Sunday

Today is Sunday--a day I enjoy. It is a day to reflect and relax. Of course, we attend two services at church each Sunday, but between services we have time to relax and talk. Casey works at his job at the grocery store between services to relieve those working on Sunday, so that they may have a lunch time. So, on Sundays it is usually just Russ and I.

We eat something simple, sometimes, even just a sandwich. Most of the time, I try to prepare something ahead of time, on Saturday--something that can be put in the crockpot so that it is ready when we come in. Casey has usually eaten and gone by the time we get home, so it is nice for him to have something that he can just eat and leave. By the time we both get home, we are starting to unwind. I did cook today, but we were out of service earlier than usual, so it was ready pretty early. We ate, and sat down to rest.

The sitting down to rest, has now become lying down to sleep for Russell. He is in the bedroom with the fan on taking his nap. I will join him as soon as I finish this. My eyes are getting very droopy. I don't take naps during the day any other time, except Sunday. The Lord did say that he wanted us to have one day to rest, so I think our bodies are just obeying His command.

My dad preached this morning at the church where he and Mom attended when they lived in the City area. Cari drove over to the church to hear her grandpa preach this morning. She has already called and is on her way home after eating lunch with her grandpa, and the pastor and his wife. She enjoyed hearing him and being with him.

Our service was good today. Russell has been bringing some wonderful messages. He began in Genesis and is taking us from the beginning. It has all been good. He preached from Genesis chapter four today. It was the story of Cain and Abel, and their tragedy. God told him "sin is at the door." It is so wonderful that God loves us so much that he chides us to do right and even warns us, as He did Cain. He gives us the choice, but He so wants us to make the right decisions. One thing Russell said today, as he reflected upon Cain's life, was how Cain was angry at God for the decisions that he had made for himself. He talked a bit about how we still do that today. We are upset with God when we are only reaping consequences for the decisions that we have made ourselves. We make the wrong decisions, yet we still blame God for our plight.

Speaking of Cain, he went off to the land of Nod. The word means "wandering", but we also use it for the time that we "nod off" to sleep. So...I've also gone off to the land of Nod for a few minutes.

High Anxiety!

This week has been Russell's first full week of working his new second "job". He is very anxious, thus the heading for this post. Everything that he tries to do, he succeeds. He is talented in various capacities, from music and cooking, to carpentry and plumbing. However, he is a technological dinosaur. He admits it. He still has the original ring tone that his cell phone was set on. The reason? He doesn't know how to change it! He is older than most, if not all, of the technicians that trained with him, and he feels quite disadvantaged, as the younger guys are all fairly tech "savvy".

It has been a week of severe ups and downs in our home. Because he is anxious, Casey and I are anxious for him. Some days were really bad for him. Some days were easier. I prayed every day, all day, for him. After having a difficult and very lengthy day yesterday, today is better. When he left the house this morning before 8 am, his eyes and face were disheartened-looking. Although he slept well, he still woke up with the experience of yesterday heavy on his mind. I try to encourage him as much as I can, but he doesn't always "take it". I encouraged him as he went out the door, and I walked a little further with him.

I had a meeting in another town this morning at 11 am. Upon returning home, after 2:00 this afternoon I noticed his truck in the driveway as soon as I turned the corner. My first thought was, "It was an easy day for him". Then, I grabbed his anxiety, I guess, and thought, "Something went wrong and he couldn't do the job." You can imagine my relief as I walked through the house and found him napping. He had finished two jobs by 1 o'clock this afternoon, came home to eat lunch and took a nap. He is now off to finish his last job for the day. I have a feeling that even if he does encounter some problems this afternoon, that it will still be counted as a "good day".

If you are reading this, pray for him as he gets used to his new job and the trouble-shooting that he has to perform. Pray for him to have more confidence in himself. Pray for Casey and I to be an encouragement to him.

Time To Adjust...Again

Monday began the first week of Russell's new and extra job. Over the past four weeks he has been training in class and in the field. Now he is on his own. He spent the biggest portion Monday at the office because when he went to pick up his equipment and tools, he was not even in the computer. As a result, he did not go out on any calls or fill any orders on Monday. He also came home with only a small potion of tools and equipment that he needed. The warehouse seems to have a problem keeping the technicians stocked.

Tuesday morning, he headed back out at 5:00 am to the main office and warehouse to finish getting outfitted, but, alas, they were still lacking things that he needed. He got what he could and he did make three service calls. He was nervous, since this was his first time "flying solo", but he did fine, as I knew he would.

Wednesday morning...back to the city. He finally got completely outfitted with tools, and equipment, or at least enough to finish a few jobs before having to go back to the city. His jobs on Wednesday were all installs. The first one had four units. He had nine units so things were looking good. However, some of the receivers would not work so by the time he finished the job and hooked up and unhooked several receivers, it was late in the afternoon, and only two receivers left...

Wednesday afternoon...he finished his first job in record time...NOT. It was 4:30 in the afternoon before he was able to get it all finished since he had to replace so much equipment. By the time he got to his last job it was getting late, but he was on his way to finishing, when the dish that he installed had to be removed because something was blocking it's signal. AAAGGGHHH!!!
Next, when he went to install the two receivers, only one of the two remaining in his truck even worked! Needless to say he was very frustrated.

Wednesday night...he got home between 10 and 10:30 pm. He hadn't eaten all day and looke almost ashen faced when he finally got home. I had supper in the crockpot to keep warm (venison and rice), so I spooned up a good bowlful for him. He only ate about half. He was just so exhausted. He was tired mentally as well as physically.

This morning our alarm went off at 4:30, as it has been all week. Today I got up with him and made sure that he ate something before he left and sent something with him. He has hypoglycemia, so not eating is not a good thing for him to do. Along with his scrambled egg sandwich, I sent a can of peanuts and some cashews, as well as some bottled water. That should do. He called me around eight am and said he was on his way back from the city, and finally, he thought that he had everything he needed to work for a while. His team leader even shortened his orders today because he knew about everything that had happened yesterday. He had two calls to make today One of them is a service call, and I guess they never know what they are going to find when they get those. The other is the install that he could not finish last night becasue of the faulty equipment. Hopefully, he will be home sometime this afternoon and will be able to rest tonight.

He is working so hard. I want to be sure that everything is good for him when he gets home each night. For so long, when I worked, he was home before me and he cooked the evening meal, or at least he had it started. Now, I can do that for him, (except I also clean up after myself. lol)

All Is Well...so far

Russell passed all his tests and got his certification Friday. He is very relieved and we are all very proud of him. It's been a very long time since he had to take any kind of tests like that...in a classroom situation. Today, Saturday, he spent the biggest part of the day modifying his vehicle so that he can begin work Monday. I am so thankful that he is able to do things like that. It saves a lot of money when he can do it, as opposed to having to buy something or have something custom made.

Cari has been home for over a week. She had no job interviews or calls last week. We submitted her application and resume to several places this week, so hopefully she will get some calls next week. Her unemployment checks are still not coming when they should. She is missing two, and has an appointment at the OESC next week to get it straightened out. I hope and pray that she does. It's tough. She will be going back to her apartment on Monday morning when her Dad goes up to check out his equipment and such for his new job. She won't like getting up so early, but can sleep all the way, and go back to bed as soon as he drops her off, which, I'm sure she will do.

For the first three weeks of Russell's training, I got used to just being here with Casey, and him being at school all day, and then at work during some evenings. Last week, with Cari here I felt kind of crowded. That is so funny, considering that it was just the two of us here during the day. I am glad she was here, though. She seemed so very tired and down in the dumps. She also had very dark circles under her eyes. She slept a lot, and a couple of days she ran some fever. I don't know if she had a bug or if it was allergies "gone wild". She is feeling better now, or seems to be. I just keep praying that she gets some kind of employment. At this point, I don't really care what it is, just to get her by until we can figure out some kind of transportation arrangement. Since wrecking her car, she has been so down. She has to depend on others for everything it seems. She has always been the one who ran here and there picking up the pieces for all her so called friends. Now, she has found out who reallly are her friends. I fear, she had less than she thought. Don't we all? She does have a few good friends who check on her and when they get ready to run to the store, they call her and ask if she needs to go, or if she just wants to go to get out a while. I guess, or at least, I hope, that she is learning something through all of this.

Now, Casey has a new girlfriend. She is cute, and seems nice. She hasn't gone to church with him yet, so we are waiting. Of course, his sister is very skeptical. That's what big sisters do! (hee hee) He spends his time at school, at work, playing music, with his new girlfriend, or at Sonic, where she works. His grades were great, so he is doing homework and schoolwork sometimes in between there. He will begin to send in college applications and scholarship applications this month. We will do his financial aid as soon as we finish doing our TAXES!

So, you see...all is well...so far...