Peace In Unexpected Places

I found Peace in some unexpected places this weekend.

First was in the car. Had a kid who was a nervous driver anyway - and we were going on the freeway. As we were heading toward the freeway I just offered up a quick prayer and was overcome with peace and calm - and thought - ok, it's going to be fine. And it was. She did a nice job - of course when her mom asked her if she wanted to drive home after the lesson, she quickly declined - I think she was spent.

Speaking of spent - I've been getting to know a little about that lately. I went to my mom's this afternoon and when I got there - it was quiet in the hall and she wasn't in her room. I suspect she was at worship in the activity room, so I unloaded her laundry and then decided to just sit in her rocking chair for a bit. The rocking chair that I remember so fondly sitting in her lap in when I was a kid - when I was afraid or I couldn't sleep, she would hold me, rock me and sing to me. God Bless Her - I miss her. So I'm sitting rocking myself in that same rocking chair and I close my eyes and just sense a feeling of peace - even the musack they play in the hallway was peaceful. I probably spent a good 20 minutes just rocking in her chair - trying to be in the moment and not think about the future... trying not to worry about anything and praying about everything (Phil 4:6 - paraphrase mine of NLT).

The Blessings Of God

I have a story to tell... about the Blessings of God - I have been overwhelmingly blessed in what has been a really tough week!

It started off pretty status quo - getting used to the new job - getting ready for my first class - a parent/teen orientation - which I was really looking forward to - I'll be teaching the entire class so I was excited about making it mine.

Got up on Tuesday morning - didn't have to be to work until 12:30pm - was excited and ready for class that evening - when I got a call that would change the flow of the day completely. It was the home my mom lives in (by home I mean Assisted Living facility) and she has had a cough for a while and they felt she needed to be taken into the ER for treatment since she was coughing so much and was so severely congested. So I went up and took her into the ER - when I was getting her into my car - she started coughing so bad that I thought she was going to pass out - it was scary! It was a crappy day at the ER - it was crazy busy and we had a bitch of a nurse - but after being there most of the day - a friend called to see if I wanted her to bring me something to eat - being optimistic I thought we would be released soon and turned her down - in hindsight - I should have taken her up on her offer - but the offer itself was such a blessing! They did finally release my mom to go home with prescriptions and inhaler treatment in hand. Little did I know that the next day would go downhill even more!

The next morning, I missed a call from the home - crap - has she gotten worse? Do I need to take her back to the emergency room? Unfortunately - it was worse than that - the call I have been dreading - the resident director left a message that she needed to talk to me about increasing the amount of care that my mom needs - translation - more money. When I called her back - I just asked - what the money would be - when she told me - I burst into tears - I can't afford that... she told me to come in so we could all talk about it and see how they could work with me since they didn't want to lose my mom as a resident. I made an appointment to go meet with them and was blessed with a friend that offered to go with me. Not only that - but God gave me such peace to continue on with the rest of my day - which really helped in my new line of work - work has actually become a blessing as well.

I told another friend about what was going on and she was concerned about me going to the meeting by myself and wanted to make sure I had support - another friend kicked me in the butt (figuratively, of course) about taking care of myself. This morning yet another friend sent me a devotional about God's blessings and favor. But the best is yet to come...

So I met up with my buddy at the church this morning to go to the home for the meeting -another friend showed up to pray for me during the meeting and before we left - we went into the office and we had a group prayer. We get up there and are walking into the office for the meeting and I feel like I'm going to be sick... I sit down and the resident director doesn't beat around the bush... she went to bat for me with the rest of management and they are going to keep my mom where she is with extra attention for the same amount that I'm paying. God is so good! I never imagined that would be the outcome! Of course, it's not over - it just buys some time to look at other options and figure out what to do - but I'll take it. I'm just overwhelmed with the blessings of friends, the power of prayer and the goodness of God.

Observations From The Back Seat - Part Deux

Have spent quite a few hours recently in the backseat of the car observing - here are some observations...

The first was a tow truck we saw outside our office in Diamond Bar - not one of our tow trucks - just to clarify... The truck said 'Emergency Hookers' - 'you blow it... we'll tow it' - Nice!

So I've been around RSM the last couple of days and it is so nice to be around an area I know. There was a beautiful sunset the other evening and as it got dark, it was nice to see the moon - just a sliver that night.

And unlike the last night driving I was observing, there were a lot of houses with Christmas lights on. It was cool to see, especially the house with the two siberian huskies pulling Santa on a dog sled - my dad would like that! There was one house that looked like it just puked Christmas all over - no rhyme or reason to the eclectic display!

My favorite Christmas lights, though, where in San Juan Capistrano - they were hanging on the street lights - nothing really fancy, but it reminded me of growing up in South Pasadena and the decorations they put up every year. Ah... fond memories. God Bless Us, Everyone!

The Test Was Almost Easy

So I am now certifiable - oh - I mean certified - by the DMV - as a Driving School Instructor - or at least I passed the test and turned in all the paperwork. Waiting to get my temporary license from Sacramento...

It was a bit of a long haul getting to that point, though - I was very nervous about it all - also felt like I should pass on the first try... which I'm happy to say that I did - but that was almost the easy part considering everything else that happened that day.

It started with a phone call just before I was about to leave for the DMV from one of the caregivers at my mom's home. She was calling to tell me that my mom had an accident that morning and piddled (my word) on her shoes - and could I bring some shoes for her - yeah - I'll get right on that! I don't keep extra shoes for my mother at my place! Where was I supposed to get these shoes? I told her that there were some dress shoes in the closet my mom could wear for now - and have since been to Target to stock up on slip on shoes - we're going to play shoe store on Christmas morning to see which shoes we keep and which shoes get taken back. God Bless Her!

So I leave to take the test and traffic is a mess! at 2pm in the afternoon - what's up with that? I finally get to the DMV and spend 15 minutes driving around the parking lot looking for a space - NIGHTMARE!!!! My favorite part, though...

One of the things you need to do is show proof that you graduated from high school - or equivalent. Well, I have no idea where my high school diploma is, but I have my college degree - so I bring that. The woman at the DMV is going down the checklist of all the paperwork that I need and gets to the high school part - I hand her my college diploma and she looks at it with a puzzled expression so I tell her that I can't find my high school diploma so I brought my college degree. She examines it - runs her hand over the seal on it - like I've forged it or something and then says she isn't sure if that will work - she needs to ask a supervisor - all the while I'm thinking - really - it's from the University of California - they don't usually let people in if they haven't graduated from high school! One of my friends said - yeah - it's not like it's from Sally's College of Beauty! So after much deliberation - and I suspect quite a bit of chatting - she comes back and says it's ok - after all that - the test was almost easy! Now as long as Sacramento doesn't kick it back to me! As we say in DMV class... 'DMV has no cents.'

And Not Just Because He Is Hot

Oh my goodness! I almost wet my panties tonight as I was watching TV... I just found out that Russell Crowe will be playing Robin Hood in a movie due out next May. I know you are going to laugh - but Disney's version of Robin Hood has always been one of my favorite movies and now my favorite actor (and not just because he is Hot) is going to be playing that lead role! And yes, I do realize there will be (major) differences between the two movies but I can't wait for the new one to be released... it's Russell Crowe! If only Hans Zimmer were doing the music - the guy that is doing the score, though, has worked with Hans Zimmer - yes, I'm a freak - I looked it up! And the current release date - May 14, 2010 - I know what I want to do on my birthday next year - Happy Birthday to me!

Do They Make A Snuggie For Cats?

So I've jumped on the Snuggie Bandwagon - in fact, I'm snuggled in it right now as I type this post. I bought one for a gift exchange at work but after hearing from B how much she liked it, I decided to keep it for myself - especially since it was in my favorite color! I got it out the other night and was sitting on the couch with part of it draped over where the cat likes to lay - and did she enjoy it! She immediately started kneading on it to make her spot all comfy... after laying on it for a few minutes, decided she wanted to lay underneath it. I eventually got up and she wandered off the couch and I was sitting across the room at one point when she jumped back on the couch - sniffed around where the Snuggie was and then started to meow - I suspect asking where it went! So this evening when I wrapped up in it and sat back down on the couch - she was there immediately - trying to figure out how to get underneath it - I had it a little more tightly wrapped so there wasn't a place to get under - so enjoy this picture of her crawling up the sleeve! I know they make a Snuggie for dogs - do they make a Snuggie for cats? God Bless the little Sadie Kitty!

Nice Morning Jog

I had no intentions of getting up early this morning - already knew I wouldn't be going to Weight Watchers - didn't want to pay again... but was awake at 6:30am! Got up - fed the cat - crawled back into bed and spent the next 20 minutes listening to the voices in my head... so I decided that maybe a nice morning jog (not a run - I don't think I'm fast enough for that) would be just the ticket to drown out the voices... it wasn't raining too hard and wasn't too cold - perfect! Of course, I got about a mile away from home and it really started to rain pretty hard - what do you do? Turn around and run back - and it did it's trick - no voices. Of course, I got wet - both inside from sweat and outside from rain - and the only thing I would do different next time is wear a hat - but I loved it and what a great way to start the day!