Shop, remember?

Went shopping today for the first time in I-Don't-Know-When. Matthew's new employer doesn't provide a uniform, which is very odd since the last two apartment complexes he has worked for has at least had an embroidered logo-type shirt. Seems peculiar to me, but nonetheless we set out today to pick up jeans, work pants, and utility/camp/safari shirts. He already had two and decided they worked well and he would just like to get some more, because the one thing we have learned is to have a "work wardrobe" separate from his other clothes.
A simple task, but No, we went to Kohls, Goodys, Old Navy, Steve & Barrys, even to Wal-Mart. We found a few, but nothing comparable to the two he has been wearing out. Oh well, we did the best we could and he should be good for work clothes for a while.
I came home today and tried to watch Sunshine on DVD, but I ended up skipping to the last ten minutes, something I do way too much now that I have been watching films on the computer. I probably missed all of the good parts.
We finally got a bulb for the lamp I bought before we even moved in (from the Disney website, cute!) and it has been on the nightstand for almost 3 months now and it looks so different with light.. the entire room looks so different. Funny, huh?
Last night we met Michael and his friend Carol (who we had met last spring and went to Atlanta to see Wicked with). We had a celebratory dinner at the American Cafe in the mall, and then went to Ashley to see all of the new furniture Michael picked out for himself. He is finally moving to his own place!!! I am so proud!!!
Our class reunion is coming up in August. I've been thinking hard about it this week since an email came out with all of the names the coordinator's can't find. I contacted a few I still had information on, and spoke with few people I had not talked to in ages. The overall consensus is a little bittersweet, with most saying they will go, and some completely saying a BIG NO.
I myself am not too excited, but I really didn't have that bad of a time in HS. In fact, I sort of liked it. I will be there, and Matthew will be there, and I will drag Michael's butt there, and at least I will know a handful. Thank goodness it is downtown and close to home.. drinking with my old buddies will be great.

YaY

Good news got so much better when Matthew called me twice in a row. Once to tell me he thought the second interview went well, and twice to tell me he got the job and was turning around to go back and do the drug test.
I am so relieved!
He will now be workign at the Trails at Signal Mountain (click here)

Prayers are answered!

It's not at all a good story..

Yesterday while sleeping a lot and spending time trying to find something.. anything.. to watch instantly on the Netflix site, I came across a movie suggested to me (Why? Why?!) named Palindromes. Seemed artsy and interesting... yet it was dull and hard to follow. Every time this 13 year old character encountered or had a scene with someone new, they changed her actress. I counted eight, there could have been more. It was just odd.
I had the same dream twice yesterday. In fact, in the second one I was telling everyone in the dream how we had just been through all of it before.
Then I watched this movie and wished my stupid dream was happening a third time, because it would have been better than wasting my time on this.

My Big Obsession

Just as it happens, while browsing the On Demand HBO listings while I was home sick a week and a half ago, I came across the entire season 1 of HBO's Big Love. I had never heard about it and it looked interesting.
I devoured the first season quickly and lined up season 2 on Netflix only to find it had also been added on Memorial Day to the On Demand. WooHoo. I watched the Season 2 premiere Monday evening, and got through 2 more hours last night. Season three starts soon and I am so excited!!!!
Yes, it's about polygamists.
But it is so awesome! It is all of the intrigue and underground criminality of The Sopranos mixed with the comedy and female drama that I loved in Sex and the City. It is so good. I am loving my Big Love.

Now if only I didn't have to wait until the end of July for Eureka to come back on!

And I still havent seen The Passion yet!

http://www.catholic.org/international/international_story.php?id=27801
Actor Jim Caviezel Adopts Second Disabled Child
By Hilary White
5/1/2008

"You have no idea the blessings that you have coming" says Pro-Life Caviezel to parents considering adoption.


TORONTO (LifeSiteNews) - Jim Caviezel, the star of the blockbuster film The Passion of the Christ, told an interviewer that he had been challenged by a friend who was not pro-life to live up to his professed pro-life convictions and adopt a disabled child.

The friend told Caviezel that if he did that, then he would change to the pro-life position. When Caviezel and his wife, Kerri, went to China to adopt not one, but eventually two orphans suffering from brain tumours, the friend reneged on the deal. Caviezel, however, said, "It didn't matter to me because the joy that we had from (Bo) - he's like our own."

The couple's first child, Bo, had been abandoned on a train, grew up in an orphanage until he was five and was diagnosed with a brain tumour. The Caviezels nursed Bo through his surgeries and he remains today at the centre of the family.

"We took the harder road," the actor said. "That is what faith is to me; it's action. It's the Samaritan. It's not the one who says he is; it's the one who does - and does without bringing attention to himself. I'm saying this because I want to encourage other people."

Handsome and a compelling actor, Jim Caviezel has taken leading roles in a number of mainstream feature films - The Thin Red Line and the Count of Monte Christo being the best known. But it is his role as the suffering Jesus in the Passion of the Christ that he has become best known for.

Caviezel spoke to an interviewer with the Christophers, a Christian leadership organisation that runs the Christopher Closeup radio, television and internet features. He spoke of the impact of his faith on his career and of the effect on others that his playing the part of Christ has had.

About the adoption of his children, Caviezel was frank about his feelings, saying the challenge "completely terrified" him at first. "Yes, you do feel fear, you do feel scared but you have no idea the blessings that you have coming to you if you just take a chance on faith."

When the Caviezels went to adopt their second child, they were first offered a healthy baby girl, but a five-year-old girl with a brain tumour from the Guangzhou region of China also needed a home. The Caviezels reasoned that a healthy baby would be more likely to be adopted by another family and that the child with the tumour had a greater need for a home.

Disgruntled

The news, as usual, is full of heartache.

In just one after-shock Tuesday 420,000 houses were lost in China. 420k! Can you imagine it?!
And perverts posing as chairty-aid workers in Haiti taking advantage of poor children.

Good news though, the girl from the Austrian cellar is waking up from her coma.

A Great Weekend

The long weekend was fun and yet restful. We had dinner with Matthew's parents on Saturday night, and Sunday my Mom dropped in and then my Sister and Nephew came by in the afternoon and we decided to go to Lake Winnie, which is only a few blocks from us.
We had fun and rode everything we wanted to. They spent the night at our house and Monday morning we watched Evan Almighty, my Nephew mowed our grass (aint he sweet?) and had pizza for lunch.
It was nice to have so many people around us.

Getting back into the swing of things.

I've been absent from here for a looooong time. Feeling crappy and not having any energy is bad. I had swollen kidneys and was just out of it. After visiting the Doctor and finally getting myself back to work, my blood tests came back in. I just had a really low iron count, screwing me up.
Geez.
So, I was in the dumps and feeling low and not leaving the house over something I could have picked up at CVS. Just my luck.

I want to thank everyone who was praying for my health, and for Matthew's employment. He had a very good interview this week, and one already scheduled for Tuesday.

Right now I am just trying to enjoy our long holiday weekend.

Today is OUR ANNIVERSARY. WooHoo. Six years have flown by. It is hard to imagine how life was before being married. But then I also have time-perception challenges lately, go figure.

We have celebrated early this afternoon and went to go see Indiana Jones. I am so thrilled to be so close to a theater, we were there in less than five minutes.
The movie was really great, and it was fitting that we went on our anniversary since there is a wedding at the end. :-)

We are having dinner with Matthew's parents tonight and then coming home to our 3-Cat-World. That's right, I said 3! Pumpkin successfully found her new family on Thursday, after over a month on craigslist. We are so happy, and the report from her new house is that she is a smash hit. Pumpkin always needed to be the only cat, and shockingly she is lapping up all of the attention from their 2 yr. old. Matthew and I are amazed she likes kids.

Things are looking up!

Run Down

I am so sick. My stomach hurts so bad. I am in bed and on the sofa. Not online. Going back to sofa now.

What a pity

article here
In terms of actual lives lost, the numbers are staggering. Each year, almost a half a million black babies are lost to abortion (based on 2000's 1.31 million U.S. abortions). That averages out to well over 1,000 deaths a day, 365 days a year. The Life Education and Resource Network (LEARN ), the largest African-American pro-life group in the country has produced a chart which compares mortality rates in the Black community. It shows that abortion has claimed more than two and a half times more African-American lives since 1973 than the next five leading causes combined. The Centers for Disease Control tell us that 285,826 U.S. Blacks died in 2000. That's about half of the approximately 458,500 blacks who lost their lives to abortion in that same year. To put it bluntly, abortion has thinned the black community in ways the Ku Klux Klan could have only dreamed of. It is a shameful and hidden reality.
Of Planned Parenthood's 850 nationwide clinics, almost 80% reside in minority communities. Is this a bizarre coincidence, or is it merely an extension of the eugenic principles that seem to have driven Planned Parenthood's founder, Margaret Sanger, a founder who is documented as saying, "We do not want the word to go out that we want to exterminate the Negro population." This statement, written in a 1939 letter to a colleague, can obviously be taken in one of two ways. Either she didn't want the black community to wrongly assume that her efforts promoting birth control were an attempt to eliminate them, or she didn't want the black community to find out that this is exactly what she had in mind. Planned Parenthood assumes the first, her opponents assume the latter. Based on the greater context of her writings, the truth likely lies in between.

Wacko Oprah and her Misguided Minions

article from CNN, here.
The article is 5 yrs old and yet CNN somehow needs to have this on their font page.
Oprah needs to get out of the psychology and theology department. She is just a talk show host, right?

Here are some highlights:
You're being mothered when anyone offers you one or more of the following gifts: acceptance, nourishment, instruction, empowerment.
me - or, you could be co-dependent.
Once you've detached your concept of motherhood from a particular human being
me - because a mom could be any non-specific mammalian?
Step 3: Patch together your ideal mother
me - because moms have holes in their jeans, too!

UPDATE.. Oprah is everywhere today, this from MSNBC
If things don’t work out between Jennifer Aniston and John Mayer, Oprah Winfrey has a backup plan for the former “Friends” star. “Oprah says the love of her pets has fulfilled her in a way that has never made her miss getting married or having children," a close source told the National Enquirer. But Jennifer wants more than her pooch pals can provide. “Her dogs give her a lot of comfort and peace of mind, but Jen says relying on them for total emotional support is like being one of those crazy old cat ladies!”
Geez!

Giving

Yesterday I left work at 12:30 and met Matthew at the county tag place to get a copy of his truck registration, the last thing we needed to get before we could get our Catoosa County plates.
We met my Mom, Sister, and Nephew at the mall and ate a nice lunch. We took my Mom to the airport and then came home.
We went to Mass last night, picked up dinner, and came home to watch a few hours of mindless TV. I did some chores and then fell asleep.
A nice and simple day.

The topic of the day is giving and I have decided that, in light of Matthew losing his job and our finances being extra tight, to finally follow some advice I have resisted throughout our 6 years of marriage. Last Sunday I gave a "more than I was comfortable with" 10% to the church. I've been very stubborn on this point and have defended my "comfortable" tithing habits.
We were taught that the combination TTT (Time, Talent, or Treasure) can be adequate toward your tithing obligations. Throughout fall and up until Easter we were also sponsoring Christopher in the RCIA program, so that counted as some time, and unfortunately I have absolutely NO talent.. hahaha, but Matthew has offered to help out on the building maintenance so that will be part of his special gift.
The church doesn't keep a record of what all you've been giving or being involved with, or volunteering for or any crazy score-keeping like that. It is just up to ourselves to be accountable for us.
I stopped worrying and gave Sunday the 10%, and this week has been tight. The great surprise is that out of the blue Matthew's last check and vacation payout also had the quarterly bonus attached to it! So now the bills can be paid, and a credit card payment (or two) and we can still "afford" the tithe.
Call me stupid, or just stubborn.
:-)

Prayer

Today I read a great blog from the Rosetta Stone and felt compelled to break out the rosary Michael had brought me back from the Vatican Museum on his fling through Europe last summer. No sense having it if I can't use it. I had never prayed with it, it is so beautiful. I wish I still had the camera to show it off, but Mom took it to Dallas. It actually came from the Vatican Museum and has a gorgeous jewelry box. It is made out of real turquoise beads and it truly is one of the nicest I have seen. I am really glad I decided to make today the day.
I don't do the rosary all too often, but I felt that with all that is going on, I wanted to take the twenty minutes and do this devotion. Lets just say I had a lot of intentions.

I have a rosary CD I picked up at the MQU Shrine back in 2006, and I just load it up on iTunes and then use this "cheat sheet" from New Advent here. Matthew and I have also prayed the rosary with the EWTN program, and that is just as nice. Today it was just me though, me and my list of problems. St. Jude used to do a parish rosary on Fridays after Mass, will have to ask Fr. Liam tonight if St. Gerard's does anything like that.

the G files

Ruling out the existence of aliens would be like "putting limits" on God's creative freedom
I read this neat-o article on Yahoo!. click here

That's me!

toothpastefordinner.com

Morning grumbles

No one knows how to merge onto I-75 from Ringgold Road.

Okay I'm done grumbling. I actually had a good morning because Matthew got up with me and made me a fried egg sandwich.. Yummy! I've been waging war with breakfast my entire life. I know I need it, but it makes me nauseated. It also makes me hungry earlier in the day, so normally I just skip it.

I am going to the gym today, I've been so exhausted and sleepy so I am going to go exercise. I did really well about going after work (the month of January!) so I am beefing up my efforts.. I think we've had this membership for a year now.. and no effect.. how embarrassing! LOL.

A Very Long Day

It was a long, grueling day at work. I had enough to keep me occupied for the first 3 hours, after that it was all clock-watching. Even worse, all day I had the Spice Girl's song, "Holler" chorus in my head, which makes conversations with coworkers and bosses very difficult when while they are talking all you are listening to is the lyrics(and accompanying choreography)
"I wanna make you holler and hear you scream my name
I'll give you rules to follow so you can play my game
Imagine us together, me driving you insane
You will give into me, don't be afraid to play my game" Such a weird day!

Things are eerily slow at the J_O_B. The girl lower than myself is already laid off and I'm a little worried it's my neck next. Even though I've not been laid of in my 5 years there, nothing is certain anymore it seems. The economy is really pissy, which hit home right about 2 weeks ago when Matthew lost his job.
Although I am constantly scouring the net for thing he is qualified for, we are also considering now the "good enough to get by on" until the right J_O_B does come along. There is just not that many opportunities out there. With his HVAC degree he can go back to repair/installs but there aren't many of those around either. I am praying he will get something this week.

Tonight I came home to a wonderful dinner, a definite perk of Matthew being home.
I met my Mom downtown at the hospital where my Aunt is and visited them, which was so nice. Now that we live in GA I get to see my coworkers more than my actual family, so it is refreshing to find out everyone is still crazy! Ha ha. Getting up to date on everyone and somehow unavoidably getting into theology.. we are very predictable. Bless our hearts! :-)



Disney Pics entitled "Hammock Time" and "Driving Home is F-U-N"

Seriously

Seriously. I take life very seriously and if by some miracle today I was to find out I was pregnant (calmn down, I'm not) I would take the day off from work tomorrow just to recuperate from all of the cartwheels I had done, although that might be a tad dangerous, so maybe I would just throw myself a party.
At any rate, I read another blogger commenting on the Priest for Life site article and videos, click here!
Since I am a slightly intelligent human, I prefer to read the article, rather than watching the video, I also know the true complexity and ghastly horror this is. I cannot imagine it anymore than I can imagine the world killing all of the orphans, they too are under the category of "unwanted", no?
This makes my life have more meaning.

A great prayer for life is urgently needed, a prayer which will rise up throughout the world. Through special initiatives and in daily prayer, may an impassioned plea rise to God, the Creator and lover of life, from every Christian community, from every group and association, from every family and from the heart of every believer.”
– Pope John Paul II, The Gospel of Life
(Evangelium Vitae), n. 100.

It's Monday? Are you positive?

I can't believe it's been a full week since I was swimming at the resort. BooHoo





Work went well today and I came home in a good mood. Matthew had mowed the grass and it looks like someone lives here again!
We had dinner and watched TV. I am still trying to work on getting breakfast.
No luck on callbacks today. Hopefully we will hear something soon. Please continue to pray for us, we appreciate it all.
toothpastefordinner.com

You Tubing

I am NOT addicted to youtube. I am, however stunned to find more and more Robbie Williams montages than I ever thought existed. Sometimes I will just sit for hours looking at all of them and recalling a time I spent far too much of my discretionary income on imported magazines and music paraphernalia. Ugh, the good ole' days! Ha-ha. Well, Just had to share this one, it's actually one of my favorite songs, and at one point or another I had 99% of these magazines.. I kid you not. Even in languages I couldn't read.
What else was I supposed to do in college???


Here is where we stopped at Disney's Boardwalk and had a great lunch at the ESPN Zone. On our way out we noticed a ranger-type guy feeding an alligator and trying to snare him out of the water.. right beside the resort guest's path! We watched and I had camera ready, but ultimately he gave up! Watch out, rich folks!

Pentecost

The homily at tonight's Mass was so completely thought provoking. I really enjoyed it, it almost made me cry!
Father Liam talked about how God's plan was for us. Just Us. That He had millions of choices when He created us, but He chose us. Just us.
We could be more Godly, perform more services, live differently, but He still chose to create us. Tiny, insignificant me.
I'm ashamed to admit I have been rather ill towards Our Lord lately. Angry over situations I can't do anything about like employment and reproductive issues. He knew I would be this way, but He made me anyway.















Here are some pics I took from the MQU Shrine. Once again, Click to see them in their full sizes. The last one is a devotion to Mothers across the world. You can buy these candles to stick in front of the statue. It is really huge, and the candles are about 10'' tall, if that gives perspective.
Tomorrow is Mother's Day. Happy Mother's Day.

Weekend!

Here we arrive at Cracker Barrel in Orlando, not our finest hour.. but there were some early morning balloonists out! Click to make us monstrously huge.

DISNEY PIC OF THE DAY

Here we are, certainly NOT at Disney. We are at Stone Mountain, a mere 120 miles from home! The last day of the trip, and we were trip-lagged, sunburned, and extremely un-rested from an Econo Lodge mattress. Smile through the pain...
Do we look ready to get home? Click on us!

Uh-Huh!

God in the Streets of New York City

Pictures!!

***UPDATE: THE SLIDESHOWS WERE SLOWING DOWN EVERYONE'S PAGES, SO IM GONNA DO A PICTURE A DAY TYPE OF THING UNTIL I'M TIRED OF SEEING THEM***

You can see the entire album HERE. Sorry for the cold sores, once again my body tries to ruin a perfectly good shot!

The weight of the world

Daniel - Chapter 3 NAB
91
King Nebuchadnezzar rose in haste and asked his nobles, "Did we not cast three men bound into the fire?" "Assuredly, O king," they answered.
92
"But," he replied, "I see four men unfettered and unhurt, walking in the fire, and the fourth looks like a son of God."
93
Then Nebuchadnezzar came to the opening of the white-hot furnace and called to Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego: "Servants of the most high God, come out." Thereupon Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego came out of the fire.
94
When the satraps, prefects, governors, and nobles of the king came together, they saw that the fire had had no power over the bodies of these men; not a hair of their heads had been singed, nor were their garments altered; there was not even a smell of fire about them.
95
Nebuchadnezzar exclaimed, "Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who sent his angel to deliver the servants that trusted in him; they disobeyed the royal command and yielded their bodies rather than serve or worship any god except their own God.
96
Therefore I decree for nations and peoples of every language that whoever blasphemes the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego shall be cut to pieces and his house destroyed. For there is no other God who can rescue like this."

Read the Entire Chapter (with beautiful song) HERE.

I have always liked this story, mostly because of the power of God, and also for a more morbid curiosity I have. The Lion's Den Story and Judith beheading Holofernes also are my favorites. They outright scare the crap out of me, and I like that.

Sometimes God's plan for us involves getting frightened. Sometimes it involves suffering. I am going to try and not whine too much and gripe about life, because suffering is cathartic.
Here is a good story on Redemptive Suffering.

Pictures coming ASAP

After work I picked up "cheap" Little Caesar's pizzas, and we had a nice time just sitting at the table and chowing down.
I watched an episode of Monk and Matthew got on the computer. We made it to Mass at 6:30 (11 people there!) and then came home again. When we were in Orlando we didn't make it to Mass and so we just visited the shrine. I was ready to get back!Everything going on with us, I needed to have some proper kneeling time in prayer, as did Matthew.
I tried to upload all of our trip photos to photobucket, but I let things get in the way.
I had TV to watch and a oh-so-comfy-armchair to sit in! So, by the time I had watched 1 Simpson's, 2 Monks, and 2 Family Guy's it was time for bed! Oh well, I will get them tonight.
Coming back to Chattanooga has wreaked havoc on my sinuses... again. I am once again sitting at work with a roll of tissue right next to me and barely breathing. Yuck.

A restful weekend

Friday night we left Chattanooga around 6:30, and literally drove all night. We made excellent time and arrived 'not-so-bright-eyed" in Orlando around 5:00-ish. We ate breakfast at the Cracker Barrel and headed to the resort at 7:00. Luckily they had a room ready and we were able to check in and go crash for a few hours. We woke up at 11 a.m. and went in our pool gear to look around. We ate at the snack-hut beside the Mayan Temple pool, which was awesome but a little too crowded. We walked around the resort and saw how beautiful all of the plants were, and the pond, and all of the inviting hammocks. We made it back to our building and swam for over an hour at the smaller, "quiet" pool which fit us well. After swimming and then laying out and drying ourselves, and three applications of sunscreen later, we went back to the room and got all cleaned up and set out. We had planned to go to Universal's CityWalk, but ended up just driving around , visiting the MQU Shrine and Outlet Mall shopping.
We ate dinner at the resort (not so great) and went to sleep.
The next morning we set out around 8:00 and went to Animal Kingdom and did our normal few rides and then rode a bus to Epcot. At Epcot we waited around for our Fast Passes to Soarin' and ate at the Garden Grill (the BEST) and got lots of pics with Mickey, Pluto, and Chip & Dale.. because they kept interrupting our meal!
We then went to the France pavilion and Matthew got an Orange-y mixed drink. We walked around some more and headed to Magic Kingdom. We got to do many things there, and skipped the parades and the fireworks in order to ride more rides, and stayed well into the morning before we sputtered out and ended up crashed in the room. The park was open until 2 a.m.!
Monday we checked out and drove around some more, going to Downtown Disney. We drove back through Florida and were planning to stay in Macon, Ga., but not only was I tired and wanting to get as much sleep as possible, but I was not feeling well, so we stopped about 15 miles before Macon and slept at the Econo Lodge. It wasn't too scary, and served it's purpose. One really difficult night on a xxxxxx-firm mattress later, we were off Tuesday morning and went to Atlanta.
We drove around Atlanta, went shopping at Ikea, and then headed to Stone Mountain to get a few more pictures before heading home. We ate at the Cracker Barrel in Marietta and was able to arrive back home around 8:30 p.m. The cats were happy to see us and show us all of the hair they had left for us on our sofa. :-)
The drive was not at all as grueling as it was back in December. And even though there were a lot of things going on, I managed to have a good time, and I think we all at some point relaxed and enjoyed ourselves.
Today I am back at work, and hopefully Matthew will get some good news about jobs this week.
Pictures coming tonight!!

Optimistic, for a change.

We are still going to Florida.
The thought of not going because of his work made me sick. They, certainly, were not going to ruin the trip we had planned.
When things go all crummy is about the best time for a little get-away. It turns out to be more of a blessing than we thought, huh?
Plus, we have been in too good a mood to let things bring us down (plus it's paid up already!)
The world can wait on us to get back Wednesday.

God has a plan for us

"Bless, 0 Lord of the centuries and the millennia, the daily work by which men and women provide bread for themselves and their loved ones. We also offer to your fatherly hands the toil and sacrifices associated with work, in union with your Son Jesus Christ, who redeemed human work from the yoke of sin and restored it to its original dignity. - Pope John Paul II

Why

Well after work I headed over to Firestone to have them OK my tires for the trip to Florida. All is good, and that little nick I was worried about is fine. They said it was just a cosmetic issue, not related to the tire's performance.
I was at the mall, so I decided to go over to Kohl's and see if I could get Matthew one more pair of shorts since we found out last night he only has one pair right now.
Matthew called while I was browsing. Here is what I can recollect from our conversation:

"I'm in Kohl's still, searching for you some shorts"
"That's not a good idea"
"No? Why?"
"Because we don't have any money"
"Are you okay?"
"I had a really good day, until this last part of it"
"Okay..."
"Well, I will see you when you get home"

My heart sunk to a depth I didn't know existed. If Matthew was being serious about money, that means something bad happened at work.
I think I prayed a few dozen Our Fathers and Hail Marys on the way home, I didn't even bother with the radio.
When I got home it was confirmed. He had been fired. Fired for not keeping a binder he had only been trained to do two weeks prior. It was quite petty of them. His coworkers agreed.
He doesn't know if they will pay for all of his vacation time or sick time he had accrued. 2 days before his birthday. The day I was mailing our very first ever house payment.
I feel so sick, and so sad for him. I really got the impression he had found his niche at The Villas. Everyone seemed so happy, and got along so well. He never even called in sick.
So now he will have to start the grueling process all over again. Go on Un-employment and update his resume. I am already fearing the worst, because with the economic fears right now any employer that might want an apartment maintenance supervisor will not want to pay what we had been accustomed to getting from this past job.
We've weathered this before, and each time it has been hard, but a blessing worth suffering through.
It seems Matthew's field has a prevalence of people willing to stab you in the back rather than looking anyone in the eye. He has seen many people come and go while working alongside him, and above him. It is a truly "American" phenomenon. They use you until they stop wanting to pay for your skills. Then they fire you and hire someone less skilled, and demanding less money.
If I weren't part of the Teamster's Union I know I would have also had similar experiences. We just thought Steven D. Bell would be such a great company for him to be with. They seemed to truly care. It was an illusion.
Matthew will miss his coworkers, and I will miss seeing them too as often as I did.
I made myself a sandwich and brought him the package of Soft Batch cookies and turned on Police Academy on HBO. I came to blog. Hopefully this night won't be too pitiful.


Please pray for Matthew and I.

The weekend vacation is also up in the air, but I am still praying.

Not a Stylist

Last night, before the "Great Ticket Panic" of 2008 (see below), I set out to cut Matthew's hair. We've done this dozens of times over the years, but this time we had a new clipper set.
I sat his chair out on the porch and did a reasonably good short cut for him this summer. The new Wahl clippers beat the pants (or hair) off of our cheap-y Conair!
The funny part was the entire neighborhood probably watched us thinking how odd we were, but I was not about to have all of that hair anywhere inside my house!
:-)
Good times.

Lost Identity

Samantha Smith is a common name:

HowManyOfMe.com

There are 1,896 people with my name in the U.S.A. How many have your name?

However, my maiden name was unique!

HowManyOfMe.com

There are 11 people with my name in the U.S.A. How many have your name?

Matthew has a lot of same-names!

HowManyOfMe.com

There are 10,076 people with my name in the U.S.A. How many have your name?

Wednesday things

Wednesday I tried my new diet out and did pretty well. I ate a small bowl of Fiber One cereal and a Fiber One yogurt. At lunch I went to Sonic and got a grilled chicken wrap (not optimal, but until I get better at packing lunch it was the best I could do).
At around 3:50 the cereal/yogurt fibery-mix hit me. I was faced with a huge problem, go at work, or go at home. I would have been OK at work except for it was ten minutes before everyone leaves and I know everyone would be popping in and out of the bathroom for their last minute visits before the commute home. I decided to suffer and get myself home ASAP.
For dinner Matthew made pinto beans and I added some brown rice and then made myself some tuna/mustard mix. My plate literally looked like a Cat food commercial, but it was good, and fiber-y, and PCOS friendly.
We packed the gym bag for the trip and had a huge crisis while doing it. While we were watching TV after dinner I was making the list of things to pack. Matthew was going to round up everything, and I was going to pack it all up. It was a good plan.
Until he went to go get our WDW tickets from the safe. They were not there!
We remember taking them on our trip back in December in case we needed an extra day, but they did not make it back to the safe. So, we looked through the safe 4 times, rifled through wallets and then came to the hard realization that they may have gotten tossed in the "moving process", or just packed in a strange spot.
Matthew remembered putting them in the top drawer of the buffet at the old house (BIG MISTAKE), so then it was up to him and myself to try and remember what else was in that drawer, because surely we would have packed it all up together. That drawer had pens in it, so we found the box with the gallon size ziploc containing all of the pens.. not there. It had batteries in it, so we located the box with all of the batteries, not here. It had pictures in it, so we rifled through the picture box I had been making all of my picture projects with, not there either.
We took a break and kept feeling ill, not wanting to discuss that lost tickets would be the end of our long weekend before we even got to it. I sent up a lot of prayers for us to find them.
We went back to the second "storage" bedroom and basically made it so that we will have to unpack that room ASAP, because all of the boxes are teetering on top of one another and half of the stuff is unpacked anyway. That will get on my nerves too much and so I plan on tackling the room soon.
I found a copy paper box labeled fragile which had my Jim Shore cat figurines in it and some small picture frames I had forgotten about! And loose pictures! And Disney pictures! And Disney passes!! We were over the moon with joy.
It was a good night from then on.
;-)