Hello again

Well I went through with my foot surgery on October 19th and I am getting around very slowly but trying to carry on with my normal routine as much as possible. The first few days after the surgery were very rough as I was extremely nauseous from the anesthesia but once I was over that everything has been good. I worked half a day on Friday and then again today. I must say I have enjoyed the break from work tremendously. I am very envious of my friend, Jonathon's tails of hiking these days as I am missing my daily exercise routine and feel my butt growing wider everyday as I sit here with my foot propped up on a pillow. I will have a lot of catching up to do when I can finally get around again.

We had a wonderful weekend for the most part. Shannon and I worked together to get everything cleaned up from the house to the vehicles and then my parents came through Sunday on their way to spend a week in Mountain View, Arkansas. As is my regular duty, I will be babysitting their two Border Collies until they return. Q, went on an overnight trip with his youth group on Saturday and we took Blake to the Wylie Fall Festival and then to a party at a friends house. The reason I say it was a wonderful weekend "for the most part" is that on Saturday, I sat the Guinea Pig cage out on the front porch since it was a lovely day, thinking they would enjoy the fresh air and while I left them unsupervised, our male golden retriever drug the cage out into the front yard and tore it up, getting both Ginny and Dixie from inside and killing them. It was very traumatic for Blake.

Fun statistics

HowManyOfMe.com

There are: 423 people with my name in the U.S.A. How many have your name?

Friday the 13th

It did not dawn on me until I was writing a check for Quentin this morning that it was Friday the 13th.

"Oh, Quentin it is Friday the 13th" I said.

His reply, "Don't worry Mom, I don't think it is one of the bad ones"

This has really been a great week for me, which is a complete turn around from how I was feeling this time last week. I have been really stressed out because I knew that the funeral home I work for had been sold but they were being very secretive about the new owners and all the details of the sale. On Wednesday, I had a chance to meet these new owners and they were wonderful. I feel like I have been rescued. I have been working for the big corporation for 4 years now and it is just not for me. This is a small company and more tailored to my small town mentality. The transition will not take place for about 6 weeks but by the time I am laid up for a couple of weeks with my foot surgery, maybe the time will fly by.

Shannon and the boys will go to the High School football game tonight which will give me my much treasured alone time. Being a mother of two boys comes in very handy sometimes especially during football and hunting seasons!!!!!

Vacation Get Away!!!

Dear Family and Friends,

I haven't said anything to anybody about this until now because we wanted to wait until things were final.

We just purchased a one bedroom condo near Sanibel Island in South Florida as an investment property.

It finally closed last week, so I thought that we would let you all know in case anyone is interested in accommodations for an upcoming getaway.

It's available for weekends or on a weekly basis. For now, I will be handling bookings until I can find an agent.

Weekends will cost about $150 for three nights and $350 for the week. These prices are low because YOU are friends and family.
Prices will be a bit different for people we don't know, but we will discuss that on an individual basis.

In any case, it's a one bedroom, high-rise unit that overlooks the ocean, nestled among lush greens, and has an awesome ocean view from every window!



See a photo below.

Let me know if you're interested. Talk to you soon!

GOT ME TOO!!! I WAS PACKING MY BAGS

This too shall pass

I am feeling much better now. Saturday was a wonderful experience even though I had to work on my weekend off. I actually did a funeral in a small town near by where we lived the first 12 years of our marriage and where I actually got my calling into the funeral business. I saw many dear friends and it was indeed like going home. Other than work on Saturday it has been a very relaxing weekend and Shannon has been very helpful pitching in on all the catching up I needed to do. I got so down last week that I just gave up on keeping the house in order and it was in pretty bad shape by the time he got home. I also cooked today for the entire week, so no eating out (hopefully) and my family is in casserole heaven!! School is out tomorrow for Columbus Day so we both went ahead and took the day off so we will have another day to catch up (and sleep in!!) Blake has a friend over tonight, so as long as we can keep the wrestling to a minimum, it should be a peaceful evening.

Church was wonderful this morning, we talked about being a "Front Porch" kind of church and how we have gotten accustomed to just sitting in the air conditioning and not venturing out to get to know our neighbors and share the love of Jesus with them. I can so relate to this but was thinking the whole time what wonderful neighbors I have; as I returned from the grocery store on Saturday night, I discovered some delightful treats and a beautiful pumpkin my neighbor and friend Natalie had left me while I was gone. This brought a smile to my face and helped me along in my journey of seeing the world as a brighter place once again.

Warning, this post may depress you

Yesterday turned out to be a pretty rough day. It seemed by the end of the day I was just an outsider looking in and thinking, I don't even like myself right now. I talked to several friends and they seemed to be feeling the same way, so maybe it is just the weather. I feel like I have been burning the candle at both ends for so long and I am completely out of energy. I am seriously questioning if I should remain in my profession. When I first started on this endeavor I felt like being a Funeral Director was indeed what God intended for me to be. I met with families and felt that I was making a difference and showing the love that Jesus would have shown. Now I feel like it is a "job" and it has consumed my whole entire life and most of the time my own children are the ones who make all the sacrifices. To top it all off I went to the podiatrist and am now scheduled for surgery on October 19Th. They will be doing a bunionectomy and injecting a heel spur. This should put me out of commission for at least 6 weeks and I will not be able to keep up with my exercises and will probably gain weight. Well this post is getting depressing so I think I will go take a nap.

http://www.tfda.com/associations/1339/files/Funeral%20Directors%20Proclamation%202006.pdf

Guess I should have been an "Administrative Assistant" or something, at least I might have gotten a plant.

I love Maxine!!!

Dreaming of a day off

So much for a day off. There was a death during the night and even though I am not on duty, I have already buried two people in this family so they only want to deal with me and I don't feel right not going down to take care of them. So, I'll meet with the family and dress and casket today, visitation on Friday and probably funeral on Saturday. Guess I can always hope for Sunday and Monday.

Yoga

Nothing like a good yoga session to relieve the stresses of the day. I had not been to a class in over a week because my favorite instructor was gone. I tend to get really aggravated with the ones I am not used to and an hour and 15 minutes is a lot of time to waist if you are not going to feel good when your done.

I have longed all week for the relaxing feeling we all felt on our vacation to Colorado in August. I have been looking through our photos and remembering what a good time we had and especially having fond memories of the slow pace. I am attaching a photo of the boys fishing that I took from our bungalow. A good time was had by all. I am looking forward to the next several days, I am supposed to be off Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday!!!! I have my doubts that will happen but one can always dream. It is so hard to plan anything when you are in the funeral business and that is a huge cause of burnout in this profession.

Tomorrow I go to the foot doctor and will probably be having surgery on my left foot soon. I have a bunion and a heel spur that are both killing me. I had the right foot done about two years ago and have been putting this foot off but have decided I should have it done on our current insurance before Shannon (hopefully) changes jobs.

Yuk

Don’t forget this brand of fresh lettuce, folks. What probably happened is the water the lettuce was washed in contained polliwogs and these became fresh new frogs, right in the packages. So if you're looking for salad fixings with a little more body, then be sure and try this brand. Don't forget, it's the extra care that Mexican companies take that makes the difference.

I'm a grandma

Jenny became a mother sometime between last night and when we returned from church today. She had two babies and one of them didn't survive. I can't believe how big guinea pigs are when they are born. We have had a wonderful weekend, Blake turned 11 on Friday and we have been celebrating since Thursday. He is such a precious baby boy, at bedtime he gave me a hug and told me "thanks for absolutley the best birthday ever" I told him that tommorow he becomes just a regular guy again.