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I didn't wanna do it but I did it just the same......

Yes, I really DID go to the grocery store. Oh, it was SO hard to motivate myself to leave the sanctuary of this house. By the way, I read recently that people who are hermits were most likely emotionally abused as children. I guess that might give you a clue about me............

Anyway, yes, I went. I stuck religiously to my list except that I forgot to put half 'n' half on the list and I DID buy that. I got a good buy on a 25# bag of onions and I got a good buy on a pork roast. I rarely buy pork. I doubt I've had a pork chop since DH died. But every now and then, I have to break loose and do a pork roast, preferably with sauerkraut and dumplings! (I did buy 2 jars of sauerkraut too if that gives you any idea of what I might be planning for tomorrow night's dinner, LOL). Into the crockpot, early in the AM and deliciousness before it gets dark. Yum.

While I was blogging this morning I got the strongest urge for a fried egg sandwich. I actually got up out of this chair and went to the kitchen to fix one when I realized I could fix 100 of those sandwiches, but nothing would alter the fact that I couldn't eat even one. I couldn't possibly bite into a sandwich, but, even if I could, chances I could chew whatever I bit off are slim. Ugh! I'm so tired of this! 

I decided to be proactive at the grocery store. They employ these youngsters who are in decent physical shape. Both today and the last time I was there, I had young men as cashiers. These fellows are prone to bag stuff SO heavy. So, today, I made sure I took my reusable bags into the store. (I usually remember to take them TO the store but INTO the store seems to be another matter entirely, LOL). Anyway, I opened them up in my cart and filled them just as full as I wanted them filled and then began filling a different bag. It MOSTLY worked. I still ended up with 2 HEAVY bags and 3 reasonable ones, but that beat what I would ordinarily have gotten. For example I have 1 insulated bag--a necessity in Las Vegas in the summer. I put my pork roast (8 pounds) and 1 quart of half 'n' half in there. The checker rearranged it and put 2 quarts of half 'n' half in there. That took the bag up to 12 pounds of dead weight. I got the strap up on my shoulder and got it into the house, but it didn't do my shoulder any good, LOL. My intention was for the cashier to ring up the stuff that was in one bag and put back into the bag what he took out. It almost worked. I'll have to be more explicit next time as I suppose my expectation was unreasonable........

I had hoped to start dehydrating onions tonight. I don't think that's going to happen. Between groceries that still need to find a temporary home and the mess I made making biscuits last night, I'll probably just clean up the kitchen and decide that's enough. 

I'll probably just go ahead and dehydrate the onions in the house. Everyone says "dehydrate them outside or they'll stink up the house". Well, first, I don't mind the smell of onions. Second, I am now able to have the back doors open several hours each day and that will certainly help take care of whatever odor. Third, if the odor overwhelms me, I can always relocate the dehydrator if I need to. But, in terms of loading it, it's mighty convenient if it's in the kitchen.

I had some grated cheese I was thinking of dehydrating. I gave THAT idea up. Holy smokes, that's a crazy process! The problem is the oils in the cheese. You have to keep blotting and blotting the cheese to try to get all that blotted off. Oil, when stored like that, will go rancid. So, you really have to go through this complicated routine to soak up as much as possible of it during the dehydration process. 

Most of my cheese has been saved in vacuum sealed bags. However, when you do that with grated cheese, it comes out of the bag in a brick. It's not grated anymore! Or at least you wouldn't know it had been grated. So, I don't want to do that. So, I will be trying to conjure up lots of cheesy dishes to eat this next few days as my bag of grated cheese is showing signs of being on the edge............

I went to the bank and pulled out my paycheck. Last paycheck included the quarterly bonus but there's a limit on the amount of cash you can take out. So, I left some of it in there and, thankfully had that to boost this paycheck. It was down due to the reduced work schedule my boss decided I needed. Bless his pea pickin' heart..........(You DO know what that means in southern-speak, right?)

I also made a stop and had the air in my tires checked. Several of them were low but they're not anymore! Maybe that will help the gas mileage. I'm SO happy to be able to make the occasional trip to work without the A/C...........

So, anyway, I need to get more done for today. I hope you all had a BLESSED day..........

Day 3 of 4 days off in a row!

I am enjoying this day off thing. I did take a SOMA and go to bed early last night with the back thing. So far, thank you Jesus, it's much better today. The little stabbing pains are gone. There is still residual soreness, but I can navigate under these circumstances.

With regard to my prior post (The one with DCS in the title), one of my friends suggested that if we'd had the funeral here in Las Vegas, it would have been interesting to see who showed up. That is a fascinating concept. I ran through a mental list of the folks I know were there. I figure it would have been me and my DD and no one else. Yeah! I actually found that idea pretty much fun to toy with mentally........... Yes, that is why I try to keep my mouth shut and that helps...........I have a tee shirt that says "Lord, keep one hand on my shoulder and the other over my mouth". I think that's a wonderful prayer...........

So, anyway, what about today? I REALLY do not want to go to the grocery store. But, I don't see a way around it. Someone has to go and I can't send Parker! So, I guess I'd better get that done. I contemplated leaving it til tomorrow. But, who know, maybe my back will flare up again tomorrow, or the dog will get sick, or the car won't start, or we'll get rain and flash flooding. I need to get it done today.

I plan to buy a 25 pound bag of onions and dehydrate them. I can get them for $.39xxxx cents a pound if I buy them in bulk. In that it has cooled down, blanching them and dehydrating them will not raise my power bill enough to offset the savings. It will be a lot of work, but I will use my Vidalia chopper and that will make it easier...........

I still have bills to pay. It's pretty scary because I know my bank account will go negative before they are all paid. Well, okay. I'm on the "Marci can work as many hours as she wants" plan at work now, so God will give me the strength to earn enough to offset the deficit.

I have another bag of dirt to move. That's one of the reasons I think I HAVE to go to the grocery store today. I have no qualms about sitting my groceries on top of a sealed bag of dirt. I don't much like the idea of sitting them on top of a partially emptied bag of dirt, KWIM? I can't guarantee I can move the whole bag of dirt by the time I should be heading to the grocery store tomorrow. So, I need to get my butt to the grocery store SOON, buy the groceries, haul them home, unload them, and then start in on the dirt again.......

I opened another package of what came from Florida. To be clear, I got one big box, but groups of things inside are wrapped in bubble wrap and padding. This package contains some photos, large photos. Included are two photos of my maternal grandmother. These are professionally done photos and I'll certainly prize them. I have almost no photos of her. Included also was a scrapbook page I made my mother years ago. I was sitting around one day and thinking about her. It occurred to me that before she was married, she weighed 135 pounds and was 5'9" tall. She would have made a perfect model! No wonder my father was after her, LOL! So I dug around til I found a vintage photo of her outside a store. It was a full length photo so a person could get the full effect. I scrapped it very simply with the emphasis on the large photo and entitled the page "On Location". Apparently she appreciated it enough to have it framed. Who knew?

Maybe you would like to see a photo of her, looking beautiful. You know, that's probably the way she's looked to God all along and I'd like to think that's how she looks now........

That's one of the photos I sent for her funeral. There are some other photos in that group as well, but those are the ones that mean the most to me at the moment........

 

 

Someone call DCS

I want to be removed from my family. Such mean, judgmental, vindictive people. Are all families like that? Or is it just that my family is so very busy being "holier than thou". 

With the best of intentions, trying to do the right thing, I messaged my cousin on Facebook, telling her that I had received a Bible in a box from Florida. I described the Bible and indicated it appeared that it had once belonged to her husband. I told her I felt that it belonged in her family, not mine and I would ship it to her if she just gave me her address. All I got back was a batch of nastiness. They don't want the Bible (maybe afraid they'll be required to read it AND act on it). And I am a thoughtless and cruel creature for not being there in spite of the fact that some one told her that there was an offer to pay all my expenses. Well, that's not true. The offer was just for airfare and rental car. I would need to do more than just get there from the airport here and return to the airport here. I would have needed a hotel, food, gasoline, a taxi to the airport here and a taxi from the airport here to home, and to pay someone to board my dog. I don't have credit cards (and truthfully I don't want them). If I don't have the cash I can't go. End of story. 

What nasty people my family are, particularly my mother's side. I finally had to stop responding because I'm a little loopy and my tongue just might run away with me. Snakes, every one of them, snakes!

 

 

So glad I didn't go to work...........

I have not gone all the way to muscle spasms, but I have sharp pains in the area where spasms usually happen. Like a knife digging into me. So, I've just taken a SOMA and shortly I will be headed to bed because I will be too high to be safe anywhere else, LOL. I could have taken the non-narcotic stuff, but I do NOT want to fool around with this. So, there you have it. Saying g'night, dontchaknow.

Another day.......

I am home. And I am staying here. I got a call from the store about 2 hours ago, offering me to come in whenever I want and work as many hours as I want today. Apparently one of the managers discovered he has 60 hours to give away, building Christmas displays. Well, I am not about to help with that, LOL, but they offered just to put me on a register.

I seriously considered going in for just 4 hours. God knows I need the money. But, honestly, I just can't face it. If I don't get some rest, I will need a whole lot of Divine Protection to keep my health from breaking. And, in 17 months, I have never had as much as 4 days off in a row other than when I had dental surgery and couldn't talk and when I had pneumonia (diagnosed by the doctor as sinusitis because the Urgent Care had a broken x-ray machine). I don't think those count! I thank God for the opportunity, but, not this time. I'm just too worn. Too much stress in my personal life and a lot of hours worked at a hard job for an old lady.

So, I'm staying home. I got MOST of the first bag of dirt carried from the van to the raised bed yesterday. I estimate, based on my timer, that I spent about an hour and a half just doing that. I also got all the laundry done as well. 

Today, I'm going to work on hauling dirt again, but I also hope to achieve more in the house. I MIGHT be able to carry what's left in that one bag. If not, one more bucketful moved should make that possible. Here's the bad news: I am not at all sure that these 2 bags will really finish the dirt necessary for that raised bed. I kinda want to upchuck when I write that, but, really, that's the truth. I really need to buy other stuff for use outside. And it's hard to chisel out anything for that when I'm spending my entire monthly budget on dirt! It's good dirt. Don't get me wrong. Rich in organic compost and with a heavy concentration of vermiculite which will help in this dry climate. BUT, still.......... I went out to Lawn & Garden with $40 and my discount card the other day, hoping to be able to buy 2 big bags of dirt, some loppers, and some seeds for a fall garden. Well, when I paid for the 2 bags of dirt and the loppers, I had less than $2 left. I couldn't see spending that on seeds. Let's see--how about a one crop harvest because I can only buy seeds for one kind of planting. Somehow, that didn't make a lot of sense to me.........

I need to buy a bow rake. I know I had one of those when Joe moved in. What's happened to it in the intervening time, I don't know. However, with its long handle, you'd think one of those would be hard to hide, even in a garage that looks like mine! And, I've prowled around looking for it and I can't find it. That will cost somewhere between $15 and $30.

I also need some sort of pitchfork type thing to turn the compost in the compost bin. That is something new and different, something I've had no occasion to need before. That will cost between $25 and $50. I would also like to buy some wire and stakes and built a better compost bin. Right now, I'm using a big trash can. I know the compost cannot aerate and breakdown properly in that.........

Clothes for work: I was fretting last year about the stretched out elastic waist bands in many of my pants that I wear for work. I did go to JoAnns and buy some elastic but no matter how I tried, I could not thread it through the waistband area of the pants. I've decided to go at it again. I am going to use a zigzag stitch and I am just going to sew through the elastic and the fabric, placing the elastic on the inside of the pants. I never tuck my shirts in anyhow. No one is going to see if I do a repair this way, right? I would like to be able to buy some additional denim and black pants. But, if I can fix up the ones that need fixing, that will help for a good while. Then I will be free to save up for the next pair of shoes! Once they lose their shock absorption, I can't fix those, no matter how hard I try.

I missed trash day. I was busy carrying dirt yesterday and doing laundry. I just didn't take time to carry trash out. My trashcans weren't all that full anyway. I am going to try to amend my ways today.......... I must have done some work on the desk yesterday because the trashcans under the desk now need emptied...........

I opened two more packages from the box I got yesterday. One item was marked "jewelry". Well, I didn't have high hopes for that. My mother and I had very different taste in jewelry. I prefer simple, and for her, the gaudier the better. She also wore choker style necklaces. I hate those. They make my neck uncomfortable. Well, maybe I can figure out a way to restring some of them and use them. I noticed that her wedding ring is missing and so is the multi-diamond ring she had made when she wore through the gold ring part of her engagement ring. I hope my DD got those rather than some unknown nurse. I'm sure they're not worth a fortune, but I'd rather they be in family hands than in the possession of some "stranger". 

The other item I opened was a very fancy album, the type that was popular a few years ago with lace and fancy fabric and padding on the outside. The indications on the outside were that the album was for my parents' 50th wedding anniversary. I was SO hopeful there were photos in there. There weren't. Then I remembered. One of my uncles was supposed to take photos and he didn't. (I think he was drunk, but don't quote me on that.) The album is full of cards and letters received with regard to the celebration of their anniversary. Well, those, I'm sure, meant a LOT to my parents and later to my mother, but 95% of that stuff is from people I don't know. I have a feeling I'll be getting rid of most of that. I wouldn't be surprised if most of the people who sent those cards are deceased now so I don't suppose their feelings won't be hurt.

I also found (unwrapped) a large print Bible. It's larger than normal print, but it has been years since my mother would have been able to read it. I honestly think it shouldn't be in my possession. To me it appears to belong in the family of a cousin of mine. It records births and deaths of people to whom I am not related. I don't know how to get it to her, but I'd like to try.

So, that's all my news so far today. I woke up with my back hurting and that means, since I've been up 6 hours, I'd better get horizontal for a while really soon--before I find myself beset with a full-fledged spasm. Later, maybe. BE BLESSED today!

 

Blessing of the day........

I was outside, standing by the van, loading another bucket of dirt when the UPS truck drove past. Lo and behold, he turned around and came to a stop by me! I have been on a strict budget and I am not ordering much that could arrive by UPS. I couldn't imagine what he wanted with me. He emerged with a large box, large enough that he had to wrap his arms around it to hold onto it.

I was so surprised, like an idiot, I asked him "What could it be?" (Like I thought he had x-ray vision or something....)

He left it by the front door. Well, let me tell you, I have about a 2-inch step up from the sidewalk to the house. It was pretty much all I could do to get that box started over that 2-inch step. Once I got it that far, though I could slide it across the tile floor at the entry. 

First, I noticed the shipping label said it was from my daughter and from an address in Florida. It had to be something of my mother's.

I grabbed a paring knife and opened the box and there on the top was something I was laying in bed wondering about and wishing for just the other night............

You had to know my father. He had NO INTERESTS. He did not golf. He did not play tennis. He did not hunt. He did not fish. He did not work out. He sat. That was about it. He didn't want to go anywhere because that meant he couldn't sit. I don't mean that as bad as it sounds. He had diabetes, high blood pressure, etc., so perhaps he did not feel well. Nevertheless, sitting just perpetuated not feeling well. But, you can imagine how difficult it was to get him a gift. I'd buy him shirts, socks, the usual stuff, a tie here and there....... And then what do you do? One year as his birthday was approaching I had an idea. It might even have been a brilliant idea, or an inspired idea. 

When he was asked to sing a special song in church, frequently he'd choose "His Eye is on the Sparrow". I found the sheet music for that song. And I found a Capidomonte trinket of two birds, about 2 or 3 inches tall. I took it into JoAnns or Michaels and told them what I wanted. They did a masterful job. They created a shadow box. Inside, in a separate frame, they framed the music and words to that song. Then they mounted a small "shelf" and put the birds on the shelf. I hoped this would inspire my father to be uplifted by the song. I don't know if it worked, but when I visited, I found it was hanging on the wall above the organ, a place of honor. 

Well, there on the top of the box was that thing, carefully wrapped in bubble wrap. I am SO grateful to have it. SO grateful. 

There's more in the box which I will continue to explore. I think I kinda want to space out opening the little packages. It will seem sweeter for more days like that, you know? 

Yes, this box is my blessing for the day!

If you hang out around here,

I'll just bet you know what I'm up to today. Today is the start of the breathlessly awaited 2-days-off-in-a-row. And tomorrow is trash day. Does that information provide any hints? Need one more? Tomorrow is payday. There, now you know, right? 

Okay, if you're still at a loss or you are just not in the mood for a guessing game.............. There are two big bags of dirt that weigh a ton in the back of the van. I am moving dirt, one bucketful at a time. And, there is trash in the house that needs to go out for tomorrow. And, it's Laundry Day as well. Now, what else I can fit in around that, I don't know, but, yes, of course, I have a list. Tomorrow will bring $$ to things like the grocery budget, the gasoline budget, etc.

What's on my list? Well I bought those loppers yesterday and I want to go after the dead part of those shrubs. We don't have a lot of insects around here, but spiders abound. I need to go around on a search and destroy mission, looking for cobwebs. I HATE cleaning those things. I inevitably end up having to touch them. EWWWW! I still have books that are boxed up and need to be carried to the van. Can you hear me huffing and puffing? I have a corner I've designated for decluttering and cleaning. There's a box I also know needs to be gone through with most, if not all, of what's in it heading out to the trash. And, then, of course, there's the kitchen project. Some progress was made on that and I already feel better about the kitchen though I have many more cabinets to wipe down, etc. 

I've already carried two buckets full of dirt to the raised bed. I've screwed up because I didn't carry anything out to the trash or the van when I was heading out to fill my bucket...........

And, I've washed the first load of clothes (admittedly, the smallest load......). So, that's my progress for today so far. It'll get better. 

I am still on the warpath against dog hair. I will run the vacuum cleaner again today. I'd like to move as much furniture around as I can so that I can do a more thorough job. We'll see how that goes. In spite of almost daily vacuuming, I am picking up one to two full bins of dog hair daily. And that doesn't even address the bits of dirt that are being sucked out of the carpet. Yay!

The Social Security money hit the bank yesterday and I paid a few bills last night. I had hopes of paying bills this AM but the website for the bank is down. That's a disappointment! Some of these bills have a 10/1 due date and the payments need to go out NOW to avoid late fees. I am basically haunting the website, hoping the status will change.

Holy Tamales! I just double checked my schedule and I have 4-days-off-in-a-row. Whatever will I do with myself? That last sentence is a joke. You know, the work around a house is never finished! 

Well, I need to get back to it. I hope this house looks like a whole new place by 5 days from now, LOL.

 

A better day.........

So, today went better, basically because I took charge. I did exactly what I said I was going to do: I scheduled myself for 6 hours. That got me 2 breaks, roughly 2 hours in and then again 2 hours later. When quitting time rolled around, I turned off the light over my register (supposed to be a sign to customers the register is closed though they often disregard it) and logged out. And I got out of there on time! On that second break, I went ahead and took half a pain pill and I still feel fine. AND, I managed to go to the garden area and buy what I needed. Glorious pain pill, LOL.

I got what I hope is the absolute last of the dirt necessary for my raised bed. Phew! I didn't think I'd ever get there. I also got a relatively inexpensive pair of "loppers". There are two shrubs in front of my house that are about half dead. Not as in looking bad, but as in half of each shrub is literally dead--no leaves, no bend in the wood stems, etc. I am going to lop that unsightly mess off! Also, I had an olive tree taken down early in the year, but it has grown back into an olive "bush". That stuff is going away and then I will buy some of that gunk you pour into a tree trunk and kill that thing off. I can't afford to water it and it just looks dumb as it is. Finally, there is a dead peach tree in the back yard. I will be lopping off as much of that as I can in hopes of getting rid of the whole thing soon. 

Speaking of getting rid of the peach tree, guess what they sell at the store................... An electric "chain" saw. The marvelous thing about that is that it weighs very little compared to a gas powered saw. And it's pretty darned cheap! "Cheap" like under $50! I found out about it through a customer who bought one yesterday.

And, since I've mentioned yesterday, I have to add something to yesterday's summary. A customer gave me a Starbucks gift card. Someone had given it to her and she "hates" Starbucks coffee. We happened to discuss Starbucks yesterday and when she heard I like their coffee, she gave me her gift card.

Today one of our employees was headed out to buy some fancy coffee at a non-Starbucks coffee shop. He offered to bring some back for me but I didn't want to spend the money. I had $2 in my wallet so I didn't have enough to buy what I wanted anyway. So, today, I stopped at Starbucks on the way home and got a coffee. I got the "wrong" coffee, but it's good and I used the giftcard so no out-of-pocket cost. I ordered the largest size in a mocha frappuccino. I make my own mocha frappuccinos here at home in my blender, but I think Starbucks version is better. Well, I ended up being handed a smaller size and when I drank a bit of it, I discovered it is maple flavored, not mocha! But, it really is good. I've been a fan of maple since I was a kid so it was a blessed mistake! And, because they gave me a smaller size, I still have $$ on the card, enough for another coffee in the large size if I kick in $.50. Alright!

Today they did a "cart test". They are supposedly doing it as a "training" exercise to get us all tuned up before the Christmas season hits. I get so darned nervous when they do these things. But, at least, I was less nervous this year than I was last year when they were doing them. And, I had an opportunity to ask a bunch of "training" related questions so it was actually helpful. Actually, it was helpful last year too if you didn't count the state of panic it instilled in me, LOL. It was not as complicated this year as last year--fewer items. I will never forget the cart test where they had one concrete block on the cart and we were supposed to ring it up. Well, the ugly book we are supposed to consult has two blocks that look exactly alike. The only difference is that one is "heavy" and the other is "light". I still don't know how you are supposed to differentiate the two when you're facing only one! 

I was told today that all of the head cashiers and the cashiers who were around when the nasty lady complained are of the opinion that management handled it VERY badly. Well, I certainly agree with that! I was also told that the store used to hold quarterly training meetings for the cashiers to discuss training issues and make sure everyone was on the same page. I worked there 7 months last year and there were no such meetings. 9 months are gone in 2017 and we've had one training meeting. Yessir, there is a REAL commitment to training............

So, that's my story for today and I'm sticking to it. Thanks for letting me blather on..........

Not a happy camper today.........

At work, I have been working under the "you can work as many hours as you want" edict. This is even though I've been scheduled for 4.5 or 4 hours a day. So, when I go in in the morning, I tell them, for example, I'm working 10-3 today. Then I proceed to tell them that means my break will be at 12:30. A 5-hour shift is one break, approximately half way through. When you tell this to the "new" head cashier, her brow furrows and she studies the schedule and seems to find it a challenge to adapt to the different times. She delivers me a short lecture on how she tries to make sure everyone gets their break on time. Yeah, I know, but last week you miscalculated and I only got my break when I called the "blessed one" half an hour past time. So, yes, I'm going to tell her every day what time she should aim for as far as break is concerned. 

In the middle of the lecture, she says that another head cashier may be on duty at my break time and "God only knows what she will be doing or what she does". Well, now, that is a complete no-no. You do not criticize another member of management to an employee...........

Well, break went off without a hitch. However, it was getting relieved to go home that was a challenge. I was required to work an extra half hour because the "God only knows" head cashier apparently didn't bother or got too busy to send anyone to relieve me. I finally called 27 minutes past my "official" quitting time and asked to be relieved. That took an additional 7 minutes. By then, I had a pretty good case of back pain going and I was exasperated about the whole thing. If I had said I intended to work 6 hours, I would have had two breaks before this time of the day had rolled around. And, chances are, I'd probably have taken a half a pain pill to get me through the last two hours. So, instead, I worked 5.5 hours with one break. And thinking I was going to go home soon, I decided to power through without the pain pill. Silly me...........I think tomorrow I'm just going to schedule myself for 6 hours and simplify my life! 

I am, understandably, I think, tired tonight. And achy. And, even though I am tired, I could NOT get a nap. Just couldn't settle down enough to make it happen.

I had planned to go out to Lawn and Garden and get some things after work. I even thought to bring a mask with me because the forecast said it would be windy and there's so much pollen blowing around out there in the "wind tunnel" that is Lawn and Garden. Well, most days when I quit, my one thought is to go climb into the van where I can sit down. Sometimes I just sit there for 5 or 10 minutes, waiting for the pain to fade. I have to force myself to walk anywhere extra in the store to buy anything I need. I promise you, I absolutely was not going to walk even one extra step tonight! So, the best laid plans........

My father had a word for when things were lopsided or off kilter. His word was "lopperjawed". Well, the inside of my left cheek is quite sore because these teeth are "lopperjawed". I don't know if I've discussed this before, but, here goes. The teeth on the upper left push out. The teeth on the entire upper right side curve in. I literally look like my face is unbalanced. Even the right side of my lips is smaller than the left. I look perpetually as though half of my face is trying to fade into the sunset. To make it even more fun, there seems to be no way to get the teeth to occlude with each other except in spots. No matter which way I shift my lower jaw, some part of these upper teeth does not match up with the lower teeth. It sure makes chewing an adventure, not even taking into account that half the time the lowers pop loose and attempt to flop around in my mouth if I chew. It has been almost 4 months now and I truly want to hurt someone in the dentist's office to make up for the pain and frustration I've gone through all this time. If they had given me even an inkling of the problems I was facing (and pain) I think I would have put this whole procedure off til I was at least 85 and down to one tooth! 

So, all in all, I'm not in the best of moods. I shall have to lock myself in a closet somewhere and offer the "sacrifice of praise" when I'm definitely NOT feeling it in hopes my mood will improve. One good thing about the day was that I managed to drag my rusty butt out of here a few minutes early which made the commute less stressful. Thank God for that! 

Our God is..........

an awesome God! I'll bet you knew that, didn't you? Let me tell you the story of an awesome blessing He gave me today. The store has carried a certain rug which was available in a brown background or a cream background. It is WAY more expensive than I could ever think about. It is thick and plush. Wow! Anyway, the store has people who run around wearing "vendor" vests. I don't know exactly what all of them do. But, they're all over the place. I know there's one lady who sweeps up in the garden area and makes sure all the plant pots are lined up nicely. Today I saw a "vendor" guy messing around up on a ladder with "top storage" in the tool area. There's also a woman who was working in the tool area today. So, it seems they assist the regular staff but are employees of some outside contractor. 

Anyway, they work all over the store. That being the case, if something goes on sale somewhere, it's very likely they know about it. I have kind of made friends with one lady. She is the one who gave me the recipe for chicken asada which I have loved. Anyway, she came through my line today carrying this heavy runner. I commented on how nice it was and how the colors in it were the colors in my living room. The runner was actually a sample with one end having a brown background and the other end having the cream background. The pattern through it has shades of camel and gray. The cream colored end almost matches my carpet and the camel design compliments my sofa and loveseat. Of course, if you bought the actual runner, it would be either all brown background or all cream background, not a mix of the two. I like it even better mixed than I would like it if it were all one color. I tease her because she is always showing up at my register with these amazing bargains. In this case, the runner was a display and the store was getting rid of it. They told her she could have it for $1.00. (The actual all-one-color runner would have retailed for $178.00!) So, I rang it up at a dollar and then she got her employee discount off of that!!!!!! 

She carried it back to the break room and I stood there thinking what a pain it is to be chained to a register. About 15 minutes later, she came out and GAVE ME THE RUNNER! I was so shocked. I offered to pay her for it and she flat turned me down. She said she'd take her payment via a hug. My goodness, I could have hugged her for days! I almost burst into tears. She said she was just going to take it home and put it in her garage! Since it matched my living room, she wanted me to have it! First chance I got, I carried it out and locked it up in the van. I wasn't taking any chances on anyone snatching my blessing, LOL! 

I don't know where it will eventually end up. Maybe in the hall? Right now it is in the "pathway" from the office to the kitchen. It is SO rich looking! And, it feels SO plush underfoot. I am amazed. I have racked my brain and I can't remember a relative stranger ever doing anything quite like this for me. 

God blesses us through people. SHE was my blessing today.

I had to stop at the pharmacy to buy tooth goo. I walked into a buy one, get one 50% sale on the stuff. So, I am stocked up for at least a month. Another blessing.

It was a good day. No complaining customers. Just happy folks doin' their thing. And my back behaved like a normal person's! Such a blessed day! 

I have thought a lot about that complaining customer thing. I have worked at the store 16 months. I have probably averaged AT LEAST 5 hours a day, 5 days a week. I tried to count today--I figure I serve around 20 customers an hour, on average. I have taken one week off with the teeth thing and I was out sick for two weeks with the pneumonia version of sinusitis--you had to be there to understand that one, believe me. That leaves me with 66 weeks of employment at 25 hours a week with 20 customers an hour. That works out to about 33000 customers I've served in the time I've worked there. One customer with a chip on her shoulder gets "offended" and I am subjected to 30 minutes of being "counseled". That just doesn't seem right to me...........If I were my employee, I'd be patting me on the back with stats like that!

So, glory hallelujah, I have just about 27 hours til the SSI money hits my bank account for the month. What a relief that will be for a few days............It will dwindle away as I make payments on all the bills. I short-paid the power bill last month. I gave them a substantial (in my book) payment but shorted them $34. I think I may have to short them again this month. However, by next month I will just about break even. Phew! Today was a high in the 70's again, but the extended forecast shows highs in the 80's. I will still probably have the A/C running but air conditioning a house when it's 87 is a far cry from what it takes to try to maintain a livable temperature when it's 110 or 115 outside. So, the power bill SHOULD come down. It will be such a blessing when I get that water bill and hospital bill paid off. What a relief to be able to breathe again............

Well, that's it for today. I'm trying to do a bit more on the kitchen massive clean and I want to run the vacuum tonight. I hope you had a blessed day!