Home is Where the Heart Is

So, they say home is where your heart is. Well, what about your actual house? My Dad got a job in Virginia & so my parents are moving to Virginia at the end of May. My little sister lives in Colorado & so now that leaves me here in Mississippi. Our family is literally about to be stretched out across the continent. Along with the new reality of all of us being in these different places (which is a concept I'm still grasping) is the reality that the parents are selling the house. I knew that was coming, but things are starting to make it very real. My little sister & my parents went through Lindsey's room yesterday & started packing stuff up & I guess I wasn't expecting it to look like it did when I got home - you know, it looked like we might actually be moving. So, I started thinking about all the wonderful times we've had in our house & I felt the need to blog again.

Home is where your heart is....what does that even mean? Whenever I hear someone say that, it instantly makes me think of the line "home is where your heart it, so your real home's in your chest" - which is a line from a song in Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog*. Hence the picture of Captain Hammer up there. I get what the statement means, I do. It means that you always have the people you love with you in your heart & so there is where you truly find home. If you have the ones you love around you, then home can be in a hut in Africa or an igloo in the Arctic or wherever. My home; for the past 13 years, has been a house on Mayatt Road with with three bedrooms, two & a half bathrooms, a bonus room, a living room/dining room/kitchen & even a sunroom. It is also filled with lots of memories. So - I'm gonna share a few of my fondest memories from my home. Because in less than two months, all I'll have are the memories from my home & someone else will be making new memories there. Sigh.

*If you have never seen Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog, you must find a way to watch it ASAP. It is quite possibly one of the greatest things I have ever watched. I mean - I knew Neil Patrick Harris could sing (because I'll be honest, I  kind of love NPH) but I had no idea that Nathan Fillion (Castle anyone?) could sing. Plus - both Neil Patrick Harris & Nathan Fillion are not hard to look at.  I assure you - it is 45 minutes that will just be epic. Okay, well maybe 43 because I guess the last 2 minutes aren't as epic as the first 43, but you get my point. You should go watch it. Now. All 5 of you that actually follow me & are reading this. :)

I remember my 13th birthday. Maybe this memory isn't necessarily "fond", but I remember it well. We moved into the house about a month before my birthday & so I got to be the first one to have a big party/get together/hoopla in our new house! All my cool friends came over & we had a cookout. Once we had finished eating our delicious food, blowing out the candles & opening all the cool presents, my friends I just wandered around in the yard - talking about boys & clothes & hair & all that other stuff that 13 year olds are obsessed with. We got to the end of the driveway & we were just kind of taking in the busted up trailers that were across the street & I was explaining to them about how the junkyard looking trailers across the street was "really the only drawback to living here" when we see a guy walking up the road. Carrying a scythe. A scythe. We all watched in frozen horror as the guy just walked right passed us & down the road, swinging his scythe all the while. Once he was out of sight, we all fled back up the driveway & proceeded to discuss the possibility of my whole family being killed in our sleep by the guy with the scythe. A wonderful ending to a spectacular 13th birthday. Thanks scythe guy - you gave me a memory that now cracks me up.

Another great memory - coming home from my first prom. I was only 15, but my boyfriend was older & so I got to go to prom. Let me just say, I was looking pretty cute. Except for the crazy Barbie doll hair that the stupid hairdresser gave me. I specifically said "not poufy" & yet when I left, poufy. But I digress.... My boyfriend brought me home from prom (it was actually his prom, not mine. I was just the date) & in the driveway of the house he proceeded to turn on "our" song & dance with me. I mean - to a 15 year old, that was big stuff. Granted, the romantic moment got interrupted with the realization that a beetle had somehow gotten into my dress. After I flew inside to have my Mom (who was still up at 4-something waiting on me, so sweet) extract the bug from the layers of fluffy dress, I went back outside & finished my dance. That is a great memory. Dancing in the driveway. That could be a song...

Moving right along - I remember getting my car for Christmas in 2002. I had no clue what was going on. All I knew was that something was up because my Mom kept "forgetting" who this present belonged to & so Lindsey & I had to pass it back & forth & keep unwrapping it, layer by layer. Finally my Mom says "oh yeah, that's right - it is Natalie's present" & I got to open the last little box. There, on a puffy little cloud of jewelry fuzz was something far more beautiful than jewelry. It was a car key! I can't really describe the moment - we have it on film somewhere & it is pretty funny. I almost broke my neck getting to the front door & flinging it open & that is when the screaming began. I think I opened & closed the doors of that car so many times to make sure it was really mine & was really real. Also - having a new car meant that I got to have a spot in the garage. The slot on the right was for "Natalie's Car" & that was awesome. Good times.

Another memory I have is of the Christmas Eve party we have every year. After going to the church for the Christmas Eve service, the Summerlins, the McKeithens, the Watsons & the Deans would go back to our house & proceed to have an awesome party. There is always more food than anyone can ever hope to eat. There are conversations, jokes, laughter & most of all, a lot of love. Some other people have come from one year to the next, but those families are the core group. This group of people (most are family, some are not but they might as well be) are people that I know love me & the one thing I remember most about this party is knowing that on Christmas Eve, I am surronded by so many people that love & care about me & my family. That is truly a blessing. Some people can't name the people that care for them on one hand - I am lucky enough to not have enough fingers (or toes for that matter) to count all the people that care for me. We have gained some members (McKenna was born into this group. The Christmas we started it, she was still in utero, but it has been a staple of her Christmas Eve from a time before she was even born) & we have lost some members (Papaw. I miss you) but it is a guarantee that every Christmas Eve, the house would be filled with people. Not sure what will happen now.

My house has, in the 13 years that my family has lived there
-seen two little girls grow into young women
-sheltered a family through the loss of a parent & a grandparent
-provided a safe haven from the storm's of life, whether they be literal or emotional
-been a safe place to come home to when you wanted to escape the stresses of college life
-seen hearts break & mend, some hearts having done this multiple times
-seen two girls learn all about first love (and loss)
-been taken over by several furry creatures, both the feline & canine persuasion
-been wounded by a young driver pushing the gas instead of the brake (yes, it was me)
-had snow tracked through it, which is interesting since it is in the deep South

Most of all, my house has been a home. It has provided me with a lifetime of memories that I will cherish for the rest of my life. So, to the people who will be moving into our house - please cherish it. It has cherished my family for 13+ years & we have loved it right back. It is a house that was built with love & has been filled with love since the first bits of the foundation were poured. Please love our house (I guess it is really your house now) because we have loved it.

Working in this Office....Seriously (Funny)

I sat here (or as I originally had typed - sart her - the brain is not working today) trying to decide whether I should write a serious post or if I should just be less serious & I decided on less serious. My life is going to get really serious soon & I have a wonderful friend who has had some really serious stuff going on (who shall remain nameless, although you can always say a prayer for Natalie's friend & I feel confident the Lord will know who you are talking about) & so between my serious & my friend's serious, I really needed to be not so serious. So I'm gonna talk about my office again - because while we do serious stuff here, I manage to find things that are funny all the time. I mean - I work in a house that was built in the late 1800's - there are no end to the oddities in this house.

Let me start at the bottom of the house & work my way up. The basement - I just really have no words for the basement. I affectionately call it the murder basement. The picture at the left is the best example I could come up with - the murder basement at work is worse because the light is not nearly so bright. There are random small rooms (perhaps they were once closets? torture chambers? solitary?) that I choose to stay away from. Heaven only knows what I might find in them. I wandered into the file room & saw one of those small rooms had the door open & there was a hole in the middle that led down, down, down...to nowhere. I told a friend that I was afraid something would come out of it & drag me to hell. His response? "I think there was a movie called that." Yes, there was. Did you see the preview? I did. And that is why I am staying away from the hole in the small creepy room in the corner of the murder basement. The stairs are creaky, the walls seem cold & mildewy (I'm not touching the walls) & the smell is like being in a mold infested hole of death. The murder basement floods when it rains & let me tell you, that really adds to the ambiance of the place. Here is the best part about the murder basement - the light switch for the one light is at the top of the stairs - far away from you when you are in the middle of the file room.

I discovered this fact on my first trip to the basement. I did what I needed to do & got out of dodge. I went home & proceeded to make the biggest mistake (okay, maybe not biggest but close) of my life. I told my Mom all about how when you go into the murder basement, you cut on the light at the top of the stairs & then have to wander deep into the depths of the basement & far away from the light. I said "If I was ever in the file room & someone didn't know I was down there & they cut off the light, I would scream like I was being killed." Or like the child on the right pictured. Well, my Mom immediately said in response "Oh, I've got to tell Tina that." Thank you Mom. I love you too. I'm glad to know that you want to have your friend scare the living daylights out of me while simultaneously making me look like an idiot in front of my coworkers. I'm not going to the murder basement ever again. The risk is too great.

Now then, let us move to the first floor. What is most fun about the first floor you ask? The bathroom, of course! I've already talked about getting locked in the bathroom so I am not really gonna elaborate on that topic too much. I discovered that since the door is totally messed up & you can get locked into the bathroom without actually locking the door, I don't need to use that bathroom ever. I will happily climb the stairs every single time I need to use the bathroom. Because I am not going to be the cool kid hollering to be let out of the bathroom. Nope. Just not gonna do it. I suppose the crazy bathroom is really the only downside to the downstairs floor of the house. I guess. I've only been here 8 weeks. Who knows what I'll discover?

Moving on to the upstairs of the house. I go up there a lot - the bathroom is up there & so is Tina. I suppose I am Tina's right hand woman (not man, cause I'm not a man, duh) since she is sending me emails filled with work to do all the time. Plus, we can usually get a conversation going without any effort whatsoever. I have been using the upstairs bathroom ever since I decided that I wasn't going to fall victim to the downstairs bathroom any longer. Today I discovered that the upstairs bathroom has some tricks up its sleeve too. This place is just full of tricks. The toilet seat is not afixed to the toilet! How do I know this? Because, I almost fell off the toilet today. Why am I telling you this? I really don't know. I just know that I leaned just a little to the left & apparently you must sit on the toilet straight as a fence post or the whole toilet seat will just slide on off, with you sitting on it. Excellent. So - my choices are to use the bathroom downstairs & risk getting trapped or use the bathroom upstairs & risk falling off the toilet into the floor. Awesome.

Just a few other weird things I've noticed. There are hooks in the ceiling of my office. What is that about? I'm a little scared to know the answer. The second floor ceiling leaks when it rains & these chunks of plaster fall off at random. I haven't been hit, but I've seen it fall & I don't really want to develop Chicken Little Syndrome. Also - in the upstairs bathroom there is a tub. There are three handles in this tub. One is marked hot, one is marked cold & one is marked....waste. What?!? I don't even understand that & frankly, I'm not sure I want to. Do you one day decide that taking a bath in hot, cold or warm water just isn't enough & therefore you need to add a little something extra? I am so confused by that. Confused & scared. This place is kind of like a house of horrors.

I still haven't had a ghost encounter yet but with all the other delightful treats this place has, who says having a ghost encounter is even that great? I may one day become immune to the oddities of this place & when something weird happens, I'll just shrug it off & be like "yeah, that's just how we roll." Oh Geez.

P.S. I feel pretty sure a serious post is coming soon. I think so. Yep.

So...Remember that Ghost I Mentioned?

First of all - no, I haven't "seen it". Nor have I had any ghostly encounters. I really would rather not have any ghostly encounters, but I thought since I mentioned the ghost in the last post, I'd tell what little I know about the BMG ghost in this post.

Let me preface this story by telling you all (all 5 of you according to my blog - 5 followers) that my little sister used to clean this very office & sometimes I would come up to the office with her & "help out" (read this as supervise, ha-ha). We were always in agreement that the office was a little bit creepy, but we always spent our summer afternoons watching "A Haunting" on TLC, so we were beyond convinced that if a house was old, it had to be haunted from floor to ceiling. We were particularly terrifed of the basement. The door to the basement was always locked & you could only see into it from outside throught these dirty little windows. We just knew it had to be a murder basement. I mean, hello...old house with a creepy basement? It was most assuredly haunted by the ghost(s) of the people that had been offed in the murder basement. Duh. I should mention at this point that my Mother assured us we were both nuts. I mean - Ginger, did you just now figure out you have nuts for kids?

So - fast forward from around 2006-2007 to present day. I get a job at BMG! Yay for me! I think nothing of the crazy ghosts/murder basement plots that Lindsey & I used to fabricate as we wandered the house cleaning. At least, I didn't think about those things for the first day I worked there. Then my co-workers began to enlighten me as to the office's ghost. Oh joy. Thus - let me share with you two of the ghost stories from my co-workers. We'll start with "Vicki". (I've changed the names to protect the innocent, ha-ha!)

Vicki tells me that she had heard everyone talk about the ghost that haunted the house, but she wasn't every really concerned about it. She thought they were making stuff up. So one day, she stays late to finish up some work & she knows that she is alone in the building. She hears sounds coming from the back of the house where another co-worker; Sanya, has a desk. Thinking Sanya has come back & is messing with her, which is a perfectly legitimate thought since Sanya likes to joke around, she hollers to her to quit messing around. She gets no answer except to hear the same noises... After telling "Sanya" to knock it off a couple more times & still hearing nothing, she goes into the back to tell her face to face to chill out - only to see Sanya's empty desk chair turning in a circle...just going round & round & round. She grabbed her purse & headed for the exit as fast as her legs could carry her & decided she never needed to stay after 5 to finish up work again. She advised me not to ever stay after 5 either. And now on to Macy's story...

Macy goes to night classes after work a couple days a week, but her classes don't start until around 6:30 so she usually hangs out at the office until time to go to class. She is able to finish up work for school or for the office. She is obviously made of stronger stuff than me. She says she cannot count the times she has seen doors open & close on their own, heard footsteps going up & down the steps, seen water cut on & off in the bathroom, etc....all when she knows she is completely alone in the house. She just ignores it & keeps right on doing what she is doing. I'm not gonna lie - I admire that kind of hardcore. Just the idea of that happening while I am here, whether I'm alone or not would send me running for the door.

I thought that maybe they were all just messing with me. I mean, the kinder gentler way of hazing the new girl. I asked a friend that works at the office, thinking she would tell me that everyone was just pulling my leg or something of the sort. Nope. Gina looked at me with the straightest of faces & said "I wouldn't hang out here after 5. Things get weird." Well...great. Awesome. Not only did she tell me that, along with those two delightful stories from my co-workers, two other people in the office told me about the ghost. My boss Jan told me that "we have a ghost here, but she's a nice ghost." Oh, ok. How do we know the ghost is a girl? How do we know the ghost is nice? What if the ghost is a man & he's seriously ticked that you refer to him as a woman? What if he's plotting revenge as we joke about him? And then a guy at the office tells me "so, I guess you've heard about our ghost, huh?" Thanks Ron. I have. Thrilled to hear that we have one.

So - now you all (all 5 of you) know a little more about the ghost. I haven't had any encounters with he or she...& I really have no desire to. I don't like ghosts. I don't like movies about ghosts. Give me a horror movie with blood & gore over ghost & goblins any day. I don't want to meet any ghosts. I can tell you one thing though. I have watched numerous episodes of "A Haunting" as well as "Ghost Hunters" & they always tell you that when the temperature drops...that is the sign that a ghost is present. Ghosts suck energy from the room, taking the heat too. Every time I go to the bathroom at work, it is about 15 degrees colder in there than in the rest of the building. Does the ghost haunt the toilet? Is she (Jan said she was a girl) like Moaning Myrtle? Because that would be horrible. Who wants to haunt a toilet? Of course, this house was built in the late 1800's, what I think is a toilet may have been something else entirely when the house was built.

Anyway - I've rambled on about the ghost of BMG long enough. It's time for me to go to lunch! :) Oh - I've been in the basement now. It was most certainly a murder basement. I've only been down there once, but that was enough. Again - story for another time. But definitely a murder basement. No doubt.

Working Hard or Hardly Working?

A tongue in cheek title, no doubt but I felt it would work since I am at work & just passing the time while the last 45 minutes of my work day pass by. I am listening to the sounds of the radio on my co-worker's desk as well as the sound of another co-worker on the phone with a client. It makes for an interesting symphony of sound, especially when the wind outside causes leaves to blow across the porch, adding yet another thing to listen to. No doubt the phone will ring at some point in the next 45 minutes. All in a day's work, right?

I am beyond happy to report that I am loving my job! I have been thrust into the world of insurance & thus far I am really enjoying it - although part of that might come from me not always knowing what is going on. Don't they say ignorance is bliss? I started out answering the phone & doing the mail & now along with doing those two things they have decided to entrust me with checking Medicare plans, enrolling members, writing letters, filing paperwork & *gasp* copying things! Often I find something to keep me busy - once I finish one thing, little time passes before someone comes up with a new job for me to learn about, although once the afternoon gets past 3:30 or 4, I am usually left to my own devices. Which I certainly don't mind. Not to say that I'm just poking around, spinning in my chair every afternoon. Earlier this week I found myself busy at something until 4:50!

Surprisingly enough, I have discovered that spinning in one's chair can be a bit dangerous. I have actually discovered that Natalie + office furniture = injury. I managed to smack my thigh into the drawer of my desk my first week of work & got my first on the job "injury". Just today I uncrossed my legs to readjust how I was sitting & smacked my shin into the side of my desk. This resulted in a knot forming & a beautiful purple bruise beginning to spread across the front of my leg. Thankfully, it doesn't seem like it is going to actually be that bad. I haven't acquired any serious injuries...but the office is located in an older house & this house has a lovely wooden staircase. I have been told that no one has fallen down the stairs in the several years the office has been located here...but I fear it is only a matter of time. I tend to be clumsy. I mean, as if reading about me constantly smacking into office furniture isn't evidence enough...

Speaking of working in an old house. Guess what I managed to do today? I got locked in the bathroom. That's right...laugh it up. I have been warned for the past two weeks that the lock on the downstairs bathroom can be tricky & while I've had some close calls, I have always managed to get the door open all on my own, without anyone noticing that I was having any trouble. Well...that ended today. I tried to open the door &...nothing happened. I tugged & yanked & turned & rattled & nothing was happening. Nothing at all. After murming a small prayer, crossing my eyes, hopping on one leg & turning around twice, the door finally opened. Ok - mild exaggeration. I only murmered a small prayer & then was finally able to do the right combination of tugging, turning & pushing on the door to free myself. Victory! One of my co-workers cheerily asked "Did you get locked in the bathroom?" Why yes, yes I did. Thanks for announcing that. :)

Oh well, all goofiness & joking aside, I really am enjoying my new job. I feel like I am learning things while I work & it is always nice to learn new things. I often find myself examining the architecture of the old house & wondering what I would do to make it more my style. Old houses have charm & this one has it in buckets. It also (so I've been told but never witnessed) has a ghost. That is a story for another time though.

I am going to try to be more regular with updating this. I feel like I never do much with it, but I'm going to try to change that. So until next time, I guess I'll get back to chillin in my desk chair...because like I said, spinning in the desk chair is not a good idea. Not a good idea at all.

Still Hanging On....Just Not by A Thread Anymore!

I talked in my last post about how quickly life can change & here I am hardly three weeks later & I am even more certain about that - but in a wonderful way! I clung to the knowledge that the Lord has a plan for my life & that is certainly the truth. I'm watching it unfold & I am often in amazement at how things work out.

Two weeks to the day that I was let go from my job, I went to an interview for a new job. I can't even express how shocked I was when I recieved a phone call about a job offer so quickly. I got my stuff together & went off to the interview. That was on Tuesday. I got a call on Wednesday that the job was mine & today I stopped by the offices to go over my salary/benefits package. I start on Monday & this has been an amazing week - to say the least. Now...let me talk all about my new job at BMG & how awesome it is! :)

I am going to be starting out as a secretary with the option of taking on clients once I have learned more about the business. The fact that I have the posibility of upward mobility is pretty great in & of itself. The job includes benefits, yahoo! I didn't have those at my last job. I get my birthday off - how awesome is that? The most exciting thing about my job is the bonuses! Employees get a Secretary bonus (well, the secretary does) as well as a Christmas bonus & an End of the Year bonus. Oh...and have you ever heard of a vacation bonus? Because apparently we get those sometimes too! Suffice it to say that I am feeling beyond blessed by this sudden happy change of events! God is so good!

Two weeks ago I was feeling so lost & unsure of what the future held for me...even slightly despairing over what in the world I was going to do. This job was a not so subtle (and absolutely wonderful) reminder that the Lord always has a plan for my life & that all I need to do is trust in him. I'm still hanging on but now I'm hanging on by more than just a thread. Life is looking up!

Do You Ever Feel Like You're Barely Hanging On.....

It has been about a month since I've blogged - I guess I was busy with other things. I was working from to 8-5 every day & so once I got home, I guess there was always something else to do. The important word in that last sentence is that I WAS working. As of yesterday at around 3:30 I have once again joined the ranks of the unemployed. But let me go back & explain that better....

Almost a month ago (which was only about 3 weeks after I started my job) the doctor that I was working for started ranting & raving about how the clinic wasn't doing enough business, we weren't seeing enough patients & that we weren't making him enough money. Two weeks before Christmas he sat us all down & explained that if we didn't start doing more business then he would cut one person's hours down to 4 days a week....then I would go to 4 days a week & so on until business picked up. There was never any mention of anyone being let go, although I did wonder why in the world he hired me if they weren't doing enough business. I was told by my co-workers that he was a nut, so I didn't think too much of it. Especially not when the woman I worked with volunteered to start working only 4 days a week. How silly of me to think that things would be okay.

Monday, in our lovely area of Mississippi we had a little ice storm. Nothing major but it did leave the roads a little icy. I had told the good doctor that because of slippery roads, I wouldn't be in at 8 but once things started to melt that I would venture out & I could come in around lunch. I called the office at 9:15 that morning to check that we were gonna be open & verify that I was coming in around lunch & was told by the doc "we aren't very busy, so you don't need to come in today or Tuesday....& call me about coming in on Wednesday". Click. Phone hung up. Cue me beginning to worry. I wouldn't have minded a nice "snow" day on Monday, but once you get into having Tuesday off & then possibly Wednesday, I'm starting to see a serious dent in my paycheck! Oh what a laugh. Oh how things were about to change.

I called on Tuesday afternoon to see about coming in on Wednesday (as I was told to do) & I was told by the doctor "We aren't doing enough business right now & we don't need you anymore. Your paycheck will be ready on Thursday - you can come pick it up or we can mail it to you". Click. Phone hung up. Cue me in a state of panic because I'm pretty sure I was just let go. I called the lady that I worked with in the office; she has worked with him for 5 years, she knows him. Her translation of what he had said to me on the phone was pretty much what I expected - no more job for me. Just like that. I was a member of the working world on Friday, had a snow day on Monday & by Tuesday I was unemployed again. What in the world?!?

So now I'm having one of those....moments, maybe? Maybe you wouldn't call it a moment. I'm having one of those times where I am kind of clinging to the promises of Jeremiah 29:11 & Hebrews 11:1 - "For I know the plans I have for you" declared the Lord "plans to prosper you & not to harm you. Plans to give you a hope & a future".... "Now faith is being sure of what we hope for, being convinced of what we do not see". I am hanging on to those verses because at this exact moment., I'm having trouble seeing much of a plan. This is one of those times where I want to ask the Lord "see, I know you have this whole plan set out & you know how it is all gonna work out...could you maybe give me an idea of what that plan is, because I'm feeling pretty lost right now". Alas, like that second verse says, you've got to have faith, even in the things you can't see. And I have faith that the Lord does have a plan for me, so I'm hanging on to the faith right now...even if things seems so crazy & strange & unsure. If you're reading this, you can add me to your prayer list. I'm gonna need prayer as I start this whole job search all over again.

Well....It's Been A While....

So, who knew having a job from 8-5 would take up so much time? ;) Just kidding. I realized as I sat on the couch tonight that I haven't updated this thing in a few weeks. I am really enjoying my job & I have a few stories/interesting things to share....because who knew that working at a doctor's office could be so funny?

1) The person I work for (who shall be called Rick from here on, although some of you probably know who he actually is because you get to hear all my stories at church) is crazy. He is nice crazy, not mean, not hurtful, just crazy. There hasn't been a day yet when I haven't come home to tell my parents "you will never believe what Rick did today" & then I go into a comedic reenactment of what he said or did - complete with hand motions, mannerisms & accents. As an example, the conversation we had on Wednesday -
"Rick" - Why are you wearing a raincoat Miss Natalie, it isn't raining outside, it is snowing...
Natalie - Well, it's actually a windbreaker, not a raincoat
"Rick" - (looking around in confusion) Is it windy in here Miss Natalie?
Natalie - well....no. I was just chilly
"Rick" - no matter, no matter Miss Natalie. It is a matter of personal preference, jackets.
Like-what was the point of that conversation? I'm pretty sure it only happened to provide me with a funny story to tell after the fact. And he comes out with stuff like this EVERY day. Without fail. Except on Tuesdays & Fridays when he is out of the clinic....hahaha!

2) Who knew there were so many drug addled/drug addictted people in Meridian? I have discovered in my 3 short weeks of work that there are a lot of people who need their medication & they need it bad. And that's all I'm really gonna say about all that. Craziness.

3) I am so thankful for the other ladies that work at the clinic. They have welcomed me with open arms & been so patient while I am figuring out all the numbers, codes & numerous other tasks that are now a part of my job. I've been brought in on the daily ritual of watching "Days of Our Lives" (what is going on with Stefano & Kate???) in the breakroom while we all eat lunch & it is so nice to feel so accepted by all these nice ladies. They are a blessing to me, even if they don't know it. And I found someone else that watches "True Blood"! When season 4 starts - it is gonna be great to have discussions about that over lunch!

4) Who knew guardian & protector of the Christmas ornaments & the figurines in the Nativity was a part of the job? We've had the Christmas decor up a week & I was informed that I would have to watch the tree & the nativity because someone has stolen ornaments off the tree & someone actually took the Baby Jesus from the nativity!! When I asked what type of person steals the Baby Jesus from a nativity scene, I was told very matter of factly "the same kind of person that steals the Glade Plug-Ins from the wall". Wow. Just wow.

So - I suppose that is about all for now. I've let you all in on some delightful antecdotes from my new life as a member of the working 8-5 set. I'm sure the stories will only continue to get more interesting. I'll keep everyone posted.