Life is Good (right now)

I will be working my last shift at the retail store tomorrow.  Easter was my breaking point.  I got to Mom's to pick her up for Easter brunch buffet with the whole family (M was in full mania).  Knowing the stress of trying to work 2 jobs to be able to maintain my Quilt Patis business coupled with family responsibilities/crisises, I was in tears.  I told her "I just can't do it all any longer."

After brunch M decided to make the move to go to the hospital for his "tune up" and I decided I needed to assess my life too.

• Retail job:  promises no advancement and highly stressful (IMHO due to constant understaffing and severe lack of communication).
• Temp job:  staff and management wonderful, respectful, communicates well… I feel valued.  Promises opportunity of turning permanent. 
• Quilt Patis:  my passion and has promise as long as I can otherwise support myself in the lean seasons.
• Family:  I love them even though I don’t like the stresses involved… but we are never promised life would be easy… I won’t divorce them.

When it comes right down to it the decision was easy.  I wrote my resignation that evening.  From that moment on I felt relax.   I actually wrote two resignations.  One gave an ending date and the other substituted the date with the word "immediately".  I had plans to switch out letters if there was any trouble with the manager accepting my resignation. There was a little resistance but not to the point I needed to do the switch.

In the two weeks since, I received an e-mail telling me that one of the trade magazines will be doing an article about me and my Butterfly Pincushion Pin Kits.  They also are giving me a Saturday to demo my technique at the Creative Festival in Cincinnati the 3rd weekend in June.  Then today I got 11 of the signed original (finished) butterflies in a local art gallery on consignment.  She priced them at $34.00 each. If you are in Columbus and would like to purchase one and see all of the other wonderful things she is showcasing this is the gallery... Galleria Evangelia, 4269 N. High St., Columbus, Ohio,  614-354-6557, www.galleria-evangelia.com .

So, with the help of prayer and faith the journey continues.

HONOR

Since the first day of spring we have had a plummet in temperature and even a couple of snow dustings.  What happened to spring?

Yesterday, I had news of an old family friend’s passing.  Tomorrow I will take Mom with me to the funeral home to pay our respects (I cannot make it to the funeral mass on Monday).  Please pray for JMac’s family, that they may find peace in their grieving process.

I called the retail chain where I work on the weekends to see what my schedule was for Sunday.  I was told “You are not scheduled next week.” “All next week?!???  Not even Saturday?”I asked.  This worries me since this IS the permanent job.  Am I getting a vacation I did not ask for or am I getting laid off since they were just bought out.  We recently got a new store manager.  Is he testing how “his store” would run without a different person in each area for a whole week?  Are we getting fired by just not being scheduled?  There are rumors of games, tests & traps being set by this person.  Did I flunk?  If/when I leave any job; I want it to be MY decision.  It would be because I bettered my position at a job… or won the lottery (LOL).

My grandfather was a self made business man as a real estate broker, whose motto was “Doing business by the golden rule.” He did NOT want to get a reputation for doing anything for the greed of lining his pockets.  He wanted the reputation for a fair deal.  By this he got the respect of his workers, customers and the whole community.  Years after his death people were calling Grandma when they were ready to sell or buy again only to be disappointed that he couldn’t represent them.  They always ended the call with a compliment like “L always treated everyone honestly” and/or “with respect”.  This treatment brings customers back every time and garners referrals.  When are the big muckity~muck corporations ever going to learn this?????  It's called honor.  I fear this “golden rule” customer service died with Grandpa and JMac (who was one of Grandpa’s partners).

I honor JMac this weekend for he truly honored my grandfather's ideals and teachings by his continued "Doing business by the golden rule" after Grandpa's death.  I know Grandpa greeted JMac soon after he arrived in heaven... they are probably making plans to play poker or gin rummy soon.

On Family and Faith

One of my rules posted yesterday was:  My family will never be referred to by name and only spoken about in direct reference to me.  Today I will outline my family and faith because these are the major elements that make us who we are today.    

Husband – never was one. Not that I don’t believe in them, just never found the right person at the right time.  (Had an offer in the 80’s for a “Sugar Daddy” but didn’t take it.) I will marry for love.

Children – 2 a boy and a girl but both have wet noses, long floppy ears and docked tails. Yes, my mother has “grandpuppies” from me.  Many of you will understand that giving them away is a last option.

Father – deceased (1990)

Step-father – deceased (1989)

Mother – living on only social security & food stamps at 78 on her next birthday in a couple weeks.

Mother’s current husband – several years older than Mom and dealing with “memory issues”.

Brother #1 – (older) unemployed and looking.

Brother #2 – deceased (1992)

Brother #3 – (younger) disabled and fighting to get SSI but keeps getting turned down (too many assets – So he has to lose his house before they will qualify him (a house paid off – just owes taxes).

Sister – (20 years younger) Cancer survivor, working, tremendous help to the family and I feel she has a right to enjoy her life with her significant other.  That means starting a family if they want or not.

Step-Sister (Father’s side) – Married with 2 sons. We have seen each other maybe 3 times since Daddy died.

My faith is Christian based.  I believe in God.  I also believe that Man is arrogant enough to impose individual beliefs upon their God as His traits and teachings when interpreting the Bible.  With so many doctrines and formal religions out there I sometimes wonder if one is the ONE religion to believe in.  Having grown up in a predominantly Jewish community and then taken the class “Non Western Religions” at Otterbein also helped shape this view.  My father was Lutheran; my grandparents took us to a Presbyterian church; and my step-father was Catholic.  This morning I have the opportunity to go to church (not working those hours) and I will go to Trinity Episcopal (downtown Columbus).  This is the church where I feel the spirit.

Many religions teach love, being good towards others, and the teachings of the Christians’ 10 Commandments and The Golden Rule.  So this is how I try to live MY life and not really by a name tag saying “Hello I’m _____________”.  Just as there are many roads (with different names) to get to Cleveland, I believe the name tag is moot.  I believe Christ when he taught “Believe in me and ye shall surely see the Kingdom of Heaven.” Period! 

Like Job in the Old Testament, my current troubles will not sway my beliefs.  So many times when I have truly needed something it has come to me.  This blog is what I believe was meant to come from my experiences.  Without the hardships I would not have been able to attempt to make understand homelessness.  I might have bought into the myths I am trying now to dispel.

Today's Tally:
Sunday, February 13, 2011                      Time:  worked 5.5 hours but also got to go to church
Location:  the retail chain store
Temp:  worked inside so this is not applicable
Newspapers sold:   0
Viable job postings:   0
Filled or baiting job posted:   0
Resumes/Job Applications sent:   0

Turning Life’s Scraps…

This probably should have been the first entry of my blog...  But this was written as an invitation to view my blog and submitted to Street Speech.

I often wonder why I am going through these hard times.  All of the platitude rush to mind:

• “Whatever doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.”
• “God will never give you more than you can handle with His help.”
• “Whenever God closes a door, He opens a window.”
• And one of my late step-dad’s favorite, “Why not you?”

On Tuesday, February 8^th I prayed for guidance and the idea filled my soul… write about it!  Well, I have an article in this issue, I thought.  Then slowly I thought of the way Mom always tried to teach us to value education, learning from mistakes/experiences, and “how to turn negatives into positives”.  Ding! The light bulb over my head shone a wider light… Don’t just write about it, BLOG about it.  Street Speech encompasses Columbus, Ohio but the homeless and near-homeless are worldwide.  Upon returning home I immediately set to writing my blog.

I decided this is the best way to make a change in the public view of homelessness.  I set guidelines for my blog:

• My family will never be referred to by name and only spoken about in direct reference to me.
• Each day will have a tally of my efforts to better my situation.
• Aside from a tally, each entry will attempt to deal with one topic.  I will not limit myself to only one entry per day if I have more to say.  I intend to post something every day.
• Income will not be addressed in actual dollar amounts. I may give a newspaper to a passing member of the media or the mayor/governor so they may also have a view of what we are doing or needing to help ourselves.  After all, I paid for my papers and it is my choice.
• Make it informative but fun and try not to have it just a complaint column.
• Most importantly… keep it honest.  If you lie it will negate all trust and nothing will inspire changes in public attitude.

Today's Tally:

Saturday, February 12, 2011                      Time:  worked 6.5 hours

Location:  the retail chain store

Temp:  worked inside so this is not applicable

Newspapers sold:   0

Viable job postings:   0

Filled or baiting job posted:   2

Resumes/Job Applications sent:   0