Busy as a Bee

This seems to be a constant state of my life.  Being Busy.  I'm sure if I looked over the majority of my blog posts, most of them would involve the busy state of life that I always seem to live in.  I have the distinct feeling that from this point, life is only going to get busier, not slow down. :)

In other news,  the kitchen is done!  We have been washing dishes for days and trying to get everything put away.  I would love to just see it finished and clean once.  Of course since we still live in the house and use the kitchen daily, this will be a challenge.  But maybe during this three day weekend it will happen.  

That's right my friends! It's labor day!  You know what that means? Joanna is going to spend a lot of quality time on the couch playing Super Mario Galaxy that I borrowed from Stephen. Yes! A weekend of watching tv and playing video games.  And painting my choir room on Sunday afternoon. (hopefully)  

And now my lunch break is done and so I am going to get back to this work that I do. It seems to be multiplying before my eyes...

Week 12 is a Glorious Thing

Yes. I did survive last week.  And while the kitchen still isn't done, progress is being made and that helps a ton.  Having a Monday off, even better. Coming back to work wasn't as tough as I had expected, but it did bring something new to light.  A new Cell Phone policy.  

I have never had to get my own cell phone.  I went straight from mom and dad handing me a cell phone to my employer handing me my work cell phone.  I never really got to choose, I just accepted what was given. (with joy since it was one less thing for me to worry about)  But not anymore.  We have gone to a reimbursement policy, which meant Joanna needs a new phone.

So here it is. I was slightly impulsive, but I love it:

It was not really my intention to come out of this with a motorola krzr but it was only$15 more than the lamer phones and so I took the plunge.  That's right friends.  This is the first time I've had a phone that wasn't the free phone.  And I have returned to the world of the flip phone. Yes!

A phone that flips.  Who knew how wonderful simple pleasures could be. :) and now I return to my regularly scheduled work program.

So Much to Learn.

Let me just say upfront, I have learned some things about myself in the last few days. Not all of them are pretty. God is doing some sharpening and while I know it will be good in the long run, man it hurts right now!

My name is Joanna, and I am a whiner.  That's right my friends. I complain. A Lot.  I really need to get over this. It's not fun for anyone around me. Not to mention my tendency to complain leads directly into my tendency to emotionally vomit on whoever is nearby when I don't like how my life is going.  This has really got to stop.  It leads me to gossip and not dealing with problems directly and indirectly (this is never my intention but it happens) talking about people behind their back.

I don't do well when my home life is stressful.  Our kitchen has been being remodeled for the last two weeks.  I am so excited about the presence of a dishwasher in our lives. However, work is really crazy, due to it being the last two weeks of summer.  So no peace at home, kitchen a mess, work stressful = a very stressed out Joanna.  (Which led to complaining and emotional vomiting as mentioned above.)  I realized that at first I think that for sure it won't be a problem.  Then the longer it goes on, it gradually wears me down and then I am just tired of everything. Work. Home. Life. Everything

When I reach this point, I want 2 things. 

Number 1 - A hug from someone bigger than me.  Even though I know that this person isn't going to actually fix anything, it makes me feel for a brief second like I used to when my dad would hug me and make everything ok.  After this point I feel like I can continue on.  Someone did this for me yesterday without even knowing it.  God provides exactly what we need at exactly the right moment.  

Number 2 - Holding a sleeping baby. There is nothing that relaxes me faster than just sitting on a couch, holding a baby while he/she sleeps. It is wonderful.  I feel like all is well in the world. I can get beyond my problems and remember that there are things more important than my worrying.  I have discovered that going to the pool with friends and playing with their children helps to a certain extent. Basically, they got me away from the craziness that is my life.  However, tomorrow morning (while my kitchen is being worked on when I would normally be sleeping) I am going to go hold a baby. I am excited. And thankful that I have so many friends with babies. :)

So yes. This person is still learning much. I don't do well tired, stressed out, and no home that is clean. But hey, at least this is temporary. A temporary place that has an end (hopefully the home part tomorrow.) And life on the other side will feel that much sweeter having walked through the stress of today. After all, we learn so much more and grow so much more when life is hard. Too bad it has to hurt so much.

Long Time... No Post

Due to the time of year, posting has become few and far between. At work I rarely have the time to jump on and say what has been going on.  At home there is no internet. Add in a week of vacation and Voila! No time for posting. :)  So here are a few highlights:

1. Vacation - 4 days of traveling for 3 in Colorado. Next time I vote for less traveling more time in CO.  Other than the days in the car/ on planes, it was a great trip.

2. Summer - Week 11 is here! This is always such a bittersweet time. It is hard to believe that the staff got here just over three months ago.  Time has FLOWN by.  I'm ready for life to return to "normal" but I will miss all of the wonderful friends I have made in my summer staff.

3. Hair - I chopped it off.  At some point I will take a pic and post it, but I haven't had time yet.

4. Kitchen - Our kitchen is being remodeled. This had led to a lot of eating out, and not being able to cook.  I will be so thankful when it is back working and done.  It was supposed to be finished this week, but it appears that next week is the final date.

5. TV - Probably the most exciting for me! We broke down and got Dish Network with DVR and let me tell you it is WONDERFUL!!! I love it.  I had forgotten how much I enjoy TV. Unfortunately at some point during the kitchen remodel, my room's tv stopped working. Now I have to call in and get it serviced, which we know is one of Joanna's favorite things to do.

Ok. that's the short of it. Life is good and choir planning will be coming next week in full force. And a trip down to out other location to take some pictures and clean up the office down there. Someday my life will slow down...

On the upswing

I'm finally feeling like myself again.  My room is clean, I've worked out the past two mornings, and I have some energy. Life is much happier.

I'm now in charge of Children's Choir at church.  It's a little overwhelming to think about, but I know that this is going to be a fun thing for me to invest in. I love kids; I love teaching kids; and I love Music.  All of these things add up to great amounts of fun on Sunday nights.  Now if I can just get through the list of 20 things that have to be done before the kickoff on Sept 7th. 

Recently, a friend showed me some tough stuff about myself.  It is so easy for me to become selfish and complacent! He showed me of how completely selfish I was being about some things. It was one of those hard, but good conversations. (And he didn't even really know he was doing this, which makes it even more of a God thing.) Now I have to figure out what I am going to do about it.

We are already in week 8 of summer. And I will be gone all of week 9. That means I really only have 2 1/2 weeks of summer left. Crazy. Weird. Where did the time go?!? Soon it will be the fall and I will be thankful to have all of my friends back. I live in such a weird world. 

Now I just have to get all of the work that needs to get done before the end of the week finished. And then - Colorado Mountains here I come.

Strep Type G

I personally didn't know that there were different kinds of strep. When the doctor told me last wednesday, "You don't have strep." I went on my merry way thinking I just had an upper respiratory tract infection.  I didn't seem to be getting better as the week progressed and on Sunday thought, I need to go back to the doctor.

Then I got the call. A most frustrating call. It was the doctor saying that they needed to call me in a prescription, please call them back. So I called them back, and guess what, I do have strep. Strep type G.  The immediate test only tests for type A. Awesome. So now, in my feeling awful, I have to drag myself out of the house, to the pharmacy to FINALLY get on antibiotics. That's right friends. ONE WEEK after I started feeling sick, I finally get to start treating it. 

And now it is Wednesday. We are three days into the antibiotic regimen and I pretty much hurt worse than ever.  The upper respiratory tract infection has decided to get worse, so now I can't breath out my nose and my throat hurts. And everytime I swallow my ear hurts, since my tonsil is so swollen my ear can't drain. 

All this to say, Joanna is throwing herself a pity party.  Feel free to join if you so choose. Feel free to ignore also.  Just be thankful that you don't live with Joanna. Then you have to hear all the complaining. I have apologized to my roommates multiple times for my whining. I just hate being sick! Right now, nothing sounds better than being to eat without pain. or Andy's I feel like Andy's frozen custard could go a long way to making me feel better. I just might have to make a trip for lunch...

The Deadly Parking Lot

If you live where I do, you can probably guess where this is.  There is this shopping center in town, and the whole world likes to hang out there.  It has a Jason's Deli, Marble Slab, Starbucks, Ross, Linens N Things, and some other stores.  I spend a lot of time here, and I must admit, almost every time at one point I will think, "That car is going to run straight into me."  Usually an unfortunate word is at the beginning of that phrase.... 

Anyway, today, due to my ridiculously swollen lymph node, I decided to have soup for lunch. (Much more pleasant to swallow.) Of course Jason's has the best selection of soup. Which meant facing the (dun dun dun) deadly parking lot. (Seriously the dun dun dun plays through my head when I think about going to this shopping center.) So off I went. 

In the time span of going, parking at Jason's Deli, then leaving, I almost got backed into THREE times. One time actually required a horn. The entire time I thought "I hate this parking lot. I wish I could pick up Jason's and move it somewhere. Anywhere else. Preferably not on Broadway somewhere else." But I survived my trip, and the lack of strange feeling while eating lunch was totally worth the driving.