveted it.  (I'm a Christian, I shouldn't be coveting anything - but...well...I did.  I was maybe 11 years old, so get over it.)  Anyway - when Anna left us, she bestowed the Holiday Inn bathrobe upon me.

I loved that robe!  I loved it because it was something Anna had given me - a reminder of my friend who'd gone back to Wales - and because I'd wanted it anyway and suddenly my wish had come true!  I literally wore that thing all the time.  Not out of the house, mind you, but almost always whenever I was inside, I had it on.  I wore it down to threads and holes and kept right on wearing it.

I really really want another one.

I'm just sayin'.

TTFN
JMS

PS: I know it's been eons since my last post and that this one has absolutely nothing of value in it, but I will post again soon.  I promise.  There is much to tell.

PPS: Anna also introduced me to World Party and UB40 and U2 and...  Needless to say, Anna had a large influence on my taste in music, then and now.  I wonder where Anna is...?