My PLAYLIST in Progress


28 July 2006

A Little Something to Look Forward to

It has been a very hectic week. Terrible storms and an entire metropolitan area with out power. Being at work, which was transformed into a dark, stinking warehouse full of rotting food, throwing hundreds of thousands of said stinking, rotting food away. A dear friend who's husband died very suddenly a week ago today, feeling her pain, comforting her as my heart bled for her.

And now, a bit of a break. A few calm, semi-relaxing days. Most of the area has power restored, and it is now safe to drive around without worrying about fallen tree limbs and electrical lines over roadways.

We determined that we lost over $175, 000 of perishable food from my store alone. Multiply that by 20, and you get the monetary loss of my company. We've been cleaning and restocking over the last day or two, so now we are almost back to normal.

My friend who lost her husband is getting back into a bit of normalcy, and is returning to work late next week. She is still unsure about the future, but she knows she must get on with day-to-day life, as normal as possible.

And tonight, dinner with an old friend. Riddhi, I've been so looking forward to hanging out with you again, and eventhough its something small and simple, it has brought me out of my "funk" and brightened my entire week.

It is so neat that a seemingly easy, uncomplicated thing such as spending a few hours with a dear friend can make such a difference in one's life. Even getting a letter in the mail, or an email out of the blue from a friend means so much. If there is someone out there that you have sort of lost touch with or haven't heard from in a while, drop them a line, give them a call. It just may make a world of difference!

15 July 2006

Jen's a Slob and a Bum!!! :the week in retrospect

So, I was supposed to be on vacation this past week...It all looked bleak when I noticed last week Friday that I had been scheduled to work....My supervisor forgot about my vacation time, and half-heartedly made me a bargain. I worked Sunday and today, and she would take care of Monday through Friday. It was all fine and dandy unitl I realized yesterday that it was unpaid! It was suppoed to be a week of PAID vacation, a vacation that I had marked on our planning calendar at work. It had been marked since mid-January. How unprofessional of her to forget!

Luckily we had not planned to go out of town, or much of anything. I just wanted a paid week off work, to sit around and play and be free. I had really intended to use this week to catch up on my scrapbooking stuff. I've got a pile, a growing pile, of photos, various papers, stickers, patterned pinking shears, and albums. For instance, our guestbook from our wedding reception is a scrapbook. Guests signed and wrote on various pages, and my plan was to insert photos from the reception, the cards that were attached to wedding gifts, etc. It is still unfinished. Those who know me know I have the tendency to suffer from acute procrastination from time to time. The past two years have been just that. Now to the wedding pile I've added Samuel's stuff (baby books & the like). I did not one thing toward accomplishing anything other than being a bum.

Is that so wrong? I mean, my days are filled with Samuel and his interesting games he makes up, diaper changing, and cleaning, cooking, laundry. All of which I fully accept as mine. But I wanted a break....so Sam and I, almost every day, spent a good hour at the park, came home for lunch, and then we both took naps. I'm talking two hours of sleep, here, folks, in the middle of the day. No cleaning up, no laundry. I did cook dinner, and tidy up before bedime, but I was a major slacker compared to my usualy daily activities. AND FOR AN ENTIRE WEEK!!!!!!!!

It felt so good. Last night, the last night of my un-paid vacation, we drove over to Ted Drewes. For those not familiar with this St. Louis establishment, it is the place to get the best frozen custard in the universe! I am currently addicted to the Heath Bar concrete. Sam also had his first taste. Mike shared a bite of two of his butterscotch with extra butterscotch concrete. It was love at first taste!

Anyhow, it's time to get back to reality, and to get back into my routines. Bills are sitting here, laundry's calling my name, and dinner needs cooking. The part I hate most about vacation is when its over. *sigh* Back to the grindstone, eh?