January Is Almost Gone

So far January has not consistently been very cold. On the radio, I heard that our cold weather would begin in February.


I don't like being cold. But, on the other hand, I don't like being hot either. I used to say that I preferred cold over the heat because you could only take so much off but you can bundle up good to keep warm. However, I don't seem to have as many issues getting very, very hot as I do getting very, very cold. My feet and lower legs get so cold when I sit in church--even the summer time--that I carry a bag with me that has TWO fleece covers which I wrap around my legs. In the winter time I add leg warmers to the bounty. I still don't get what you'd call warm. I'm just am not miserably cold. I have the same problem when I go to bed at night. It doesn't matter how warm it is, I still have to wear socks to bed. And I can't believe that I still tell myself after countless times of having to get up and put on socks, that "it's just too warm tonight for me to have to wear socks". You'd think I'd learn. (I don't tell myself that as much as I used to.)


This week I took advantage of Friday off and got the oil in my car changed. As I was leaving Walmart, I noticed they'd left a piece of paper on my dash. It said my battery is low. So I guess later I need to go back and get that checked out and see what needs to be done about that. A low battery with cold weather finally coming on.... they don't work well together.


I had been wanting for awhile to go to Lowe Mill and see what all they have there. Since Jeni didn't have other commitments or plans on Friday--like she generally does-- I asked if she'd be willing to pick me up at Walmart, when I took my car for the oil change, and take me for a tour of Lowe Mill. She goes there for various things from time to time.


I hadn't even eaten breakfast when we left, so we first went to Zaxby's and ate then on to Lowe Mill where I insisted on walking around all three floors to see what all they offered there. It's quite a place. They have it set up so that when you walk through, there are huge windows where you can look into the shops and see what the shopkeepers are creating. There was such a variety. Jeni has a friend who creates vintage clothing (I think I'm right; I might be getting it mixed up with the vintage thrift shop that's there.) There was screen printing, stain glass creations, jewelry making, sculpting, pottery, all kinds of artists-- some of them at work-- doing watercolor, oil, etc of various types, musical instruments made from things like cigar boxes, and a whole lot of photography studios with the examples of the type photography done on display. 

Jef had asked me last Saturday if I'd watch the kids while he and Jeni went hiking on Saturday and I told him I would.   You might think, since I'm here with them all the time that I do a lot of "babysitting", but I don't.   They don't presume I'll be able to keep the kids for them and if they do want me to, they check ahead and see if I can.   Most of the time, when a kid sitter is needed, they take them to someone else.   It's not so much that I'm unwilling as it is that my work schedule doesn't make it possible.  Even if I might be here for an hour or so at a needed time, the fact that I'd either have to leave or do not come until later than I'd be needed, keeps me from being "handy".  But on Saturday, I was available and Jeni and Jef went hiking to see the waterfall that is somewhere down off the bluff in front of our house --to the east.   They left before I got up and were gone until early afternoon.     When they got back, after lunch, they took all the kids (but Autumn who was taking a nap) with them to "the land" and cut down some trees and did work over there.  


I am so happy to be out from under the stress at work.  Now I'm a woman without a country.   They use we wherever they need me.   But I'm not really in a position any more where "the buck stops here".   I don't know what I'm going to be doing or where I'll be needed until I get to work.   On freight days, I do start off putting out scrapbooking stuff and, as I walk through the department, I realize just how happy I am that it's no longer mine to be responsible for.   I never have minded a lot of work.  As a matter of fact, I always considered the fact that I had a lot to do part of the reason I appreciated my job.  I LIKE staying busy.   So, it was not that there was so much to do that was stressful about the job.   It was the unreasonable demands.    


I was reading an article on what makes people happy somewhere online this week and there was one part of that article that summed it up very well. 

People feel the happiest on their jobs when they are challenged, but not feeling like they’ll be fired if they don’t meet the challenge. As much as you can control your workload, make sure your goals are difficult but not out of reach. Managers also need to focus more on rewarding employees than threatening them.

I thought:  That's exactly why my job quit being one that I enjoyed going to.  Before it was challenging.   When it became "threatening", it was no longer enjoyable.  I dreaded going to work every day.  When I got there, I never knew what to expect.   It brings back memories of when I was a school teacher and we had a child who was bi-polar (for lack of a better way to describe her).   If she was on one of her volatile days, we had to adjust everything we planned for the day to accommodate her.  When she was having "a good day", we could accomplish what we were there to do.    That's how it was getting to be at work.  I'd walk in and the first things I'd try to find out was "what kind of mood" I was going to be dealing with today.   Problem is--unlike the school girl-- it could change with a phone call.   We might be having "a good day", but suddenly it would turn bad because we went into crisis mode over the POSSIBILITY of an imminent "visit".     

Now I just go to work and work then come home and don't think about it... well, not like I used to when I would actually think about how I was going to organize my day to get done the things that I was responsible for getting done.... and how to make that work when I was continually being pulled away from those tasks to do other things.

Yesterday at home was a relaxing day for me.  The kids all got along well together.  (I made sure Brad and the rest stayed separated.)   And I actually played computer games awhile. 

Today we begin a revival at church which will go through next Sunday, so all my evenings will be filled, plus I have been scheduled for four days work next week, instead of two, like I was this week.   So it will be a full week for me.

Time to stop this and get ready for church.