And since I’ll have limited to no interwebs, there will be no posting. Not even OTA since all trackbacks go to mod queue anyway.
See y’all in a few days…
This would be longer
But I just woke up from a nap. lol I had a very long and stressful week and now fully understand what my mom meant about how she never enjoyed working VBS. It absolutely confirmed why I never wanted to be a teacher when I grew up.
Anyway, so I got an email from MacBros asking if I would trackback to his latest OTA post, and of course, I am obliging. Then I realized, “Holy crap! I haven’t been over there in ages!” Now I haz a guilty. But, he’s not the only one I haven’t been visiting. Things should be settled down some after vacation and I can get caught back up on my regular rounds.
Be ready
Hmm. Didn’t post all last week. Excuse I have. Had Swine Flu. Ok, not officially, but Chad brought home a letter from school June 8 stating 2 possible (but at the time) but unconfirmed cases of the swine flu. He woke up with fever next day, which he had for 3 days along with fatigue. June 10, both cases were confirmed Swine Flu. Last week, Jamie ran a fever for a couple of days, and no sooner was she over the fever, than I got a headache, followed by a sore throat. I was exhausted and generally felt like crap. Plus, stressed because my boss was on vacation and I had to be boss, and I don’t like being the boss. Happy I am that back at work is she.
Busy week again in store, because this week is VBS, and the hubby and I are actually VBS workers. Yikes! So if I don’t post anymore this week, there’s my excuse. LOL
1 Peter 3:8-18 (New International Version)
Suffering for Doing Good
8Finally, all of you, live in harmony with one another; be sympathetic, love as brothers, be compassionate and humble. 9Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult, but with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing. 10For,
“Whoever would love life
and see good days
must keep his tongue from evil
and his lips from deceitful speech.
11He must turn from evil and do good;
he must seek peace and pursue it.
12For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous
and his ears are attentive to their prayer,
but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”
13Who is going to harm you if you are eager to do good? 14But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed. “Do not fear what they fear; do not be frightened.” 15But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, 16keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander. 17It is better, if it is God’s will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil. 18For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive by the Spirit,
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All things work together for good
Romans 8:28-39 (New American Standard Bible)
28 And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.
29 For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren;
30 and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified.
31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us?
32 He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things?
33 Who will bring a charge against God’s elect? God is the one who justifies;
34 who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us.
35 Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
36 Just as it is written,
“FOR YOUR SAKE WE ARE BEING PUT TO DEATH ALL DAY LONG;
WE WERE CONSIDERED AS SHEEP TO BE SLAUGHTERED.”37 But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us.
38 For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers,
39 nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
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Adventures in mowing
I needed to mow last weekend, but I couldn’t find the motivation. The reason being, the last time I mowed, I hit a root right before I was finished, and bent a blade. I wasn’t upset about the blade itself, because I had really needed to change them, but I hate taking the deck off the mower. But, I was left with no choice. So I went to Sears this morning because I knew the blades were on sale for half their normal price, and bought 2 sets. Taking the deck off and putting it back on was every bit as much of a pain as I expected it would be, but the hubby helped so it wasn’t as bad as if I had been doing it alone.
I set off with new blades, full tank of gas, and a yard full of tall dandelions in full bloom. The mower was cutting well, and running good, and I was fully enjoying myself. Then it happened. I was maneuvering around one of the many trees when I hit a root with the deck, which stopped my forward movement. Odd, in hindsight, as it’s a small root which I easily clear every time I mow around that tree. I backed up, steered around it, and the front dropped slightly as if I ran over a hole, but I hadn’t gotten to the hole yet. As I was putting my foot on the brake, the entire front end dropped hard to the left, and as I yelled out “Noooooooo,” I saw the left front wheel fall to the side. Oh, that can’t be good.
I turned off the mower, and hopped off to see how bad, and, oh, it was bad. The wheel assembly had broken out of the front axle assembly. There was no way to jerry-rig that back together either. So I threw my hands up, and walked to the house. The hubby came out on the porch, and asked what happened. I won’t repeat what I said first, but I followed it with “The wheel fell off.” He walked down there to it with me, and after looking at it for himself, agreed with my initial unrepeatable assessment. Fixing it ourselves is possible, but would take at least 2 weeks to get replacement parts. Taking it to the small engine repair shop just down the road is an option, but would still take 1-2 weeks.
Hubby: “I’m not push mowing this whole yard.”
Me: “I can’t push mow this whole yard.”
From that, we made the decision to buy a new riding mower. Of course that meant I had to take the trash to the dump since there were already bags in the truck because the can outside was full. There was rotten milk in one of the bags, and it smelled very much badly as did the dumpster I threw them in. The right brake on the truck sticks, and I had to deal with that for half the trip to Lowe’s. But I got a nice new riding mower that was on sale and has a bigger engine than the old one.
Of course the whole rest of the day as I mowed, I compared the 2. The new one, with the bigger engine, cuts better. It has a better turn radius, and tighter steering. It doesn’t kick up dust and grass on me as bad as the old one. It has a cupholder, which is the perfect size for a beer. Too bad I don’t like beer. HAHA The gas tank seems bigger than the other one. The lights are on when the motor is on and they are quite bright.
Now, what I don’t like is that I don’t have the same speed control as I did with the old one. I could get the old one down to just barely moving with the gear shift, but the new one has 9 settings, with the lowest one being fine except around the trees. It is still too fast and I have to use the brake to slow it to a crawl. The new one requires that I disengage the blades before I put in it reverse. And the seat is too small. Or my butt’s too big, which is more likely the problem. LOL
And the old mower still sits where it was when the wheel broke off. I’ll try to post some pics tomorrow.
Here I sit
I have toyed with the idea of nixing the blog entirely. But I know I’m not going to feel like I do forever. I could probably fill page after page of posts about how much I hate my job, and how I hate that I hate my job. But it would serve no purpose. It would not improve things at work. In fact, it could potentially end my employment before I want to end it. I used to love it. It was such a great group to work with, because it was like a family. Now it’s this group against that group. Each day is the potential for some new drama. The constant drama has created a revolving door of people who just get fed up with all the crap. But enough of that.
Both the kids are sick. Jamie’s better, but Chad is worse than Jamie was. I don’t think she ran much, if any fever. Chad started feeling bad Monday night, and I spent the better part of the night trying to convince him he didn’t have the swine flu, and even if he did, the swine flu isn’t near as bad as the regular flu DESPITE the media’s insistence that it’s as bad as the pandemic of 1918. Anyway, the kids are done with school for the summer, though Chad missed the last day and a half of it. I assume since we didn’t get a phone call that the school is passing them to the next grade, though I don’t know how on earth they managed to pull passing grades in the core subjects. It’s not that they aren’t smart, or that they have a learning disability, either. They have a lazy. Aced the tests, but did hardly any homework. Unless they pull C’s or better in everything, they are grounded for the summer, and a miserable summer they will have. We are going to take everything from them except for their beds and clothes. They are going to have to earn everything beyond necessities back.
So I guess this all kind of explains why I’m not writing. It’s hard to be positive when you’re pissed off and disappointed. Yes, that’s why I am avoiding anything political. LOL
I’ll be on vacation in 3 weeks. I’m really looking forward to it. I told my mom that I wasn’t going to do anything. Granted, that’s not true. I will, but I’m not going to plan on doing anything other than family get-togethers on the 4th, and a bowling “date” (for lack of a better word at the moment) with my best friend. No blogging, no Facebook, no Twitter. Not that I have tweeted anything in well over a week. Just family and rest.
A new week
Isaiah 55:6-9 (New American Standard Bible)
6Seek the LORD while He may be found;
Call upon Him while He is near.
7Let the wicked forsake his way
And the unrighteous man his thoughts;
And let him return to the LORD,
And He will have compassion on him,
And to our God,
For He will abundantly pardon.
8″For My thoughts are not your thoughts,
Nor are your ways My ways,” declares the LORD.
9″For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
So are My ways higher than your ways
And My thoughts than your thoughts.
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Don’t Worry
I know it’s easier said than done in this world where we are constantly assaulted by financial, emotional, and physical trials. Such is our state in this fallen world. But there is still hope to be found.
John 14:1-6 (New American Standard Bible)
John 14
Jesus Comforts His Disciples
1 “Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me.2 “In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you.
3 “If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also.
4 “And you know the way where I am going.”
5 Thomas said to Him, “Lord, we do not know where You are going, how do we know the way?”
6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.
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Memorial Day
Since today is really the traditional Memorial Day as opposed to the day off this past Monday, I will post my tribute today. This is an email I received from the director of the organization where I work, and I also received a copy of it from a friend.
In alphabetical order, just Europe …..
1. The American Cemetery at Aisne-Marne, France. A total of 2289 of our military dead.
2. The American Cemetery at Ardennes, Belgium. A total of 5329 of our dead.
We are arrogant.
3. The American Cemetery at Brittany, France. A total of 4410 of our military dead.
Excuse us.
4. Brookwood, England American Cemetery. A total of 468 of our dead.
5. Cambridge, England. 3812 of our military dead.
6. Epinal , France American Cemetery. A total of 5525 of our Military dead.
7. Flanders Field, Belgium. A total of 368 of our military.
8. Florence, Italy. A total of 4402 of our military dead.
9. Henri-Chapelle, Belgium. A total of 7992 of our military dead.
10. Lorraine, France. A total of 10,489 of our military dead.
11. Luxembourg, Luxembourg. A total of 5076 of our military dead.
12. Meuse-Argonne. A total of 14246 of our military dead.
13. Netherlands, Netherlands. A total of 8301 of our military dead.
14. Normandy, France. A total of 9387 of our military dead.
15. Oise-Aisne, France. A total of 6012 of our military dead.
16. Rhone, France. A total of 861 of our military dead.
17. Sicily, Italy. A total of 7861 of our military dead.
18. Somme, France. A total of 1844 of our military dead.
19. St. Mihiel, France. A total of 4153 of our military dead.
20. Suresnes, France. a total of 1541 of our military dead.
IF I ADDED CORRECTLY THE COUNT IS 104,366
Remind those of our sacrifice and don’t confuse arrogance with leadership
The unit to which I was assigned during my time in England held Memorial Day services annually at Madingly American Cemetery near Cambridge. That’s #5 on this list. I only attended one during my last year active duty, and it was a humbling experience.
John 15:13 (King James Version)
13 Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
Never forget.
All photos from American Battle Monuments Commission.
I’m having a bit of writer’s block
Oh I have plenty to say, but I just can’t seem to get started on anything. For one thing, I am worn out mentally. I’ve been doing quite a bit of brain-intensive work at work, and when I get home, I’m just kind of done. But, I am close to wrapping up a project at work, and maybe I won’t be so tired after that’s done. I finally finished a book that I started reading at the end of March. It wasn’t a long book, either. I think I’m quite due for vacation…
