In the last week I have managed to break both my glasses and my backup glasses, so now I am sitting in my living room watching television and playing on the web in my sunglasses.
WHYYYYYY did I not make an eye appointment when I broke the first pair?! Today I called the 3 (really, Tricare? 3??) eye doctors in my area that take my insurance, and the first appointment isn't for more than 2 weeks. Add to that the fact that I wear frameless glasses, so they have to be sent out adding another 2-3 weeks before I get glasses, and I am going to be looking all cool (or like I am trying to hide a black eye) for quite a while.
Hopefully, I will be able to get in to WalMart or Lenscrafters or the like to at least get the eye exam sooner. I will have to pay out of pocket, but really, how long can I live in sunglasses? After all, I do have a teenage boy, and I won't be able to hear anything over his laughter if I sit around like this all day.
The bright side is, I do have the Rx sunglasses (well darkened bright side, anyway) because without them I wouldn't even be able to drive, and THAT would be fun...NOT!
Friday, February 25, 2011
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Yesterday I signed my own death warrant
Also known as joining a gym. Not only did I join a gym, but I prepaid for 4 months because we are moving, and they usually only do 1 or 2 year contracts. The exception: military. Thank you Anytime Fitness. I really wanted to wait procrastinate until we moved...got a house...unpacked...settled...died to join a gym, but since the gym was willing to work with our short term status they took away my second best excuse (first best being this pesky herniated disk that refuses to heal).
Today I took the first steps (no pun intended)to serve that warrant. I actually went to the gym. Wisely, (<--- I don't get to say that much), I went immediately after dropping Brendan off at the fire station. Do not go home. Do not use brain cells. Only listen to the radio and drive blindly to the gym or torture chamber. You choose. It is only semantics anyway. I managed to survive 15 minutes on the elliptical. My heart rate was too high at 195, so my mini goal right now is to work up to 20 minutes by Monday, and to get my heart rate down. I'm not sure what is a reasonable time for that one, though, so I will go will by the end of next week. Hmmm. I will have to do some research on that one.
So far the gym costs are $285 per visit. I guess I will have to go more because, well I don't know anyone who gets paid $1200 per hour - much less anyone living in this house!
Today I took the first steps (no pun intended)to serve that warrant. I actually went to the gym. Wisely, (<--- I don't get to say that much), I went immediately after dropping Brendan off at the fire station. Do not go home. Do not use brain cells. Only listen to the radio and drive blindly to the gym or torture chamber. You choose. It is only semantics anyway. I managed to survive 15 minutes on the elliptical. My heart rate was too high at 195, so my mini goal right now is to work up to 20 minutes by Monday, and to get my heart rate down. I'm not sure what is a reasonable time for that one, though, so I will go will by the end of next week. Hmmm. I will have to do some research on that one.
So far the gym costs are $285 per visit. I guess I will have to go more because, well I don't know anyone who gets paid $1200 per hour - much less anyone living in this house!
Sunday, February 6, 2011
Lean on What???!
Proverbs 3: 5-6 “Trust in the LORD with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct your paths.”
We hear this verse so often, that it has almost become cliché. You find it printed on calendars, pens and dish towels. It is repeated often when it is “your path”. You don't hear it so often when it is “My path.”
With Michael retiring from the Air Force in just a few months, we have had to make some quick decisions without a lot of information, and it is really just starting. Michael has been applying for jobs left and right. He wants to continue working for the government, so that means his applications have been all over the US. The problem with applying all over the US is that you are applying ALL over the US. Which means even more decisions.
Our first big decision came just before Christmas with a job offer in Alaska. Prior to this he has been too far out from actual retirement for a position to be held for him. Now we had to face the reality of moving about as far away from our family as physically possible and still be in the same country. On the plus side the pay was right, it would get his foot in the door for a government job, and we could leisurely explore a beautiful state. On the negative side, our families would be far away, and it would not be a quick car ride to get to them if we needed to, and our almost 18 year old son pretty much insisted he would not go to Alaska—whether that would hold true in actuality depended on his ability to...I don't know...get a JOB! Another big negative...We had only ½ of a day to make a decision. That is not a lot of time to decide to uproot your entire family and move several thousand miles away to an area that you are not at familiar with. After a brief time in prayer and a walk or two around the block we decided to turn down the position.
After that Michael only applied for jobs in areas we would actually be willing to move to. This brings us to the next few applications Las Vegas, Charleston, San Antonio and Columbus, MS. We were really hoping for Charleston or Columbus, preferably Columbus. It would be almost perfect, and when I reasoned it out in my head it made perfect sense. It was closer to my cousin's house. The housing was relatively inexpensive, same pay as the Alaska job, and it was a position that Michael would have some authority in. See? Just right. You know other than Moody or Vandenberg, but they don't have openings right now.
Enter: the week before last. Michael gets an email that the positions in San Antonio and Columbus have closed out and his application was forwarded to the hiring authority. On Wednesday Brendan goes to youth group, and they do a talk about Proverbs 3: 5-6. Okay, nothing unusual. No flags here. Then comes Thursday...starting to do homework for Beth Moore's Esther study that I am doing, before I start I start thinking about the 2 applications that have been forwarded. What if he was offered the job in San Antonio, but the job in Mississippi was still pending? How would we decide whether to take the job or not? We don't want to keep turn down work in this economy hoping for the “perfect job”.
So, I decided to pray that if the Mississippi job was the right job for our family that they would contact Michael first. Then “that the right job would contact us soon. Maybe even this morning.” I went on to pray that I would be open to where God wants us to be. This is not a prayer to be taken lightly, and I didn't. I knew going into it that I was opening myself up to a result that I did not necessarily want.
Not 10 minutes later Michael calls. It turns out that he asked his boss if he would call the person hiring in Mississippi to put in a word for him. His response? Sure I could do that, but last night I was called by the person hiring in South Dakota, and he wants to hire you. There is a bit of back story to this. Ever since Michael was stationed in South Dakota he has wanted to go back. While we were there people were talking about retiring. Now, 5 years later someone is retiring, and retiring right when Michael is looking for a job.
So, leaning on my understanding, Mississippi is perfect, but apparently God has other plans. More evidence? The Michael's application was forwarded to the Charleston job and the same day someone else was selected. That means they already had someone in mind when they put out the job announcement—not entirely uncommon, and...we have heard nothing from Mississippi or San Antonio, and to top it all off, the Las Vegas job was canceled all together. Oh, the job that was supposed to open up here in January? Rumor has it the position will not be filled.
Could I be reading the situation totally wrong? Of course, but at this point in time it appears that all roads lead to South Dakota. Hmmm...take that Rome.
We hear this verse so often, that it has almost become cliché. You find it printed on calendars, pens and dish towels. It is repeated often when it is “your path”. You don't hear it so often when it is “My path.”
With Michael retiring from the Air Force in just a few months, we have had to make some quick decisions without a lot of information, and it is really just starting. Michael has been applying for jobs left and right. He wants to continue working for the government, so that means his applications have been all over the US. The problem with applying all over the US is that you are applying ALL over the US. Which means even more decisions.
Our first big decision came just before Christmas with a job offer in Alaska. Prior to this he has been too far out from actual retirement for a position to be held for him. Now we had to face the reality of moving about as far away from our family as physically possible and still be in the same country. On the plus side the pay was right, it would get his foot in the door for a government job, and we could leisurely explore a beautiful state. On the negative side, our families would be far away, and it would not be a quick car ride to get to them if we needed to, and our almost 18 year old son pretty much insisted he would not go to Alaska—whether that would hold true in actuality depended on his ability to...I don't know...get a JOB! Another big negative...We had only ½ of a day to make a decision. That is not a lot of time to decide to uproot your entire family and move several thousand miles away to an area that you are not at familiar with. After a brief time in prayer and a walk or two around the block we decided to turn down the position.
After that Michael only applied for jobs in areas we would actually be willing to move to. This brings us to the next few applications Las Vegas, Charleston, San Antonio and Columbus, MS. We were really hoping for Charleston or Columbus, preferably Columbus. It would be almost perfect, and when I reasoned it out in my head it made perfect sense. It was closer to my cousin's house. The housing was relatively inexpensive, same pay as the Alaska job, and it was a position that Michael would have some authority in. See? Just right. You know other than Moody or Vandenberg, but they don't have openings right now.
Enter: the week before last. Michael gets an email that the positions in San Antonio and Columbus have closed out and his application was forwarded to the hiring authority. On Wednesday Brendan goes to youth group, and they do a talk about Proverbs 3: 5-6. Okay, nothing unusual. No flags here. Then comes Thursday...starting to do homework for Beth Moore's Esther study that I am doing, before I start I start thinking about the 2 applications that have been forwarded. What if he was offered the job in San Antonio, but the job in Mississippi was still pending? How would we decide whether to take the job or not? We don't want to keep turn down work in this economy hoping for the “perfect job”.
So, I decided to pray that if the Mississippi job was the right job for our family that they would contact Michael first. Then “that the right job would contact us soon. Maybe even this morning.” I went on to pray that I would be open to where God wants us to be. This is not a prayer to be taken lightly, and I didn't. I knew going into it that I was opening myself up to a result that I did not necessarily want.
Not 10 minutes later Michael calls. It turns out that he asked his boss if he would call the person hiring in Mississippi to put in a word for him. His response? Sure I could do that, but last night I was called by the person hiring in South Dakota, and he wants to hire you. There is a bit of back story to this. Ever since Michael was stationed in South Dakota he has wanted to go back. While we were there people were talking about retiring. Now, 5 years later someone is retiring, and retiring right when Michael is looking for a job.
So, leaning on my understanding, Mississippi is perfect, but apparently God has other plans. More evidence? The Michael's application was forwarded to the Charleston job and the same day someone else was selected. That means they already had someone in mind when they put out the job announcement—not entirely uncommon, and...we have heard nothing from Mississippi or San Antonio, and to top it all off, the Las Vegas job was canceled all together. Oh, the job that was supposed to open up here in January? Rumor has it the position will not be filled.
Could I be reading the situation totally wrong? Of course, but at this point in time it appears that all roads lead to South Dakota. Hmmm...take that Rome.
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