April Ninth

We got new kittens…

Just home from the neighbor's, they had found a stray cat who to their surprise had kittens… They still have four more that need a home…

We are still determining if they are girls or boys… and thinking of names…

Son2 has claimed the one of the left as his and the one on the right is mine, although of course they are family cats too…

Falling sleep after their trip across the street from the neighbors…

Exploring their new home…

Shoelaces…

Danny wondering what these creatures are and what he is supposed to do with them…

Six weeks old and eating kitten food…

Hubby’s lap is comfy…

You don’t want to know what Holly did today… Don’t look at the feathers surrounding her…

Looking at a pen…

Take my picture too…

Holly’s bed is very comfy…

No one’s paying attention to me…

Sleepy from all the exploring…

We made a kitty fort out of son3’s blocks so they can’t wander too far…

Falling asleep…

Holly has discovered the kitties… She was curious but hasn’t wanted anything to do with them… probably wandering why they have her bed and her toys…

Today  has been a lazy day… I worked til ten last night and went to bed at eleven still buzzing away… My first night closing went well… learning all the closing procedures… another day gone by so quick… I also hired another new person… I was up at five this morning but since no one had to get up I was able to fall back to sleep… so well that I woke up again at nine and hubby and I actually snoozed in bed to eleven… only cause son3 was starving and wanted breakfast…. so we all had cereal… son1 was texting son2 all morning as son2 was going over to son1’s to spend the night and had forgot to tell us that they had made plans… however son1 didn’t pick up son2 til three, so son2 was still here to go with us to pick up the kittens… son3 has had an emotional day of getting new kitties, not being able to spend the night at son1’s, playing games, learning how to be gentle and quiet with the kittens and he still has homework to do this weekend…

We made breakfast for dinner of eggs, hash browns, corned beef hash and English muffins… We’re watching Angel and Bones… son3 is off playing his games… Going to fix some ice cream after Bones…

I’m off again tomorrow… going to be weird… been so long since I had a whole weekend off… today I have been on the laptop, eaten all day and played with the pets… I did start vacuuming but haven’t finished… I still have tomorrow… The kittens will be sleeping in the boy’s bathroom at night, so need to put the litter box in there so they can learn to start using it… Holly will be sleeping in the garage til I see how she interacts with the kittens…

Time for ice cream…

On this day, God wants you to know

... that there are no accidents. What you think of as accidents are simply your conversations with God that you haven't yet been able to understand. But take heart, all happens in God's will and every conversation has deep meaning for you.

On this day, God wants you to know

... that it's okay to receive. Have you been the giver for so long that you have forgotten how to receive? Allow others to give you some of the love that you give so freely. Seek a balance between your giving and your receiving.

Happy Journaling…

April Eighth

Yesterday was the visit at work… my first district shoe visit as the lead… unfortunately he wasn’t informed that I had started… so he didn’t do the audit and we only walked the floor as a training session or him getting to know what I already knew… he did say it looked better than the last time he had been there… the team did a great job of getting the floor ready… of course still a ways to go… and the stockroom got behind as I have been on the floor all week instead of in the back processing the new receipts…

We also got rain yesterday… because of the visit I went in early so I was home early enough to walk and pick up son3… The sky was also full of big black clouds so I took my camera with me…

We figured we had enough time to walk there and back before it started raining… but just in case we brought one umbrella and son3 already had an umbrella…

What we didn’t expect was HAIL…

As we were waiting for son3 it started to rain big drops…

And then very soft hail as if it was snowing…

Poor Danny hates baths and water of any kind…

By time son3 got to us the hail had got to the size of marbles and was much harder…

Son3 running across the yard once we got home… It’s just a five minute walk or so from picking up son3…

Son2’s tennis game was cancelled but he had gone to a friend’s house… by time he walked home all the rain was gone…

Hail all over our car…

Hubby then took my camera into the backyard… It was lightening and thundering too…

Sun trying to come out…

All these pictures are from the backyard…

Strawberry plants that keep coming back every year…

Today I close at work… so I am still home this morning… Hubby and I went to drive son3 to school this morning as we were going to Target… and the Dodge had a flat tire… so we all jumped in the Saturn instead… Son3 was happy just not to have to walk to school… Hubby and I went to Target and were in and back home in just an hour… they don’t have a time warp there like Walmart has where you lose three hours of your life in just a minute… We found just what we needed: shampoo, toothpaste, popcorn… and picked up son3’s Halo megablox alien guys he has been wanting to buy with his money… and just what we needed for Easter… actually I put two items back or we would have been done shopping for Easter… but I had already seen them cheaper online at Walmart so even with shipping I’ll save seven dollars… So will be ordering them in just a minute… and I’m sure hubby will still be picking up some Easter candy and we need dye for the eggs… Hubby has since found the nail in the tire, pumped it up and driven over to his car guy where we have tire warranties for free repairs…

I’m munching on popcorn and listening to Dr. Welby on the Retro channel…

I kinda came off my work high this morning… I think it’s mainly just coming off the stress of the week of the visit and now it’s over… although I’ll see him again maybe around Easter and then maybe the beginning of May and then definitely the middle of May for training and in June for certification… I’m still wondering where I am going to start squeezing in my five weeks of vacation that four have to be done before November…

I’m still on my old sleeping schedule, falling asleep at 9pm and wide awake at 5am this morning… I tried to go back to sleep til after 5:30am but my brain was already going full steam ahead thinking about work… so I’m sure I will be dragging by 10pm tonight when I get off work… I’m looking forward to having this weekend off… but then I’m also anxious to get on a routine at work… so many things I want to get done tonight and I have an interview for a new associate…

And I have a ton of online training to do… I checked yesterday… it’s gonna take me a week just to get though that… I think I’m kinda frustrated too that I want to get everything organized and get all the things done that are on my list but then time is passing so quickly already…

Tonight’s goal is to update the counts from yesterdays count, make a list of supplies we need to order, interview, learn the closing procedures and leave a very long list for the associates for the weekend as they are also eager to have direction and be more involved… Then this weekend I am going to organize all my notes I have been taking all week on whatever paper was at hand into one notebook…

Hubby put a new border around the side yard… the pavers in the center are temporary as some day he will cement in a cobblestone pattern…

Yesterday after the storm… clearing up… today black clouds have moved back in but only a 30% chance of rain… Time to start thinking about work… oh wait that’s all I’ve been doing lately… need to make my lunch/dinner and get dressed for work… I think hubby is back now too…

Happy Journaling…

April Sixth

All the pictures are from my yard… Everything is blooming…

I am off today… No homework this week because of state testing! Son3 is watching Beverly Hills Chihuahua 2… We also got Tron Legacy, Bones Season 3 and I Love You Phillip Morris…

I am cooking teriyaki chicken legs, chicken fried rice, and heating up frozen egg rolls-sweet and sour chicken-orange chicken…

Be sure to visit The Motivation Station tomorrow (Thursday) to see what else we have been up to his week…

I have been at my new position of footwear lead for three days now… I’m loving it… I was kinda worried that I would freak out once it hit me of what did I get myself into… I’m even having a nice day off even with the district visit looming over me that’s coming tomorrow… We would be ready if we didn’t allow customers into the shoe department… Every time we fix one thing another gets torn up… So I’m sure I will be getting an earful tomorrow… But I’m playing the “I’m new card”… and then I’ll be making a list of everything he’ll want fixed… and we’ll see if we’ll be ready for him next time… Unless the associates work a miracle tonight… I have six closers tonight and I go in at 6am tomorrow to run around like a crazy lady before he gets there… Don’t know what time, just that it’s in the morning… Then after he leaves I can finish making the schedule for next week and start making my plan of everything I have wanted to get done for a long time… Friday I close and learn all about the closing procedures… Then I have the weekend off…

I haven’t done too much this week… My days have been a blur of work, dinner, watching season 2 of Angel and sleeping…

Son2 had a tennis match yesterday but he didn’t win… He didn’t go to practice today as he forgot his clothes for practice… He had state testing yesterday and today… He said he took a test today that if he passes it allows you to skip the basic English classes when you start college… He said it was easy…

Son1 was over on Sunday doing laundry and working on his jeep but he was gone by time I got home from work… He came over again on Monday night just as we were eating dinner… He had gone to the Army recruiting office and took a practice test… He didn’t pass so he had come over to take some practice tests online… So he and son2 were at it til 10pm… I went to bed…

Son1 is over now… Another pulley on his jeep needs replacing now… he is looking up the website but they have changed the website since he was on last and do not sell to the public… he may stay for dinner although it is his night to cook at the apartment… I thought having a guy as a roommate would give him more freedom than living with a girlfriend… however since he and his roommate are friends, his roommate expects them to do everything together and texts him constantly wondering when he is coming home…

Dinner is almost ready… I think we are watching Tron Legacy tonight…

On this day, God wants you to know

... that joy will come when you pass on the love you have received. If you hoard love, it melts away. If you lock love, it breaks free. If you grab on to love, you end up holding an illusion. When you let love flower in its own way, it stays to support you. When you pass on love, it multiplies beyond measure.

On this day, God wants you to know

... that when you feel down, look at yourself through God's eyes. There are times when no matter how hard you try, you just cannot accept yourself as you are. During such times, think of how you look to God's eyes. In God's eyes, there is no judgment, there is only acceptance. God sees your light when all that you can see are your shadows. God loves you more than anyone could ever love you as you really are.

On this day, God wants you to know

... that it's time you cleansed yourself with laughter and with tears. Let tears take out all the agony that is hidden inside you, and let laughter ignite your contagious joy.

On this day, God wants you to know

... that the weight you carry on your shoulders is much too heavy for one human being. Give some of that weight where it belongs, - to God, and have faith that what happens is for the best, whether you understand it or not.

Happy Journaling…