If it all just happened overnight, you would never learn to believe in what you cannot see!

As I wait for my lunch to cool, I think about the fact that I've been hoping for situations to change dramatically. I thought when my husband got his new job, whew we'll be OK. But I guess my husband has many things to learn and the trial we are in is going to go on for longer than I anticipated. So I think that is why I've put the title to day as "If it happened over night you would never learn to believe in what you cannot see!" This comes from an AMY GRANT music CD "Somewhere down the road." I really like her CD. Things are getting better. My husband is not as tired as he was at the beginning, he is also seeing life differently. We are in the process of looking at the stuff we have accumulated and thinking it's time to get rid of things we have not been using. Also a good way to make a few extra dollars. Perhaps I'll start posting photo's of the things in my attic and see if

anyone is interested in buying this stuff. I've thought it would be fun to auction off my attic on e-bay. Just keep the holiday decorations and see if anyone would buy any of the other stuff up there.

My Children both got on the honor roll this marking period. My daughter would be high honors if they had it at her school. My Son just the honor roll. He needs to be more organized and diligent. They are also realizing how much I have done in the past years, as they see a little less of me, and are recognizing that the person who has done all the work in the house now doesn't always have the time to do it on their

own. It's nice that they are all starting to help out. Even my husband has come to see just how much he took my being home all the time for granted. He often now thanks me for all I've been doing. His friends also have been slapped with the reality that he can't just take off on a Friday night, as I work. I always was a little mad at how his friends would call last minute and ask him to come over and not think that perhaps I would like some time with my husband or time to myself. So now they also can not take me for granted either(plus it annoyed me that they always would say "Why aren't you working?"). I know that sounds a little harsh. But the reality is that many housewives lead very lonely lives. You may think well they have the kids, but that is not the same as having friends and adult conversation. You can lose your identity if all you do is focus continually on your children. I love my children, and love to do things with them but have found that I need other outlets too. I need my own life, friends and hobbies. So if you know a house wife make it a point to do something special for her, and to try to support her and visit with her. You will never know how grateful she might be for those moments of adult time. It is a hard balance in life to be a housewife and be able to do things with other adults. I know if I had not called friends and set up times to visit I would have gone weeks without seeing other adults. I would also have driven my husband crazy, because I would be constantly wanting to have his attention because he was the only adult I would see on a regular basis. So it's very important to get out and have your own life when you are a house wife. You don't have to work, but you do have to have your own things to do. OK enough. Project Joy: Things that brought me joy this weekend: Having Saturday off and spending time with my family, Having some time to play with my cat. She likes to chase after string. Being a substitute teacher for the teens at my church. I only taught one person, but they were thankful that I was there. It was nice to be able to serve and learn more about this teen. Working on my scarf projects.

I also have to say I'm very thankful for neighbors and family who have been keeping an eye on my children when I have a weird work schedule. It was nice to know I had three different people helping my daughter get on the bus last week. It makes you very thankful for the people in your life.

Becoming a Night Owl.

One of my dreams in photography is to get the perfect beach photo. I'd like to get the perfect photo so that I could enlarge the photo and then put it on my wall. A definite place of peace and serenity in my life is the Jersey shore. I usually put money aside each month so that in the summer we have the ability to go down each weekend. It has not been a reality these past few months, so I'm in hopes of change in the financial situation of our lives so that we can do these short but sweet trips.
Any ways off to my title, Becoming A Night Owl. I went to work at 5pm last night and got home at 1am. I find myself very hungry at 1am, had the

left over Chinese food. I have lost 2 pounds the past couple of weeks. I think it is the odd schedule and weird eating patterns I've gotten into. Plus my job is kind of physical. All that bagging of stuff and running about the store putting unwanted items back. I truly enjoy my job. I like the night hours. In fact I was still very energetic last night when the rest of the people were ready to drop. But I think some of it is that I don't work two to three other jobs. There were some people there last night who were working 13 hours combined with their two jobs. It is sad to see so many people that can not find a full time job who must then work a jumble of part time

jobs just to make a 40 hour week. I know that the government wants all to believe that the recession is over, but from talking to the people where I work, I can tell you it is far from over. OK I'm starting to complain, patients, no complaining. Did you ever think that when you go to bed there are people still out there working. It is amazing to see this night time work life. even as I am leaving there are others who are just beginning to work. They work while we sleep and sleep while we work. Unless this is their second job. Then perhaps they sleep a little when we work and then work some more.

I am thinking after the holidays if my hours get drastically cut that perhaps I will apply for a night job at some of the local 24 hour vet clinics. I now know I can handle the night time work. We will see. I so enjoy the people I work with. I have so many new friends. It gives me such great energy. I also had a customer write up a who to thank last night as I had helped them out. I will now have my name on the back wall. I'm so pleased. I also want to become the "Hello Hero" being caught always saying hello to the customers.

Moments of Joy: Listening to my son play Christmas carols on his violin. He is such a good player. Playing the flute with my daughter. Saying a late night (perhaps early morning) prayer with my husband. Cuddle time with my cat. Making scarves. I will be showing photo's soon.
Share your Moment of Joy Please!

Project Joy!

I started reading a book last year called "The Happiness Project Or, Why I spent a year trying to sing in the morning, clean my closets, fight right, read Aristotle, and generally have more fun." By Gretchen Rubin. I have to admit that I have not finished reading this book. I liked the concept of putting more happiness in your life, but I got overwhelmed by the idea of charting your happiness, coming up with area's in your life that you would work on each month to make sure that you became happier. It just seemed to me a lot of extra work to make you happier. Now granted I like to have lots of projects going on, but I never chart them. And while I hope to

eventually read the whole book, at this time in my life reading has become one of the little moments in life that brings me peace, and so I choose books that are relaxing and contain no effort to read. But from this book idea I have come up with my own project. The best part of my project is that I will not track it, I will not come up with monthly goals, and I will just day by day try to live it the best I can. I call it "Project Joy." The idea came to me as I read a book by Sylvia Browne. She is a psychic that writes about what she believes is our purpose here on earth and what the after life might be

like. Now I think some of what she writes is close to what I believe and other things I have to say I'm not quite sure are right. I guess when we die we will all know what is true. So for my project I am going to try to focus on doing a few things each day that bring me joy. I've actually already started and found it has brought me great peace. Some things that bring me joy are napping with my cat, listening to my children practice their musical instruments, spending time talking to my husband, and working on photography projects. I hope to begin to find out all the things that bring me joy and to integrate them into my daily life.

My hope is that by doing this I can ease the stress in my life, and to see and enjoy each day more despite the trials I am going through.

Each time I blog I will have a small spot on how my project is going and what new joy I have found. Today my joy was sleeping in, and folding warm clothes. I love to put clothes right from the dryer next to my face. It is such a comfort. I think it is from my memory of having my son. I almost died, but then as I was in the recovery room after my surgery they would put these warm towels on me, and it was such a lovely feeling. It just brings a sense of peace. Also I'm hoping those who read would help me discover more small moments of joy by telling me what brings you joy. Hope you will participate.

On the job front, my husbands immediate manager is going to try to have him be made a salary employee. So lets pray that this happens. We still wait in hopes of some of his applications to other business might bring an interview. My husband is a very smart, very hard worker. Any company would be blessed to have him as an employee. I think if he were getting a salary at his current job he would be doing much better. He is a very good employee. He tries his hardest to do all his work correctly. Keep praying for us, I know that in the end we will be doing much better. Oh we had Chinese food for dinner the other night, as I was so tired from working a midnight shift then getting up and working from 7am to 3pm. My fortune cookie said " The principle of Faith is Patience." AHHHHH! How much more patient do I need to be?? Here is the definition from the dictionary " Patient : bearing pain or trials without complaint, showing self control : Calm. OK I've got a ways to go, I've been complaining haven't I. I haven't learned yet. Perhaps this whole week I will try not to complain. Lets see if I can do that.

I'M NOT A DUTCH GIRL ANYMORE!

I read this great article called "Why I secretly wish I were Dutch." In the article the woman talks about how most Dutch women work part-time and spend their afternoons visiting with friends. Last year that was so me. I would have my mornings to myself. Usually visiting one of my friends for breakfast once a week, then work three hours at the library and then take my daughter home. I was able to spend time with my children, and friends and make good money as a part-time Library assistant. Now though even though I work part-time still, I don't have that same easy everyday schedule. ( And part time is no longer 15 hours a week at $14.77.) It is more like 30 hours a week at much less but I chose this path. One day I'm

working a morning shift, the next day I'm working until 12:30 am. I now am in the process of trying to figure out the balance of work and home life. It at times is very stressful. Especially when I'm supposed to be at work by 5 pm and I still need to make dinner for my family. I am now looking for easy recipes, and any free moment to take a nap. The article leads one to believe that perhaps there is no way to have a perfect balance in life, (and I'm beginning to believe that.) But that what we need to do is make very intentional choices. I choose to work where I'm working for the pure fact that I could work at night. I wanted to have time with my children during the day, and I did not want my children home alone. I work at night so there is always someone home with the kids. I have two years to work mostly nights. Then I can look for another job preferably in the day. My job does give me energy though. I'm enjoying meeting all the different people I work with. So if you are a Dutch Girl, and have one of those part time jobs that allows you time to visit with friends, and enjoy your children, enjoy every moment of it, and realize there are some hard working girls who wish they could join you.

My husband still works hard at his job, despite the fact that he is not getting paid much. He is a hard worker, and deserves so much better than what he has been dealt with this job. It is awful when you get a two week pay check and it is $629.00. And on the pay check just to rub salt into the wound they have a section called Un applied labor 58 hours. And to boot they say hey we didn't pay you $800.00. Thanks for giving us some free labor. So if any of you out there think you want to be a FLAT RATE MECHANIC think again. My husband tried to explain to unemployment what was going on and they said too bad. Not only can he not claim partial benefits, he can't quit because the state would side with his employers. How can that be? They lied and said they had enough work for him to make 40 hours a week. We have not seen that yet, they lied and said they would give him a $5000.00 bonus after three months, we have not seen that yet. And each week he gets less and less hours. How can they allow that? And yet they pay people to go to school full time and collect their unemployment benefits. Something is just wrong.

As I complain I will state this, God continues to bless me and my husband. Despite the low income each month we always have enough to pay our bills with out touching our savings. I don't know what my husband and I are supposed to learn through this trial, but I do still see the blessing each day. I don't know that I'm thankful for this trial, but I am surviving it. Some days better than others. I continue to look for the window that is going to open so that we can escape from this and move on. I know that with living through a hard moment when the easy moment comes I will enjoy it so much more.

Picking The Golden Lego Brick!

My Son is an avid Lego builder. In fact his room is a mini Lego world. He loves to play and create up there and then he makes some awesome Lego stop motion movies. So every year for the last three years we have bought the Lego Advent Calendar to count down to Christmas. (if you have a child who loves Lego's this is a must get item!) Last year I went out shopping after Thanksgiving and almost didn't get one. So today while I was out shopping I stopped at "The Learning Express" store to see if they had the Advent Calendar. Well guess what they did, and they also had these cool little Lego mini figure packets (only $2.99). I was actually impressed by this store, they had a lot of good stuff, a little bit of everything. They also had the coveted

Japanese erasers that my daughter likes to collect. In fact they had a lot of little things and so I'll be going back there, as Christmas is going to be small for the family this year, but I'd like to have some fun little gifts for the kids to open.

Any way the big deal is that this weekend they are doing a "PICK A LEGO BRICK" sale. You pick a Lego brick out of a box and the color determines what percent you get off your order. Granted you have to be done shopping before you pick, but still any thing off in these days is nice. Well I picked "THE GOLDEN LEGO BRICK!." I GOT 50% off my whole order. Of course wouldn't it have been nice if I could have added a few more items? But I was just so very happy. Thank you Learning Express and thank you Heavenly Father.

Well if you know my children please don't tell them about the advent calendar as I want it to be a surprise on December 1st. What do you think of my son's Lego village. I'm hoping to get him another Lego house or train this Christmas. I'm actually almost done all my shopping for the season. Just have a few things to get my daughter and a Lego item or two for my son. It may be a small Christmas, but the kids will be getting what they want. I never want a present for Christmas, my wish is always that my family remains healthy. I feel very in the holiday spirit today!

My son also makes Lego's on the computer through Lego digital design, he wants to buy a few of the trains he has made. I think someday he may be an engineer. He would like to be an engineer, an architect or a paleontologist. Maybe in high school he'll get a job at the Lego store. I know he will do something great some day, he is so creative.

One of my son's other passions is dinosaurs. We used to have another Lego dinosaur but it fell apart and we couldn't figure out how to put it back together with out the instructions. I keep all instructions now.

Wishing it was summer again.

It's cold in the house and soon I go to work. I know it is going to be very busy today. And so I wish I was back in the summer. I'm wishing it was warm and my only concern was cooling down at the pool side or being at the beach. Winter is not my favorite season and so if I had my way it would be skipped.
My husband is not having a good week. He is always worrying is he going to get laid off? Is he ever going to make good hours? He also is trying to apply for a job and can't get past the log on screen because it won't accept the password that the company gave him. He can't get in contact with anyone. It is stressing him out. He is such a

good person he tries so hard to do a good job. All he wants is to be able to provide for his family. We don't need a huge salary, we don't need a lot, but we need enough to pay the bills. Is that too much to ask for? I worry about how much more he will be able to take. How much more either of us will be able to take. I pray that some type of good change comes soon.
Well it's off to work. Busy, Busy day.

What Color is your Cat?

Did you know that there are hundreds of color combinations for cats? Last night I taught the 4-H Cat club about describing your cat's coat color and pattern. As I was preparing to teach this I realized that you could literally go on forever with discussing cat color. So I stayed with the basics. First to really appreciate cat coat color you need a small lesson in genetics. It all goes cellular when one talks about what a cat looks like. Yes little genes cause all those color combinations. But the Basics are that there are two main colors Black and red. (The CFA does not use the terms orange or marmalade for cats. so if you have a red cat you want to show you need to call it red not orange.) Now see this first cat photo. This beautiful Maine coon kitten is not black. Did you think that? Well she is really a Torbie. Why? Because she has red and white in her coat. It's hard to see but it is.

Red and Black colors are dominant genes. Their recessive genes are Cream and Blue (there are no grey cats in the cat fancy people. It's blue. Don't ask me why, it just is.)

White is not a color. That's right. White is a masking gene that masks the true color of your cat. If you cat has even a small spot of color then you will know what it's true color is. Also Tabby is not a color and not a breed. Tabby is a coat pattern. This little cat that used to visit our house (we called her cookie dough) Is a calico cat. Since she has black, red and white. 99% of all calico's are female.

Here is a blue with white tabby cat. This was the cat we originally wanted to adopt when we adopted a cat, but she was spoken for. And I have to say I'm glad because our amber is the best cat.

And here she is the Queen. She is a brown patched tabby with white. My daughter did a great job showing her to the 4-H club last night. It was her first time showing her by herself. She was so happy that Amber did not try to bite her. Every now and then she likes to give a little nip if she is unhappy. But she behaved herself. She got herself a lot of kitty treats. Isn't she just beautiful? I have been having fun learning a lot about cats. If you are interested in learning about cats you can check out the CFA web site it contains some great information.

If you would like to help out shelter cat's go to Freekibblekat. You get a trivia question each day and that helps feed cat's in shelters.

I have two more days of work till a long needed weekend. My husband only made 4 hours at the new site yesterday. He has a lot to learn but the new manager seems to really like him. He says he will help my husband get the hours he needs we will see. My husband has been trying to apply to a job on line but is having difficulties getting into the site, hopefully that will be figured out soon. We continue to move forward, hoping that there will be something good at the end of our struggles. We continue to be thankful for what we have. Here is a great little clip I found about being thankful. What are you thankful for.

I'm thankful for all that has been happening in my life as I know it has been making me a stronger person, it has shown me how much I love and adore my husband, how blessed we have been, and that we can survive despite it all. So friends what are you thankful for?

Hope you enjoyed the little lesson on cat color.

What it's like to be lost in Men's Basics !

Are Blue berries part of the Fruit of the Loom gang? Well here it is my friends my story of the weekend. I work in a wonderful retail store. I'm a cashier. I love visiting with people and just being around the different employees. I typically work evening shifts from some time around 5pm to 12:30 am. Most of the evening I'm on the register. It's been very busy, but when it slows down at the end of the night I have to go out on the floor and fold clothing. This weekend I ended up in the men's basics department. Do you know what Men's basics are? Men's underwear and socks. Yes I had to put all the underwear in order.


Did you know that each package has a photo of a man in underwear, the front has the front photo and the back has his back side. I've told my husband I need him to become a model so that I can be looking at him instead of all these men. AHH! I feel bad for the guy on the small underwear packages because he just looks like he's a little embarrassed to be there... Perhaps I'm over thinking it though. Any ways last night the section was just a huge mess. It looked like a bomb went off. Packages were opened and pieces of underwear were scattered all over. I had to make two trips to repackaging. I thought it was going to be an easy task and that I'd be moving along to shirts and ties, but I think I spent a good hour just organizing men's underwear. I thought the night would never end. But I got some good laughs out of the co-workers as I asked the question " why do men open the packages?" "Don't they know what size to buy?" And "Don't they know all tighty whiteys feel the same?" Perhaps I'm wrong and different brands feel different. I just couldn't figure out why any of the packages needed to be opened. Perhaps I'll never know. If any body would like to explain this I'd love to hear the answer.
Anyways my husband went off to work this morning in good spirits. I am praying that at the new location he will at least make 30 hours a week. I think we are both just amazed that you can be some place for 50 hours and get paid only for 25. His father was not to happy that he tried to quit. I don't think they realize just how little he is being paid. He did apply for a new job, we will see what happens. I have hope that as we continue to row along things will work out for the best for us.

I survived my first night shift!

Here are some more photo's of the Queen of our house. I like the one where she positioned herself in between the pillows on my daughters bed. This was not a set up photo, we just happened to find her like this one afternoon. She tends to like to find the most unusual places to sleep. Talking of sleep, I need some more. I survived my first late night shift. I worked from 7-12:30 am, and I really did not leave until 12:30 am. The past few weeks I've had this schedule but the store was slow and we were able to get out fast, but not last night. It was busy, busy. I don't think it slowed down until about 10:00pm. When it finally slowed down I had to go out on the sale floor and

help fold clothing. I really don't mind doing the work. Some employees get a little angry at the mess, but my thought is that if there were no customers, there would be no mess and with no mess there would be no job. I guess working in the library also helped. As soon as I got the books all neat and tidy, the kids would come in and push them back. I went in and volunteered on Thursday. It was nice to just go and straighten the books and check out the students. They were all happy to see me. They asked why I was not working everyday, and I said, well you know I found a new job. Any ways at 12:30 am I was

wide awake. I got home, and ate some chips because I was starving. I wish there was a McDonald's near where I work, I would do a midnight run for some french fries.

My husband had a busy day yesterday. He did have to work a half day today. But guess what, I might have found him a new job. It would be with a company where he would test engines. He would work with an engineer too. It is an entry level position but I think he would love to do this as his favorite part of auto mechanics is working on the engines. He called the contact name last night and they left a message this morning. I will

be praying for this. So If you can say some prayers too. Well I hope you like the photo's of my kitty. On Monday I teach the 4-H children about cat coat colors and patterns. I love teaching, I love learning about cats too. I have figured out that my cat's color is this : She is a brown patched tabby with white. It is so cool to study the colors of cats. So much of it has to do with genetics. I just have so much fun. Someday I either want to work for a Veterinary office as a receptionist or be a science teacher. But if this never happens at least I have the 4-H kids to teach. And I know they always enjoy it. Well have a great weekend. Thanks for reading.

Places my cat likes to sleep.

My cat can be found sleeping in some of the most unusual places. Like on the top of a pile of papers. I don't know why or how she does it but she can make the most uncomfortable place look comfortable. I was looking at her yesterday curled up and sleeping and wishing that I could get to sleep and be as peaceful. But it seems that is not going to be my lot in life for a while. So yesterday my husband went to work and tried to get them to let him go. He said to his employer I'm just not a fast enough mechanic, I don't think I'm doing good for you. I think you should let me go. The employer said. No, we think you are doing fine we are pleased with the work you are

doing. And then they proceeded to put my husband at a different spot in the dealership. So he is no longer working for the same foreman, and he no longer has to deal with the evil service writer. He is working in a section with one manager and one other mechanic. The manager said he will try to make sure my husband gets enough work to make close to 40 hours a week. Also my Husband is an ASE certified master mechanic and there are some cars at his new spot that have to have an ASE Certified technician work on them. I think he is the only fully certified technician at the shop. I think my husband only stayed because

they would not give him the letter of termination that would definitely allow him to collect unemployment. He will now be working Monday to Friday and have Saturday and Sunday off. But it is still Flat rate which still scares us. But it is interesting that they were surprised that he wanted to leave. Any way I saw a glimpse of my husband through my son last night. My son was working on his home work and having a very hard time. He started to cry and say it's just too hard. I can't do this, when I think I should do it one way and begin to go forward, I then feel I should do this another way. It's just so confusing.

I think that is what my husband is feeling. One moment he thinks I can do this, it is hard but I can do this. And then at other moments he is that little boy crying, It's just too hard, I can't do this. I can only hope that things either get better, easier, and that he figures it out soon. It is so hard to watch and not really be able to do anything to help. I continue to just make life as stress free as possible around the house, when no one is home I take naps. Which leads me to my favorite place that my cat sleeps. It is when she cuddles up next to me on the couch in the morning when no one is at home. She is my little angel. She gives me such comfort. I'm amazed at how such a

small quite animal can speak so loudly and be so sweet and loving. I'm so glad we adopted her. She brings a special peace to our house.

Flat Rate Mechanic Job = Slave Labor

Here is for all those worker bee's out there! My husband had worked for the same company for 14 years. He was treated with dignity, and was paid for every hour he was there. Unfortunately that job was lost due to the poor economy and loss of customers. Before he had that job he was a Master Auto Mechanic. He has kept his ASE certifications up to date and he has also worked on many friends and families cars. When he lost his job he began to hunt for new jobs. He had 3 job offers. One would have been for a shop where he would be paid for every hour he worked but he would have to work every Sunday. One was for a company where he would not have to work


Sundays but he would only be paid flat rate. I don't think the average person out there understands Flat rate.( I don't think my husband or I totally understood it either we do now to our misfortune.) A Flat Rate Mechanic only gets paid for the work that they get during the day. The company will give them a car to fix, and say this job should take you two hours to fix. If you take longer than two hours tough, you only get paid for two hours. Now if you are the top mechanic in the shop, Flat rate can be a benefit, you are able to do the job fast, and fix the car before the two hours and then move on. But if you are a lower level mechanic this could be your DOOM! That is the situation my husband has found himself in.



He is expected to be at the shop that he works at from 8:00am to 5:00pm. He then either gets little bits of work, or no work at all. He told them when he interviewed that he did not have all the knowledge about the new computer systems and that he needed to learn, and they said "Don't worry, we will put you by the shop Foreman and he will help you. That lasted about 4 weeks. In those four weeks they paid him salary. Then they said you are on your own now. And he went from getting $1125.00 every two weeks to making the first pay check for two weeks of $350.00, to now about $789.00 for two weeks to sometimes $820.00 for two weeks. Sometimes $620.00 per two weeks you get the picture. You can not feed a family of 4 on $1400.00 a month. You can not pay your mortgage, monthly bills, health insurance and buy groceries on this. You can not afford to even have the employee health plan on this because then you will make less than $1000.00 a month.( so basically my husband is at this dealership for 50+ hours and gets paid for about 25 hours if he is lucky slave labor right!) The service writer assigned to my husband only gives him the work no one else will do, and the work that pays the least. All the mechanics in the shop tell my husband that they had at least a year of training beside a seasoned mechanic before they were put on their own. They say to him " They just threw you in here." If the economy was wonderful and people were bringing their cars in to be fixed then maybe my husband would have a chance, but with the poor economy even the top mechanics are not making over 40 hours. There are days when they all stand around doing nothing. And guess what the company does not pay them for those nothing hours, they get paid nothing (but they are expected to be there!). One day this week my husband was at work for 8 hours and he got paid for 2 hours. He stayed for 11 hours one day to get paid for 7.(when my husband asked if they had enough work for him to make forty hours they assured him all the mechanics were making 40 hours or more) So I had a little sit down chat with my husband last night. I told him you need to figure out how much more of this you can take. You have lost 17 pounds, you are mentally and physically stressed. When you are home you have no energy, you just sleep. You need to decided if it is time to leave. You keep saying you are there to get the online training, but when you are home you do not have the energy to do the training. Also I don't see that you have the desire to do the training anymore. I think with the failed promises, the lack of work, and extreme decrease in pay from them he could quit and still be able to reopen his unemployment claim, and then find a job where he can get paid fair wages for the hours worked. Any way as my husband talks to other mechanics in this shop he finds that many are losing their possessions because they are not making enough to survive. Something should be done.
If my husband and I did not live on an extremely strict budget, if we had not had savings, no debt, and food stored in our house we would be absolutely destitute by now. This is what some people are going through. I've met so many people who just can't make ends meet with one job. So many people I work with have two jobs. This is a depression, not a recession. My husband right now would be better off working for minimum wage for 50 hours a week than for what he is getting paid. It is Sick! Guess I just needed to get it out there. Anyone who feels the same way or is going through a tough time comment let me know.

Butterfly Photo's

I'm beginning to organize my photo's to start making the photo cards that I'm giving to family members as Christmas Gifts. I was amazed by how many butterfly photo's I got this summer. I am really missing the warm weather, and all the moments I got to spend out in the garden. So it has been nice to just look at the photo's and relive the moment. To get a good butterfly photo you have to have patience. There is a lot of waiting for the perfect moment. I'm thinking that some relatives will get a butterfly photo card packet as I have gotten some really good photo's this year. I can't really even say that I have a favorite they are all so pretty. (let me know which is your favorite!) My husband and I were

discussing my photography yesterday and both of us agreed I had a really good year. I hope you enjoy looking at these photo's as much as I enjoy it. With fall here there is not much to do in the garden. Most of my plants are on the dying side of the cycle. When I get out to the garden I prepare the soil for next year and cut back the plants that need cutting back and leave the plants that need to be left alone. I find myself thinking of the cycles of life and how it relates to gardening. There are some plants that last years, and others that only last a few months. And yet

as much as I don't like winter, and the death of my plants, or probably more accurate would be the dormant stage of my plants. I know that the winter and the snow are actually good for the plants. The winter gives the plants time to rest before spring when the plants will grow again. If the winter is not cold enough and a plants start to grow again too early then it could be the end of the plants. But I'm just not ready for it this year.

Today I was also thinking that there are some people that should not be allowed to drive. It's a sad fact but some people (like the little old lady who pulled out in front of me illegally this morning) should not be allowed to drive anymore. So I'm driving down the road, and this little old lady pulls out in front of me from a side road. Good thing I was driving slow or I would have hit her. Then she stops right in the middle of the street, and then she proceeds to drive 5 miles an hour in a 25 mile an hour zone. So If I had been a road rage type person I'd have been honking my horn by this time. But I felt if I honked my horn I could only cause this person more stress and cause some type of accident and I was about 2 minutes from my house if I was going the proper speed. Unfortunately some not so nice road rage type person got behind me and starts honking. I feel like stopping my car and getting out and saying what do you want me to do? This person in front of me isn't moving, can you be that rude?? Yes people can be that rude. So to get to my house you have to cross the railroad tracks, the woman creeps up at 1 mile an hour, stops, while the Macho man behind me is honking away, then she creeps over the railroad tracks. HONK!,HONK! AHHH!! Thank goodness I could turn down a different road and let the annoying road rager get stuck behind the little old lady who SHOULD NOT BE DRIVING ANYMORE.(This could be a book idea THERE WAS AN OLD LADY WHO SHOULDN'T DRIVE ANY MORE, I DON'T KNOW WHY SHE WAS OUT DRIVING, SHE JUST MIGHT DIE.") Another reason I knew this woman shouldn't be driving was the amounts of dents in her car. She must get in accidents all the time! So that's my story. I think I'm here on earth to learn patience. I don't know how I can learn it when I can't even spell it correctly half the time. But I certainly have mine tested enough.

One more thing, my husband is slowly making more hours at his job. He is a flat rate mechanic for a Toyota dealership. He only gets paid for what work comes in, so I'm constantly praying work comes in. Hope lots of peoples Toyota's break down we need the money! (Sorry) Anyway when he applied he printed out their add which said there was a $5000.00 sign on bonus. They told him after being there three months he would get the bonus, split between pay checks. Well three months ends next week, and guess what they are trying now not to give it to him. How can Toyota be making money and not keeping their promises to their employees? SHAME ON THEM! Of course my husband works about 60 hours a week (That's how long he is at the shop) And he get paid for 25 hours a week. So I think you can figure out how they are making money. It will be interesting to see what happens next. I really think if I found a good lawyer we would have a good case. Know any good lawyers? Maybe I need to be on The ELLEN show, or some talk show and let them know about what really happens in the car shop. And share about all the people who have to work 2 to 3 job's just to make ends meet. What is this world coming to? Although I have to say even with the lack of funds, my husband and I are doing well. God continues to bless us with food, clothing and a roof over our heads. My job continues to be great. I picked a GREAT company to work for. The employees are really nice and most customers are nice too. I get paid for every hour I'm there, it may not be a lot but I agreed to that. I'm happy to be there. Not looking forward to black Friday, but you know it will be a learning experience. Have a great day!

What brings you Joy?

I picked up some interesting books at the library last week. This Psychic woman Sylvia Browne has written books about life after death. The two books I picked up were "Life on the Other Side, and Blessings from the Other side"
I find her idea's interesting. I don't quite believe much of the talk of living more than one life, and some of what she says life after death is like, but I did like her ideas on forgiveness, finding joy in life and the fact that there is life after death. That Death is the door to eternal life. One thing she talked about that really hit me was what brings joy to your life. I began to think about the things that bring joy to my life. After thinking



about what brings me joy, each day I've been trying to take moments where I take time to have joy in my life and just soak it in. Most of the things that bring me joy are simple. Sitting in my Papazan chair with my cat brings me joy, doing things with my children and husband bring me joy. Reading a good book brings me joy. Doing something to help someone else brings me joy. Gardening brings me joy. Photography brings me joy. Each day I have been focusing on how I can bring more joy to my life. It has been really nice to do this. My new job has brought me joy, as I get to learn to do new things, and meet lots of

new people. I also love to sit on the beach with my toes in the warm sand. My husband and I try hard to spend time with each other on his day off. We have created these bubbles of intimacy where we just focus on enjoying each others company. Despite the hardships of the changes in our lives, I have noticed I still have a lot of joy each day in my life. What a great blessing that is. So if life has been challenging for you take some time to list the simple things that bring you joy. Then make an effort to have moments of joy each day. Soon I think you will find that you are much happier.

Anyone who reads this if you could help me figure out what this flower is I'd appreciate it very much. One thing I love to do is take photo's of flowers and make them into cards to send to friends and family members. I like to put the name of the flower on the back of the card and that I took the photo. I took this photo at the park, it was in a pot, but I have yet to figure out what it's name is. So if anyone can help would love to find out. Sometime this weekend I hope to get to one of the bigger libraries near my house and see if there are any good flower books.

My new job is full of learning. But also full of nice co-workers and nice customers (for the most part). Working late at night is a new experience for me, but I know I will soon adjust to it. Today I slept until 11:00 am. At least I get to do that many people that I work with have two jobs. Ugh! My husband has been doing well this week. Making about 7 hours each day. He is slowly working up to more hours each day. I think his goal is to bill 10 hours a day. Please continue to pray for him. We are both still dealing with the loss of his dear friend. Both seeking answers, and missing the ringing phone. But this week has been much easier than last week. Grief is a very interesting thing to live through. There are so many things that cause it too. I continue to rely on the Lord to give me peace and support. Hope you are all having a wonderful week. Not sure with my schedule how often I will be able to blog. But will try to do at least an entry a week. It is good though that I have a time to get out of my house and be with other people.