Ain't Nothing Gonna Break My Stride...

It seems that recently I have been hitting so many roadblocks in life. The path that I have chosen for where I should be headed, either during my day, during the month, or direction for the rest of my life, seems to be riddled with potholes, distractions, and fires that crop up that require immediate attention.

Tonight as I was driving home, listening to 80s on 8 on my satellite radio, Matthew Wilder's song came on (just a sidebar....ah the 80s. Some pretty awesome music came out of that decade! Admittedly, some pretty bad music as well...). Aside from the horribly improper use of the English language, it struck me that this song should become my temporary battle cry. As the chorus goes, "Ain't nothing gonna break my stride. Nobody gonna slow me down, oh no, I got to keep on moving."

That's really what I have to do. Instead of letting these distractions completely engulf me and alter my track, I need to deal with them and keep moving on! Life has been ridiculously busy, which for me always increses my stress and feeling of being overwhelmed. With my propensity to be a control freak (you can stop rolling your eyes now) feeling like this equals complete disfunction. Which does not make this Control Freak happy. That being said, Mr. Wilder's song brought to me an "AHA" moment and a new outlook on how to handle stress. At least for today!

Finally, I would like to close with probably my favorite poem by Shel Silverstein. This poem has been especially applicable today, because it seemed that everything I tried to do, I had forgotten a piece of whatever it was I needed and had to double back and find said item before moving on. Hope your day has been a little smoother!

"Loser"

Mama said I'd lose my head
If it wasn't fastened on.
Today I guess it wasn't
'Cause while playing with my cousin
It fell off and rolled away
And now it's gone.

And I can't look for it
'Cause my eyes are in it,
And I can't call to it
'Cause my mouth is on it
(Couldn't hear me anyway
'Cause my hears are on it),
Can't even think about it
'Cause my brain is in it.
So I guess I'll sit down
On this rock
And rest for just a minute....

(Picture shows man with no head sitting on "rock" that is really his head!).

I thank God that my head is attached.

How time flies....

About 4 years ago three women met through work and became friends. They lived in different cities, had been married different lengths of time, but all worked with people with disabilities. Together they talked about life and all dreamed about holding newborns in their arms....

Sometime in the early fall of 2005, Kim announced she was pregnant. All the girls were very happy! A couple of weeks later, it was Amie's turn to announce the good news. Two babies to come in the Spring....it was very exciting news. And finally, right after Halloween, Jennifer announced that a third babe would be added to the mix in early summer 2006.

As the babies and Mommies grew, the women laughed and cried, ached and endured pains, shared stories of cravings, morning sickness, and ever expanding bodies.

"It's a Girl" was exclaimed by each Mama as pregnancies progressed. The babies, it seems, were destined to be friends.

May 6th Kim welcomed Gianna Maria into the world.

A mere 10 days later, May 16th brought Lydia Simone into her mother, Amie's arms.

And finally on June 30th Morgan Elisabeth was born, completing the trio.

The girls had their first meeting at Texas Roadhouse on September 3, 2006.

And have been friends ever since...

Not Me! Monday

The following are some things that certainly did NOT take place in our house in the past week.

Morgan definitely did NOT use her new-found skill of locking doors to lock the babysitter out of the house while the babysitter was attempting to help a neighbor who HAD locked herself out, leaving open the possibilities for her and James to run amuck. I did NOT receive a frantic call from the babysitter asking how to get back into the house. That didn't happen because we do NOT lock doors in our house, and Morgan was NOT doing it to be mischievous and both kids are always well behaved. Always.

I did NOT have to tell Morgan five times to not touch the latch to the public toilet stall door. And since I didn't have to do that, she did NOT slide the latch and let the door swing wide open while I was, I should say, otherwise occupied. She also did NOT re-close the door and attempt to crawl under the door while I was still...um...busy. Not only does she know that the bathroom floor is gross, but she is always well behaved. I believe I made that clear already.

While sitting on the couch watching TV, I did NOT think I was having a hot flash. This did NOT happen because I had not accidentally turned on the heating pad when I sat down on the couch. This is because I NEVER leave stuff like that sitting around. Everything in my house is always in it's assigned "place".

I did NOT seriously consider dumping all of my client files into a drawer and forget about them until the new person gets to take over in July. This wouldn't happen because I would NEVER let my client files grow to over 25 that need attention, and I definitely would not spend time blogging about them in an attempt to put off working on them. Nope, not me!

I also did NOT secretly send one co-worker "the stink eye" because she kindly reminded me that I have not input data into her database in THREE months. That is because, like my client files, I always keep up with recording government data. It's that important to me.

I did NOT contemplate how horrible it would be if Morgan could just go back to wearing diapers because running to the bathroom every 30 minutes is NOT totally annoying and it does NOT make it impossible to get anything else done. That is because I am seriously dedicated to her potty training. I swear!

I am really glad that these things didn't happen, because if they had I most certainly would be crazy. Whew, what a relief to know I am not! Stop over to MckMama's blog to read about more things that did not happen in the past few days/weeks.

How many of YOU?

My good friend and fellow blogger, Jim, learned about this site while listening to the radio Friday afternoon. I thought it would be fun to see how many of me there are in the world (but thankfully, there is only one ME...that I know of). I am not sure where this site gets it's information, but it's pretty neat nonetheless.


Jennifer

HowManyOfMe.com

There are 42 people with my name in the U.S.A. How many have your name?

Patrick

HowManyOfMe.com

There are 17 people with my name in the U.S.A. How many have your name?

Morgan

HowManyOfMe.com

There are 2 people with my name in the U.S.A. How many have your name?

Jen (with maiden name)

HowManyOfMe.com

There are 4 people with my name in the U.S.A. How many have your name?

Bailey (our dog)

HowManyOfMe.com

There are 1 or fewer people with my name in the U.S.A. How many have your name?

Morgan wins the prize as the most unique person in our family. Thankfully, it seems that no one shares the same name as our dog, and I was more unique (name wise) when I was single.

How about yours?

Green Thumbs

Ah spring. Time to open the windows for fresh air, drag out the outside toys, dig up sandals and shorts, and plant flowers. I love flowers. They are so beautiful and add so much color to the world. Every year I plant flowers around our house. But here's a confession....I HATE taking care of the flowers!

I hate planting them.

I hate watering them.

I hate pruning them.

I hate everything about outside work. I could whine and complain about my allergies or how much my back hurts from stooping over, etc. But it all really comes down to the fact that I think flowers are pretty, but want nothing to do with getting them from the greenhouse to my front walk. Honestly if it was up to me, I'd hire someone to come plant silk flowers in the beginning of spring and have someone come back to take them out in the fall.

This spring as I walked through the greenhouse looking for some pretty colors to compliment each other, Morgan was having a wonderful time looking at the "posies". She was able to pick one flower to plant this year. She chose a pretty yellow and purple flowered plant. I have NO idea what it is, but it is pretty. Today, between dodging rain drops, we planted her flower.

She had such a good time. She even acquiesed to wearing food handlers gloves that were WAY too big because I didn't want her getting the Miracle Grow potting soil on her hands.

She loved that I let her help me, she was excited to plant HER flower, and she was even more excited when I told her I would get her a pair of real gloves so when we go to her Great-Grandma's house next weekend she will be able to help plant Grandma's garden.

Once we were done, she proudly watered her flower and we placed it near the house so if it is going to frost I can bring it in. Maybe I am grooming my future gardener/flower planter!

Happy Mother's Day

Hope your day was as great as mine, and the smiles you got from your babies, no matter how old, were this good!

And happy 300th post to this blog!

It's the reason I do my job

It's been a very long week at work. I am trying to get caught up from being out an entire month (working in different counties around the state). Voicemails were sky high, paperwork is even worse. On top of that other "fires" have cropped up over the week. Clients are calling, upset that this or that isn't working. Bosses are calling demanding information yesterday. Staff are calling needing items. It's just been crazy. And as some of my colleagues and I have been saying all week, "It STILL isn't Friday at 5:00" (although I am a short 14 minutes away from it BEING Friday at 5:00). It's so easy to get burned out doing social service work. So many problems that need fixed and can't be fixed by one person.

HOWEVER...every once in a while God places a person on my path (or on the phone in this instance) that makes doing what I do worth all the hassles.

One of my jobs here is to help folks who receive Social Security disability benefits understand how earnings from a job will impact their health and monetary benefits. With the current state of the country's recession and the fact that many of my individuals are trying to support families on $674 a MONTH, a lot of the folks I talk to are desperate.

Most days I let my voicemail screen my calls at work. Sometimes because I really need to get something else done, but most times because I get so many "not my area" calls transferred to me that I just don't have time to deal with them.

Today has been the craziest day. I cannot see the top of my desk for mountains of papers. I started 5 projects and honestly can't say if one actually got completed. But sometimes, when my phone rings, I just get the feeling that maybe I should answer it. A lot of those times it is my supervisor calling, so I am glad that I picked up the phone.

Today I was too. I spoke with a woman with multiple disabilities. She is raising two small children, and the three of them are attempting to live on $674 a month. I went through my spiel about how work will affect her benefits yada, yada, yada. For a moment she was silent. Then she said to me "You mean I can work?" I said yes. She said to me "You have just saved my life. Financially you just saved my life. Thank you."

In that moment I was reminded that what I do IS important, to folks who really do need to hear that there is help out there, even if it is just the opportunity to look for a job. Thank you Lord for sending that woman to me. It sure makes it all worth it.

Remembering the Circus

We all had such a great time at the circus on April 25th. I am sure that Morgan will enjoy many more in the years to come.

Walking to the circus with Lydia and her Grandma

Daddies and Daughters

Long Leg Man signing Morgan's program

An elephant brough the flag in to start the show

Amazed

This is not a posed picture! Like Daddy, like daughter.

Saw this smile all afternoon!

The Ring Master (wow, what a voice!)

Morgan loved the tigers
Me and Lydia

You haven't been to the circus unless you've seen some elephant behinds!

Talk about supporting a heavy load...


Circus Memories

Crazy Eights

Since I need a break from drowning in a sea of paperwork that I have absolutely NO desire to do, I thought I'd participate in this quiz. If you feel you want to follow suit, I'll be sure to read them! If not, just enjoy reading mine.

8 things I am looking forward to:

1) My parents coming home for Morgan's birthday
2) A new job title and duties (no more direct service!!) on July 1
3) Meeting my new niece/nephew in December (Patrick's sister is expecting again)
4) Seeing Les Miserables in Pittsburgh (AGAIN) this summer
5) Having an organized basement (hahaha, as if....)
6) Making money while getting rid of our junk at a yard sale
7) Morgan being fully potty trained!!!
8) Burning mountains of unfiled paperwork and starting "over"

8 things I did yesterday (Monday)

1) Scooped poop out of bathtub water
2) Made egg noodles and butter for dinner since I forgot to take chicken out before going to work (that's a gourmet meal around here!)
3) Caught up on all the websites I normally read instead of doing work
4) Opened a plastic tub that was full of stuff that needed to be put away, and just closed the lid and walked away, pretending that there was nothing I needed to do with that tub.
5) Thought about completing a project I started for my first niece's birth which is STILL not done (she's 2 1/2), and wondered if giving it to the newest baby would be bad in some way.
6) Talked on the webcam with Mom and Dad
7) Drank a pretend milkshake that had been made in the microwave
8) Drove through flood waters on my way to work

8 things I wish I could do

1) Be a stay at home mom
2) Travel wherever/whenver I want
3) Get motivated about losing weight
4) Have enough money to randomly give out to people who are so much in need
5) See my mom and dad every day IN PERSON (I do see them almost every day by webcam)
6) Have one more day with my grandparents
7) Start a para-transit service to provide people with disabilities a reliable way to get to/from work.
8) Be a wedding planner/consultant

8 shows I watch (sometimes)

1) Criminal Minds
2) Harper's Island
3) Two and a Half Men
4) Rules of Engagement
5) Big Bang Theory
6) CSI:
7) NCIS
8) Phineaus and Ferb (not by choice, but it's the most watched show in our house and really isn't all that bad)

8 songs I never get tired of hearing

1) Your Song by Elton John
2) Brown Eyed Girl by Van Morrison
3) Tears in Heaven by Eric Clapton
4) Desperado by The Eagles
5) Ave Maria (I am particularly partial to Josh Groban's version)
6) Right Here Waiting by Richard Marx
7) Band of Gold by Freda Payne (again, I am partial to Kimberly Locke's version)
8) The River by Garth Brooks

8 plans for the rest of the week

1) Get Mother's Day cards purchased and gifts mailed
2) Attend birthday party for Morgan's friend Gianna
3) Take Morgan to visit Ellen
4) Get 1/2 of my clients' folders taken care of and off my desk
5) Hit the gym 2 more days
6) Attend fat camp (Weight Watchers)
7) Take a Mother's Day nap
8) Catch up on all the DVR'd shows

Sometimes it's good...

... to be the first one in bed!

Morgan's Easter Pictures

Morgan's first outdoor session, by Pictures by Bre

Check out Morgan's website if you would like to see more.