Girls Day Out

 Beth had a doctor's appointment last Friday. Just a follow up to go over the results of her lab work. Everything's normal. She's not in perimenopause but I'm thankful her cycle is regulated now. We don't know how it happened, we're not doing anything different, medication is the same, but my guess is... answered prayer. 

 

 She does retain water in her legs so the doctor suggested we get her an automann or something so she can raise her legs when she's sitting. So when we left the doctor we headed to a furniture store. She liked almost every chair she sat in. Here she's taking pictures of some of her favorites.

 

 Trying to find the controls...

 

 We haven't bought anything yet. She needs to save up a little more money first, plus we want to check a few other stores.

 

From there we headed to the mall. We were a little early for the movie so we stopped at the food court for a snack. Pizza bites at our favorite place!

 

While we were eating she held her hands up by her shoulders, then pointed down toward her lap and said, "This good for me. Getting out." We talked about how important it is to get good exercise every day. Even though she goes out four days a week, plus does chores around the house she spends too much time watching TV. It's become that way for all three of us. When Chuck and I sit down at the end of the day, we pull out our phones and spend a few hours just scrolling or playing games. It's so hard to stop!

 

Well, after we ate we walked across a small section of the parking lot to the theater.

 

 She's been wanting to see this since it came out ~

 

It was good. Our take-away was that it's okay to feel a little anxiety sometimes, or to be scared or sad. But we need to talk to someone about it, share with our family or friends and not let the emotions consume us. Galatians 6:2 - Carry each others burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.

 

I like that it opens the door for conversations about what we all seem to be going through lately. I was recently listening to Priscilla Shirer and she mentioned how we didn't just go through a medical pandemic. We're also going through a political pandemic. And a social pandemic. I agree.

 

I don't know where I'd be without the Lord. Knowing that He is in complete control brings me peace of mind. 

 

Thanks for reading. I hope you have a wonderful day! 

 

  

Chop Chop, Twelve, and Snow!

This past week for me has been much more manageable than last week. I hope you've had a good week too.

Beth and I spent a day shopping. Went to the mall for the first time in a very long time. I was hoping it would be all decorated for Christmas but all they had was a few lights hanging from the ceiling. That was a little disappointing. But we found a few gifts and after a while we got hungry so we stopped at our favorite place, Auntie Anne's! It was a fun mother-daughter day!

 

Diana and Peter found their tree! They drove up into the mountains a cut it down themselves. Their first tree on the west coast. 💖

 

Ally turned 12! This beautiful, smart, funny, kind girl is twelve years old! She came over Thursday afternoon and we made chocolate chip cookies. She didn't want cake for her birthday, she wanted MY chocolate chip cookies! I love this girl! Afterward we all met at Red Robin and she opened her presents. She's growing up too fast!

 

The next day she and Sharaya left for a weekend up in the mountains. They woke up the first morning to snow!! I was a little jealous. They had a fun, relaxing time with friends. (I pulled these from her Instagram page.)

 Do you have your tree yet? 

Do you celebrate Hanukkah?

Remember The Phrase 'Pounding The Pavement'?

Beth has had so many jobs over the years. For a while she worked in the dining room at a McDonalds but at her break time they allowed her to have a free snack like fries or whatever and it got to the point that's the only reason she would work. She wouldn't do a good job, instead she would just quickly swipe a table or sort of sweep just so she could go get her snack. It became all about the food.

She worked at Creation Station for a short time. It was a store filled with stuff kids could use to create; paper towel rolls, empty spools of thread, cotton balls, springs, lids... schools would have field trips to this place and they would make anything they wanted. 

(These are from Google.)

When they were done, Beth would help clean up, put everything away and prepare the space for the next group. It was a really good fit and she liked it there, but unfortunately they went out of business.

She worked at The Dollar Tree but there were some issues between the manager and other co-workers (personality conflicts and arguments at work) and her job coach decided it was too toxic.

She worked a short time at Auntie Anne's, offering samples to shoppers. But she's very shy and wouldn't actually talk to anyone. She'd just stand there, then her feet would ache and her back would hurt... just not a good fit.

Then her job coach found Little Caesars. This store went out of their way to hire and train and include people with special needs. Beth was brought in to fold boxes and everyone there loved her!

 

The one problem was it's location. The store was about 45 minutes to an hour from our house by car. The DART bus however, would make numerous stops along the way and she'd end up being on the bus for 2-3 hours each way. And she didn't get off work until 8pm so that made for some long days and very late nights.

They found another LC closer to our home and that has worked out so well!

She's been with the company now for a little over 6 years and she folds about 450-500 boxes in a 3 hour shift. About a month ago she told me that she likes it so much that she wishes she could do it every single day! So... I called her job coach (I love the way the Lord works!) and when she went in to talk to the manager, he was folding boxes! She told him that Beth wanted to work more hours and... "Yes!! I hate folding boxes!" So he put down the box and immediately added her to the schedule!

So now she's working 3 days a week. At a job she absolutely loves. Course, the bigger paycheck doesn't hurt either!

And I learned today that Beth has made such an impact on them, they're hiring another person with special needs! 

 

So what kind of jobs have you had over the years? Which one was your favorite?

It Wasn't As Crazy As We Expected

A few days after Christmas Beth and I ventured to the mall. We both got gift cards for Christmas and we really wanted to spend them! I usually don't go anywhere near a shopping mall before or after the holidays but for some reason we decided to be brave and try it. 

It wasn't as bad as we were expecting. Maybe all the craziness of returning gifts and getting those after Christmas deals had worn off.

We wandered through JC Penney and Beth found some pajamas and I got a new bathrobe.

 

After we'd been out for a while we both got really hungry and realized neither one of us had eaten any dinner! So we went to the only obvious place to eat at the mall... 

Yummy!!

 

Before we left we stopped to buy some new calendars.

 

When we got home we pulled out last years calendars and filled in people's birthdays and anniversaries... do you do that too? Go month by month and write in all the personal dates that aren't already printed?

Beth pointed out everyone's birthday to make sure I didn't miss anyone. 

 

 We hope you all had a great time over the holidays!

Happy New Year!