Monday

Well today started with a phone call from school telling us school was two-hours late. An hour later came another phone call now cancelling school for the entire day. I must say I was relieved a bit knowing we didn't have to do the morning rush and we could all get up and get going on our own time.

I did go into town though to drop off an application and resume. I would really like this job as I've worked for the company before and had really great experiences with them. Roads were obviously snow covered and slick but we made it there and back just fine.

Yesterday I was able to recreate my resume and take from three pages down to one. I am much more impressed with my current resume than I was with my old one. I went to a job search class last week and learned a lot about the presence and information on your resume and application, how to score the interview and land the job. So I'm practicing and putting these skills into place, hoping a job comes my way, sooner rather than later.

Received a phone call this evening school was going to be two-hours late tomorrow however, I didn't tell the kids that, just so they would go to bed at their normal time and not use that as an excuse to stay up a little later tonight.

So now I'm having some time to myself and blogging. ttfn!

It's been a while!

Wow, it's been a while since I've been on here, like four months! I've thought many times about getting on here and writing, but never did. It's nice to see it's still here, not sure how long they stay up with no activity.

Many things have happened in my life since my last entry. I won't share every detail, but it's been a roller coaster ride filled with excitement and sorrow. Out of nowhere I now find myself searching for employment. I've had a few nibbles here and there, but nothing that has panned out yet. So, I keep searching and hoping something will come my way. I went to a job search class yesterday, which was extremely helpful, and I would recommend everyone take a class like this. During the session I realized my current resume needed a complete makeover as it was too boring and too long. So now I find myself "recreating" my resume to be only one-page and much more exciting, more appealing to the employers.

Our holidays were pretty good. I particularly like Thanksgiving because my parents came over and spent several days with us. It was really nice to have them spend that time here with us. I hope we can have them over more often like that...for a couple days. My brother and his wife also came out for dinner on Thursday, so it was really cool to have us all together at the dinner table having Thanksgiving dinner. The kids loved havingall of them here. Christmas was quaint, having my brother-in-law and his wife over for dinner. The kids loved their presents from them, from Santa, and from us. We chatted about the true meaning of Christmas though being about Jesus.

The last couple months I have felt like I've been on somewhat of a spiritual journey, re-evaluating my spirituality, re-discovering it. Our children received a day-by-day guide to reading the Bible to children. Beginning January 1st, well we were a couple days late, but now caught up, I've read the Bible to them. Although it's pretty vague, suited to children, it's a great review for me. I would like to read my Bible as well, but so far have not done that. I find myself being drawn to finding out more about religious history, the life and death of Jesus, and life after death. I've been working more at bringing prayer and God/Jesus/Holy Spirit more into our home than before, so our children know them and how to live by his word.

Winter sure has been showing up lately with blizzards and freezing temps. Makes me look forward to Spring, which is 72 days away! I'm not a winter person. I don't like coats and bundling up to go somewhere. I have made my favorite season to be Fall because summer is too hot, spring is still too wet and sloppy with melting snow, and winter is too cold and too white, plus everything is dead (most plants and trees), or rather hibernating.

Well, enough for now, but before I go: Yeah for Friday!

Spring

Labor Day Weekend

Here we are at Okoboji spending the weekend at Village West with my kids and mother. Last night the kids and I spent the night in Windom. It was so nice to our hound dogs again. We really miss Daisy, and Elvis too!

While kind of snooping through things in my "designated" room downstairs I found stuff from Rachel. The poem I wrote her after she died, her funeral program, the newspaper article of her death, postcards from her from her trip to Europe, notes written in school, and some pictures. It was a bit overwhelming. For a time, I went back in time, remembering those days of her death. Then, I stopped, looked around, and wondered "how did I get here?" Driving down to Okoboji too, I watched the countryside wondering the same thing.

Once we got down here we unloaded, ate pizza, and then off to the pool we went for a little swimming. Not sure what we'll do tomorrow, but I am sure we will do some more swimming!
Till next time...

Weekend

Yesterday was Friday the 13th. It was my big brother's birthday. The kids and I went over to his place to see what they were up to. He and his wife Tammy were getting ready to head over to the Sioux Empire Fair, which started on Tuesday and ends tomorrow. We went with them. The weather was pretty descent, not too hot and a nice breeze going. First we went to the Expo building to check out all the booths, then we found a little paddle boat ride for Jacob and Aidan. They loved it! Then we were off to the kiddie barn, but by the time we got over there, it had closed it's doors for the night. So we made our way back to the grandstand area to hear a piece of "Lifehouse", but no luck, we were off and on our way out by the time they got on stage.

Today I went back to the fair, but this time it was for work. Three of us from Girl Scouts had a small fun area. It was pretty cool, it was a small baby pool of bubbles. Kids came and used the pipe cleaners we had put together and blew away. Weather was really good today too and we had a great spot, not far from the entrance, so catching girls was pretty easy. Kids of all ages, boys and girls had fun with the bubbles though.

Now I'm trying to figure out what to do with the rest of the night. Star Wars is on, so I'm sure we'll have that on till the last movie is over. Why is it we seem to watch the movies on TV when we own them???

Anyway, the fair had some neat booths in their expo building. There was one booth that had a piece of equipment, exercise equipment, but all you do is stand on it and let it "shake" you. It was really neat, but the price of those things is not so neat, nearly $1000 is what they are selling them for at the fair, normally they run around $1700. Definitely an investment.

Well, off to see what else the night brings. TTFN

0 vs. o

0 is the number zero. o/O is the letter. So what is the difference between them? They both look alike. They are both round. They are both a circle. But one is a letter and one is a number. You count with one and you write with the other. So, I'm curious why, we as a society, are always using the letter instead of the number?

"Your total is $59.o1". That's not fifty-nine and one, it's fifty-nine oooo-one. Phone numbers are 6o5 (six oooo five) and not six zero five. The address is 8ooo1 and not eight hundred and one. It's 1309 but pronounced thirteen oooo nine.

So what's happening to our number 0? It's not hard to say zero, but yet we 99% of the time say oooo. Poor zero doesn't stand a chance against "o".

The next time you find yourself using numbers, see if you catch yourself saying the letter vs. the number.

Water worries

Anyone in the SE South Dakota region knows how much water we've had over the course of the past month and a half. It's been A LOT! The forecast for the next seven days...yep, more rain! I'm a bit nervous to think about what this winter will bring. Last winter was brutal, especially in January with many school closings, road closings, and many feet of white stuff piling up outside.

The other night, around 4am I heard the storm and at 5am I got up to peak outside to what was a constant lightning show. As birght as it was you'd think it was the middle of a sunny day, but it wasn't and once again my "sleeping" for the night was minimal.

So I wonder what this next round of wet will bring. The mayor in Sioux Falls is already calling on water restriction for tomorrow!

Nothing New

Today was just another day in the life of little 'ol me. Our sump pump backed up the other day so we've been dealing with everything involved with that over the past few days, bought a few extra fans, pulled carpets back, and checking our sheetrock paneling. It's been interesting to say the least. It seems like it rains everyday too, which doens't help the sump pump. I am beginning to wonder what winter will bring?

Anyway, tomorrow is Tuesday, our weekly conference call at work. Work is going alright. Our new year is quickly approaching and I'm hoping to be ready for it. I really enjoy working for the Girl Scouts, after all, I've been one pretty much since the first grade, which has been nearly 35 years ago! I will say it's been an adventure working for them, it's not quite the same as being a girl Girl Scout, nor the same as being an adult volunteer. There's definitely some differences, but I do my best to embrace those and do the best I can. There's never a dull moment and there seems to be something new to learn everyday. I'm always looking for better ways to be organized with my stuff, the area I serve, and in my little office cubicle.

So, like I said in my title, not much new going on, just another day in the life of me!