Anticipation

I'm leaving work today at noon.  It is now about a quarter till and I don't really have enough time to start something else before I go.  I'm not usually a clock-watcher, but today I am.

Come on noon!

Define 'Overwhelm'

o·ver·whelm   

tr.v. o·ver·whelmed, o·ver·whelm·ing, o·ver·whelms

   1. To surge over and submerge; engulf: waves overwhelming the rocky shoreline.

   2.

         a. To defeat completely and decisively: Our team overwhelmed the visitors by 40 points.

         b. To affect deeply in mind or emotion: Despair overwhelmed me.

   3. To present with an excessive amount: They overwhelmed us with expensive gifts.

   4. To turn over; upset: The small craft was overwhelmed by the enormous waves.

o·ver·whelm·ing   

adj.

    Overpowering in effect or strength: overwhelming joy; an overwhelming majority. 

_________

How about overwhelming workload?  Overwhelming demands?

Being the only person at a company who can do certain things is both a blessing and a curse.  While I always know I'm needed, I seem to be needed by more people at a time than I can handle.  This is especially true when there is one overarching project that I am supposed to be completing during the time that everyone is doing the needing.  

By the way, someone needs that one project completed, too.

Those that I work with and work for tell me they understand my situation and bear me no ill will, but it appears to me that I am trying to do so many things at once, that I am not sure any of them is getting done satisfactorily.  At least I am not sure I am happy with what I am producing.  I am definitely not happy with the progress I am making on the one project.

It is also placing a strain on my family life.  I stay at the office so late, I don't get to eat meals with Lynn and Jenna.  Some nights, I barely get home in time to put Jenna to bed.  Lynn and I don't get to talk much, unless you count my snoring.

Anyway, Fall Break is here, and Lynn and Jenna are going to be out of town visiting family next week.  I am going to try to work like a madman early next week to get this one project finished.  Maybe things will settle into more of a routine after that.  The other good news is that the customer is holding a rather large retainage until my part is completed.  I will get a decent commission from that once it is done.

On another note, this weekend, I am going to West Tennessee with Lynn & Jenna to visit her family.  We say that is why we are going, but the real reason is that this weekend is the annual Reelfoot Lake Craft Fair.  Lynn never misses it.  I don't either. (Okay, I missed it once, but she regretted it because there was no one to carry the packages.)  It's really pretty impressive.  Vendors are there from all over the US.  I makes for an interesting day out.  Besides, we get to eat well at The Blue Bank, one of the local restaurants.

Unfortunately, when I visit the in-laws, I don't have internet access.  I won't be posting while I am there. :(

Whose Time is it, Anyway?

I really despise getting up early in the morning, but there is something peaceful about being the only one up.  I guess this is my 'me' time.  I've got an extra fifteen minutes to myself.  No one else is stirring.

It's funny how your life can seem to belong to everyone else but yourself.  Most days, I get up so I can go to work.  I wait until the last possible minute to get up, so, after I'm ready, it's time to go.  I get some solitude in the drive, but I don't get to do whatever I want...I can't write, for instance.  With the advent of cell phones and 'two-way', my drive to work is invariably interrupted before I'm even at the office.  Can't they wait ten more minutes?  

While I'm at work, I'm thinking about the things I need to do for home...go pick up this or that; be home in time for Jenna's whatever; am I going to make enough this week to make ends meet?  When I get home, there are things to do, places to be.  The house is small so there is not much alone time and, just when I get a breather and begin to write or whatever, there is this 'one more thing' that has to be done.  

Then, it is time to put Jenna to bed.  I know she is in Junior High now, but I'm still Daddy to her, so I almost always tuck her in with a bedtime story.  I've been doing it for at least ten of her nearly twelve years, and, as long as she keeps asking, I will keep doing it.

After Jenna is in bed, Lynn and I finally have a chance to talk, to get to know each other again for another day.  And, although I long to get back to whatever I was doing for myself, I know that this time with Lynn is necessary to maintain our relationship.  Just because we have been married for nearly 17 years (and dated six and a half years before that) does not mean we can stop getting to know each other.  So, I stay up later than I should, so that we can get to know each other for another day.  Then we go to bed and it starts over again.

Life has a rhythm, and it is important for us to have this kind of consistency.  I just wish the drummer would slow the beat down a bit.  Do I sound selfish.  To some who read this, I probably do.  But there are others who understand what I'm talking about.  I may be selfish, but I do put aside those desires to take time for my family...my marriage.  So, is having the desire a selfish act?  Is relishing those times when the desire is fulfilled selfish?  I don't think so.  If I were to shirk my duties as employee or my obligations as father or my commitment as husband, then I would be guilty of selfishness.  But I still have to guard myself against resenting those things because of my desire for 'my time'.

The sad thing is that I just re-read everything above, and I have been the most selfish I could be.  No where did I mention time with God.  All the rest is nothing without that.  When did I do that last.  I could have been doing it now.  In a way, I guess I am, because if I weren't, I would not have gotten that message from Him.  The point is this: Unless I cultivate the relationship I have with the Father, none of the other matters, especially the 'me time'.  I have got to put everything back in order...God, family, me.

Final Thoughts for the Evening --

Last night, my sixth grade daughter went to her first homecoming game.  It was Junior High, but it was still a first.  It's the 'first' first for her and I know it won't be her last first.  It is just a first that has come much too soon for me.  The fact that she is called a 'youth' at church doesn't help either.  My little girl isn't so little anymore.  I wasn't even home from work in time to see her go.

Anyway, a football game still took place...almost.  As I understand it, shortly after halftime, the lights went out and the game was called due to darkness.

Nevertheless, my Junior High daughter just asked me to come read to her at bedtime.  I guess she is still my little girl.

-tear-

Okay, this is cool --

I've got this great program call "The Journal". It's got built-in publish to blog features. It took all of 30 seconds to set up and it works great! This is one shareware I will have to buy because it is so flexible. I've looked at it before, but never at the blog feature.

If you're interested, you can get it at www.DavidRM.com. It's only $39.95. I've looked at OneNote by Micro$oft, but it's about $80 (unless it's installed on a new PC) and it does similar things but it can't post directly to a blog. It doesn't seem nearly as intuitive to me, either. If I had a tablet PC, it might make more sense.

Okay, that's my free plug for the day.

I'm back...but no one knows I left...

so did I really leave? I was messing around and found this blog I created over a year ago. There hasn't been any activity on it in so long (like ever) that anyone who has stumbled across it in the past has probably written it off as a dead blog. Well, I'm here to revive it.

This is a site about very little. I have no real focus in my life, so this blog will have none either. I occassionally try to be witty. It doesn't usually work, so try to look over it.

Since nothing really exciting happens in my life, things may be a bit boring..Except, I'm pretty sure most of you feel that nothing happens in your life either, so, maybe consider this your story as well.

The most exciting day around our place is usually Saturday, when we realize that there are still 6 days until payday and we have only one day of money left. Then, on, let's say Monday, the dryer breaks down...with a load of wet clothes in it...and is not discovered until we are ready to put the clothes that are still in the washer in the dryer. We only need to do that step because all the towels in the house are dirty and we really would like to take another shower or two before the week is over. So, while the washer is washing the towels, I take the dryer apart and discover that I can't even make a temporary repair without a $50.00 part...at 10 PM. So I take the whole lot of wet clothes to the laundramat eight miles away and dry them there. Only, I waste 75 cents in a dryer there that has the same problem as ours. The good news is I was the only one in the laundamat (at midnight) and I plenty of peace and quiet to read.

So...that's a sample of life in my skin.