You may not know this, but I always have 2 alarms set on my phone in the morning. The first one is a warning for the next one that goes off 10 minutes later. I barely woke up to the first one this morning, and after the second, I snuggled back into bed. Then I couldn't remember if the first one had gone off or not. By the time I realized that indeed it had, I was 10 minutes late getting started this morning. DUMB! Thank GOD I always pick out my clothes in the evening because that helps me to make some time up. I left 8 minutes late, but there was still hope to be on time. MAYBE!
This morning the roads were pretty crappy on the way to work. I got behind a snowplow going 40+ mph, and I thought to myself, SERIOUSLY is this how the day is going to start out??? Couple that with the fact that Minnesotans have not gotten their winter driving skills up to par yet, and you have a second variable in the recipe to be LATE for work. Yes indeedy, it was looking to be a stressful day. BUT I did make it on time and I DID NOT even speed. Thankfully after the first leg of my journey there was limited traffic on the rest. I rolled in at 9:01!
I mentioned that I have to make the rounds before I find my way into my office. Because there is a skeleton crew this time of the year, that journey is relatively short. This morning it was first stop at the front for Rachel and Zach, move down the hall and check in on Claudia in the library, and drop off my coffee so I could head back in for a chat with Olivia after I dropped my junk in my office. I opened my office door, turned on the lights, and I saw a beautifully wrapped package on my desk!I had no clue who put it there or when it was delivered, but I immediately put my stuff down, tenderly touched the package, and opened the card. It was from my Claudia. Claudia is one of the people that I really treasure at work. She is a tender and kind soul who would give you the shirt off her back if you needed it. Everyone LOVES Claudia, me included. Over the years, we have had many talks about faith, life, and even love. We have shared our stories, laughed, and on occasion cried together.
When I wrote in the blog about missing Santa Day, she told me that she cried as she read the words. Then she wrote this to me: "I hope you take the needs of your heart seriously. Our lives in this realm are such a short blip of time. Seize joy whenever you can. There's plenty of the other stuff. You give and give and give. You deserve to get, too. And I've noticed you ask for precious little." Rah there are few that worry about our hearts, and those that help to keep us in balance at work are a true blessing. Jan at the church was kind of like my Claudia at the college. Claudia worries about me and really cares if I am ok. She sends me Blue Mountain Cards that totally make my day. She takes time to visit and just talk. She is one of the few who has actually seen me cry. Her gift today and thoughts throughout the year are priceless! Everyone needs a Claudia or a Jan . . . I hope when you finally find your dream job that you are blessed with one!My day was filled with meetings and writing, writing, and more writing! UGHHHHHHH! I finished the grant writing from yesterday and submitted that, but wait, there is more to write. I almost went over the edge when the writing that was supposed to be due tomorrow was requested for today. I felt myself teetering on the brink of SANITY! I calmed down a bit when Deb reassured me that it was okay for it to be turned in tomorrow morning. She came over to chat with me about the budget for the first grant, and she brought me a beautiful Christmas wreath!!! Again, totally unexpected and greatly appreciated. I love the smell of fresh pine and will totally enjoy it until the last needles gently fall to the ground. It meant more to me than she could possibly know. DANG girl, I am crying! Seriously what is wrong with me.
I texted Brian Kays today as I am hoping to get together with him when he is home on break. It has been a tough year for his family as he lost his mom. As you know, Brian has been in my life since he was a little boy. Dianne, his mom, made you your graduation quilt. I remember how she invited me to come help, which is laughable as I do not sew. The time we spent together doing both yours and Jordan's quilts was priceless. That coupled with the hours and hours and hours we spent making donuts for the church were opportunities to grow a friendship. If those church walls could talk, man the stories they would tell! Dianne was an amazing woman and I really loved her. I have lost so many friends early in life. . . Ruth, Deb, Janeen, Sharon, and Dianne just to name a few. Each has left so many fingerprints on my life and none will be forgotten.
No child should have to lose their mama . . . it just isn't fair. Kim said that mamas are the yeast in the bread and I think that is a profound statement. Without mamas, the yeast, the rest of the ingredients don't work the same way. I think that she is right as I have seen so many try and figure out how things work after their moms have passed. It is brutally painful. I wish that there was more that I could do besides reaching out on occasion and letting those who have lost loved ones know that I am thinking about them. Remember this Rah, God puts people's names on your heart for a reason. In all likelihood they need you at that moment in time and he needs you to do the work of his hands. Always, always listen to that voice!
I hope that your day was a good one, that you finished all of your schoolwork, and that you can just enjoy the rest of your break. I love you most.
Moms
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Dear Mom,
I always set two alarms in the morning too, and usually I snooze it at least two or three times after that. Ha! Getting out of bed can be a very difficult task. How sweet that Claudia left you a little gift on your desk and recognized how much you do for others. She does sound just like your Jan!
I'm happy that you chose to listen to your heart and checked in with Brian to see how he's doing. Christmas would not be an easy time of year to not have your mama. I really feel for him, and for Kim, and everyone else who doesn't have their mom to celebrate the holidays with them, like my friend, Kassi. It would incredibly difficult to find happiness in Christmas after losing anyone, but especially a mom. Thank GOD I have mine.
My day wasn't anything special. I woke up early and went to CrossFit, we had a pretty good WOD today. Then I came back home and made some breakfast, unintentionally fell asleep on the couch for an hour, woke up and got ready to go get my nails done, bought a TEABERRY! I haven't had teaberry in far too long. Uff it was much needed! Then I had to shop around for an ugly sweater. We have a tap takeover and ugly sweater day at JL Beers tomorrow so Dan told us we needed to wear something ugly. My sweater is ugly but still kind of cute. I really wanted one with cats on it but I couldn't find one anywhere. And after that, I came home to clean the house, went to city league volleyball, stopped at Target for some laundry detergent and cat treats, and now here I am. Unfortunately, there were no surprise presents or sweet little notes waiting for me. Although, I shouldn't discredit Jesse as he did bring me home a Carmello bar today without me asking! He knows what time it is so chocolate is pretty important lol. I'm eating it as we speak.
Today I got Sarah Larson's and Matt's save-the-date/christmas card in the mail. It's super cute. Their wedding is in May and I believe it's in Brainerd. Beautiful's and Bryce's save-the-date came a few weeks ago too. Their wedding is in, wait let me check my app, 176 days! In June. I can hardly wait for all of the wedding festivities to begin! Jesse and I are hoping that we can go visit Beautiful and Bryce in Iowa sometime in the near future. I don't think either of us have been to Iowa before, which is a little strange! Hopefully after Christmas we'll be able to come up with a weekend that works for all of us. Beautiful is much too far away from me right now!
The next few days are going to be busy for me with work, that's a good thing though. Fingers crossed that I make a lot in tips! I still haven't done hardly any Christmas shopping so I'm venturing out to do that on Monday. I knew I needed to get ahead on bills this month since I'm taking 4 days off over Christmas, so that's been my main goal up until now. Luckily, I was able to get ahead so everything I make in the next few days is going towards gifts. I'm sure it'll be a total zoo in town on Monday though. It makes me kind of sad that my Christmas shopping is happening so last minute. Like you, I definitely consider myself to be a giver especially at Christmas time, but this year I'm just not able to do as much as I'd like. And for me, one of the best parts of the holiday season is buying gifts ahead of time, then spending another day wrapping them with the Christmas music playing while Jesse is at work, and being able to enjoy having them under the tree for a while. That's always been part of my Christmas routine and it usually gives me several days of feeling the warm Christmastime fuzzies. I'm hoping that next year I can get back to my normal routine.
FYI - I did get my school work done too. Whew! Well, everything except that assignment with the interview questions. I have the actual assignment completed but I'll have to send the interview questions and answers to my professor when I get them back. I have a meeting with my advisor first thing tomorrow morning to talk more about my practicum and thesis possibilities. That's mostly what my little Christmas break is going to consist of, finalizing my plans for each of those. I could let myself be bummed that I'll be spending break that way, but I'm actually really grateful that I'll have some spare time to focus on just that. Practicum and thesis are both pretty intimidating so I want to go into each as prepared as possible. I am officially in the home stretch! I can do it. =)
I hope you get some rest tonight and have a good day tomorrow! Love you lots!!
Rah
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