Week One is Over

It started, well I don’t know exactly when it started, I guess when I took this job about five and a half years ago. But it culminated last Sunday/Monday (note those are my two days off) when we did the final database migration. We moved our entire church database (about 80,000 records or so) from an Oracle platform to a MySQL database platform, and that is as techie as I will get about that.

We took down the old system Sunday after everyone had left church and we were up and running on the new database platform by Monday morning. That’s when it all started. All the phone calls and emails and questions. I think I got more calls and emails this week from staff then I have in all the time I have been there. We birthed a new era for VCC, and the birthing pains have been going on for over a year.

The major I-am-dead-in-the-water-and-can’t-work, this-is-totally-unacceptable, fires have been put out, but there are still many bugs that are as big as my house yet to taken down.

True confession...I did have a couple of meltdowns (two, I think). Luckily no one actually saw them, but I am wondering how I came across to everyone. (This is a public apology to you if you were one of those who came close to my meltdown office at the wrong time, I am sorry.) It was a very interesting lesson in how I handle stress. I admit I learned something about myself through it all.

I am so fortunate that I work in a place that extends a lot of grace. (Lord knows I needed it, and I got it.) There were lots of frustrations, but it is over now. In the end I received a thank you (probably for not totally blowing up at anyone) that was far more than I deserved.

Everyone has their ‘seasons’ of work overload and stress at this place. I was just waddling through my ‘season’; it was my turn in the hot seat. The thanks, praise, (and yes) gifts I received humbled me more than they know.

When it was brought to me, I immediately realized that it was my peeps (my VUG) loving on me, and I was really kind of embarrassed about the whole thing. So embarrassed that I didn't even open the card for a long time. I kind of wanted to cry. I hate attention, and this was attention to the max. For the record I didn’t do anything more than anyone else at VCC would have done. Everyone works hard.

Tomorrow I am taking the day off (I get to spend it with my 100 year old grandma), but Sunday it may be back to testing again. All I can say at this point is, God thank you for this wonderful job, and the wonderful peeps I work with and for, you are so good to me.

Oh Droid, how I love thee…

Yep, we are a Droid family now. Not just any Droid, we had to be a Droid X. Thank you Verizon.

We moved up from the Blackberry Storm and I have to admit it is much, much better. I still haven’t learned all there is to learn. That is half the fun, discovering the new things it can do and weeding through the hundreds of apps there are out there for it.

Now don’t think we took this decision lightly. Ed did lots and lots of research before this decision was made. For me, I had to see the cost. Here is an example of how we both think differently.

Ed researched its capabilities, reading all the reviews and reports he could find. Even Consumer Reports recommended it over the new iPhone. Then, of course, there is the ‘cool’ factor you know. Yes, we were the first at work to have this magnificent piece of workmanship, that has many points attached to it right there.

As for me, what is this going to cost? Two years ago when we went to the Storm we justified the ‘data plan’ that you have to purchase. One way was to drop our land line, and we still never miss it! But that was so years ago. Now, how is this expense going to work? Well let’s think about this. The cost for the phone itself was $259. Yikes you say! How can you justify that? Here’s how, first there is $100 rebate (so far so good), second there is eBay! So far I have sold one of the phone for over $100 (minus shipping). So see…$59 for the coolest phone on the planet (at least this week!) isn’t so bad. The ‘cool’ factor is worth that, right?

But wait…there’s more!! I loaded I don’t know how many versions of the bible on my phone for free, one version cost $35 on my recently owned Palm. To beat that Bejeweled game was free too! Oh, and one more thing, isn’t that little Droid guy so cute? Kinda looks like C3PO’s cousin.

Is life good or what? (Was that too nerdy to say?) God is so good to us!

Bubba 2007 - 2010

It was a dark and wintery night, and there, outside, sitting on a ledge of our solarium window was a tiny unknown furry object. We brought him in and gave him a good forever home. He weighed all of three pounds, was all white with beautiful golden eyes. I asked Ed to name him and he was christened Bubba. Sounds like a big name for such a cute little ball of snow white fur that could fit in Ed's hand. As time passed, he grew into his name topping out at a very healthy 14 pounds. (Could Ed be prophetic?)

Bubba took no crap from the dog that outweighed him by four times. He and Shelby would chase each other around the house (Bubba was like a lightening streak, so fast and agile), and Bubba would ambush and pounce on Shelby whenever he had a chance. They were the best of friends. We often called him Bubba-Tut, implying that he was the King Tut of the house, which of course, he knew he was.

The first time Bubba saw Shelby he arched his back and looked just like a Halloween cat, except he was white. I was fortunate enough to even capture it in a picture. It is one of the best. He was very photogenic and simply beautiful to look at. I have a lot of beautiful pictures of him. This is Ed’s favorite picture of him. Now I ask you, is that a beautiful Bubba-Tut or what? I have posted an album of Bubba pictures here.

Ed spoiled that kitty big time. Every morning before he left for work there had to be some treats on the floor for him. If they weren’t there by 8:00am, we heard about it as Bubba could become quite verbal. He would walk in between Ed's legs and make him almost trip to be sure he had Ed's attention to remind him not forget about the kitty treats. And he was always at the door when we came home to greet us.

Bubba loved to curl up in the bathroom sink to sleep, which posed some problems for getting ready for work in the mornings (mostly for Ed though, I would leave him there). Sitting in a window watching birds was his favorite pastime, and he loved when we had open windows and could hear them too. It all helps when your stalking ya know.

Last Thursday-Friday he stopped eating and became very lethargic. Things just weren’t right all weekend. Monday it was off to the vet, who could not really find anything wrong during an exam except for his dehydration. They took blood and would call the next day with results. We went home pumped with fluids and some high calorie, sweet and yummy cat food that he was sure to love. Wrong.

The next day came to call he had renal failure (a fancy pants word for kidney failure). His bad blood count (or whatever the proper medical term is) was almost off the charts. Nope, he had not eaten anything poisonous that we could find, he never went outside. Kidney failure is very rare in a cat only 3 years old it is more common in older cats, not mine. He went back in to the vet’s immediately and was put on an IV and closely monitored.

Sparing the gory details, after two nights at the vet hospital he was not getting better, and was in a lot of pain as the toxins were backing up in his body. I had to make the call today to let him go. If you are still reading this I am sure it is because you are a pet lover too, and you know how hard this is right now. I know all will be well soon and it only hurts when I think about him.

I will post this and go now to clean out his litter box, put his food away, throw away the uneaten cat grass, and pick up all the little fuzzy mice that are hiding all over the house. Ed said it well when he said that God gave us a beautiful gift. We loved him and he loved us. He had a great home, and we will miss seeing him in the window as we pull into the drive. Now, if you were a little fuzzy mouse where would you be?

Wii and me

We started out bowling. Yea, that's how everyone starts. Then we had to get a Fit Plus with the balance board. It's Wii and me now!

For those who don’t know what this is, it is a program that takes you through exercises while you stand on their board where every movement is captured and calculated. I ride a bike, ski through slalom gates, take a ski jump, do a ‘super’ hula hoop, do some dancing, karate moves, and even do some yoga. Lately, I have even been trying to walk a tightrope and juggle with balancing in a huge ball. Somehow, someway I even run for 3 minutes. It is actually kinda fun. If you knew anything about me you would know this is a major miracle! The other miracle is that I have been doing all this consistently!

But have I lost weight? Nooooooo! Do you know how depressing and disappointing that is? Ed has a good attitude about it all he says as long as he is getting fit he doesn’t care about the weight. I want to lose it.

“Ok Vicki, stop whining about working out. It is good for you.” That is what I need to keep telling myself. So, Wii, it’s just you and me!! Let’s rock and roll (before I get depressed)!!!

Seems like I can never think of what to write about, but once I get started it just flows. Taking the time is the big thing....just take the time.

My favorite scripture is on Psalms 46:10 "Be still and know I am God...." Yep that about says it. Now if only I would!

The LOL Cat Bible version says it like this "Make quietz, and seez I am Ceiling Cat..."

If you want to read something totally hysterical, read about the Ceiling Cat. People have actually taken the bible and translated it into the LOLSpeak version, and the Ceiling Cat reigns. "In teh beginnin Ceiling Cat maded teh Skiez an da Erfs n stuffs."

If you haven't seen this, you have to check out the LOL Cat Bible web site. You can actually buy this book on Amazon now!

Oh my gosh!! Did I just blog about something in the bible!! Is this really me? Yikes!!!!

(Pssst, God is really and truly good!!)

Kitchen/Dining room...you're going down!

We are finally tackling the kitchen/dining room project, if only I knew how long this is going to take! Seems like our home projects take such a long time to complete (some are still not totally complete). But that won’t stop me from starting another.

I have agonized over this kitchen/dining room for years. How many people do you know have six, yes six, entrances into a dining room? Do you know how hard that is to work with? It is agonizing…oh, I already said that.

Can I just say, whoever came up with the idea of z-brick should be shot? That is some nasty stuff. You cannot take it off without taking the wall with it. At this point, all I want to do is paint these rooms, put in a new floor and be done.

But no…you have to take out the drop ceiling with these horrible fluorescent lights first, do patch work on the ceiling (but we gained two more feet in the room, this is good), take down the wallpaper, now paint (oh dear what color to choose) rip up the flooring yourself (the installers are afraid of asbestos), and take a look at replacing the entrance door and possible door to solarium. Oh, what to do about the cabinets? All this with one day off a week together to work on this project.

But wait!!! There’s more!! After all that, you can’t keep using a dining room set that is 25 years old now can you? And what about the rest of the furniture in the room? Oh, if you only know the agony of it all!!

Thank God we have the option to even think about doing this work. Some people live with much uglier dining rooms than mine (or so I’ve been told, I’ve not seen this for myself!). But now is the time, I have other plans for my life!

Is this what it is like to “grow old together”?

This is my first time, so I did not know what to expect. But here are my thoughts about it. About what? About my life with Ed.

Lately we have gotten into some great and (at least to me) meaningful discussion about some deep subjects. I have explored some topics that maybe being a Christian I shouldn’t be exploring. And there is Ed, right there with me, my friend, my companion, my confidant. Being able to talk about these things gives me more confidence in me and in my relationship with my loving God, and Ed.

Speaking for me, I have grown into a deeper feeling of peace and contentment with my life and with our relationship. I can see why people who have been married 30, 40, or 50 years or more seem so happy. Sometimes it looks like a glow is about them. How sad it must be to lose that when it happens. I can’t, won’t go there now.