Friday, February 28, 2014

I really don't LIKE preparing for Spring...

Work continues to be an uphill climb. The new Spring products are arriving. The 'old' products are being sent back out. As THE person who does shipping and receiving... I get to see all the new stuff first! I am also the person who handles the PALLETS of lawnmower batteries coming in... and ships out the cores of the dead batteries being traded in. Wednesday was the day we got our consignment of lawnmower batteries for this year. Today and this past Tuesday, we began getting mountains of new car care products.
I had feared the batteries would do my back in... it has been seizing up after work (at sometimes AT work) on heavy lifting days. But it wasn't batteries... no... today my back "went"... like being attacked with a screwdriver in the lower spine! It was simply bending over to retrieve a packet of lightbulbs someone had hidden. Maybe I should say it was a lightbulb package... there was no bulb in it. A sad fact of retail is that items get stolen. It may be as petty as the empty spark plug gap tool package I found elsewhere today. Or ONE screw removed from a package of five. (We can't sell the rest of them now... but hey, he must have really needed that one screw!)
But I digress.
I bent down to pick up the packaging to a headlight bulb... and ZOW! It brought tears to my eyes. I could. not. move. The pain eased after a few moments, but didn't leave. I dragged and limped and whined through the rest of my work.
Once home, I soaked in a hot bath of  Epsom salts.  Got out feeling MUCH better!
Maybe I just pinched a nerve, a wee bit. SO glad I am feeling better. Just tomorrow... and then it is weekend! (YAY!)

Last night, the Individuals and I attended a seminar on Trail Cooking, at a local sporting goods store. It was fun and informative. Dan held his own and was even able to show the person doing the demo how to open a cooking pot! (Dan owns the same model!) Dan is very well informed and well researched in many areas of hiking and camping- and the store needs help, so he is considering applying- though worried that it might burden our vehicle situation.

I think I am going to go lie down and 'rest my back' before Mr C gets home. Supper is a fast cook- a steak, salad, and ranchies.... no real prep needed.
Be blessed, thank you for reading.

Oh: washer update. The place that sent half the pump assembly is sending the full unit- and a return prepaid mailing label for the old one. Maybe it will be fixed by this next weekend!
~T~

Monday, February 24, 2014

Yippy. Skippy.

On a positive note: The new pump came for my washer. Mr C went out to install it... and discovered that the HOUSING to the pump filter is cracked.
Trying to find a pump housing, we discovered that it was SUPPOSED to be part of the pump ASSEMBLY we just purchased. However, the place we bought it from sent ONLY the motor.
So back to customer service.

Friday, February 21, 2014

Feb. 21st

It is the week after Valentine's Day. The card I got Tom is still sitting on the table- ungiven! I may have to use it next year.
It has been a tough week at work. Yesterday was the only day so far I have NOT worked over. Guess I am making up for missing last week.
The other dishwasher at the Wooden Spoon quit last week, so Sam has worked every day, and is doing a double today, as he did last Friday.
Tommy is working long, long hours at his job, in addition to going to school. He works 6pm to 3am tonight- pretty much RUNNING the entire time as he parks cars for the valet service. Very glad I am not doing it... I don't run. (Last time I ran was at Tom's Mom's birthday gathering this past April, when I saw a grandbaby about to fall off a rock wall. Pulled a muscle in my calf and limped the rest of the trip!)

I decided this afternoon I needed to accomplish some stuff around the house. This is my day on the kitchen- anyone want to guess what the only completed task in the kitchen has been, so far this afternoon?
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If you guessed, "Cleaning up the Microwave"..... you'd be right.
Floors, still unswept and in need of a mop. Dishwasher partly loaded. Supper for two.... still undecided. Countertops still cluttered with the daily debris, stovetop never got wiped by last night's kitchen personnel. But the microwave looks nice!
Ahem. I take after my Mommy. Start with what doesn't show!

Mr C worked on the washing machine Becky gave me! I have wanted a front loader as long as I can remember, but we just have never had the money in hand when the need for a washing machine occurred. Becky was given the washing machine when one of her in-laws got a new set. Stephen fixed it countless times- and awhile back bought Becky a brand new commercial grade machine. Mr C said I could have Becky's old machine, which we knew needed a new seal.
So I ordered a new seal.
Being  a (former) aircraft inspector, the first thing Mr C did when the part arrived was to look it over minutely. He soon discovered the reason I got the seal at a huge discount... It had a cut (gouge) in it. Not "all the way " through, but bad enough it would not have held up very long. The seller sent a new seal... God sent us lots of snow and ice and freezing weather.... Granny passed on...
Finally, a break in the weather on a day off!
Mr C put the new seal on, then set the machine up outside for a test run. (He is a smart man!) The seal didn't leak. But the pump does. So I have ordered a brand new pump. And we got new hoses. So when the new pump arrives and gets installed... my "free" washing machine will have a good $220 invested in it.
I am so excited!

This week, my Grand Daughter Nickole will be five years old (The 25th). Time is certainly flying. In less than 2 weeks, my Grand Daughter Alana will be 11 (March 5th). And the day after Alana's birthday is my Dad's birthday. This year is tumbling tail over teakettle already.

Be blessed! Thanks for reading!

Tuesday, February 11, 2014

Goodbye, Granny

Just over a month ago, I wished my Granny a Happy 99th Birthday. Saturday, My Granny left this world to go Home.
Granny has been in a nursing home for the past 8 years. My Aunt Jean has been there virtually every day during those eight years. Last week, both Granny and Aunt Jean caught this terrible stomach flu that has been making the rounds. Aunt Jean missed several days of getting to see Gran.
Friday, feeling slightly better, Aunt Jean went to see Granny. She didn't stay long. She was told that the stomach bug had weakened Granny to the point where she was susceptible to, and had contracted pneumonia. Gran was put on antibiotics. Being as healthy as a horse otherwise, the Doctor at the nursing home was not concerned much over the touch of pneumonia, expecting it to respond well to treatment.
Saturday, Aunt Jean again visited Granny. Gran was having her sponge bath, and Jean was still fairly weak from her own illness, so she didn't stay long. Granny was fine, everything as normal. My Aunt lives a scant 2 miles from the nursing home. She had not been home long when the phone call came from the nursing home. Granny had passed on!
It was very much a shock, very sudden in its coming. Less than an hour before, she was doing fine, responding to the antibiotics, recovering from the flu and pneumonia... then, she was gone.

I know my Granny is in a better, happier place! To spend day after long day being unable to communicate, unable to see, read, watch TV, do anything for oneself has to be a horror. I am hoping that God was teaching my Granny the things she needed to know for the worlds now before her.
Granny was ready to go. She was beyond ready to go.
It is me, my family, my Dad, Aunts, Uncles, cousins and Mom; her grandkids who are grieving her passage. But our tears are for our own loss. How can we be sad when she has gained so much?

Arretta Gibson Beard was born January 3rd, 1915, to Forest and Margaret (Daisy Gibson) Gibson.
She married Robert Edward Beard May 5, 1932. They had three children: Melba Jean, Robert William, and Douglas Daniel.
Robert Edward Beard preceded her in death on September 24, 1983.
Arretta had 10 grandchildren,  26(?) great grandchildren, and too many great great grandchildren to keep track of, at the time of her death. (At least 25, with 3(?) more in the works!)

My Granny loved to sing! Back before radios in vehicles were normal, Granny sang us from destination to destination. She wrote many gospel songs- some* of which have been sung in places around the world: Ireland, England, Honduras, and other places.

Granny's death is both unexpected, and expected. She was 99 years old. How can one be unprepared for the death of someone that age?



I hope to see all of my family, and all of those who loved my Granny, on Friday.
Granny would want peace, love, and rejoicing at her passage, not strife and rifts.
I love you all.




* The Joy of the Lord
 The joy of the Lord is my strength,
the joy of the Lord is my Strength
The Joy of the Lord is my strength

I walk by faith and not by sight.
Not by feelings, nor by might
The joy of the Lord is my strength.

He leads me beside the still waters
 and there he restoreth my soul!
He leads me in paths
of righteousness for His Name's sake

With Him beside me I will gladly go!
OH! The Joy of the Lord is my Strength,
the joy of the Lord is my strength.
The Joy of the Lord..... is my strength!