I am talking about the "Rain That Will Not End" here...my basement is so wet, I can touch the stones of the wall, and my hand is soaked, I kid thee not !!!

So here is our forecast: http://weather.yahoo.com/forecast/USMA0301.html--- looks like some RAIN is on the way...my clothes won't even dry in my dryer because it is so wet out...ah, well tis me taste of Ireland I guess...or Scotland...yes, Calgon, take me away !!

We had a bit of sun today, I asked my friend, Jen, why it was so bright out...she said it was due to an "Alien Invasion" -- I was certainly more likely to believe that than the SUN had come out !!

We had a great time discussing how the aliens would fit in their ID picture with their two heads...etc...at which point we deemed them contractors...a filthy word in the union environment...

So let's go there...

I am union by force, not by choice.  I don't care that in my office I am #1 in seniority...although it really does have its perks...the PRE-UNION phone company was equal...senior by choice, junior by force...but we didnt have to strike when the union wanted to strike (Praise God !!  I would have been out 17 weeks, no paycheck, had we struck in 89) and we still got the same opportunities as others...all overtime was figured the same, and no one told me to wear RED on THURSDAYS...as a protest I wear anything BUT red on Thursdays...I realize this is in tribute to some guy somewhere who stepped in front of a car while he was on a picket line and died...however...one can only take a tribute so far...if there were no union there would be no picket line; thus, no one would have died.  End of story. 

Now we wait for our contract in 2008...the stress is already beginning...suspicion of those offices who seem to be able to "take our calls"...why are WE the only "Encore Office" alive?  Blah blah blah WHY WHY WHY?   Geesh !!! TURN THE MIRROR AROUND !!!
Stop looking elsewhere and examine yourself...   It's how any business runs itself...including if YOU ran the business !!

Ah, venting feels good.  I will probably wear my red on Tuesday and my green on Thursday (no matter how bad it is to wear green on Thursdays according to Jr High lore).

And I prepare for the worst in 2008 with prayers for the best.  I am flexible...I go with the flow...I see a larger plan...You see, God provides where His children go...I am HIS child, and He will PROVIDE.  I don't worry (at least not yet) but I am cautious.

 

 

Take care, and those who are union, it's not a slam, just my own personal opinion...

 

God bless you all

Laurie

This weekend our Pastor and his wife, Sister Judy, were on a well-deserved vacation...and we were treated to guest speaker Pastor Craig Jenkins...what made his visit so special was not his, and his wife's presence, but the presence of two FULL pews of young men, clean cut, who clearly revered God and Christ as their savior.  It was SO HARD being part of the worship team to stand in front and see the heart of these young men...they wear their heart on their sleeve...I wanted to cry and praise Him the entire time...oh yeah, I cried, but they were tears of joy and understanding

 

Nothing could be greater than to have one of these young men introduce himself to me, and we talked for a long time after church, he plays the Congo drums himself...his dad is from Africa and plays naturally...and his son has followed suit.  I told him, "We NEED you up there !!!"

 

Let me tell you, these young men are being rehabilitated from drugs, alchohol...they are AMAZING...they make my cry with joy to see their worship...so they work at two different car washes in Brockton...I dont see how I can ever bring my XTerra up the street for a car wash again...I will drive to Brockton, for these men, their hearts are in their service.  I pray they lift me up to where they are by their example!!!!

 

We pray they join us again soon !!!  Like EVERY Sunday when they can come !!!! WOOHOO!

Wow, I can't believe it almost happened again..."What is June 24th ???"  But now I recall, despite my mind trying to block it from everything...

 

at 6:21AM I let my mum be with God.

 

I do believe she went because I know she was baptized at 16 which clearly was an age of intent...and she talked to me about the bible, just a tad,,, and she wanted something biblically better for me my whole life...

 

My mum was my best friend in the whole world.  Not only did I love her so much, but she was someone I could confide in...her guidance was always awesome...and as a teenager I remember not always liking her guidance...but soon after I understood it was great.

 

If I could apologize to Mum right now what would I say?  

 

1.  I am SO SORRY for the time, when I was 15, that I begged you to take me and my friends to the old movie theater in West Roxbury to see the Oliver and Camelot double feature...you held your ground with your NO...there must have been a part of you that ached to do this for me...but another part that knew that getting my way and USING my mum was not a good thing.  Mum, I am sorry.

 

2. I am wicked sorry for the time we saw the house for sale in Norwell on Old Oaken Bucket St...it was perfect for me and Geoffrey, but it was not perfect for you, yet I argued with you.  I am soooo sorry, but I am grateful we didn't buy that place, also !!

 

3.  I am so sorry for not coming to see you on June 23, 1992, at the hospital...Mum, I thought you were coming home...I had no idea that "coming home" meant that you were going with Jesus...I took a walk that night with Geoffrey and Colin, we were exploring our new neighborhood, Mum, I would never ever have done that if I knew it was the last time I would see you consiously alive.

 

 

Mum, I loved you best, I loved you most.  I used to hold onto you, even as an adult, because I thought that as long as I held onto you, you would never die.  Thank you for the times you rescued me during thunderstorms, you took me in your room where your fan was cooler than mine, you looked at my baby Colin and thought he was beautiful because he was really "your baby" and I was just doing the carrying...thank you for simple things -- making me toast with lots of butter and mushing down the crusts...for the 2-hour back tickles...for getting up at 2AM to give me that nasty tasting Tedrol so I could breathe for the next few hours...for giggling at the table when Colin did wrong and I was trying to discipline him...for making me feel like I was the most beautiful girl in the world no matter what...for rocking me in your rocking chair, even at age 18...for reading "Patrick and the Duckling" over and over to me...for loving my brothers and sister, even though they were so much older than me and I never truly understood how they fit in, but THEY knew and loved you very much, and especially for telling me over and over how Bobby was the one who truly cared, who truly helped...I see that now, and realized it then...not that I loved Wendy and Barry any less, but I recognized Bobby for the amazing person that he was and still is...I thank you for reading Colin the book about the dog who ran "lickety split" across the road...and for doing the puzzles, including the one with the shape that looked like a "loaf of bread"...Mum, I thank you for doing my laundry during Saturday Night Live when you would rather be laughing at the Church Lady...I thank you for brushing my hair all the way through 6th grade...it always looked awesome, and you still did a better job than I will ever do...thank you for beating on my back for 20 mins each morning and night to loosen the phlegm in my lungs that threatened to take my life while I lay on the dining room table...thank you for honoring my Daddy even though we both know he was far from perfect, he loved you fiercely and recognized all you did, and when he left, you always spoke well of him, yours was a forgiving, godly marriage...thank you for loving me, Mum, I miss you so much, I miss hugging you and feeling your soft skin and hair, I miss the scent of White Shoulders, here I am 14 years later wishing you could hold me tight again...I love you and I know I always will...thank you for everything.

Ok, I know my space has been very boring for a week, but let me tell you of the advances I have made !  First, I bought myself a digital camera !! And, I am also going to use a reliable webhost to upload some cool stuff (ok cool to me).   So I will be quite the web blogger once I get this thing up and running !!! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So tonight...it is the night of the senior prom, Colin didn't go because the one girl he wanted to go with him was not allowed to go ( she is a sophmore)  I put down a curfew of 12AM...and he couldn't meet it...well, neither could his friend, so I told them, have Brian come here and chill till tomorrow, that way both of you are safe, and I won't have to worry about you...they took me up on the offer...I made them bacon cheeseburgers and they were happy !!!  Now they are upstairs messin around, but my one reassurance is they will both be alive tomorrow and not the stuff of the local newspapers...Praise God for He is Good, His love endures forever !!!!