I wonder

I have had a few very rough days at work and it has me thinking, what is workers compensation, and could I collect because of mental stress and mistreatment?

I know that many people, myself included, feel that their jobs are a great source of mental anguish. 

I have a feeling that workers comp is just realted to physical injuries.  I guess that is only fair because I have a feeling that employees give just as much mental anguish and mistreatment as they receive.  I know a few of the jokers that I work with are just there for a paycheck and don't truly care about the big picture. 

Time Off

Since almost every plan that we have made for the summer has been cancelled, I just decided to take a few days off work.  We probably will not leave the state but I need some vacation.  I have not had more than a day off in almost 2 and a half years.   I was very bold and asked for six working days off.  As is ALWAYS the case with us, I have already had to cancel one of those days.  I will be going in for a few hours tomorrow. 

Second Driving Lesson

Cal had his second driving lesson today.  Oh my goodness, am I out of my mind?  It is pretty difficult for him because Cal has never driven anything.  Unlike when I was a kid and we drove dirt bikes, four wheelers, and tractors, Cal has never had those experiences. 

Today I allowed him to use the gas.  He still has a long way to go and I have this fear that one of these days he is going to react to me holding him back and he is just going to gas it and drive all over the place.

I have many things to think/pray about in the next few months.  Insurance is a major issue and, the cost of the driver's ed course, that they are required to take, is stressing me out.  Other things that come into play will be fleet management at getisight.com. Just like his facebook and Ipod I must know what is going on at all times. He can have privacy when he is paying the bills. Oh my word I sound like my father.

Part Time

I worked for almost 9 1/2 hours today at my part-time job.  Now I am home and have to put in several hours working on business things here.  I am not really complaining I just wish all this hard work would start to pay off. 

I have been putting in extra hours at both jobs and I don't seem to be getting one single step ahead. 

The good thing about our business is that some of my work can be done in front of the TV.  That being said I do have about an hour that requires basement work.  Off to work I go.

Strawberry Picking

I just found out at basketball on Thursday, that we have strawberry fields less than two miles from our house. 

Dante has been informed that we are going to pick some this morning.  It should be fun.  I have not picked strawberries since I was about ten years old.  It is so funny that we have lived in this house for two and a half years and we still know very little about our surroundings.

I blame that on being creatures of habit.  We do the same things over and over. 

While I am gone, maybe I should hire durham cleaning services to clean my house and to clean all the strawberries that we are going to pick today. I wonder if they would do that. Hiring a cleaning service is a must because I just cannot bring myself to spend such wonderful weather days cleaning.

Have you ever noticed

that ice cream tastes much better in a cone.  Friendly's ice cream was on a mega sale last week, 2 for $4.00.  We bought eight half gallons.  When we arrived home I put some in a bowl and enjoyed it but it was missing something. 

It took a few nights of the same routine before I realized why it taste so much different than when I pay $4.00 for a small cone as opposed to the dish at home.   Then it hit me.  It must be the cone. 

Now my lingual frenulum is sore from all the licking.  It was quite humorous, today I kept asking myself why it was so sore.  Tonight I made my cone sat down and started enjoying it when I quickly became aware.

What a difference

windows make.  Our old house in Nashua had horrible 1970 windows.  They were single pain and had not one ounce of insulation factor to them. 

Our new house has the best windows.  They are excellent in the winter and we are finding out that they are equally impressive in the summer. 

I am not sure of the brand but they could be of the same quality as replacement windows newport news va. 

I never knew what a difference a good quality window could make in the comfort of your home.  I thank God that he allowed us to move into this house a few years ago.

At that time losing our home was a major defeat.  God turned it into one of the best things that could have happend to us.

Lost my mind

I allowed Cal to drive around the parking lot today.  Here in NH you can start driving when you are 15 1/2.  Cal is that age.  You don't even have to take a test or anything, you just jump behind the wheel with a licensed driver.

He did ok, but I don't see him on the road any time soon. 

He made me very nervous, and paniced a few times, slaming on the brakes and once on the gas.  It was a lot of fun, however,  and I am sure he will be behind the wheel, in the parking lot, again soon.

I know that Dante was a little put out because we had talked about the fact that we didn't think Cal was mature enough and, I said that he would not be allowed behind the wheel until he offically turned sixteen. 

Honestly we cannot afford for him to start driving yet.  Our insurance will increase almost $300 per month.  We just don't have the extra income right now. 

Heat Wave

We have been having a heat wave for the past few days.  Personally I think it is awesome and what summer is all about.  I cannot guarantee that I will be saying this in a week if it has not let up, however.

Wednesday night was a scorcher, Dante and I thought we would be OK without the A/C but I guess we were not that fair to Cal and his friends, who had a difficult time getting to sleep.

I know that during the night I was wishing that I had chux pads on our mattress because they were soaked.

I can handle the heat during the day, but I have to have it cooler at night.  I need my beauty sleep.

The Beach

Yesterday we decided to take the day off work and head to the beach.  Cal was allowed to bring a few friends.  Honestly, this was more for our benefit than his.  He can be pretty high maintenance at the beach, friends keep him occupied. 

I was worried that the water was going to be too cold to really enjoy the water but I could not have been more wrong.  It was the best time we have ever had at the beach.  The water could have been a few degrees warmer but, I was able to go in up to my neck. 

Dante likes the crashing waves, the ones that knock you over.  Me I love to go out beyond the breaking point and just bob in the water.  Yesterday Dante spent the day bobbing with me.  We were in the water for over an hour each time.

I love being so close to the mighty Atlantic.

Getting Married

One of my tasks at work is to schedule the facilities for weddings.  We have about one to two a year that are actually held at the church.

This year we have not had any but I have scheduled a few for next year.  Each time it causes me to start thinking about Dante's and my plan to re-marry at 10 years and have a grand wedding.  The first time we just went before a justice of the peace. 

Of course, because we just celebrated our 20th anniversary, we did not accomplish that task.  I guess after 10 years you learn that a huge wedding that costs tens of thousands of dollars is just not reasonable. 

This does not stop me from dreaming, however.  Now that I am much older and all my friends are a lot like me, my dreams turn to shopping for plus size bridesmaid dresses. The funny thing is, I finally would have enough close friends to put a wedding party together. Bertha would most definitely be my Maid of Honour, but I would have several Bridesmaids as well. Oh I love having friends.

Requested Prayers

If you would not mind, could you all say a little prayer for me each morning as I go off to work.  For over a week now things have been very stressful and questionable at my job.  It is cast in stone that I will never be a full-time worker and that is very difficult for me to deal with.  It is not my work ethic, they rave about what a good worker I am, they don't like my personality.  Go figure a very conservative organization not liking a strong willed boisterous female. 

Flea Markets

Dante and I have been struggling with making a decision about selling things at Flea Markets during the summer.  I think I really would like to at least make the attempt but there is obviously something that is stoping us.

When/If we finally make that decision I wonder if we should try to be real professional about the matter and hook up a receipt printer.

I definitely want to make sure that each and every customer realizes that we have a "business" and not just a mom and pop selling and they will never see or hear our name again.  I need to get the product up on our website so that people can feel more confident about their purchase. 

New Shopping

They have just opened a new outlet shopping center a few miles from us.  I am so excited.  Now if we just had some excess income that would make a huge difference. 

Dante and I visited for the first time a few days ago, Cal was home sick with poison ivy.  Even Cal is pretty excited about the new center.

My biggest disappointment is that there is not a chocolate company, you know the kinds that sells the chocolate covered apples.  I thought for sure I was going to get a few apples on our first visit.  They do have a DQ so we don't have to drive the 20 miles for that anymore. 

Vacation Plans

All my vacation plans seem to be slipping through my fingers with each passing day.  We came to accept the fact that Florida was off the table several months ago but, we were still hoping for a few overnighters and a couple day trips.

I am starting to come to grips with the fact that this summer paying the bills is going to be difficult enough without spending money on vacation.

Now my vacation plans will just have to be dream vacations.  The kind that you plan out entirely in your mind without the stress of actually trying to make it happen. 

Niagara Falls, Canada will be high on my list but also up there will be a trip to check out the oak island nc real estate. Other vacation destinations would include Grand Canyon, Hawaii, and I could go on and on.  Wildwood, NJ has always been a favorite vacation for us and that would also rank up there. 

Basketball Ladies

Believe it or not several of the ladies that I play basketball with have husbands that participate in MMA.  Most of them are also police officers.  It is very interesting and I am hoping for an invitation to go see them compete.  I wonder if I would see tim kennedy at any of their matches.

I do know that the men spend a lot of time keeping in shape.  It seems like it almost a full time job just to keep competitive.  

To Heaven and Back - Blog Tour

To Heaven and Back by Mary C. Neal, MD is the authors personal account of her death after a kayaking accident in Chile in 1999.  Dr. Neal was an experienced kayaker when she drowned in a freak accident.  She was pinned in her kayak at the bottom of a waterfall.  This story gives her account of the details of the actual accident along with the moments after when she feels that she was met by angles and escorted to the gates of heaven, only to be told that it was not her "time" and that God needed her back with her family.

 

Dr. Neal's life story is very amazing and I have no doubt that she feels each and every story related is 100% accurate.  I also believe that God performs miracles in the lives of believers.  My hesitation with books of this nature are that some new believers or non-believers could get the impression that because they have never had events like this happen in their life, that God does not care or is not present.  That being said:  I enjoyed hearing the many times that Dr. Neal feels she was visited by angels, and feels she had God's personal protection.

I would recommend this book to believers that are strong and secure in their faith.  I would hesitate, for the reason stated above, to recommend this to someone who is a new believer or someone with questions or hesitations about their salvation. 

This book was graciously provided by WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review"