Spring Cometh In, And The Cycle Begins Again

Thank You, Lord!

I am in a cleaning cycle, at least for today. And may I just say this?

IT COULDN'T POSSIBLY COME SOON ENOUGH!!!

I will spare you the gory details of what came out of my refrigerator today, except for this one thing. The cottage cheese? It came out of the container to go down the garbage disposal in One Huge Lump of Disgustingly Rotten Blech. And I do believe that last word is of foreign origin, as were the unrecognizable leftovers of some forgotten salad of months past.

It was SO not pretty.

However, except for the floor, the kitchen sparkles. I have threatened other beings of this household with their very lives should I come home to find it in the state it was in previously.

Heads will roll, Ladies and Gentlemen.

HEADS WILL ROLL!!!

Now, if only I can keep the jones going for a while, I should be able to get some serious cleaning done around here. Because we could certainly use some form of Serious Cleaning around here for an extended period.

Funny, isn't it? Everything seems to have its own cycle. Each of us has our own little seasons of life. I think God made us that way for a reason. Things change. People change. Nothing stays static forever. It's His way of making all things new for us.

I cannot imagine a world where there was no change. No winters becoming spring, no good and bad moods, no rain amidst the sunshine...how dull would that be? God gives us each day the changes we need to move on to the next cycle. The next season of life; growing, fading, loving, and learning. He lets us experience both the ups and the downs so that we can appreciate the gifts He gives even more.

What a wonderful God He is!

Thank You, Lord, for all of Your gifts. For sorrow that becomes joy, for tears that become laughter, and especially for the death of Your Son, which became LIFE for us. Thank You for ever changing us, while remaining unchanged. Great is Your faithfulness!

Lamentations 3:22-24
The faithful love of the Lord never ends! His mercies never cease. Great is His faithfulness; His mercies begin afresh each morning. I say to myself, “The Lord is my inheritance; therefore, I will hope in Him!”

AAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!

Shades of Green and Turning of Leaves

Have you met my brother? Lovely shade of green, eh?

We twins were separated soon after birth, but the family resemblance still remains.

Especially now.

You see, for the better part of the winter, my caloric intake has rivaled that of the NFL. Not just one team, mind you, but THE ENTIRE LEAGUE.

And, due to the dry air we experience here in the Midwest, no amount of water consumed or lotions applied could rid me of the hereditary dry, scaly skin I inevitably experience during the winter months.

Allow me a small amount of redundancy here as I state the obvious: It hasn’t been, nor does it continue to be, pretty.

Add to that the Changing of the Seasons.

Ah, Spring! Newness of life, greening of grasses, blooming of flowers, the dust of many months being swept away on the breeze…. tra la, tra la, etc.

All of which causes my head to turn into one big, disgusting, slimy, Bucket-o’-Mucus. This, of course, is the second family trait my brother and I share.

Oh, we’re SO VERY ATTRACTIVE in the Spring of the Year. It can't be hard to see why both of us have to fight off members of the opposite sex tooth and nail, now can it?

And so today, I sit here at my desk, turning over new leaves yet again. Some are green, but most are brown and crackly. Sometimes it seems as though these leaves have been overturned so many times they must surely disinegrate due to obvious over-use. I mean really...I'm flippin' these suckers over so fast and so often they don't know which side is up!

Be that as it may, I come to you with the newest edition of things I want to improve. Bear in mind these lists usually last at least a week, at which time they've either been completed or given up.

So I always, you know, have new fodder for the blawg. New things to whine about. New universes to remain unconquered, if you will.

Without further ado or fanfare, here's what I'm going to work on this week. Yes, it's the list of:

I'm Gonna Try To:

1. Keep my calorie counter filled out each and every day, regardless of what or how much I eat. (Shuddering as I type this one.)


2. Do one load of laundry a day.


3. Use the saline stuff the doctor recommended every two hours until allergy season (or the worst of it, anyway) goes away.


4. Buy the correct color of sage-y green to repaint the hallway, replacing the ill-chosen avocado green of paintings past.



5. Shampoo the carpets this weekend.

Try not to get too awfully excited about the last two, folks. I've only had those on the list for the past six months. They've got a full 'nuther six months before something may actually happen. I'd say the first three items are fairly sure bets, though. Check back in a week and we'll see how it goes.

Until then, let me leave you with this verse. It's one I pin my hopes on every Spring.

Revelation 21:5
And the One sitting on the throne said, “Look, I am making everything new!” And then He said to me, “Write this down, for what I tell you is trustworthy and true.”

No, I Didn't Say "A Trophy," I Said "Atrophy"

My mind is lost.

Gone.

Kaput.

Vanished into thin air.

I've been forgetting things lately. Somewhat important things, some of them. Others, not so much. But make no mistake, they've all been forgotten...at least for a time.

This morning, and really most of the day today, was a great example. Last night I reminded myself that I was making beef stew for dinner. I saw the ingredients in the fridge. I made a mental note to get up early to put everything in the crockpot before work. Check.

I saw the checkbook on the desk. Made another mental note to go to the bank before work to transfer some funds from one account to another. Check.

I went to bed.

I got up this morning and made the world-famous chocolate-chip pancakes for the kidlings. After taking two of them for my breakfast-on-the-way-to-work trip, filling up my ice water cup, and starting to leave, I stopped for a moment at the top of the stairs to gather my thoughts.

"What have I forgotten to do or take or put on?" I said to myself.

And I couldn't think of a thing. So I left for work.

Everything for the beef stew stayed in the fridge, right where I left it the night before. The checkbook stayed right on the desk.

My memory checks had bounced. Big time.

And it didn't stop there.

When I got to work I found I had forgotten my lunch. Thankfully, I was scheduled to help out with a luncheon being held today, so that meant I could eat. The only bad part was that I'd agreed to help out because I forgot that I was supposed to cover the switchboard. But that turned out to be a good thing, because I forgot that I'd asked my part-timer to come in just long enough to cover the phones for the receptionist's lunch and break time. But I did that before I remembered that I was supposed to both cover the switchboard and serve lunch at the same time.

Are you confused yet? Because if you aren't, you're a better man than I am, Gunga Din.

Because really, I am known for my prowess at total recall. At least of things that happened forty years or so ago, give or take a century. But when it comes to daily, pick-up-the-kid-after-school-and-grab-a-gallon-of-milk kinds of things?

Not so much.

And it's getting worse as I get older. You'd think that after trying to remember stuff for most of my life, I'd be really good at it by now. You really would think that, wouldn't you? I know I did.

NEWS FLASH: We're both wrong. Dead wrong. Oh, so VERY dead wrong.

I would worry about Alzheimer's if it weren't for the fact that I've been like this for the past, oh, THIRTY-FIVE YEARS or so. But it seems to be more of a genetic malfunction rather than a disease. I firmly believe I just missed a chromosome somewhere.

Now, if I could only remember where I put it.....

Psalm 63:6

On my bed I remember You; I think of You through the watches of the night.

Psalm 105:5

Remember the wonders He has done, His miracles, and the judgments He pronounced,

The Queen of Far, Far Away

Lest you think I've been swallowed whole by some gigantic green ogre (a daunting feat, even for one so large), or been carried away by a knight in shining armour to live happily ever after, or fallen into some deep, deep sleep from which only a prince can awaken me with but a kiss, let me just say this.....

Get real, will you?

I have, for the past week or so, been working from 8-ish until around 6:30-ish every night. I'm trying to get a handle on what has and hasn't been going on in the position I was so blessed to get, and it's taking some small amount of time. We've eaten take-out more this past week than in the last six months. Tonight was a small breakthrough, though. I actually left work at 5:45 p.m. and cooked dinner at home!

Can I get an "AMEN!" here? Come on, now!

And can I just say this?!!!

I LOVE MY JOB.

Oh yes, Ma'am, I do.

Let me count the ways.

I'm busy. All. Day. Long. The day flies by. I'm challenged. Skills I haven't used in years have come back like old friends, but I'm still learning new things every day. I'm in an environment I love, working with people I care about, striving to do the best I can to help as many people as I can.

Wow. Is this a God thing, or what?

So if you're wondering whether I've floated away on a cloud, or been stolen by some giant at the top of the beanstalk, or fled into the woods only to be captured by a really ugly old lady in a gingerbread house, fear not!

The Queen of Far, Far Away shall return again, and I'll bring some interesting tidbits for you when I do. Just wait and see....

2 Peter 1:16
For we were not making up clever stories when we told you about the powerful coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. We saw his majestic splendor with our own eyes...

The 3 Ayem Blues

I used to be one of those people who could fall asleep in 3.72 seconds flat, sleep for eight or nine hours, and wake up refreshed and ready to tackle the world. My husband used to be so jealous of me, because he never could go to bed and just fall asleep without tossing and turning.

That was then. This is now.

It is now 4 a.m. in the morning. (I get redundant when I'm sleep-deprived.) I have been up since 3 a.m. with what I've come to call The 3 Ayem Blues. Slumber eludes me in these hours for some unknown reason. Maybe it's the stress of the previous day. Maybe it's an active dream life. Maybe it's a lot of things. Maybe it's just that I need to pee.

One thing it isn't, is sleep.

I have come to cherish those times when I can actually get to sleep after a reasonable amount of time, and stay asleep the whole night, by myself, without the aid of my new best friend, Ambien.

While she's a likeable sort, she tends to leave me a little groggy in the early morning. You know, like we've partied hearty all the previous night, as I am so very prone to do in my advanced age, because really, once you hit your EXTREEEEMELY late 40's?

It's all about the party.

So being in the Party Mode I am, I hiked myself out of the bed after staring at the ceiling for an hour, which, considering my utter blindness without aid of glasses and the fact that it is PITCH BLACK DARK, is a feat in and of itself. This Party Girl got up and got down by putting dinner for tonight in the crockpot.

Don't ever let anyone tell you this Paragon of Partydom doesn't know how to have a good time.

Oh no.

And so I live by this verse:

Proverbs 20:13

Do not love sleep or you will grow poor; stay awake and you will have food to spare.

Because really, I have no choice.

And so, being as it's almost time to get up, I believe I will once again try to go to sleep. After all, I have a full two hours to waste between now and all the chocolate-chip pancakes I've been ordered to prepare for the breakfasting Princess and Prince.

We here at the House of Singer may not be able to slumber, but we eat well.

And that's another story....

Psalm 3:5

I lie down and sleep; I wake again, because the LORD sustains me.

God? He's Good!

God is good.

Let me get you up to speed on The Life and Times of Singer Central. I know you've been holding your breath in anticipation of the next chapter of this saga, and far be it from me to keep you in suspense any longer. After all, you do have OTHER things to do.

And so we continue.

You may remember that when we last left Our Heroine (me), she was deep in the throes of self-pity once again, caught up in the soap opera that had become her work life.

Fast forward to Saturday last.

In a desperate attempt to change what was into what is, Our Heroine decided to venture forth to work. Although work was closed, it was the perfect time for her to be there. Unseen by the eyes of her soon-to-be predecessor, she could finally move into her office in relative peace.

And move she did.

She moved files. She moved furniture. She moved plants and pictures and the printer. She moved the computer and the phone, and she vacuumed and dusted and cleaned. She hung photos and watercolors. She placed pillows and throws. She made it her home away from home.

And she looked at it, and saw that it was good.

And then she fell over in a heap, being ABSOLUTELY DEAD TIRED because really, who in their right mind would come in to work on a SATURDAY just to move into an office when you've worked what amounted to two jobs the entire previous week?

Our Heroine? Not so smart.

So Sunday she slept in instead of refreshing her soul. She thought God would understand just this once.

Monday was a very, VERY full day. The setup for the computer took all morning since it had contracted a virus and had to be wiped clean and reloaded. Meetings were held, requests were made, the emails fairly flew back and forth. Our Heroine finally left the office at 6:30 p.m., rushed home to eat dinner with the family, and is now headed to bed.

But just for a moment, she needed to reflect on the past few days. She needed to see that they were good. Very good. Very good indeed. And this new job? Looking to follow the same pattern.

Thank you for all your prayers on my behalf. Thank you for your encouragement. Thank you for reminding me of the good. I'm still a little concerned about the future and my ability to handle it all, but I gotta tell you, I REALLY love this job so far.

God IS good.

1 Chronicles 16:34
Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good; His love endures forever.

Daisies From The Top Side

Honest to Pete, and Joe, and all the Harrys in the world...

If I live through the next couple of weeks I may actually join the living, breathing, blogging world again. Honest. I wouldn't kid you. We just don't have that kind of relationship, and besides, I'm too tired to fib.

Because I've been going through my own personal, very small, weird kind of hell these past two weeks.

I'm speaking, of course, about the Wonderful New Job. The WNJ (as it will be referred to henceforth) really may be W after it isn't a NJ anymore, but for now? Not so much. It isn't the WNJ itself, but rather the LEARNING of the DETAILS of the WNJ that is causing me such distress.

Well, not distress really, as much as Pure Unadulterated Terror that I will be left alone and not know a single thing I'm supposed to do. Kind of like that dream where you have to take a final in a class you haven't even attended for the entire semester, much less studied for, and to top everything off you're completely, starkly, BUCK NEKKID.

You know the one.

And then there's the trainer. The person who really doesn't want to quit, but did so because things weren't going well and doesn't really want to jade me or complain or anything, BUT....

You know the one.

The one who starts out telling you about California, then jumps to Massachusetts, but has to make a detour to Missouri, South America, Taiwan, Istanbul, and Australia along the way. So, you know, you can't actually CONNECT THE ROUTE or anything useful like that. Because if you were actually able to connect the route, you might just BE ABLE TO ACTUALLY DO THE JOB. The one the trainer really doesn't want to quit, but did so because things weren't going well and....

You know the one.

The one who has decided that you really don't need to do all the things you've actually been HIRED TO DO, and so goes to people other than your boss to get them to take on the parts you really don't need to do, even though you've been HIRED TO DO THEM, without asking you or your boss first, or anything silly like that. So you have to go around behind the person, cleaning up All The Mess that the person is trying to make of your WNJ.

Yeah, that's the one.


The one who, two days before leaving, decides to order all new equipment, all new office-ware, and all new everythingyoudon'tlike and wouldneverorderinamillionyears, just because THEY like it, and of course, will not have to deal with the consequences once they are gone from the position they really didn't want to leave, but things just got so they weren't going well, and they really don't mean to......

And the one who, by a cruel twist of fate, has extended the leaving date until NEXT WEDNESDAY, even though it was supposed to be tomorrow and even though I officially take over on Monday.

Not that I would EVER complain about any aspect of The Training Process, if you could actually call it that. Or anything else. Because, as we all know, it's just my nature to grin and bear it.

Ahem.

AHEM.

It's enough to make a grown woman cry. And me, too.

So, if I happen to be absent from Bloggyworld for the next, oh, hundred years or so, please don't forget me. I will eventually return.

Broken, bleeding, and scarred, but eventually.

(You can always tell the great emotion I'm feeling by the GREAT AMOUNT OF CAPITAL LETTERS USED, so I'm thinking there are GREAT AMOUNTS OF EMOTION in this post. Either that, or I am in dire need of both editing AND therapy.)

In the meantime, celebrate with me that God is once again certain that I need to learn more of that elusive quality of patience, and He's once again teaching me in spades. SPADES, Ladies and Gents.

Because if He wasn't, one of us would be pushing up daisies by now.

Colossians 3:12
Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.