Happy Birthday Grandma

Today is October 31, which makes almost everyone think Halloween. It is unbelieveable that it has come around again. It was just yesterday (or so it seems) that Abbie was a skunk (which was my idea) and she was not happy about it. This year, as you can see, she was Snow White. She took to the costume much better and I have to say it was a much better choice than a skunk. We did not go out to trick or treat, it was too cold for Abbie. But, she got dressed up and went to the door for the trick or treaters that came by. Abbie was very excited every time the doorbell rang. We would rush into the hallway and I would give her a piece of candy and she would take it right over to the kids and put it in their bag. It was fun to watch. But Halloween is not really what I have on my mind.
Today is my Grandma's birthday. It is the second one since she has been gone. As I looked at the pictures of my daughter in her costume, I thought of what my Grandma would say. "(deep inhaled breath with hand over heart) Job, she is just beautiful!" I am sad that Abbie will not get to meet her here, but she will know a great deal about her. We will talk about her, but Abbie will also see her every time she looks at my mom. I am so thankful that I had the relationship with my grandparents that I did. I do not think I really appreciated it until I saw my parents with my daughter. Anyway, I just wanted to say that I love my Grandma, and I miss her, too.

A Mastiff?

A guy came in the store today and said to me, "Did I see you crusing around the parking lot with a Mastiff?" I was a little surprised but managed to say, "No, he is a pit bull." The guy said, "Oh, well he seemed real nice." To which I replied, "Yeah, but you did not get very close to him."

Amber hates it when I say things like that. I do not mean to make Al sound mean. I just meant that if the guy would have been closer, Al would have barked and not seemed docile. Al is about the most patient dog I have ever seen. He takes all sorts of bites and bumps from Sammy (Ralph and Janice's new puppy). He also loves his sister. He will often give her kisses, even if she did not bend down to ask for them. Abbie has taken to giving him food, too. She will hold out something in her hand and of course Al is happy to receive it.

I just thought it was humorous to have a customer ask out of the blue if I was crusing with a Mastiff.

Just like her Daddy

There is a photo of me when I was a baby and I had very spiked hair. Abbie had a little bit of that herself the other day after she woke up. I tried to get her hair to really stand up, but she and her mom did not like it very much. Anyway, I think this will be as embarassing to her as my photo is to me.

A tough week

Man, am I glad this week is over. I already posted about how it started out. That was just the beginning to a bang up week. I am afraid I am going to sound too much like a crybaby if I go into too much detail. I guess if work is rough it is not that bad because I can go home and relax, but when it is rough at home, too, it makes for a brutal week. It was tough at home this week because of sickness. I gave Abbie the stomach bug and then she gave it to her mom. I really struggle with going to work when the girls are sick, because once I am there I can not leave. I have to battle through things at work while wondering how things are at home and wishing I could control the situation better. At work, one of our technicians was on vacation this week, which put us in a hole. Things are that much busier and require that much more of my attention when we are short handed. I have noticed that sometimes at work if we are busy, I feel like I am holding my breath. I do not mean that I am actually holding it, but it just feels like I am doing all these things at once and breathing gets left behind. Sounds stupid, doesn't it? It is the only way I know how to explain it. It does not freak me out or anything, I just have to tell myself to take some deep breaths and relax from time to time. In addition to the busy pace this week, my boss called Friday and said he wanted to come up for a visit. I told him it was not a good day since we had only one tech. That did not dissuade him. Talk about the icing on the cake. It just seemed like everything was going to hit this week. I have been thinking about writing this post since Thursday. I just kept thinking about making it to the weekend and getting the girls feeling better, and then it would be a breeze to my 4 day weekend next week. I do not write out to-do lists, but I do think out my days and weeks in my head as far as what I want to get done and what I look forward to. This whole week I have been looking forward to the weekend and being done with this past week. Can you believe I was looking forward to a weekend in which I had to work? Now that is a switch. I was looking forward to having a day at work when I felt more in control of things. Today was that day. It was busy, but it was nothing like this past week. Then I got to come home tonight and see the girls. Both are still on the tail end of the sickness, but on the whole are doing much better. I am thankful to God for my family, our health, and my job. But that does not mean it is not a grind sometimes. Anyway, enjoy the rest of the weekend and Columbus day. Talk to you later.

Wow, what a malaise

Anyone out there ever heard of a malaise? It is a term for a general sickly feeling all over. You know how all your joints and muscles seem to ache when you get the flu? That is a malaise. Last night I had about the worst malaise I have had in a long time. I would say the worst in my life, but that would be a little too much hyperbole. Anyway, I felt terrible. I picked up some kind of stomach flu yesterday and it got real bad real fast. I ached all over, my stomach was killing me, and lets just say "watery diarrhea" and leave it at that. The worst part of it all was the thought of giving it to Abbie and having to see her feel like that. So far so good, she is still happy go lucky with her usual consistency regular poops. I really do not get sick that often, but man this one just came out of nowhere. I hate having to call in sick and get someone else to work for me, but I would not have been able to handle it today. I am feeling better now, hopefully I will not have a relapse. I just hope Abbie does not get the bug, too. I can not imagine having to see her feel that bad, and if she gets diarrhea as bad as I had it, it could be very harmful to her little body. Please pray that she does not have to go through that and I will try to post an update later in the week. Until then, watch out for the dreaded Malaise.