Thursday, August 21, 2014

Multi-tasking Queen of the Gym

Ticks have taken over the world!!!! Well, maybe not the whole world but the little piece of world I run to for my walk in the woods.  Begrudgingly I shifted my walks to the gym where my walks have turned into boring minutes that creep by ever so slowly.  A few weeks ago the glass doors leading to the gym had notices that all of the treadmills were out of order.  Seriously?!?  They have like a zillion treadmills, how could they all be out of order unless ticks really have taken over the world?  Sans treadmill, I opted for an elliptical which is equally as boring as the treadmill so I needn’t worry about being overly enthused thereby resulting in some sort of athletic injury that would thwart my workout routine altogether. The next night I was pleasantly surprised to find that the notices on the front doors were gone.  Perhaps the treadmill fairies had come in the night and magically fixed all that was broken. When I got upstairs, the treadmill fairies actually had came!! They didn’t fix the treadmills, they replaced them with new treadmills with all the bells and whistles a girl could ask for…. Well, maybe not ALL the bells and whistles, but most of them.  The good thing about the gym is…. I can walk and read at the same time, something I would never attempt to do in the woods. I fired up my Kindle and noticed that the gym had also installed Wi-Fi, making it possible to play Candy Crush, listen to music AND walk at the same time, something I definitely wouldn’t try in the woods. It takes me about 2.5 seconds to whirl through 5 Candy Crush lives, so I switched over to my book to read while I  listened to music.  I thought to myself that  I needed a pat on the back for being the multi-tasking Queen of the gym.  I was walking, reading (or Candy Crushing) and listening to my music all at once... Something a man could never do.

Tuesday, August 12, 2014

Cautious Expectations


For the last month the office has been shrouded in a ghostly silence. People gather in clumps, whispering in hushed tones, often with red puffy eyes. The dread is so thick you could actually feel it and the silence is deafening. The doom and gloom is so heavy, I didn't think I would survive the first two weeks. My co-workers and I complained of stomachs being in nervous knots and the fog from being sleep deprived. Everyday there is a new rumor.... Some believable, some pretty far fetched. The first couple of weeks, I made motivational posters for each one in my department. Some were funny, some were just for encouragement. I think we've finally
gotten over the shock of possibly losing our jobs and have settled in to an uncomfortable rhythm of maintaining the best we can, carrying on our daily tasks as well as the additional tasks we've been asked to do to prepare for the changes. The one good thing that has come out of this is... We appreciate each other more AND we truly appreciate our jobs and the pleasure we have had to work in such a family oriented environment. It's hard to imagine working any place else, or for anyone else. The comforting thing about working for this company is, I always thought they had a vested interest in not only the business, but in the community as a whole. Having been here for 90 years, the company and
the family are a part of the bedrock of our town.  They have raised their children here, buried their long passed loved ones, built museums and other amazing facilities. The town of Duncan has the distinct stamp of generations of this amazing family on our community and beyond. It's a sad thought that what has been our security is now being taken away. Prayer changes things, and a lot of people are praying that this will have a happy ending for the employees and the community. The prayers help us to survive each day with cautious expectations that without faith, we wouldn't have.

Monday, August 4, 2014

Golfing 101

This weekend we went golfing with my cousin and her husband. They have the actual shoes you should wear to play golf in and I just have running shoes with the cushy innersoles made of memory foam. My husband and I met through her husband way back in the day because they worked together. When we were first dating we would play miniature golf with them and quite honestly we beat them every time. I think I've even saved some of the score cards that are now yellow and practically turning into dust. Her husband is a big talker and I have plenty of attitude which is why we got along so fabulously when they were first married. None of us showed any golfing talent whatsoever this weekend,even the ones with the right shoes. My cousin and I got slapstick silly about the fact that her husband pruned every tree on the course. He did have a couple of good drives but unfortunately they slammed into the middle of a tree
trunk and bounced all the way back to the women's tee box! I laughed so hard I thought my ovaries would explode. On another hole he shot the ball through the trees and into the weeds. He diligently went hunting for the ball and when he came out of the briars his legs looked like he had been attacked by a pack of rabid cats and was probably facing a terrible case of cat scratch fever. I was afraid we were going to have to give him a transfusion right there on the golf course which only made everything even more hysterical.... (We're not laughing AT you we're laughing WITH you!) While we were cooling down at the house afterwards, he was trying to save face by saying that he could drive the ball 200 yards or more depending on who he was playing with.... "Oh! So now you're blaming us for the way you played?!" I laughed.... Oh, it wasn't that, he explained that when he plays with someone who takes it seriously, he plays so much better. My cousin and I looked at each other and laughed as we told him that WE WERE taking it serious.... And that he had seriously played bad!!! Poor guy.... Between the two of us he just can't win for losing. Golfing 101 is.... Never take yourself or anyone else too serious especially when my cousin and I are teamed up. We've always been two winning peas in a pod which is hard to top.