Time Keeps on Slipping

Spring has sprung, March has flung and the first quarter of 2009 has sped by.  Here it is April and it just feels like this year is getting away from me.  You know that song “Time Keeps on Slipping into the Future”?  I always thought it was a cool song to sing, but didn’t really understand it.  Now I think, ahh, I get it.  Seems like the older I get the faster time goes- it really is slipping away from me.  There just aren’t enough hours in my days or weeks in my months anymore.  It is all a huge blur anymore.  It seems like it was just January yesterday.  I am alone here?  Do you find that time gets away from you in this crazy world?

Rocky update…

Well, the Rocky saga has come to a close.  This morning we captured him and set him free.  It was like an episode of the Crocodile Hunter.  Rocky was spotted in the kitchen.  He was cornered under the sink.  We schemed up a way to capture him.  Would a box work?  What about a plastic bag?  As one co-worker tried to convince him we meant him no harm but were trying to free him from his bondage in our office, the other two of us tried to figure out a vessel to contain him in.  Then it happened, he bolted.

He dashed from the kitchen to the hallway and behind the file cabinets on the wall.  Now wedged between the wall and the file system he was cornered, but out of reach.  We could see him, but we had to keep him there until we could devise a new plan.  Now, other co-workers were arriving – reinforcements.  Okay, the box was out, the garbage bag it would be.  Now, how to get Rocky into the bag was the next phase.

One co-worker climbed on top of the filing cabinet system and shall we say “prodded” Rocky along on his journey toward the garbage bag.  The garbage bag was taped to the end of the filing cabinet so Rocky had no-where to go but into it.  All doors were sealed and someone was guarding the exit at the other end to see if he made a break for it.  All went as planned until Rocky reached the edge of the bag and then he refused to go in for a few minutes.  After much hissing and spitting – by Rocky – and much pleading by us (“were doing this for you”), he finally went into the bag.  A hasty retreat out the back door and finally Rocky was set free.

Now, Rocky is free to roam the trees surrounding our building once more.  Let’s just hope he doesn’t decide he liked it in our office and return again this evening for the weekend.

Anyway, hope you had an exciting day too.

Unwanted guests…

Our office has been overtaken by unwanted guests.  First, a couple of weeks ago, my boss’s office was swarmed by termites.  Now, we have a squirrel running loose in the office. 

No kidding, it reminds me of the scene from Christmas Vacation where the squirrel comes flying out of the Christmas tree.  He or she, we aren’t sure which it is, apparently started out in the kitchen roaming around looking for scraps.  Yesterday afternoon it proudly hopped onto one of the ladies desks at the end of the day and practically scared her to death.  At this point, I’m not sure what will happen next.  We all open doors and enter rooms very cautiously and await the next shriek from someone who has spotted the critter.  When I left today he/she was “trapped” in the kitchen (as much as you can trap a squirrel).  At least that was the last I saw of it. 

Remember a few posts back when I wrote about the circus train?  Well, I feel as though the circus has come to live at our office.  Instead of lions and tigers and bears, we have termites and squirrels and oh my, I don’t want to think what might be next!

We shall see what adventures Rocky – that is what I just decided to call it – gets into tomorrow. 

The “Plot” Thickens…

A few weeks ago, I had the strangest phone conversation that I have ever had in my life.  Here is how it started.

Me:  “Hello”

Mom: “I’ve got a burial plot for you.”

Me: “Uh, Okay.”

Mom: “You know the family plot I told you was empty the back way we go to Wal-Mart.”

Me: “Ooookay.”

 

Seriously, that was how she started the conversation.  I mean, no “hello, how are you” or anything.  I know that I have been sick lately, but I didn’t think I had been that bad. 

She proceeded to tell me that she and my father had lunch with two of my aunts and the subject had come up.  Have you noticed that it seems that when people of that “age bracket” get together the conversation naturally seems to go to three areas: 1) medical procedures they have had or are going to have; 2) medications they are taking or have taken; and 3) how many people that they knew that are still alive?

Anyway, apparently this topic came up at lunch and my mother somehow confirmed her suspicions that there was an open plot at the cemetery in between two of my relatives.  She has put in a request that I get this plot for my final resting place.  Which I must say was a very nice gesture on her part.  Don’t get me wrong I am not complaining – it’s free.  It’s just that, I don’t know either of the people I will be stuck between for all of eternity – well my physical body anyway.   I guess I need to plan a few visits to get to know my relatives that I will be spending this time with in the far future so we won’t be strangers when the time comes.  Although, now that I think about it, when that time comes, I won’t know where I am being put, so do I really care? 

Anyway, I have yet to see the deed or whatever they have for burial plots, so it’s not a done deal yet.  I’m not counting my coffins before they are hatched so to speak.   When I get the paper in hand, I’ll consider my final arrangements made in stone, or at least a spot for a stone. 

I wonder if I could plant a little garden in that spot until I need to use it?  You know, do my part for the environment and all. 

Spinning…

Does your head ever spin?  The other night I was watching a program on tv about the logging industry.  There was this guy who was brand new to the job; he had never even been out in the woods before.  All around him were huge machines, chainsaws, and trees falling.  Any one of which could kill him in an instant if he wasn’t paying attention.  He made the comment, “looks like I’ll have my head on a swivel all day today.”  Do you ever feel like that?

 

In the hustle and bustle of day to day life do you feel like you have to have you head on a swivel just to keep from getting blindsided by something?  Between work, church, home, family, etc, etc, etc…. sometimes it all sends your head spinning.  Sometimes you just want to scream “Stop the insanity!” Remember that old infomercial catchphrase?  Well, when things seem at their worst there is always hope.  You can always remember there is someone there with you that will help keep you from spinning out of control.

God is striding ahead of you. He’s right there with you. He won’t let you down; he won’t leave you. Don’t be intimidated. Don’t worry.”  Deuteronomy 31:8 (The Message)

Wandering…

I just can’t help it; sometimes my mind just wanders off when I am supposed to be paying attention.  I am off in my own world, having my own conversations in my head. 

Example?  I am at a conference and I am supposed to be paying attention to the speaker, but here I am off on a tangent.  It usually starts innocently enough.  Like, gee they pronounced that word funny.  Or, I wonder where that door goes; I bet it’s a secret passageway.  Luckily the stuff right now does not apply to our system, because I have no idea what is going on.  But I know I’m going to be in big trouble soon.  The next speaker has a very awesome accent.  When she speaks I keep thinking – I wonder if she comes from the same part of Scotland as Sean Connery?

Okay, so as I said many times before I think I have a touch of ADD, but it does make life interesting.  At least for me anyway.  Maybe not so much for those around me.  Ha!  I usually rely on a great friend to take notes for me in meetings so I don’t miss any important things I am supposed to do.  I’m on my own right now.  This could be bad.  How much longer until lunch???

So….do you wander?  If so, how far?  Come on; make me feel a little better would ya?

Psalm 18

I am falling in love with Psalms – the Message is just bringing it to life for me.  I read this chapter the other day and it was just what I needed.  I read it again, because I needed it again this week.  Thought I would share some of it with you.  Hope it brings you peace in your day today.

Psalm 18 (The Message)

 ^1-2 I love you, God— you make me strong.
   God is bedrock under my feet,
      the castle in which I live,
      my rescuing knight.
   My God—the high crag
      where I run for dear life,
      hiding behind the boulders,
      safe in the granite hideout.
 ³ I sing to God, the Praise-Lofty,
      and find myself safe and saved.
 ^4-5 The hangman’s noose was tight at my throat;
      devil waters rushed over me.
   Hell’s ropes cinched me tight;
      death traps barred every exit.
 ⁶ A hostile world! I call to God,
      I cry to God to help me.
   From his palace he hears my call;
      my cry brings me right into his presence—
      a private audience!
  ^16-19 But me he caught—reached all the way
      from sky to sea; he pulled me out
   Of that ocean of hate, that enemy chaos,
      the void in which I was drowning.
   They hit me when I was down,
      but God stuck by me.
   He stood me up on a wide-open field;
      I stood there saved—surprised to be loved!
 ^20-24 God made my life complete
      when I placed all the pieces before him.
   When I got my act together,
      he gave me a fresh start.
   Now I’m alert to God’s ways;
      I don’t take God for granted.
   Every day I review the ways he works;
      I try not to miss a trick.
   I feel put back together,
      and I’m watching my step.
   God rewrote the text of my life
      when I opened the book of my heart to his eyes.
 ^25-27 The good people taste your goodness,
   The whole people taste your health,
   The true people taste your truth,
   The bad ones can’t figure you out.
   You take the side of the down-and-out,
   But the stuck-up you take down a peg.
 ^28-29 Suddenly, God, you floodlight my life;
      I’m blazing with glory, God’s glory!
   I smash the bands of marauders,
      I vault the highest fences.

Crossing Guards

Every day on my way to work I pass several crossing guards.  It’s one of those things you take for granted.  Then I noticed on a school sign that Feb 6^th had been Crossing Guard Appreciation Day.  Wow.  It had come and gone and I didn’t even know it.  I thought, “I wonder if anybody else had noticed?”

These people are outstanding (literally) citizens when you stop and think about it.  I mean, I don’t know if they get paid for what they do, but that doesn’t matter.  Most of them are older people who are giving of their time to keep children safe on their way to school.  I can’t think of a better thing to do with your time.  Can you?

They stand in the morning, they stand in the afternoon.  Rain, shine, cold, heat (kind of sounds like the post office motto, which is another blog for another day) – doesn’t matter, there they stand.  They brave the traffic on busy intersections.  These days you can’t be sure that people are going to stop for you just because you are armed with a whistle and a little stop sign.  All to ensure that kids get across safely to school or back home safely. 

I remember that there was this one lady who I would see every morning on my way to work.  She would wave to every car that passed her.  Some days I would wave back, some days I wouldn’t.   It just made her day.  It made mine too.  She would talk to every child as she helped them cross that street.  You could just tell that she loved what she was doing.  She considered it the highlight of her day.  She hasn’t been at that spot for the last two years, not sure what happened to her.  I know that I miss her.

Anyway, here is my shout out to you the unsung heroes of the school system.  Without you all those little kiddies might be tardy every day.  Thanks for keeping those intersections safe!  Happy belated Crossing Guard Appreciation Day!  Keep up the good work and when I grow up, I hope I can be just like you.   Making a real difference in the world.

Groggy Bloggy…

Inspiration from blogs comes from everywhere.  A thought; a sign; a passing conversation; a sleepless night.  The worst for me are those that come during those sound nights of sleep.  During the middle of the night or morning hours, when from a deep sleep inspiration for a blog pops into my cloudy mind.  Is it a dream or is it real?   It’s too good and usually makes too much sense to be a dream.

So, what do you do, there are two choices:

1. Ignore it and try and go back to sleep.  Hoping you will remember it when you get up.
2. Write it down.  This can be a little problematic.  You are groggy from sleep and writing at the same time.  If you can read the chicken scratch that comes out, the thought usually melds with the sleep world into something like this.  “To live without truth is to they all had tiny hats!”   Totally useless!

I have often thought of getting a tape recorder, but then again it would still be that mixture of sleep world vs. awake and who would want to listen to that later on.  Not me. 

So, I opt for option 1.  I have found that any inspired idea (groggy or not) that is worth writing – notice I did not say worth reading – will kick around in my head for a while until I write in down.  Maybe that is where all that noise I hear in there comes from.  Sometimes I wrestle with an idea that I don’t think is good enough for you to hear and it turns out to get a better response than a blog I think is awesome.  One should not question the blog inspiration center of the brain!

So in closing let me say this – inspiration can come from anywhere and anytime, don’t fight it.  But, much like the way you should not drive a car or operate heavy machinery while groggy, please blog responsibly and don’t blog groggy.  None of us want to read about how the economic crisis can be solved by people wearing tiny hats and riding in yellow submarines just because you mixed your dream world and reality.  Unless of course that might actually work! 

Let’s be careful out there!

To Miami and Back- 4…

Here is the fourth and final installment of my adventures in Miami- at least for now.

Leaky Room- this one is possible the worst (and most disturbing) of my adventures.

The only time our accommodations have not been at a 4 or 5 star hotel, for some reason they had us stay across from the University of Miami.  The hotel rents out some rooms to students at the University as well as to tourists.  When I came back from one of my sessions at the office my key wouldn’t work in the door, so I went to the front desk.  I told them I couldn’t open my door.  They asked me what room I was in, and that is when I heard the understatement of my life.  They said “Oh there was a little problem with your room.  We have moved you to the room next door; here is your new key.”  Okay, no problem.  I said what was the problem?  “Oh the people in the room above yours had a water leak and it seeped down into your room so we had to move all your things.”   “The only thing that was wet was your tennis shoes and we dried them here they are,” and they handed me my shoes.  Let me say they must use some mighty powerful dryers because I think my shoes shrank a size. 

So I went to my new room and went in.  I looked at the desk and noticed a puddle of water on the desk, which seemed to have come from the ceiling or something so I called the front desk.  They sent someone to my room to clean it up.  I also noticed that they had forgotten the stuff I had in the shower.  So the guy had to go into my old room to get it for me.  As the door was open I could see the water still dripping from the ceiling all over the room that I had been staying in.  It was like a little waterfall!  I thought to myself, a little problem!  So off to my new room – right next door (this is a key to the story). 

I start settling in for the night, order dinner (which they bought for the trouble).  Then as I start to get ready for bed, I notice water oozing from the wallboard onto the headboard of the bed.  Then I notice that there are little bubbles of water all over the wall – this is the wall that is adjacent to the room I was in the night before!  The water then begins to seep from the bubbles and down the wall.  It reminded me of a scene from some horror flick.  I probably should have called down to the front desk, but this was the last night there and I really wasn’t in the mood to change rooms again, so I decided to sleep in the chair for the night.  I did keep an eye on the wall and the ceiling.  When I checked out the next morning I let them know they needed to get someone in there and check the walls.  They said “the wall and ceiling fell down?”  I said “No, they are wet and dripping from the room next door.”  I thought their question was rather strange at the time, but went on to my meeting.  When I got to office I was talking to the other ladies about the night before and some other ladies came in and said “did you guys hear that the ceiling collapsed in one of the rooms at the hotel last night?”  Gee now that question made sense!

Needless to say we have never stayed at that hotel or any other hotel like it again!

Slow Down

Not long ago I saw this phrase on my way to work and it really hit me.

“Slow Down and Let God Love You Like Never Before”

In this busy world we live in how many times have we missed an opportunity to experience the greatness of God’s love because we were too busy?  That is a very scary thought. 

Then I realized, for me I didn’t have to be physically busy to miss out.  It could be that I just am mentally or spiritually not in tune with God.  I don’t want to miss out on all the wonderful blessings of God’s love and I certainly wouldn’t want it to be because I was just too busy to see it there in front of me.

As it says in Psalm 46:10 “Be still, and know that I am God.”

So slow down, be still and experience God’s love.

When I Grow Up…

When I was little I wanted to be a motorcycle cop.  In fact I used to walk up and down the street with my pad and pen and write down all the neighbors’ license plate numbers giving out pretend tickets.  I’m not sure exactly what happened to that dream.  I think it fell by the weigh side when I learned at 14 or so that I couldn’t ride a motorcycle.  That puts a serious kink in the equation. 

Somewhere after the motorcycle episode though my dreams vanished and I turned my sights on accounting.  Now talk about two totally different worlds.  You would think I could have realized that I still could have been a cop, just left out the motorcycle part!  But, apparently I didn’t think that through all the way.

Now, technically I have not grown up yet, at least mentally.  I refuse to grow up.  Fight the man I say.  But I realize that sometimes you have to face reality and give up on some things.  However, if I could have a second shot at a career, I think my choice would now be forensics. 

So, here’s the question.  What was your dream when you were little?  What did you want to be when you grew up?  Are you doing it?  If not, why?

And Now

this brief announcement.  I am still here.  Things have been and are a little crazy at work so I have not been able to post.  But fear not my loyal reader, I am working on some posts and will be back to enlighten and entertain you very shortly.

Thank you for your support!

Psalm 3…

Something tells me that there is someone out there that could use this passage today.   I know the way things are going for me this week, I really received a lift from it. 

Psalm 3 (The Message)

 1-2 God! Look! Enemies past counting! Enemies sprouting like mushrooms,
   Mobs of them all around me, roaring their mockery:
   ”Hah! No help for him from God!”

 3-4 But you, God, shield me on all sides;
   You ground my feet, you lift my head high;
   With all my might I shout up to God,
   His answers thunder from the holy mountain.

 5-6 I stretch myself out. I sleep.
   Then I’m up again—rested, tall and steady,
   Fearless before the enemy mobs
   Coming at me from all sides.

 7 Up, God! My God, help me!
   Slap their faces,
   First this cheek, then the other,
   Your fist hard in their teeth!

 8 Real help comes from God.
   Your blessing clothes your people!

 

Happy Groundhog Day!

Today is Groundhog Day.  So in case you haven’t been told, Happy Groundhog Day and yes the Groundhog saw his shadow.  So it’s six more weeks of winter!

Groundhog Day, what a strange holiday.  But it just happens to be the same name of one of my favorite movies.  As in the movie, I was wondering if you had one day to relive over, what day would it be.

Would you choose a good day?  Or to quote Bill “That was a pretty good day! Why couldn’t I get that day?” 

Or would you choose a day that you want to change?  A day in your life to relive so you could make a change so you could better yourself or someone else?

It’s an interesting concept if you ask me.  What do you think?

Super Bowl Poll

The Super Bowl is this Sunday.  So I am conducting an informal poll.

Do you watch for?

a.    The game

b.    The commercials

Me + God

Me- I am:

·         Human

·         Broken

·         Sinful

·         Confused

·         Prideful

·         Prone to wonder

·         Selfish

God- He is:

·         Perfect

·         Omnipotent

·         Alpha & Omega

·         Master

·         Savior

·         Healer

·         Teacher

·         The Great I Am

Me + God = an imperfect human being that has been forever forgiven

An unbeatable combination!

Excuses #2…

My job is to share with my readers the wealth of knowledge that I either have (ha!) or gather as I go through life.  Oh yeah it’s hip wader time. 

Here is one that I am sure we have all tried at one time in our life:

“Because It’s There”

Need an excuse to do something that is both

a)     Something nobody has done before and,

b)    Stupid?

Then this might be the line for you.

Going to Miami..and back 3

Here is the third installment of my adventures in Miami.

This is simply titled Traffic Jam 2008-

As you merge off of I-95 onto US-1 everything bottlenecks as the traffic on US-1 Southbound is pretty congested especially at this point.  There are 3 lanes of traffic and two of these come from the I-95 merge.  Now being that I have been down this road many times before, I know that this is a congested area and I know that I must turn left off of US-1.  I know that I want to be in the left hand lane of I-95 coming onto US-1; this way I only have one lane of traffic to blend into to get into the far left lane on US-1.  So as expected the traffic at this point is bottlenecked and I start looking for my opportunity to get into the left lane.  I see someone who wants to get over into my lane about two cars ahead and think if I can get to them we can swap, but someone behind me in the left lane sees my blinker and is nice enough to let me over.  Whew!  My first worry over.  Now I just have to find my road to turn left onto. 

Let me explain this worry – people in Miami don’t understand the left turn arrow or a red light; they take these are mere suggestions.  Four cars will turn left once the light turns red.  Who cares that five hundred cars are coming at you full speed from the other direction.  You need to turn and you are going to turn.  Hence my apprehension.  So we come to the first intersection and the traffic is still going at a snail’s pace; the light is out.  I think strange, but we all go through the light, I realize this really isn’t a normal light; it is really a turn light for people turning left onto US-1 so I don’t think much of it.  Still moving at a snail’s pace – I worry about the guy riding my bumper behind me – does he not see we are only going 3 miles an hour!  Next light not working, strange, oh this is only a crosswalk light, no worry. 

Then, I get a call from Karma who informs me that she was meeting with one of our client’s in Central Florida and their power was out, something about an outage in several counties.  I say looks good around here, because, I didn’t see people out of their offices or anything, naively thinking back to our power outages of 2004.  Traffic was bad, but a couple lights not working still didn’t have me worried.  Then, the next intersection came; a pretty big intersection and as you can guess, no lights.  Now it really gets interesting.   Everyone just keeps going, no one even thinks of stopping at the intersection.  I was going to stop, but was afraid of getting mowed down from behind- well mowed down at 3 miles an hour may be an overstatement, but you get the picture.  So the next light same thing happens.  I figure okay if these guys go, I’m going too.  Here’s the crazy part – well one of the crazy parts.  As we are all going straight through the intersection and the people going north on US-1 are going through the intersection people are also trying to go across US-1 at the same time AND turn left off of US-1!  ALL AT THE SAME TIME!!!!!!!!!!!  Nuts right!  I mean come on.  Someone has to take a turn here people.  And there were NO COPS ANYWHERE!!!!!!!!!!!!  Not even at the biggest intersections.  Okay we know that when the lights are out you treat it like a 4 way stop – they treat it like a 4 way GO!

I was so relieved to get off of that road.  Which, I did by seeing someone who was going to turn left and flooring it to follow them.  Scary!  Needless to say when I got to the hotel their power was off too.  GREAT!  This is the last thing I need.  I called Karma to let her know, “guess what, the power is out here too”. 

I learned some interesting things at the hotel waiting for the power to come on and then waiting for their computers to reboot so I could check in.  Here are some tidbits for you.  Sitting in a hotel lobby with no power is no fun.  Oh the hotel itself is beautiful- open atrium with beautiful water fountains everywhere, which of course were not running, and lots of tropical vegetation.  After a little while though it becomes a little bit stuffy.  Also, if you aren’t drinking, which I wasn’t and you don’t speak Spanish/Cuban which I don’t, the bartender who keeps dropping by every few minutes to check on you doesn’t really know what to do with you.  I just smile and say “no, I’m fine” and off he goes for another few minutes. 

The most important thing I learned is this and this is worth reading this entire blog for.  Much in the same way that your seat cushion “becomes” a flotation device, a cell phone will “become” a flashlight when there are no emergency lights in the bathroom!  Just another reason to keep them charged up!

Starting the Day…

The other day as I was driving to work listening to my cds, I thought this is the best way to start my day.  Then as I pulled into the parking lot, I really focused on the song I was singing and realized this really was the best way to start a busy day at work or any day for that matter. 

In Your arms I know I’m home, O God My God

Take my life and make it Yours Lord, fill me with Your love. 

You are all I need.  I surrender all of me.

I can’t think of any better way to start the day, than giving everything I am to the Lord.