Saturday

Work today, after that I'll make a few snacks for a New Year's Ever gathering!

Not a lot on the agenda today. Work, home, a bit of cooking, and then relaxing!

Friday

And the best thing about today is that I still have the equivalent of a three day weekend AFTER today is over with:)

I'm feeling better each day and not as worn out. It's helping a lot and I really needed it, I just didn't know how badly I needed it.

Yesterday I started watching Burn Notice on Netflix. It's a very good show with the incomparable everyman Bruce Campbell costarring. A spy is issued a Burn Notice during an operation and is forced into poverty and doing odd helpful jobs using his skills as the government has frozen everything and dumped him in Miami. He has Campbell and ex IRA agent girlfriend Fiona helping him.

It's clever, witty, and a lot of fun to watch, and it's all on Netflix!

Thursday And I'm Off

No jobs at all today! The shower is once again operational, the hallway has been painted by the brilliant and talented daughter of mine, Thing 2, and The Date is dealing with her father's business in a nearby town.

I'm alone, am going to cook this afternoon, and do whatever it is I want:)

Today is going to be a good day!

Wednesday

I'm feeling better.
Recharging is a good thing. I came home early from Walmart last night, after about three hours I was absolutely nauseous and felt a dizzy and weak. I thought it was from not eating much that day but I don't think that was it at all. I'm feeling better this morning though.

Not sure what happened but I felt horrible last night. I went right to bed before nine and was asleep by ten, sound asleep. Hopefully it won't return as I've got to work again tonight from five to ten. I'm off tomorrow though! All day!

It's all part of the way things go I guess. I'm not a big believer in a power called luck, it just doesn't exist but sometimes I do feel that we've had some very bad luck over the past three years, sometimes we've just been snake bitten and it's hard to shake it. Whatever it is things don't go the good way, they go the worst way. I'm trying to have a good and positive attitude and look at the bright side of things but it rarely turns out without a lot of hassle and added expenses.

I know a good attitude is very important, focusing on the good and shaking off the bad but it wears you down over time. I count my blessings and have to believe things will get better otherwise what's the point?

Yeah life just happens and I hope life will take a break from using us as a football for a while, we could use a good break once in a while:)

Yawn...Tuesday

I'm enjoying the whole being off for a week thing. Well sort of, I do have to work at Walmart in the evenings however that's much easier when it's my only job for the day. I don't mind it much at all really.

I won the Wannabe Keeper league championship last night and progressed through to the super bowl game in my long time league. Not too bad for a season I really didn't watch or pay attention to. It could have been much worse for sure.

Well that was my evening, not sure what today will bring but I'm sure I'll feel good about it one way or the other! I'm still pretty thrilled to have won such a hard fought fight, I ran into the right match ups on the right weeks and it fell into place!

Leading The Game

My team The Predators are leading the Tebow St. Carnage this weekend in the Wannabe Keeper league. I'm up by eleven right now and have one player left to go. I've got Roddy White while my opponent has Michael Turner going.

The hitch comes because I have Turner in another set of playoffs in my long time league. So White will have to score at least one TD while Turner can score perhaps two at the most against a strong New Orleans D. I can win both games but it's tricky, I'd rather Turner score one TD and White score one or more. That would secure both wins for sure and my championship Keeper league money

The Keeper league is set up to where the super bowl champ wins the majority of the cash, that's what I'm after. My main league is set up to where the leader in points at the end of the season wins the majority of the money. I've won that before as well but I'm out of that this year and I'm only able to play in the championship bowl. That pays as well but not as much.

So tonight is the last night of one league while next week I'll hopefully play in the super bowl of my main league!

Merry Christmas!

To all of you a Merry Christmas, to you who have no one may God fill that void, to you who have family, may God help you through the day;)

Christmas Eve

My "me day" was fairly successful. I do feel better today in fact. Abostang and I played several games of Dominion. The Date rushed around and made some great cookies and went to see her dad in the hospital. Thing 2 and I later took him a paper and some scratch offs to entertain himself with for a while. He loves scratch offs.

Today I'll be working from twelve thirty until six and then the store will be closed down until late tomorrow night if I remember correctly. Everyone will get tomorrow off from Walmart in this store!

All in all it'll be an easy day and one that should fly by. I can imagine us being very busy as last minute shoppers rush in and out, perhaps not the produce section so much but a lot of people coming through anyway. No one stops for that last minute head of lettuce. I do enjoy my coworkers at Walmart and it'll make today fun on top of it being an easy day.

Maybe after taking a pause yesterday from the hectic race I've been running I think I might be finding my Christmas Spirit after all. It's always there, maybe it's just not as evident as I'd like it to be but it's always there.

And....I'm Off!

The company let us go home early yesterday but we still got our eight in. No Walmart last night. I went to bed around one. I'm off now!

Love the song that Thorin Oakenshield sings in the new Hobbit trailer! Very cool song that seemed to hold a lot of reverence for them. I've read The Lord of the Rings but have never read The Hobbit. I know, that's pretty weird for a reader such as myself who does read a lot of classic novels however it happens to be true.

With the Kindle though I'll likely load it up in the upcoming year and get it read way before the movie comes out next December, well part one of the movie anyway. It's two parts and it'll be a two year endeavor as Lord of the Rings was three full years.

Today is my day, I'm doing what I wish to do and that will likely be a bit lot of Not Much!

I've got projects next week I'll attend to but for now this is my time and if that's selfish then so be it, I need time to recharge once in a while.

The Alarm Is Off

It won't come back on until next year!

Alright I called in to Walmart last night, I just wasn't up to it. The previous night the store was filled with a ton of people and it was very difficult to do even a portion of the job. I'm not worried about it, I've called in there four times in almost five months. Five days short of five months actually.

The alarm clock is the main thing, it's the working class's nemesis. I got a lot of rest last night, went to bed around nine, probably asleep before ten. Hot shower this morning! Yep, I got the shower working last night after work, sealed up the seams. Added the shower head. Got a new shower rod. Insulated the crawlspace. Still need to seal the upper part where the new wall meets the top of the shower and add the molding. I'd say it's functional and 95% finished! Will have to still deal with the new floor and get some covering for it.

All in all it's not a great job but it works and it's what it needs to be.

Two Days

Today is my Friday at Walmart and my Thursday at work work. Funny how that works isn't it? Yes the actual calendar day is Wednesday but if you count a work week by ending every week with a weekend then that's how it lays out for me. So it's actually Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday for me, all in one day!

I'm very much looking forward to calendar Thursday night right now as that, at 1615, is when my eleven day odyssey of rechargement begins in earnest. Yeah I do have some projects to accomplish at home, yes I'll get those finished as well. Yes I do have to work at Walmart a few of those evenings but it'll be ok. I'll only be working one job and five and a half hours at the most.

It'll be good and I'll still have plenty of time to recharge myself and get ready for the new year.

Three Days

Three glorious days of work left in this year for me. When I say glorious I really mean hard and I'm going to work a bit under the weather. That's what I expect, everything is earned. I'm earning my time off and I'm going to make Friday an official me day. It's a day where I'm off from both jobs! Rare indeed.

Don't ask me to do anything, I'm going to take care of myself for one day out of this past three hundred sixty five days. If I want to hibernate under the covers all day long that's what I'm going to do.

I am not going to exist on this plane of existence, I'll be like a ghost going where I darn well please, an echo from beyond. I know I'll have projects this upcoming week that I'll have to get done. I just need one day to myself.

No offense is intended, if I want to have lunch, I'll call you. More than likely I'll grab a bag of chips and couch it. I don't know yet. I'm not going to plan Friday out and just give it my best shot at not doing a thing I don't want to do.

Four Days

Short week.
A head cold.
A father in law in the hospital.
A sick wife.
Yeah, it's that time of year.

I'm not feeling the spirit this year. I used to love this time of year and looked forward to it all year, even as an adult. The past couple of years though have been rough. I'm not Scrooge by any means however things just aren't as joyous as they should be for me right now.

I wished I could report better tidings of comfort and joy but sometimes I'm just hanging on by my fingernails.

Sick Date

The Date officially got sick yesterday. I figured it was coming on as she exhibited symptoms of a small cold to start with and then it gradually progressed over the course of the day to out and out sickness. She's laid up in bed right now and I've got her on Theraflu.

She had a pretty bad fever yesterday and up to late last night. I'm going to make her stay in bed today as well but she will have to pick up Thing 2 from mass later on (she's going to play violin with the orchestra today) and then take her to work. She can handle something that small and it might do her good to get some fresh air for a half hour or so.

I'll be on my way to work soon so I won't be able keep her in bed but she'll be on the honor system. I'll be back home around six and then I'll be able to make sure she rests like she is supposed to.

Better Not Great

Yesterday went fairly well. I got the panels cut to place in the bathroom shower. My brother is going to bring a drill over that will have a chuck big enough for the hole saw to place the faucet and get it all squared up.

That's it. Just placing the panels, putting things back into place and it'll be a working shower again. The tub is operational though.

I needed that day off. More than I thought actually. This week is also a four day work week and I get Thursday and Friday off from Walmart, that means Friday is another full day off! Then it's the holidays and a full week off for me. If yesterday is a good indicator I'll be needing that week off, I feel better today but still not myself yet.

Yes I'll still have to work at Walmart the following week but it'll be ok. It's only like three or four nights and only four and a half hours a night, a third of a normal work day for me anymore. I can do that standing on my head. I need it though.

Day Off

I took today off, it was very much needed. I was nearing the end of my endurance for all things work related. Yesterday at work I was just going through the motions, no doubt twenty years of muscle memory aided me in that endeavor of tasks. I had in the back of my mind, stored where only I knew where it was, the thought that I didn't have to work at Walmart last night. That gave me a brief gust of wind in my sail every time I needed it and propelled me through the straits of my day.

My brother changed out the faucet and we fixed a leak while clearing a hair clog after work. The shower is now ready to put up the wall cover. I have to cut it all to size and then using the adhesive fasten it all in place. In theory it shouldn't take long however being that this is a home project I predict it will take much longer than it should and end in a frustrating day off for me.

Rest?
What's that?

I'm Off

It's great, I don't have to work tonight. Yes I work today but it'll feel almost like I've got an entire day to myself! Last night was busy. I went to the toy trailers, essentially they are big storage bins the size of a semi trailer. They have a lot of boxes of products, in this case toys, that are not on pallets. So you have to put the boxes on pallets and then they'll move them to where they need to be moved with a forklift.

However last night there was another guy for just a little bit and then me and a manager. Then the guy left and it was me and two trailers worth of products to be stacked on pallets. That took a while and then he got on the radio and got four more volunteers to help and we moved a lot of pallets by hand on pallet jacks to the other side of Walmart. The complete other side of the store, by hand.

Between us all I bet we moved eight or nine pallets each easily. I was sore, tired, and beat last night. My legs are still a bit sore this morning.

The funny thing is that they were trying to get the store up to snuff for some kind of walk through inspection by regional managers this morning. My section only had one guy the whole night and that was it. So the graveyard guy and the morning crew will have to have had a miracle night to have gotten everything stocked and cleaned before the morning. That was what I was supposed to have been working on.

I can imagine they'll be very mad when they saw the condition we left it in. One guy there while I was gone and he mopped the floors, did as much stocking as he could, and did his best but that didn't go very far. He is off today too as well as me so we're all good! We won't have to deal with any of the problems with me being pulled off of where I was at and moved to where they wanted me.

The only thing on my mind right now is that I don't have to go to work tonight!

A Brake Pad

The first analogy that came to mind yesterday when my supervisor asked me how I felt was that I felt like a worm out brake pad right now. I'm worn thin, I growl more when pressure gets applied, and I feel like I need replaced.

The brakes on your car are what keeps things under control. They keep you from wrecking more than any other piece of your car. When they wear out you are not as safe. I'm not dangerous I'm just worn out.

Next Friday I'll have the first of eleven days off. The way the holidays fall I'll spend four days of leave to get eleven straight days. That's great use of leave and a great return on what you are spending your leave on!

That will help me get back on track and give me some much needed rest.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Coram Deo

Means essentially "Before The Face of God" or "To Live in the Presence of God". I'm conscious of God's presence all the time. Even in the toughest times I'm confident God is right there with me and my family. When I do something secret and good I know God is there and when I do something bad I also know God is right there.

There is no better explanation than right here and the brilliant theologian R.C. Sproul. He has long been my favorite teacher as he has a true gift of making the extremely complex easy to grasp. I mean the very hard to grasp and at depths you've never pondered existed.

Regardless of Sproul's brilliance this is about living differently. When I'm faced with a situation where I'll have to go out of my way at inconvenience to myself for someone I remember Coram Deo. It inspires me to do the hard stuff and mostly when no one else is looking or around. It inspires me to do the right thing when I'm by myself and I'm sure I can get away with anything.

I always try to live this way yet fail more times than not but it helps me succeed when I'm probably really in need of succeeding.

Bathroom Update

The Date's dad really needs a solution for his dilemma today. The hospital is talking about releasing him today which first of all is way too soon, and second of all he can't help himself in any fashion at all. He is incapable of taking care of himself right now, he can't afford home healthcare or someone to check on him five or six times a day or more. He's a bit grumpy with his condition and risks serious injury if left by himself. We simply don't have the capability of having him live with us while he is in this condition. We don't have the room, a bed he would require, or the money to be able to take care of him as The Date would be needed at home full time to take care of him. She'll be looking over his options today and she and her brothers will be making a decision on what to do. Prayers are needed though on what we should be able to do for him.

Yesterday was a nightmare. I called in to Walmart, they weren't happy about it but then again my tenure there will be coming to a close soon enough so it won't matter. I hate calling in to work but that job functions as a secondary job only anyway and sometimes it gets in the way of living.

I had planned on putting tile on the walls around the shower. It would look the best and after doing the kitchen I felt confident enough that I could handle a shower. So we headed to Lowe's and priced how much tile it would take and then we purchased a very nice shower insert, the accessories that are needed to install it, and insulation. We got it all back home and got to the point where it was going to go in and then we learned it wasn't going to fit. We tried several ways to get it in there and get it fastened but it wasn't meant to be.

So in the rain I loaded up the shower insert back up and made the cross town trip to get it exchanged for a urethane style waterproof backing. I got four sheets of it to surround everything and make it a shower again. I got the adhesive to apply it with and the trim. I got back to the house with the third solution I wanted and then we put sheet rock up. The bathroom immediately started to get warm again! We've still got some work to do as right now the sheet rock alone is on the walls. We still need to apply the adhesive and actually get the urethane sheets fitted in place.

The bathroom is about 60% done I'd say. The floor is in good, solid shape, the shower is about half finished. So that's about the size of it. It sucks and it was a lot of hard, frustrating work yesterday to get it all to this point. That's why I hate doing home repair, I'm not good at it and it always turns into three times the work you planned on.