Image by Tommy Stone
I love the moments in-between
sunset, sunrise
either one will do
The earth in deepest indigo
sky ceiling blending in to the color
of robins eggs, babies eyes,
soft and unsure
but in the middle no artist brush
could blend to make that shade of peach
or palest coral, blush
there really is no name
but the color is easy on eyes
that are just waking
or near to closing
hello hello a person finally
ask a question
get an answer that is no answer
leads to questions why the language
so confusing obfuscation is the nation
pastime making simple things so difficult
and mama always said you catch more flies
with honey but the money is what talks today
and even that is not enough
to make a person care to share
the knowledge that they hoard as though
their very life depends on keeping little piles
of facts so deeply buried harried then the conversation
takes a turn on contemplation seems to me
that spelling out the answer would save time
the goal the whole thing reeks
I do not seek to make you less to make you
miss the most important part to hide
if service is what you provide then
I propose machine is broken just a token
of the way things should be done
it grinds to dust instead of oil
you turn to rust
We all sell customer service, no matter what our job title. Whether we know it or not. From the customer side of things, if you make my life easier, you get my business. If I call you, frustrated and confused, and you give me a simple answer, I sigh with relief and sing your praises to everyone I know. If I approach you with a problem, fearful that it will be difficult or expensive to solve and you respond with a calm answer and do not make me feel ignorant or needy for asking, my entire mood changes and I respond in kind.
If I take my car to the mechanic, I am afraid it will be something difficult and expensive to fix. When he smiles and tells me it is just that little thingamabob that needs adjusting or a simple twenty dollar part, I am happy, relieved, and more likely to take the car back to him when the big stuff goes wrong. I will also pass his name out to friends.
I find this in my own job all the time. I fix computer problems. If someone has a question or a problem with their computer and I show them how to easily rectify the issue so that they can avoid the problem in the future, in a nice way that allows for them being intelligent human beings, just not possessing the particular piece of information they need in the situation, they remember not just that I fixed their problem, but that I was nice. I have a rep. I LIKE having that rep. I like being known for being nice. I like sharing information with others. I like oiling the machinery of every day life.
It seems to me that some folks take pleasure in being rust. The old saying “the buck stops here” meant being accountable, being responsible, being the solution. The present meaning for that saying is more like end of the road honey. No answers here.
Unless you get mean or shout or threaten or make yourself such a nuisance that the person finally, slowly, painfully, drags out the one little piece of information that is needed to remedy the situation and make the customer go away.
I have had to deal with Workers Comp for the last three months. I should not complain because this injury has rasped up some expensive bills that I fortunately have not had to be responsible for and I am truly grateful. really I am.
However…it has been such an ordeal to get information. Nearly every single time. I end up with the frustration coming through in my voice. I end the call angry and often more confused that when I began.
The only time I have gotten clear and fast results was when I got ugly.
For example…After the second surgery on my foot to remove the metal that was placed there to begin with and deal with the infection that had set in, I was, for the weekend at least, the only patient at the surgery center. The surgery took place on a Friday with the understanding that I would probably stay over night. I stayed the weekend with the understanding that I would be going home on Monday. I sent the husband home. No need for him to sit around while I napped and read and watched HGTV. He drove the ninety miles back on Monday and sat there all day ready to drive me home. There was a problem. I finally told him to go home and I would call him when they were actually sure I was being discharged. Tuesday rolled around. I sat. I waited. I think the nurse finally hated to come to my room because even if I didn’t ask out loud my face showed my frustration.
Finally, I got on my knee scooter and went down the hall searching for a decent signal on my cell phone. I found one on a bench in front of the cafeteria. I called my Workers Comp case worker. He was not in. I explained in detail what my problem was.
I am sitting on a bench in front of the cafeteria so I can have a phone signal. My post op foot is hanging out for any opportunistic bacteria that might wander by to jump on board. My hair and clothes are dirty because I thought I would be home by now. The hospital wants to send me home. I want to go home. The problem seems to be you. This is a very nice hospital. Very expensive. If you wish to continue to foot the bill for me to stay in what is the equivalent of a four star hotel where they will bring me Rosa’s Migas and French Vanilla coffee in the morning, then so be it.
A moment later I was speaking to a supervisor. Evidently the person at the hospital had submitted paperwork for pre-authorization. This supervisor had initialed it and sent it back saying she did not think it required pre-authorization. Her tone suggested that these people did not know what they were doing. I could have asked why she did not note along with her initials that rather than contact the pre-authorization company that she needed to contact Risk Management. I could have asked why there seem to be separate entities for each step of this process and that why none of them seem to be aware of what the other is doing. I could have. I didn’t. I simply asked her if I could have her name and told her I would go back to the desk and ask that the appropriate person contact her so we could resolve this. She seemed reluctant but gave me her name and twenty minutes later I was calling my husband to tell him to come get me.
Two days of me sitting there and Workers Comp paying and all it took was me calling and fussing.
Why was that necessary?
I have had a knee scooter nearly the whole time. It has been a life saver. I seriously think that if I had to manage crutches in the middle of the night, half asleep and in the dark, just to get to the bathroom, I would have been in a lot more serious trouble.
I asked the doc for a prescription for the knee scooter because that was what my case worker told me I needed. The doc’s office person ace me a pamphlet for a place in Dallas. I went to a place here near home and rented one for a week myself, just to see if I could manage it. When I found that I really did need the thing, I called the place I rented it and said I need to keep this, and it is workers comp. The person I talked to said they had never billed this as a workers comp item. (Keep in mind that they do crutches and other durable medical items so it would be the same process).
I spoke to someone in town who understands workers comp and verified that it would be the same. Now I am getting bills from them. I called my caseworker. After ten minutes of my asking for clarification it turns out that my only recourse at this point is to pay for the thing outright, obtain the needed prescription from the doc and a receipt from the medical supply provider, and hope workers comp will reimburse me.
At the very start I needed information that I received too late for it to be of any help. I needed things to happen in a certain order. I needed steps.
I SHOULD have had that information two and a half months ago. I did not because I was being nice and trying not to be a bother which is what I have felt like every time I have had to call.
I also was told that I could call the Workers Comp commission and ask questions at any time. I am thinking that is another piece of information I should have had several months ago.
I am not sure I would have known what questions to ask. That is a problem I often see in my own job. I get an email where someone is having a problem. Experience has taught me that often what they are asking is not what they need to ask. My process is to either read between the lines and answer what I believe they actually mean, or ask more questions if I am unsure.
At no time in this process have I had anyone tell me I was asking the wrong questions, nor has anyone asked me questions to determine what I really needed to know.
The general feeling has always seemed like the person at the other end of the line was trying to give the shortest answers or least amount of information needed to get me off the line. Period. Somewhere there may be a training manual that teaches how to handle as many calls as possible in as short a time as possible. It does not seem to focus on solving problems, quality rather than quantity.
We are sacrificing quality for quantity and we are all paying the price, from the client who either does not get what they need unless they are angry and determined enough to fight for it, to the provider who will never go home at the end of the day with a feeling of satisfaction from a job well done, knowing they have solved problems and made people’s lives easier.
We have become a society that no longer oils the machinery to keep things running. We are getting rusty.
I am spending a lot of time in a chair while my foot heals and I find myself reading and thinking and making connections. Those connections will find their way here to the blog so I don’t lose them. At least I can point back to these things and feel as though I were a little productive. Enforced relaxation is not as much fun as choosing to relax. Especially when it is wrapped up in pain and stomach issues but I am getting a little better each day.
First of all, if you have never wandered around TedTalks and watched a video or two, you are missing out. Some of the brightest minds, the best presenters, the least boring people ever can be found there. This morning I watched Daniel Gilbert talk about decisions.
“Human Beings are works in progress that mistakenly think they’re finished. The person you are right now is as transient, as fleeting, as temporary as all the people you’ve ever been. The one constant in our lives is change”
Daniel Gilbert Harvard psychologist
Later in the morning there was a blog article in my FaceBook feed talking about making decisions. According to the article:
Suzy Welch says to use the 10-10-10 rule. What are the consequences of my decision in 10 minutes, in 10 months, and in 10 years. To read more of what she has to say about the process you can purchase her book 10.10.10 Life Transforming Idea. I have included a link below.
I was reminded of a sermon on how to make a decision based on Christian principals. The lesson advocated three different sources of Godly counsel. The Bible, prayer, and seeking advice from a Godly friend. All three are suggested because as we all know, scripture taken out of context can often be made to say what we want it to say. Sometimes we assume prayer is answered according to what we want as well. To just seek Godly counsel from a friend is to leave your decision in the hands of one fallible human who may or may not be as Godly as you think. By combining all three of these tools you have a better chance of a true picture of what direction you should take.
Google decision making and you will find thousands of articles on how and what to do. Some even go as far as saying spreadsheet it out. One interesting piece suggested reversing your assumptions. List all the assumptions, Reverse them – what is their opposite? Then ask yourself how to accomplish each reversal. This may give you a different perspective.
Most decisions we make are based on feelings and I don’t think you can ever take that completely out of the equation, and probably would not want to. But maybe these are some tools that would help when we are trying to make the really big, grown-up decisions that are going to have lasting consequences.
Sources:
http://lifehacker.com/four-tricks-to-help-you-make-any-difficult-decision-987762341
http://www.ted.com/talks/dan_gilbert_you_are_always_changing
http://www.lifehacker.com.au/2014/06/use-the-10-10-10-rule-to-make-better-decisions/
to purchase Suzy Welch’s book go here:
http://www.amazon.com/10-10-10-Life-Transforming-Idea-Suzy-Welch-ebook/dp/B00245A46E/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1403626360&sr=1-1&keywords=10.10.10
“Science is expanding our ignorance
One of the things that science does is a really curious thing. Â Every time we use science to try to answer a question, to give us some insight, invariably that insight or answer provokes two or three other new questions. Anybody who works in science knows that they’re constantly finding out new things that they don’t know. It increases their ignorance, and so in a certain sense, while science is certainly increasing knowledge, it’s actually increasing our ignorance even faster. So you could say that the chief effect of science is the expansion of ignorance.
In a curious way, Google is all about answers. So you could say that Google is increasing answers over time, but what’s interesting is that answers are becoming cheap; they’re almost free, and I think what becomes scarce in this kind of place that we’re headed to is questions, a really good question, because a really good question can unleash new questions.
In a certain sense what becomes really valuable in a world running under Google’s reign, are great questions, and that means that for a long time humans will be better at than machines.
Machines are for answers; humans are for questions.
The world that Google is constructing—a world of cheap and free answers—having answers is not going to be very significant or important. Having a really great question will be where all the value is.”Kevin Kelly
For entertainment I am reading Little Brother by Cory Doctorow. The premise of the book is that after a terrorist attack in San Francisco, the powers that be abuse technology to track everyone. The rallying cry of the book is “Don’t trust anyone under 25” So I am reading the book from the perspective of the age group that proposes the loss of some freedom is worth the price of safety.
I am also reading it from the perspective of an aging hippy who saw the sixties and seventies fade into the complacency of the eighties. I enjoy the convenience of technology. Debit cards and loyalty cards, cell phones, opening up Facebook every morning to see what my friends and family are up to.
I am of the generation that enjoys the convenience of toll passes and search engines and online banking and shopping. I give little passing notice to the changing ads on my Facebook and Google pages that reflect things I have recently shopped for. I use my debit card to buy gasoline that tells someone, somewhere, that I have been at this gas station on this day. My internet provider tracks where I go on the internet and amazon contains my wishlist of products I would like and books I wish to read. My google calendar and Facebook birthdays sync and seem to have conversations that I am not even a part of.
I am pretty transparent. Is that a bad thing?
I remember a day when the only time you got a long distance phone call was when someone died. I remember my mother writing actual letters to her mother and news would take a week to arrive. I remember my mother using the saying “You never know what goes on behind closed doors.” I remember when there was only one phone in the house and it hung on the kitchen wall. There was no privacy and you better not have phone calls from friends at meal time because that was when everyone gathered at the table and the tv stayed off until you had finished your vegetables and helped clear the dishes. There was only one tv and it was in the living room. The entire family watched it together and on Sunday nights we kids would get to have snacks in the living room and watch Walt Disney. There was no concern over shows (or commercials) being too adult.
When my kids were growing up, we had one computer and it sat in the living room. There was no privacy. Their first phones were tracphones that I bought minutes for. They were strictly for using to call me to come pick them up after band and debate trips. They had no internet or cameras. We owned a set of encyclopedias. We made trips to the public library. I recorded RugRats and Winnie the Pooh cartoons on our vcr so they could watch them over and over.
Now it seems that most of us really do live in glass houses. I have a blog, I am on Facebook, Linkdin, Pinterest, and so many other sites that it takes a spreadsheet to keep track of my passwords. Even when the family is together, we all have our phones, laptops, tablets, and any discussion or argument is rapidly solved with Google. If I want to learn how to do something, I watch a video on Youtube or TedTalks. I used to keep a list of books that I wanted to read and would almost always wait for them to come out in paperback unless I borrowed them from the library.
I remember a time when there was no such thing as a camera in the hall at school. Now it is commonplace. As a student I made sure that I never got in trouble at school (or at least did not get caught) because a call home would have been disaster. I would have been in double trouble. Once for whatever I did and again for the fact that I embarrassed the family in public. Now it seems that the only person not held responsible for behavior is the individual acting.
I tend to think of the past as static. Things were this way or that way and for a period of time and then they changed. I am no longer certain of this perception. It seems as though things have been in a state of change for years and now I question whether it has always been like that and I just did not notice the changes happening, or if things really are changing faster and faster. There seems to be no chance to just stop and catch our breath and wonder about where we are going and if the changes are positive.
Cory Doctorow’s book Little Brother, shows the dark side of what can happen when government abuses the lack of privacy that we have voluntarily embraced. I am not at the point where I would close my Facebook account and withdraw from the internet, but I am starting to wonder if we are asking the right questions. How much sharing is too much sharing? Will there be a cost and what will it be? The days of hiding one’s youthful indiscretions are gone. There is now a record of everything and often we have created ourselves with our selflies and checkins and lists of what we ate for supper. I lead a mundane life and cannot see the government being interested in what recipe I shared or the fact that I searched for the best way to construct a plot. But, if someone wanted to, they could follow my footprints. The could see that I drove to this city on this day, stopped and got gas and a snack, shopped here, ate lunch there. There are probably photos of some of it since security cameras have become commonplace.
We as a culture, never seem to slow down on the path and question what might be lurking over the next hill. Science creates ways to grow more vegetables and we end up with hormones in our food. Research figures out a way to cure a disease and the possible side effects seem worse than the original illness. Like guinea hens we run en masse after whatever newest, latest, discovery.
I witness it repeatedly on Facebook. One person will post something and before the end of the day I will see that same post spread, often without thought of accuracy. We wear our politics and religion like badges and leave our cyber trash behind us. We repeat what we read, share and “like” and comment. How many posts on Facebook every day are disrespectful of the President of the United States? What if tomorrow there was an attempt on the President’s life and the government decided to question anyone who had made negative statements? What if a non-Christian country invaded and decided to round up anyone who professed to be Christian.
I am not saying that it is wrong to speak your mind or that we should live in fear that what we say will be used against us. I am saying that we take so much for granted. The possibility does exist and maybe we should be making less statements and asking more questions.
If you are interested in reading Little Brother you can download it from Mr. Doctorow’s site. He sells his books but also makes them available for free in various formats.
It can be found here: http://craphound.com/littlebrother/
“Tails is a live system that aims to preserve your privacy and anonymity. It helps you to use the Internet anonymously and circumvent censorship almost anywhere you go and on any computer but leaving no trace unless you ask it to explicitly.
It is a complete operating system designed to be used from a DVD, USB stick, or SD card independently of the computer’s original operating system. It is Free Software and based on Debian GNU/Linux.
Tails comes with several built-in applications pre-configured with security in mind: web browser, instant messaging client, email client, office suite, image and sound editor, etc.”
To read about, download and/or use Tails – https://tails.boum.org/index.en.html
I have been cleared for surgery. Wednesday at 2 P.M. they will operate and add metal plates and screws to my foot. I have had very little pain considering I have a broken bone. I suspect that will all change Wednesday. I have to admit, I am a major chicken. And baby. As in whiny, pitiful baby. The very idea of metal plates and screws makes me cringe.
Nothing to eat or drink all day either. Blech.
Hopefully I will be in a bit better frame of mind the next day. The worst will be behind me and I will be enthroned on the couch where I shall remain with foot elevated for three days. I am hoping for very good pain meds. And ice cream. I am already stocked up. There are two gallons of Breyers Waffle Cone ice cream in the freezer. My kindle is stocked up too. I plan to sleep, eat, and read. Aside from the whole plate and screws part, sounds like a vacation 🙂
I had a very long day Friday. Rented a knee scooter which will be helpful later. I wanted to try it out and found it to be helpful but there are frequent situation where I have to use my broken foot a little. The surgeon tells me I am to put absolutely no weight on it immediately after so this would not be a good solution. As soon as I can put a little weight on it I am going to get one. Awesome alternative to crutches.
I did all my pre-op stuff Friday – surgery is approved by workers comp. Labs should be back Tuesday and hopefully I will be cleared for surgery so then as soon as they can get it scheduled I will get this over with. This happened on May 30 and it is now June 15th so I am more than ready to move ahead. By the end of the day Friday I felt like I had hobbled ten miles! Crutches are exhausting.
I am grateful to my husband who has had to tote and fetch since movement is possible but not carrying things like plates of food or cups of coffee. He is not a coffee drinker but he has learned to make it for me.
I am eternally grateful to Cindy, the patient care coordinator at Dr. Jones office. She is knowledgeable and caring and KIND, the first person who not only was willing to get things moving, but volunteered information about things I didn’t even know to ask. People who are willing to go the extra step in their job are invaluable in this world and I appreciate her more than she will ever know.
A week ago, I broke my foot. I stepped off the bottom of a stair and missed the last step. I came down hard and broke the fifth metatarsal. That is the long bone that goes to the pinkie.
I went to have it x-rayed and the nurse taking down notes said she was just say I hurt my foot because otherwise I might have problems getting insurance to pay because they would say workers comp would have to pay.
Work decided that it WAS a workers comp thing. Paperwork was changed. I made phone calls and found a doc at the Carrell clinic in Dallas that takes workers comp. I made an appointment. The doc there said it needs surgery.
Apparently workers comp has not completed investigating so here I sit. A week later. If I had used private insurance, I probably would have already had my surgery and be on my way to returning to work which is what I WANT! I would have some pretty big bills I am sure but I pay some pretty big insurance premiums too. Whether I use it or not.
Instead I am waiting for people who do not know me to make decisions about my life (without even talking to me) and in the meantime, I am stuck with this boot and crutches. For four years I ran up and down stairs at the new high school. I never tripped, fell, or otherwise injured myself. I have never broken a bone before. I detest sitting around and detest being helpless even more. I am frustrated, tired, worried, and sore. I want to get this fixed and go back to work.
To add insult to injury, we had a trip to New Orleans planned. It would have been the first time we ever took a vacation that did not involve visiting family or kids or driving a thousand miles. We were going to fly, take a shuttle to the hotel in the French Quarter, WALK most places, and fly home. That will most likely not happen and it is non-refundable, non-changeable, nada, nothing.
I KNOW there are people worse off than me and that I should be counting my blessings. I KNOW God has a plan and that He will work this out. I KNOW I am being whiny and complaining and not fun. I should use this time to write. I should turn it into a positive, I should be grateful that I have a husband who waits on me and that I am not trying to do everything alone.
I should. And I will do better. For now, waaaaaaah. There. I’m done. Pity party over.
It seems that my humble little blog was hacked with spam so please pardon the changes as things are cleaned up.
Tommy Stone
a single tear
traverses a soft cheek
faraway goddess floating alone
in deepest blue cannot compete
gently clouded by shadow
sunset flames leave Venus
cold and solitary
jealous of a darkened earth
This photo was taken by Tommy Stone. The little white dot in the upper left section of the sky is really Venus!
The sun it sings a lullaby
She softly settles down
To rock me in the shadowed trees
Wrapped in a cloudy gown
Of palest pink with lacy stars
I listen to the evening song
I close my eyes and nestle close
Safe right where i belong
I have been struggling. It has been a year of changes. Most of them good. Some wonderful. I have a new grandchild who lives just a tad too far away. I would love to see her every day but we will make the drive as often as we can. There will be more about her later, I promise.
At the end of last school year, I changed jobs. I have been the high school technology contact for thirteen years. As of last April I became the computer tech for the district.
I have enjoyed learning new things. We spent much of the summer setting up new equipment, including desktops, laptops, and iPads. We also re-imaged some labs that were already in place and replaced some older machines with newer machines.
The week before school started, the tsunami hit. I have experienced the beginning of the school year craziness before but only on one campus.
This morning I loaded up the dog and went to the track to walk and think. In the past, I have almost welcomed the challenge of that first few weeks. It was physically tiring but emotionally satisfying in the sense of accomplishment. You would think that the sense of accomplishment would be magnified when translated to an entire district. If that is true, then why have I spent the last week stressed, frustrated, and generally in a negative state of mind?
I realized this morning that while I always worked very hard that first few weeks, I was very visible to the people I was helping. I was all over campus and all the staff could see me and know that I was there and on the run. They were patient and understanding and considerate.
Being all over the district means that the only people that see me are the ones at the campus I am presently working on. That means that every other campus where I am NOT has no idea of what I am doing. This is the first time I have felt unsure about my job performance. I am having trouble separating objective evaluation from insecurity. Evidently, my motivation at work is not money though of course I like a paycheck, like everyone. My motivation is tied very much to feeling like I am making a difference and making others happy.
I have let myself get into a cycle of negativity and my goal next week will be to get myself out of that cycle.
Last week we attended the sign-up session for a bible study on The Fruit of the Spirit. My assignment this week will be to study to present on Loving God’s Family and the scripture is John 13.
Whenever I read this scripture I hear music. A song called The Basin and the Towel by Michael Card. In particular there is a line where he talked of “the impoverished power that sets the soul free”.
I meditated on that scripture and the song this morning as I walked around the track. The world tells us to stand up for ourselves, to not let anyone walk all over us.
I think that John 13 is not so much about not being first or about humiliating yourself, but about the transforming power of Christ to work through us when we stand down and allow Him to change a situation of strife to a meeting with Him. When we are willing to serve others without resentment, we mirror Christ servanthood and allow Him to draw others to Himself. That is the external effect. The internal effect is that as others react to the difference in us, we lose our own anger and resentment and are ourselves, transformed.
This will be my goal for the next week. To continue to meditate on these verses and watch for opportunities to let Jesus have His way and take my anger, my negativity, and make it something entirely different.
I already feel better. How can I not?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RV14WES9aow
Photo Credit: Tommy Stone
all you puffed up people see
raise your eyes to glory skies
tucked away in bluest blue
heaped up blessings over you
far from where you toil and try
blinded to eternity
Playing at the PISD Tech Camp
My browser froze twice this morning. This is unusual and causes me to force it to quit completely and restart. When I restart my browser it goes to my home page which is this blog.
A gentle hint? A small voice calling me home? I have not written. I could list a number of reasons…new job, life changes, lack of inspiration.
The truth is my lazy streak has reared it’s head and I am allowing the ice cream eating, facebook stalking, tv watching me to take over lately. It doesn’t help that there is the cutest dog in the world curled up on my lap and together we have discovered that the search for the meaning of life pales next to snuggling in a recliner and oh look! There’s a squirrel in the back yard!
I am wandering through YouTube and listening to The Low Spark of High Heeled Boys and while Traffic sings to me from the past, there is thunder in the background and a day to get on with so until later….
I seem to have made a mess of my sidebar. It will take a bit of thinking to get it straight and of course I had to start this late….Be back tomorrow and hopefully hammer and nails in hand to shore it all up!
Roxie after a bath
If you let a white dog outside on a damp, muggy day she will want to run around in the wet dirt. If she runs around in the wet dirt she will just get more wound up and you will have to take her for a walk. If you take her for a walk she will be curious and have to investigate everything she sees and smells. If she investigates everything she see and smells she might get a sticker in her fur. If she gets a sticker she will whine and lick at it and you will have to go home. If you walk home on the damp, muggy day, the white dog will be muddy. If the white dog gets muddy you will have to give her a bath. If you give her a bath you will find the sticker. If you find the sticker you will have to cut it out of her fur with scissors. If you cut the sticker out of her fur she will happily shake water all over you. If she shakes water all over you, you will have to wrap her in a towel. If you wrap her in a towel she will shiver and curl up until you turn on the blow dryer. If you turn on the blow dryer she will roll around and rub her face on the rug while you dry her off. If you dry her off she will run around in circles for a few minutes, then jump in your lap and look up at you with little black eyes and wait. If she waits you must give her a cookie. If you give her a cookie, she will take a nap. If she takes a nap she will wake up and want to go outside and run around……
I hope this isn’t a repost. I have been neglecting everything lately. My excuse is health – I have been gimping around on a bad knee. I go to the ortho doc tomorrow so maybe he will give me some answers. I have had pain and the last few days it just seems to be asleep. Physically the tingly being asleep feeling is preferable to the pain but a little scary as well. My job makes it a bit difficult to stay off the leg and I am not even sure that I should – stay off it or exercise? One of the answers I hope to have tomorrow.
I have been sneaking up on nanowrimo but not keeping up with the word count. I made the decision this year to use nanowrimo as an excuse to begin but to continue past November and just keep working on it so the word count is not as important to me as continuing to work at it every day even if it is just a few sentences or working out a plot point in my head.
That is what is going on with me…along with planning for the holidays, looking forward to my son’s wedding, and working on the house.
Kitchen, living room, hallway, back bedroom, and bathroom done. Two bedrooms to go. I will post tomorrow.
the bird still climbs
the highest tree
to watch the setting sun
knows night will fall
and dark come down
but through it all
the dawn will come
and as the day
comes to an end
clings to his branch
through wind and night
the world be hidden
from his sight
he waits and hopes
through pain and sorrow
keeps watch eternal
for tomorrow
The summer is fading away into this heat that makes me sluggish and unwilling to go outside unless necessary. Trying to strike a balance between keeping plants alive and not wasting water is tricky. Even early morning and late evening are unpleasantly still and warm. I saw hopeful clouds this morning about four-thirty and scanned the weather report for a sign of rain but there was nothing close by.
I have not written much this summer. It seems that my muse packed it’s bags and took a vacation, leaving me here to remodel a bathroom and now, train a puppy (or be trained by one!) I am learning to take her outside (often) and fetch her stuffed monkey and throw a ball to her. Hopefully she approves of my progress. Roxie is gracious enough to allow me to sit in the chair with her and watch tv though I must be boring because she goes to sleep until she rolls over and waits for me to figure out that she wants her belly rubbed. We will need to work on the leash situation. She does not care for it at all but it is one more new thing in her life. If anyone has tips for being trained by your Mauxie, I am up for suggestions.
Progress continues on the bathroom. We stripped the wallpaper, prepped and textured the walls and will begin painting today. Time to get out of this chair and gather paint supplies.
and one more
I will try not to bombard the internet with pictures…
