Thankfulness

Well, last year at this exact time there is a 99.999% chance I was at work. I worked a call center that by contractual obligations has the phones open 24 hours a day and 365 days a year. Also the newer employees worked the holidays because of seniority. This job does provide all of the federal holidays but the phones are open on Christmas, Thanksgiving, and even Memorial Day. There were many Sundays and Holidays when I was working that I missed my wife, my in laws, and our friends. This last job was GREAT while I was going to college because it was by the college and there was schedule flexibility. I am thankful on many Sundays and all of the Holidays that I am not working and that I am able to spend time relaxing with my wife and friends. Anyway, I am thankful that God helped my wife and me through the journey of college and working full time.

Lunchtime

Last week my wife and I went to a tea house for lunch. We had spent the day garage sale-ing and stopped by the tea house so my wife could get some vanilla tea. I was pleasantly surprised and had some nice hot tea and a roast beef sandwich. It was served with mesquite BBQ potato chips, some red grapes, a few cheese cubes, a cucumber slice, and a few grape tomatoes on some lettuce. There was also a rasberry scone with lemon curd before the entree arrived. It was a relaxing and pleasant lunch with my wife.

Seven Things About Me Meme

Here are the rules: Each player starts with seven random facts or habits above themselves. People who are tagged need to write on their own blog about their seven things, as well as these rules. You need to choose seven people to get tagged and list their names. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they have been tagged and to read your blog.

My seven things:

1) Sometimes I enjoy washing dishes by hand.

2) I tend to buy cookbooks for one or two recipes. I enjoy the internet for finding recipes now.

3) The first time I make a recipe I prefer to make the recipe exactly as listed.

4) I think a “good” CD should be listened to in its entirety so it can be appreciated as a
complete work.

5)Blues music speaks to my soul but I do not know why it does.

6)I have a habit of wearing my shoes until it is time for bed. My wife does not like this habit.

7)I feel uneasy if I have to drive a different route to work.

Bonus item: I have a bad habit of reading blogs and not commenting.

I thought “meme” was pronounced me-me not meem. I do not know 7 bloggers to tag. The rules do not address this situation.

Digging in the Dirt

I was going to post 1 month from last post as a farce that I took a month off because my blog is taking over my life but I missed the deadline. Anyway, I went to the driving range by my place of employment this afternoon and did as the title suggests. I found dirt in ear more did fly into my face while I was trying to hit the little white ball. I am thoroughly convinced the ball is moving on me. I am also experiencing the new sensation at work. This is waiting for up to 3 days for someone to complete a task which is beyond my control. During these times I have NOTHING to do. I did read Visual Basic for Excel 2007 for Dummies. (I can hear my wife giggling) I learned enough about VBA to hack together a macro to help with our budget spreadsheet. I cannot guarantee when the next post will be.

Chicken Spaghetti

One of our friends made us Chicken Spaghetti and it was delicious. It contained chicken, Velveeta®, condensed cream of X soup, chicken broth, and bow tie pasta. I got the recipe from her and made some for one of our other friends. The only change was substituting chicken broth with milk. Both dishes were delicious. I also was reminded that my wife does not like elbow macaroni and thus, she does not like macaroni and cheese. We both think she will like macaroni and cheese with a bow tie noodle.

I have started exercising at the gym where I work and the best part is they pay me to work out up to 3 hours per week. This is a very power full incentive to work out. I feel better when I work out. Also I read a story about a cow that eats chickens: Cow Eats Chickens

Finding Compulsion

We received our newest edition of "Simple & Delicious" and this fine cooking publication has a contest where the reader is asked to find "Sandy's Magic Wand." Whenever I get this magazine in the mail I open it ASAP and look for the wand. I usually find the wand but have never won the contest. Sometimes it takes 3 or 4 tries to find the wand. I do not even look at the recipes until the next day. This may be a finding compulsion. I found the wand but I will not list the page number because I do not want to spoil the hunt for the rest of the magazine readers.

Forgiveness

A group of men at my church are reading “What’s So Amazing About Grace?” by Philip Yancey and in chapter 8 he relates a story from “The Sunflower” by Simon Wiesenthal. In this book Wiesenthal hears a death bed confession from a German soldier and asks the young man for forgiveness. When the author tries to leave the German soldier grabs his arm. Wiesenthal walked out of the room without replying to the soldier’s plea. He then relates this event to other people around the world and asks if he should have forgiven the soldier. Yancey is quick to point out that holocaust is an extreme example of forgiveness. The chapter is titled Getting Even.

I am not Jewish and I do not think one person can forgive all of the actions of the Germans but we Christians should forgive people to emulate Jesus’ life. We should forgive out of love for God and other Christians. I am not perfect and may still hold offenses and unforgiveness. It is easier for me to forgive others than to forgive myself. I have been working on remembering that God’s forgiveness is more powerful than my guilt. Yancey writes that forgiveness is an “unnatural act” and I agree. It is easier, in our human flesh, to hold on to offenses than to forgive. So if you get cut off in traffic forgive the other driver.

Working Out

Well my new employer pays me to exercise for 3 hours a week. I got my doctor to sign the form and hopefully Wednesday I will go for my first work out. I start troubleshooting my first printed circuit boards tomorrow. It is a daunting task but with God's help I am up to the challenge.

Chilly (Not The Green Kind)

Well we are expecting 1 to 2 inches of ice this week end. My wife and I are planning on stating home and making baked potato soup and/or chili. I hope it is warm this week end whereever you are.

Consistency

This is the most important thing for me when establishing a new habit, good or bad, or a new routine. A wise person told me to quit second guessing the subject matter I write about. This person is correct. This post helps to establish Consistency in my writing. Also, remember whatever you post is important. As a football fan I did like the Fiesta Bowl. It was wild ride. As an OU fan I was kind of sad OU did not win.

You Pick The Title

Well last night was my first night on a permanent basis with my wife. We went to see We Are Marshall. It was a very excellent movie. I almost started crying a couple of different times. Afterwards we played Scrabble™ and I played my first 7 letter word. My wife claims I had played 7 letter words before but I do not remember. I was very excited (<- look another 7 letter word). I also made mashed potato pancakes last night for the first time. The pancakes were good. I have SportsCenter on and Bill Cower looked really young in 1992.

Getting Reacquainted

Well today is my last night on the third shift, my last night working from 3 PM to 11 PM, and my last night away from my wife whom I love. As with all jobs there are things I enjoyed and things I did not enjoy. The people on my shift are wonderful and hard working people. I am privileged to have known them all. They have expanded my view of the world and politics. I was on leave last night and my wife and I played Scrabble™. It was close and I held the lead briefly. My wife won by less than 15 but we had fun. We are going to see a movie tomorrow night and I am looking forward to that. I start my new job on Monday and Saturday my friend and I are going to replace the wax ring on our toilet and my father in law’s toilet.