Merry after Christmas

My brother and me with my great nephew Evan

My neice Cassy in her apt

Christmas Eve Supper

I went to my Brother's house in Chesapeake, VA for Christmas this year. I spent the night at Dad's in SC on Saturday night and then drove on to VA on Sunday. I met my great nephew and my neice's husband for the first time and visited with my Brother's in-laws as well as Dad and Geri. I have attached some pictures of our holiday. It took 13 hours of traveling back on Friday to return home. Overall a very nice Christmas. Hope your's was as well.

Advance Voting

Today I took advantage of advance voting at the main Library branch. Apparently half of the town had the same thought... I arrived @ 8:55 and when I left after voting it was 11:15. That was a very long wait, winding up the stairs around the rotunda 1 1/2 times, down this aisle, and up another one. By the time I actually voted, I felt like I knew your line neighbors quite well because you had just talked together for 2 hours.

There was a camera man from Channel 10 news there trying rather unsuccessfully to get anyone on camera. The girl next to me was addressing some cards while she waited and he thought that would be a great thing to put on the news. She did not agree.

I really wish they could have had a way of assisting those elderly people in line. They were having to follow in line just like everyone else. One man fainted, not sure how old he was, but by the time I got to that same point in the never-ending line, I felt like I could have done the same thing. I didn't eat much before I went, so I made a beeline to lunch as soon as I finished.

God has control of our leaders, I pray that the right person would be elected. Amen

Gaither Concert

I was able to attend the Bill Gaither Concert at the civic center last Thursday evening. It was fantastic to say the least. They sang for 4 hours. Guy Penrod is taking a break from the group for awhile, it was the first time I had seen one of their concerts without him there. Ernie Haase and Signature Sound did a great job too.

Mark Lowry surprised us all by appearing on stage about 2 hours into the program.
My favorite song was at the end when they sang "Because He Lives". I also enjoyed Mark's song about going home.

I messed up Holly's picture of her and Mark (sorry, but there were SOOOO many flashes to keep track of...) but she did get to snap a picture of him right before he ran back to the stage.

The concert was meant to be a "memorial" to Jake Hess. For the past 10 or so years of his life he lived here. He passed away a few years ago and the funeral was at my church. I was unable to attend the funeral but heard it was a musical tribute. The volunteers that were helping in the infant nursery this past Sunday were relatives of Jake Hess. Jake's grandaughter Emily and her husband were there with their 5 month old son. They have 2 older boys and they were helping with the infants this time. Emily talked about touring with her papa Jake while she was in high school. Bill Gaither had the Hess family on stage with them during the last hour of the program. Jake's 2 sons and 11 year old grandson (Jake the 3rd) can sing very well, too.

Rain Rain

Today was the first day in a very long time that it rained steadily for about 17 hours straight. I had been eyeing a part of my roof where one of the little "chimneys" are and was wondering how it would do if it rained. Well apparently I wasn't concerned about the right "chimney" because the one above my laundry room is the one that is leaking. The floor had water on it and the ceiling has a stain.

I have had a horrible time locating a honest roofer to work on my other house, I am not sure there is one in my town. Wish my cousin was nearby...

Great Auntie Karen

Here is my grand nephew, Evan Joseph Lofay...

My oldest niece had a baby boy on Wednesday 9-10-08 @ 10:32 am via an emergency C-section in Norfolk, VA. Other than being very tired, Cassy is doing well considering what she went through with the surgery.

I am not sure why the camera's date says 10-9-08 because he was born on 9-10-08...

Full day of babysitting at church

Saturday there was an all day financial seminar at church. I was in the nursery with Miss Ellen and the "under 4 yr olds". There were 4 of them. Three of them took long naps (even the 3 yr old....!). The problem we did have was one of the little ones didn't want to nap so we spent most of that time keeping him quiet...

No one got hurt and our little ones played very well together throughout the rest of the day. I was very thankful for that.

A Fire Truck goes to Church

After an awful and stressful day at work, it was very nice to get to church and visit with my friends and catch up on the past week's news, etc. The babies in the nursery on Wednesday nights keep us hopping, they are very busy. Most of them are in my Sunday School class. Speaking of Sunday...let me tell you what happened this past Sunday morning....

Approx. 10 minutes before the 11 am church service, the fire alarm went off. Well there was one other adult in my class with me and 9 little ones at the time. I am not sure how, but all of a sudden there were people coming to assist with getting the little ones out of the building. There was no way toddlers could walk behind someone leading them on a regular day, let alone a time when a very loud alarm is blaring. Some of them didn't have shoes, some were screaming and the other ones were wide eyed and scared.

All we could think about was getting them out of the building. We all gathered outside next to the playground with all the other kids (up to 3 yrs old) and I made a comment "well, at least it is not raining", just then, it started pouring rain (it really did!), it was amazing. Everyone grabbed the kids again and ran to the choir suite that is in the main church building with the sanctuary. No one in the sanctuary knew anything about the fire alarm. The building really could have been on fire and no one in the church service would know a thing.

It ended up being a false alarm, one of the teens "leaned up against the alarm" and it started. Of course we had to wait for the fire truck to come and reset the alarm--still blaring loudly. The kids did get to see the fire truck, that was fun I guess. By the time we got back in the building again, there were other kids arriving. It was so chaotic that I ended up staying in my classroom for the 2nd service--there were now 11 toddlers in my class. The volunteers in the first service stayed on thru the 2nd service in the infant room, so they were covered.

The fire station is very close to us, about a minute away. They have been at our church 2 times in the past months. They are probably going to get tired of false alarms. The last time about a month or so ago one of the younger kids pulled the alarm, that time it was on a Wednesday night.

Re-thinking 4 day work week

Apparently there is more to the proposed 4 day work week schedule than I had originally thought. Information regarding the work schedule arrived via email.

An hour for lunch will be a requirement (I know lots of folks that will not like that). A signed form is required stating that if your job performance goes down, you have to return to the regular 8 hrs a day schedule within 2 weeks. Because of the required hour for lunch, there is not going to be any time in which to make up time during the week unless you stay even later. For holidays, we still only get 8 hrs, not 10. So to make up those 2 hours, you would have to take vacation time, work even longer during the day, or come in on your day off to make them up. I would have to come in even earlier on Wednesdays because I don't want to miss out on Wednesday Church activities.

So it looks like I will probably say no to the 4 day work week. My current hours seem ok to me.

Dentist

Yes, the time has come once again for my twice yearly teeth cleaning/xray appointment. This time I got to have a circular xray. The xray machine goes around your head while you bite on a piece of plastic all the while trying to keep your head still, etc. When Julie showed me the film, I saw why I am beginning to have sinus problems and that I do indeed have healthy teeth/roots. That is very nice to hear. At least one part of me is up to par. It is very nice to have a christian dentist, he has been my dentist for 19 years.

After my appt with the dentist, I went to eat with some friends to Buffalo Wild Wings. On Tuesdays they have 40 cent wings. I haven't been there in months. It is very loud and not a place to have any kind of conversation. About 20 different TVs are playing and most of them are tuned to different channels.

Report on my boss: Monday they did surgery on his brain tumor in Tampa Florida. The tumor was cancer, but they were able to remove it all. He will come home in a few days and begin cancer treatments. The surgery went very well. Thank you for your prayers and concerns.

Weekend

Another long week has ended. I am now down to 19 projects from 24 last week. I am looking forward to a relaxing weekend. It started with a pedicure tonight. I timed it well. When I got to the nail salon, there were about 5 people getting their toes done. When I left all the chairs were full, about 15.

I have added pictures from my boss's wedding to the entry below. He is having a brain tumor removed in Tampa, FL on Monday. This is a serious surgery, but expected to go very well.

Enjoy your weekend.

Typical Monday

Today was a typical crazy Monday at work. I look forward to next month when I begin to have Mondays off.

There are so many things I need to research and learn at work about work. My manager wants us to be "BA certified" and although I very much appreciate the opportunity to do that, my work load does not allow much time for this learning. I have never been a good student, but will try to learn more. This will come in handy should we want to leave the company and go to another company.

My toddler class went well this week, there was 10 of them for the early service. That made for an overflowing room. They don't really know how to listen, so we did a craft and had a very short lesson. (Thankfully they didn't eat the cotton balls, but several of them did eat the crayons....). There were 13 toddlers for the 2nd service. I was in the baby room for the 2nd hour and there were 7 of them. Needless to say, all of the workers/parents helping were all wiped out at the end of church.

Have a great week.

Boss's Wedding

Today @ 5:30 my boss got married. He married a girl who used to be in my work group. It was a short and sweet wedding.

My supervisor caught the garter belt. So maybe he is next?? I didn't catch the bouquet, one of their daughters got it. They both have 2 daughters.

Have a good weekend.

Birthday Wishes

Thanks to all for the Birthday Wishes. I guess I have to accept the fact that I am now another year older.

Today was another extremely busy day. It zoomed by again and I ended up having to stay an extra 30 minutes to provide a project status report to my supervisor.

Trip to SC for my birthday--Photos

dad in SC

Hello to all, Yes, my PC does work outside of my house. I am in Cowpens, SC with my dad at Panera's. It took a couple minutes to get hooked up online, but it works fine.

Here are some pictures!!!

Week's End

What a week. I had to get my "ducks in a row" before I left work today because I am going to be out of the office on Monday and Tuesday. Seems like even when I take one day off the next day at work I am extra swamped with stuff. So with 2 days off.... who knows?

I am heading to SC to see my dad for my birthday. I will be leaving after church to head up north. It will take me approx. 5 hours to get there.

My associate director who has type 3B lung cancer is getting married next week to a girl at work. She used to be in our department and Damon was her boss, but she transferred to another department awhile back. Their wedding is next Friday, one day before his birthday. I thought they may speed the wedding along once he announced that he was so sick.

Hope you all have a great weekend. I am going to take this PC with me on my trip. It will be the first time I try to use it with "wi-fi". Wonder if it will work? I plan on playing a DVD during the trip so I will have something to listen to. I figure the battery will last about 4 hours (hopefully).

Wednesday Night

Work has been extremely busy. Today I felt like I didn't do anything at all, yet 6 of my 24 projects had something come up today and needed immediate attention. It is very hard most of the time. We really need more help.

Here is one picture that will cheer anyone up...

Disney Cruise Ship Wonder

A friend at work just returned this weekend from sailing on the Disney Cruise Ship Wonder. She and some friends went on the "land and sea" vacation. I am sure she has plenty of stories to tell us about her adventures from staying @ DisneyWorld and visiting the parks for 4 days then boarding the ship for 3 days.

4 day work week?

I was asked today if I would like to go to a 4 day work week. "yes" I said, can I have Mondays off? My supervisor said I could!! I don't know when our new schedule will begin but I will work Tuesday-Friday from 7am to 6pm.

There are 5 of us in my team: 2 of my group are off Mondays, 2 are off on Fridays and another one is off on Wednesdays. That should allow coverage for all days. I have always preferred to have Mondays off. Mondays are very crazy at work, so I may live to regret it, but oh well.

I usually have at least one more hour of work I could do before I leave anyway, so staying later would not be too bad. I do overtime now because of my workload. I know I will get "munchy" with the 10 hour day schedule because I am used to eating around 5'ish.

I actually cooked lasagne using cheese ravioli tonight. It is getting late, I am going to eat supper now.

My last Sunday with the Nursery kids

This was a very busy and active year for the babies who where born in 2007-2008. It seems like every other year there is a "baby boom".

There are several babies who are old enough to move up to the toddler class with me. My class roll for the 08-09 Toddler class has more than 15 children on it. Most of them attend regularly.

Sad news about My Uncle Del

My Aunt from Kansas notified us that my Uncle Del passed away yesterday in Kauai, Hawaii. He is no longer in pain from cancer and is in a much better place.

I called my cousins Patti (from Alexandria, VA) and Ken (Oregon City, OR) tonight for a bit. They were understandably upset. I called to let my dad (currently visiting Geri's family in OR) and brother (Chesapeake, VA) know. Nancy, my uncle's oldest daughter is on her way to Hawaii from Portland, OR to be with her mother. Their youngest, James (I have always called him Jamey...I guess because he is 10 years younger than me) lives in Oregon, too.

Please continue to pray for my Auntie Mollie and my cousins. At this time there are no funeral arrangements.

Cancer

Today at work our associate director pulled the entire team together for a meeting. He first made sure that we were all there and then announced that he had Stage 3b lung cancer. Of course we were all shocked. On August 9th, he will be 43. He has not smoked yet he got cancer. Apparently there is Cancer in his family. He noticed that while in England earlier this year that he got sick and just couldn't get better. They did not catch it early enough. He is unoperable. I looked up his stage of cancer on Web MD.com, this is what it says for stage IIIB...

• Lung Cancer Stage III: Stage IIIA may be treated with chemotherapy, radiation, and surgery. Stage IIIB usually is treated with chemotherapy only or chemotherapy and radiation.

Wow, first my Uncle Del has end stage prostate/bone cancer, Al and Amy both have cancer and now Damon.

God has a reason for everything. My boss has been away from God for awhile and perhaps this will lead him back. We are not promised a tomorrow, we must be ready to go...

These verses were in Marion's blog recently...(thanks Marion)

"In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps"
(Proverbs 16:9)

"Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails."
(Proverbs 19:21)
"Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own."
(Matthew 6:34)

Thanks for listening.

Callaway Gardens

I was determined not to spend another day off at home, so I spent yesterday at Callaway Gardens with friends. We started at the Day butterfly center, then the birds of prey, went to the country store and ate lunch, walked around the vegetable garden, drove the scenic drive by the Chapel and ended up in the lake for a swim. It was a full and eventful day.

When I got back to work this morning, I was hit with lots and lots of emails, more project drama and other problems. There is not enough hours in a day. Tomorrow is another day...

Moody Church and BBN

Hello,

Last night I spent some time on the internet locating one of my favorite preacher's website. Please click on the "Moody Church" link to the right so you can view the site. I have also included the BBN website in my listing of links, too.

I am unable to use Windows media to listen to the sites, but Adobe Flash works for my PC.

I am enjoying my day off, will report on it perhaps another time.

Couple of days off work

I at last had a couple days off from work. I have been working on a very high priority project for about 3 months and was unable to be away from work. I took Friday and Monday off. I will return to work on 7-22-08. It was nice to be away from the office for a short time. I am sure my email box will be more than full when I do go back on Tuesday morning.

Because we had a few babies in the nursery today I was able to go to the early service at church. I rarely get to go and I do enjoy it when I can get away and join in. The pastor spoke about looking to God for help then respond. Last week's IndyMack Bank downfall was an eye opener about our economy. He reminded us that God has his hand in all we do including our present economy.

A coworker left this morning from the Atlanta airport bound for Orlando, FL. She and some friends are going on the Disney "land and sea". They will spend 4 days at Disney World and then spend 3 days on the Disney Wonder cruise ship. I KNOW they will have lots of fun. I expect lots of pictures and stories from their adventure.

I really enjoyed my cruise I went on last year to Mexico. I will cruise again one day...

I am a blogger once again

I have not written since last fall. I was able to locate my original blog site, so it was easier than I thought to be up and running so quickly.

I am somewhat excited/nervous about teaching the toddler sunday school class during the first service at church in August. It will be neat to move up with the class. I had most of the same kids in the infant nursery from the time they were very tiny.

I do need to find someone to replace me in the infant class during that same time every other week. Miss Ellen has offered to work for me every other Sunday.

My days are flying away at work. We are so busy we don't know where to start!!!

An update on my Uncle Del in Hawaii. Hospice has been called in to assist at their home. Please pray with me for my Uncle.