Mailings, Mailings, Mailings

It has been a packed day. From the moment I walked in the door at work I was constantly moving, including my 15 minute lunch. We currently have a huge mailer that requires labeling and mail prep. It is do out by the end of the week. We have this job as well as a number of other mailers with very tight deadlines. I spent most of the day in production mode. It did feel good to work out on the floor. I don't think I've laughed that much in a while. We had a good but busy time today.

-Norm

Weather today: Winds from the south with gusts of up to 45 mph. Rainy off and on. High of about 52 degrees.

The Presentation

At 1:00 PM today we recognized another care provider hero. She has retired due to "burn out". I have come to value her role and her friendship.
Each day I supervise my employees and then go home. At the end of their day, they go home where someone makes sure they remain safe, while also teaching life and independent living skills. When a resident/client gets a job or their own apartment/home in the community there is joy and sadness all at the same time. Alot has been expected of them but they have rose to the occasion. It is a team effort with each person doing their part. I truly believe it is not everyone who can provide these types of supports.
It was an honor to recognize another support person. As expected there were tears, hugs and cheers. She finished well.

-Norm

Weather today: 52 degrees and it rained all day long.

Elvis Has Left The Building.......................

I work in a workshop for people with developmental disabilities. When a client starts or leaves our program there is paper work that needs to be completed. This was the case this week. Last week I had a few clients transfer to other programs or move out of the area. All week I found myself putting off doing this paperwork. On Friday afternoon I figured out why.
One of the people who left the area was a gentleman who loved to impersonate Elvis. He would frequently bring his costume to work or bring it for special occasions. He had been in our program for about 15 years. I must say I am going to miss "Elvis". I think I am grieving his leaving. I really enjoyed him and his playing Elvis. It has not been the same place since. I did finally finish the needed paperwork late in the day on Friday.
On Friday we also had the opportunity to recognize some heroes. You see "Elvis"'s care provider is retiring after over 25 years. This is one reason "Elvis" moved away. Everyone signed a Certificate of Appreciation and I delivered it to them on my way home. Tomorrow we will make a similiar presentation to another care provider who has also retired. We will be doing this with everyone present. It should be a pretty emotional time. Lots of hugs, smiles and tears.

-Norm

Weather today: It began sprinkling about 1:30 PM and has been raining steady since then. 50 degrees was the high today.

Thinking About Sacrifice

I have been thinking this week about sacrifice. In Exodus in the Old Testament of the Holy Bible, God instructed Moses how to build a tabernacle so that He may have a home among His people. The basic layout of the Tabernacle was an Outer Court, an Inner Court and then at the very center the Most Holy Place (a.k.a. The Holy of Holies). Upon entering the Outer Court the first thing you see in front of you is the Altar of Sacrifice. In the back ground behind a curtain, is the Inner Court. I believe the picture here is that before we can have fellowship with God, a sacrifice must be offered. That sacrifice was God's One and Only Son, Jesus. I feel that to often we take His sacrifice for granted. Just saying a prayer to escape Hell's flames with no real intenion of allowing Jesus to change our lives. We must sacrifice our lives as well. Jesus sacrificed his life and we must surrender our's to complete the process. It is interesting that in tabernacle times a family would actually raise the animal they were going to sacrifice. The children probably became friends with the lamb only to have to offer it as a sacrifice. It cost them something. The sacrifice of that lamb did not forgive sin it only pushed it ahead until the next sacrifice was made one year later. When Jesus, the Lamb of God was sacrificed He was the Final Sacrifice for sin, giving us access to God once again and allowing us access to the Most Holy Places.

-Norm

Weather today: 65 degrees and partly cloudy.

Why In-n-Out Burger?

While at the In-n-Out in Las Vegas. Tina and I discussed what makes them at great place to eat.

We came up with the following list:

1.) Fresh Food-visably fresh, not frozen

2.) Excellent Value

3.) Good Customer Services

4.) Clean Restaurant

5.) Straight and To The Point Menu

The items on this list I believe can be said about each I-n-O location. We have visited a number of them and each is the same. Easy to see why they are the favorite of so many people and my favorite as well!

The scripture references on each item are also a plus (french fries wrapper, bottom of the cup).

-Norm

Weather today: 70+ degrees and not a cloud in the sky!

We're Home!

Well we're back from Las Vegas. I had to go there for a Comenserate Wage and Piece Rate Time Study training. In working with people with disabilities we are able to pay them less than minimum wage. We hold a special certificate from the Department of Labor (DOL). This training was an update on DOL regulations.
I flew there with my coworkers and Tina drove (11 hours!!). Our room was a very nice suite at the Desert Rose Inn, just off the Las Vegas strip. Tina and I walked alot. I think we pretty much covered the whole strip. A highlight of the trip was a personal tour of the pastry kitchen at Caeser's Palace by the Executive Pastry
Chef. It was a huge place and very impressive! Another highlight was lunch at In-n-Out with Tina and a trip to their Company Store. I purchased a hat, license plate frame and a key chain. As I mentioned earlier we walked ALOT! I think we went into almost every casino on the strip. We didn't drop any money into the machines but looked at everything. It is amazing the differences in architecture and themes from casino to casino.
I enjoyed the trip and the training. It was very nice to have Tina there.
It is so nice to be home.

-Norm

A Difficult Day

Have you ever tried to cram a weeks worth of work in just one day? That was my day today. I am going to Las Vegas for a three-day training for work, so the cramming was a necessity.

Weather today 65 degrees and became cooler as the day went on. North wind=arctic wind.

-Norm

Three Days Still Isn't Enough

The celebration of Lincoln's birthday made this a three day weekend. It seems these times off go very quickly. Family Movie Night at the girl's school was on Friday, Saturday was spent cleaning out the trunk of the Volvo and mowing the lawn at the church. We then arrive at Sunday, this one was a special one. Lincoln's Birthday ham dinner and dessert potluck at the church. It was interesting-I'll leave it at that. Today was spent getting things together for this evening's Parent Teacher Association (PTA) meeting, visiting Grace's class at school, washing our cars, and watching the kids ride the go-kart. Finishing off with the PTA meeting. I serve as Unit President. It requires quite abit of time, but I really enjoy the improvements we have been able to make. Playground equipment, bulletin board, marquee sign, not to mention annual art and snowflake contests. While at the school today I peeked out at the playground. It was/is very rewarding to see the children playing on playground equipment and swinging on swings that we were very instrumental in purchasing.

The weather today was 75 degrees and breezy. Rumor has it, it's suppose to start getting cooler.

I Can See Tomorrow From My Computer!

It became very apparent to me the other day while blogsurfing how small the world is. The internet seems to have made it even smaller. I was viewing posts that were actually dated with the next day's date on them. It is weird to see what's happening in the life of someone on a day that (in my part of the world) hasn't even happened yet. In case your wondering-it's Sunday. Hope and I are getting ready to play a challenging game of croquet.

Weather here today, sunny and 65+ degrees. Ahhhhhhhh February!

-Norm

aLiveNorm.

The Driver's Seat

I drive a Volvo. It is an older Volvo 240. We bought it from some friends. As with the ownership of any older vehicle, some re-assembly is required. This was the case with the driver's seat. It was such a gradual thing. One day the seat seemed to be fine. A few days later I noticed my back was hurting. I ending up spending most of last Saturday taking it apart and fixing it. It required the replacement of a bolt in the frame underneath and two screws to join the back support together (originally riveted). I couldn't see the problem until I got inside the seat. The weird thing is that I didn't start noticing the problem until the pain appeared. Then upon visual inspection I came to the conclusion "hey this thing needs to be taken apart!" I think life gets like this sometimes. I had a gradual problem that I didn't see as a problem. I was buzzing down the road at 70+ miles an hour while my comfortable situation is falling apart. It takes an inward view. I am happy to say, Monday's drive to work was alot more comfortable knowing I had dealt with the problem.

Greetings!

Hey, welcome to my blog. I have thought about doing this for quite sometime and now seems as good a time as any. I look forward to posting new things. I am not sure at this point what it all will be. Check back to see what I come up with.

-Norm