Couldn't Wait....

It's end of month.

And end of fiscal year.

And being closed for 2 days for

Hurricane Irma

put us a little over $1M behind budget.

Management is FREAKING OUT!

I post the biggest insurance carrier we have.

Last week's payment was all messed up.

I got the $ on Thursday, but the files

came over corrupted.

Then on Friday we got new files.

Still corrupted.

Then on Monday we got correct files.

So the push was on.

Could I get it all posted before this

week's payment arrived?

(NO question... lol)

The money came on Wednesday.

A BIG amount.

(Not enough, but still pretty darn good.)

Now... files?

Management (various representatives)

"dropped by" repeatedly during the day

to check on the status.

PEOPLE!

I will tell you when it gets here!

I DID get a tiny file,

but the big 1.3M file was still a no-show

by the time I left Wed evening.

Thursday morning (this morning)

I was here bright and early and so was my file!!!

YEA!

But that's not good enough.

Here comes management.

 Management:  Did we get the file?

Me:  Yes.

Them:  What does it look like?

Me:  Pretty big.  186 pages with about

450 interest entries.  I'm looking at 4 - 5 days

to get it all posted.

Them:  So will you have it done by month end?

Me:  Pause.  You know month end is tomorrow, right?

Sigh.

This is what my days look like.

Anyhow.

An hour or so later, I got called into Managment's office.

We need to know if you can get it posted by end of month.

Me:  NO!

Them:  What if we hold off on the interest entries?

Me:  I could probably get it done then.

Them:  If you don't get it done by tomorrow, could

you come in on Saturday and finish it?

Me: Yes.  But I should probably tell you now...

This is my 2 week notice.

Crickets.

Looks of total shock / disbelief.

Not sure if my manic grin looks like

I'm kidding or if I'm just insane.

After convincing them I'm serious

and October 13th (yes, Friday the 13th)

really IS my very final day...

I headed back to my desk.

As I came around the corner to where all

my co-workers are waiting to see what happened,

I said... So.  I should probably tell you now.

I just quit.

It was SO worth it!

LOL

So... I'm here late this evening, working on

getting this monster posted.

Mostly because there was a wreck on the highway

and it's a traffic jam for about 2 miles.

Sit here (and get paid) or sit out there.

NO duh.

And tomorrow I can just come in and not worry

about what I'm going to say and how I'm going

to say it.

Whew!

I feel 10 pounds lighter!

(Now if I just LOOKED it!  LOL)

Random Thoughts

My birds aren't happy being contained.

This is what I found the other day

when I got home from work.

She was trying to squeeze out the tiny hole

we have to reach our hands through

to open / close the gate.

She was stuck.

(But when I came over she freaked out

and backed into the coop again.)

Silly birds.

(They are good layers, but not particularly

PRETTY birds... their feathers have a pretty

green sheen in the sunshine, but their faces

leave a little to be desired...)

Rod and Kyle are leaving tomorrow to drive

down to Marathon in the Keys.

They are "team lead" on a group who have

been asked by the Area Seventy to help

down there.

The guys have been working both Saturday

and Sunday every weekend since the hurricane

hit and they are pretty pooped.

The Stake President said we were going to

take this weekend off and recharge our batteries

while participating in General Conference.

But the Area Seventy contacted him Tuesday

and said that, like the Saints in SLC who dropped

everything (including the lady's petticoats to make

clothes for those they were rescuing) to rescue the

folks who were stranded in the snow,

we are being asked to continue our efforts.

Its a 5 hour drive (but add Miami traffic and

it usually stretches to 7) so they are leaving 

on Friday, working Saturday and Sunday, 

and driving back on Monday.

Rod's new employer is AWESOME.

He is taking a "floating holiday" on Friday.

And with a letter from the Stake President

they will pay him for a "volunteer day" on Monday.

They say this will be the final weekend.

Unfortunately, we can't get to Puerto Rico.

Those are the people who REALLY need 

our help.

The Keys were damaged, but they are

pretty resourceful and are already back and

open for business.

It will be 6 months before many of the people

on Puerto Rico even have power again.

Our hearts and prayers go out to them.

And maybe a special line on your next tithing

form with a donation for assistance to those folks.

Counting Down

BIG NEWS!

After 17+ years,

it's time to call it DONE.

I am going to give my notice

at my "day job" on Friday.

I'm going to keep teaching.

I love it.

And I get paid really well.

And I love it.

But my day time job has gotten

to the point where I no longer love it.

We used to be a small-ish medical

practice where the Doctors and the

support staff knew each other

and cared about each other.

Now we are a large corporation

headquartered in New York.

We have dress codes.

They measure your heels on your shoes!

(No, really!  Well, not MINE... lol)

We have to drive 30 miles up the highway.

We get a "red box" on our electronic

time card if you clock in as the time

is clicking over from 7:30 to 7:31.

You get "counselled" if you have 

"too many" red boxes.

You also get a red box if you come in early.

Or stay late.

But the biggest issue is they took half my 

job away from me and gave it to someone else.

Which means I spend pretty close to 

half my week "looking busy". 

I've always gotten high marks on my 

annual reviews because I'm fast and accurate.

We have to report the total number of

transactions done each day.

My numbers are the highest of anyone and

when I'm on vacation or working on a special

project, it takes 3 other people to cover me.

(Sounds like I'm bragging, but I'm not... it's

just how it is...)

Anyhow - they said "You can afford to lose

some numbers."

I can't......  I just can't.

I wasn't raised to not do my best.

So......

Friday I am giving 2 weeks notice.

And I'm so excited I almost can't stop smiling.

Think of me Friday!

New Skills

Since I've aced the power stapler...

LOL

Kyle thought it was time I

learned how to drive the mower.

Someday I might even actually MOW!

(Don't tell anybody but I got

dizzy while doing doughnuts...)

It's fun to drive!

Chicken Pox

My chicken coop has the pox.

LOL

I took a sick day from work.

The chicken coop needed work!

If you look closely, there's a GIANT gap between

the board and the bottom of the chicken wire.

And that chicken right there is getting ready

to flew the coop!

The girls just hop on out whenever they feel like it

and I'm pretty sure they are laying eggs

SOMEWHERE out there!

(And there's too many sneaky places for me

to find them...)

Plus the dogs find them and eat them.

So I fixed it.

See my tools?

Yes, I used an air compressor

and a power staple gun.

It was FUN!

And now there are no giant gaps.

The girls are contained.

Whew!

Mission accomplished!

Waterton Alpine Stables

Wow.

This is all that is left of the iconic (in my mind)

Waterton Alpine Riding Stables.

So many memories!

Rozann and I driving down and renting horses

together and riding up into the mountains for

a 3 or 4 hour (half day) ride.

Complete with a MAP!

(scariest thing EVER!)

(but super fun)

"Skinny dipping" (not exactly) in the FREEZING

mountain lake and just after we got in a troop

of Boy Scouts showing up.

So we couldn't get OUT of the water!

Reid taking me over there on the back of

his motorcycle so I could "audition" for

a job there the following summer.

(They said I was hired, but in the meantime

I got a "real" job and couldn't take 2 months

off to work in a stable for minimum wage...)

(darn it!)

Thankfully they were able to move the

horses to a safe location and nobody

(man or beast) got hurt.

But it is devastating to lose all your

buildings.

They will rebuild.

And they will love their new facility even more.

But old friends are hard to say goodbye to.

Alpine Stables

we bid you Adieu.

Back to Normal

We are all back to normal again.

Not that we veered that far off course anyway.

But there is always that little kernel

of stress hiding deep in your belly

when there is a giant, history making,

record breaking, red and yellow

blob heading your way.

However, the boards are off the windows

(at least the windows we take them off of)

although they aren't yet put away.

(Jose is still churning out there.)

We won't put them away until hurricane

season is officially over.

November 1st.

Circle the date on your calendars!

(Not really, it winds down pretty quickly

in October...)

Yesterday Kyle took the rest of the shutters

off Linda's house (did the 1st floor on Tuesday

and the 2nd floor yesterday) in preparation for

her flying in today from Utah.

Spent the rest of the day picking up branches, etc

and then raked her large front yard.

Didn't want the house to look un-inhabited.

As usual, there are unsavory characters

bouncing around looking for empty homes

to break into.

After work yesterday Rod drove up to New Smyrna

and picked up the feed for the month.

He usually does that on a Saturday, but

he and Kyle will be heading somewhere for the 

weekend to assist in the cleanup efforts.

(They don't know yet where they will be assigned.)

(They thought they were heading south west to Sebring,

but there has been talk about Naples and even

Jacksonville...  Doesn't matter, it's all the same.)

I'm teaching this weekend.

My classroom in West Palm Beach survived

the storm and got power back on Tuesday.

I emailed all 51 registered students and even

got a couple of RSVPs.  (never happens!)

As long as I have 5 humans in the room,

class will go forward.

I also discovered there is a Costco just a couple

of blocks from my school!  (Off the main road,

so I hadn't seen it... I only travel between my

school and my hotel - my 3 restaurants are located

in that small square as well... I'm not very adventurous

after a long day in the classroom.  Even with GPS.)

Although THIS weekend might not be a great time,

I do plan to drive over one evening and check it out!

Costco has WAY better stuff than Sam's.

(Including the soap Kyle fell in love with using in 

Sondra's Heber upstairs bathroom and has been

trying to duplicate ever since...)

They also carry Rodelle baking cocoa - but only

in the fall for the Christmas baking season.

I buy it on Amazon, it's the BEST (even better

than GASP Ghiradelli!  Never thought I'd say that!)

It's a better price at Costco too!

Anyhow.

We are doing well.

Life is getting back to normal.

(Although the girls cut back on laying 

a little...or they are hiding their nests

out in the pastures somewhere...)

(Discovered SEVERAL holes in the wire,

and watched them hop in and out like it was

something we put there for their convenience.)

The wire needs to be replaced.

But we are planning to move the whole

thing to the back.

I hate to spend the money to fix it when it's 

going to just be temporary.

But I'm losing money if they are laying

somewhere that I can't find.

Conundrum.

And I'll leave you with that.

HA!