The Amazing Mind of a Child

We got to keep Colin this weekend. He is growing so fast. I got tickled at him when he first came in....his little mind went into overload. He saw the dog, the cat, the Rangers (on TV), Granny, Pops, his toys, and pizza all at the same time. He was just kept repeating, Buddy, Kitty, toys, pops, over and over.

I am so amazed at his memory. We all went over to Jan and Kelvins to visit. He remembered that when he stayed with us this summer, he and I went went over to Aunt Jans house every morning to go walking. We turned down her street and he started saying, "Aunt Jan's house...go walk". We got out of the car and he went to the garage door (which is where we used to go in) and waited for it to open. We finally got him in the front door but he kept saying "Aunt Jan...go walk". He knew the routine....Jan would get water out of the fridge and then we would go back out the garage door. He kept going to the fridge trying to open it and then going to the door saying "walk!". I finally decided to take him on a little walk, so Jan opened the garage door and we started out on our walk...well we got to the driveway and he went to the back of the car and said "stroller".. he always got to ride in the stroller on our previous walks. We went down to the end of the street and turned around. When we got back to Jan's house he went back to the garage door and said "open". I kept trying to get him to go to the front door with me but he wouldn't do it....he just stood by the garage and said "ready, set, go!!!" I guess those were supposed to be the magic words. I am just amazed that he remember all of that from a couple of months ago.

We all got a good laugh from him....when he was ready to go home he meant it! He must of gotten tired of trying to tell me that he wanted to get in the car....he went over to Jan and said, "I want to get in the car Janice". He has never called her that...it is alway Aunt Jan! It was so funny!

I enjoyed him so much this weekend...of course Jenni and Tim were here too and we had a great time with them also. Tim is in the doghouse with me...I forgot why but he is still there just in case he asked (tee-hee).

This and That

Well, you would think that I would post more often now that I am unemployed! I am surprised at how quickly time is passing. I was laid off a little over a month ago! I was afraid that I would be going crazy being at home after working for so many years butI find that some projects that I was going to do right away are still on the back burner.

I am enjoying my daily walks with Jan, it could only be better if Aarilyn could join us. We are walking a little over 4 miles a day now. One day we were really adventurous and walked 6 miles! I was able to put my toe onto the Grand Prairie side of the trail. That one time convinced me that my foot was not up to that many miles a day so we settled back into our 4 mile routine. I am a slow walker so I appreciate Jan slowing down for me.

I got to keep Colin (my little monkey) last week while Jeff and Sarah took their youth to camp. I had a great time! Jan and I even took him on our walks each morning. We had to adjust our route so we could take him by the park to play a little each morning. That little boy loves baseball...everything he picks up is a bat. He is always swinging. Sometimes you can't tell if he is batting or pitching...the motions are pretty much the same! In the evenings he would point to the TV and say "Rangers". He really watches the players and imitates their moves. It is so cute. I bought him a little T-Ball set but he just took out the extension pole and used it for a bat too. I guess we will put that aside for a little while!

Since I am home now I have been helping Charles mow in the evenings. I am very slow ( this darn foot thing again) but I hope I help a little. The only thing is....he doesn't pay well!! If ( no, when) he gives me a hard time (jokingly of course) about how I am mowing, I tell him he gets what he pays for! That keeps him in line!!

I am a person who has this terrible fear of rejection and this job hunting thing is testing my self esteem!! I have had 2 interviews and nothing came of either one of them. I have sent out many, many resumes on-line but there is just not a lot out there right now. I am really wanting to get out of the banking industry but when that is all you have done it is very difficult. I would like to work in an office somewhere but people don't equate banking with office skills even though I have typed, filed, answered phone, etc just like you would in any other business office. Oh well something will come up. Like I said I am enjoying being a lady of leisure but I just received my last paycheck and reality will soon hit me right square in the eyes!

The month of June is one of mixed emotions for me. On the 23rd Charles and I celebrated our 30th anniversary. Charles really wanted to go on a trip somewhere to celebrate however this unemployment thing kind of messed things up for us. This day now however is also the anniversary of David's (my brothers)passing. It has been 6 years now and we all still miss him so much. One of the things that I can remember so vividly about him was how he would always just shake his head and say "my sisters". Poor guy he had 3 sisters who sometimes would just flat out perplex him. He would just give us this look...Jan, Aarilyn, Mom, & Dad...you know the look! As a matter of fact if you have seen the Geico commercial ( the stack of money with the little eyes staring at you) where the guys are roofing a house...one of the guys gives "the look" when the other guy tells him "that's the money you could be saving with Geico". That's the look...and the guy even looks a little like David!!!!

Of course June is also the month that we lost little Nathan last year. His brief moment on this earth has touched so many lives....more than most of us will be able to touch in a lifetime. Josh, Taylor, Jan, Kelvin, and Kristin I am so sorry for the grief you still feel. You are always in my prayers.

Well like I said this was really a little bit of this and little bit of that. Nothing really exciting happening right now....but great and exciting things are coming in the near future!!
Eagerly awaiting the arrival of Miss Raegan Hannah Stapleton!!!!
Going on to Port Aransas in August with the kids (if I don't have a job)!
New job...somewhere sometime!!!!

Job Update

So this is why I have been awake since 2:00am...
We had a meeting with our boss yesterday concerning our job situation. We have gone from a department of nearly 30 people to just 6 (+1 EVP). We were told yesterday that in mid March 2 more people will be laid off. It is really getting tough. I received about 30 minutes of training on a job function that I will have to start doing by myself on Mondays. Also on Mondays I now will have to work the late shift (not too bad really). There is pretty much no way we can take any vacation time from now until we close up shop. We will still have to have the phone on from 7:00 am to 6:00 pm and was told that was not going to change. It is difficult to cover the phones and get your job done plus we have to start boxing up our records and getting them ready for storage. Our manager is still working with other departments to try to find jobs opening for us however there are hiring freezes in most departments.

Please pray the 7 of us that somehow in this terrible economic situation we can all find jobs quickly. While I am concerned for myself I am more comcerned for my coworkers most of whom are single (some single with children) and do not have a spouses income to fall back on.

Sorry if this is too rambling to follow....serious lack of sleep.