Count Your Blessings 2007

My Mother sent me an email right after Thanksgiving that touched me on a whole new level. I wanted to share a portion of that in this Blog since it is my last one of 2007. There are so many things that I am thankful for… I am so blessed in many, many ways. Yet, this blog probably will not capture even a small portion of these blessings but I will try to anyway:
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First the Thanksgiving email:
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Everyday be thankful for what you have and who you are.
Even though I clutch my blanket and growl when the alarm rings. Thank you, Lord, that I can hear. There are many who are deaf.
Even though I keep my eyes closed against the morning light as long as possible. Thank you, Lord, that I can see. Many are blind.
Even though I huddle in my bed and put off rising. Thank you, Lord, that I have the strength to rise. There are many who are bedridden.
Even though the first hour of my day is hectic, when socks are lost, toast is burned, tempers are short, and my children are so loud.
Thank you, Lord, for my family. There are many who are lonely.
Even though our breakfast table never looks like the picture in magazines and the menu is at times unbalanced.
Thank you, Lord, for the food we have. There are many who are hungry.
Even though the routine of my job often is monotonous. Thank you, Lord, for the opportunity to work. There are many who have no job.
Even though I grumble and bemoan my fate from day to day and wish my circumstances were not so modest.
Thank you, Lord, for life.
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Man, is that a great read or what? I am so moved by just reading those few thank yous!
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Now my own list of blessings from 2007:
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We are blessed in that we can keep my Grandmother in an assisted living facility where I can sleep soundly at night knowing that she is warm, safe, fed and loved by the wonderful staff that endures her daily. I made it through her first year there and did not physically harm her or myself!
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I have learned that having respect for my elders still gets me so much further in life…
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Thank you for my never-ending patience with my Grandmother and all of her antics, issues, and constant reminders of her ailments. Every day is a new saga or ordeal and some days I feel like my patience box is about to run dry.
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I pray for the day that a cure for Alzheimer’s will be discovered… and what exactly causes it…
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Thank you, thank you, thank you for my wonderful, beautiful, understanding husband of 16 months. We celebrated our first anniversary in September and my love for him grows every day. His ongoing support of ME and my day-today craziness makes our me wonder how I ever lived without him before…
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Little love notes on email from my husband makes me so happy…
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I am so thankful for my ability to do my job and succeed in this male-dominated industry. Some days I question why I even entered the field of construction… but, then I remind myself that I would have never met my husband if I had not…
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Thank you for our health. Yes, Mike turned 40 this year and my turning 34 made me realize that 40 does not seem so OLD any more… We were fortunate enough to find a Family Doctor that really cares about US and wants us to live better, fulfilling longer lives.
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Thank you for our ability to afford what life throws at us… we are so fortunate that we both have good-paying jobs and can save for retirement too!
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We finally found property near Pine Mountain and closed the deal in October. We had been looking for quite a while and are so thankful to have found it in Harris Co. and so close to family!
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Being able to travel… to the beach, to the mountains, wherever life takes us…
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I am also thankful that I am able to recognize when I make a mistake and admit to it…
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Having an open mind when meeting new people or dealing with unforeseen conditions…
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Thank you for advanced technology… without it I would not have my iPod, digital cameras, our computers, my text-friendly cell phone, satellite radio, wireless, cable television, the camcorder, and most of all- the Internet! How lost would I be without all of this? I am thinking back to 1990 right now… that is how it would be…
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Having the strength to endure tragedies when they happen unexpectedly…the fatality of a co-worker on site, Jamie at VT, losing Berkeley to cancer…
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Chocolate… the one thing I will NEVER be able to resist…
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Being able to keep my friendships alive- old friends, new friends, long-lost friends… I lost two great friends in the course of the past 5 or so years and made the effort to reconnect this year- and I did!
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I am most thankful for living in a country that allows me to live my life freely at my own accord knowing that there are others fighting for this freedom overseas. God bless the soldiers!
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Lastly, I am thankful for being blessed much more than I deserve.
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2008- Bring it on!

In Loving Memory of My Berkeley 1998-2007

The pain seemed to worsen each time I saw her since she was diagnosed with osteosarcoma (aggressive bone cancer) back in early December. When we went to my homeplace for Christmas, she would slowly get up to greet me… but, getting up and lying down seemed to pain her tremendously each time… whimpering as she did each time. The meds were not working… when we went back to the homeplace this past Thursday, she struggled terribly when attempting to go for a walk… on Friday, my Mother walked her up to the house so we could spend some time together. When I arrived that evening Berkeley did not even try to get up to greet me… she just laid on the blankets and looked up at me all the while wagging her nub of a tail. That is the moment that I knew she couldn’t go on… her ability to stand up or to get excited was gone. She would never run or jump again. Walking was out of the question… She just laid there with her head on the ground- no movement… just laborious breathing- she could not even breathe easily any more. When we took her to the doctor for the last time, they found more large tumors on her rib cage from her battle with cancer… My brother built her a pine box and we buried her under three large cedar trees on our new property in Pine Mountain. Now she endures no more pain and can rest in peace…

In Memory of Lady Berkeley Mitchell
June 4, 1998- December 29, 2007
Beloved Companion

Just a pup when I brought her to her new home in the city...09/1999

This was the cover of my Christmas 2003 CD 12/2/2003

She loved lounging in her pool in the country 07/2005

Always on guard with her Mommy 12/2006

Happy Holidaze

Here we are in my home town for Christmas again… it is so hard to believe that another year has flown by! It was this time last year that we were preparing to move my grandmother into assisted living… And that was a year ago??! Last year I was dealing with my grandmother’s broken rib and this year I am fighting my own demons…
It all started Friday afternoon about 2pm… I was walking across the job site to my truck from the office trailer… intending on a hopefully stress-free drive home since I was leaving in the early afternoon on the last day before the holiday… Then, in an instant a pain shot up from the top of my back up to my neck… It hurt like hell! I started rolling my neck in each direction and the pain kept getting worse. It felt like it was pushing my head downward… I hurriedly got into my truck and cranked up. I knew as I was driving that this was another bout with my neck again… I called the hubby and told him what was happening… he reminded me of his scheduled appointment with our doctor at 4:30… So I drove to the doc’s office and sat in the parking lot until he got there. We go in… the doc takes one look at me in passing and sees my pained face and my tightened physical appearance. He questions me… the next thing I know I am being administered a Demerol shot and hubby is driving me home. I was in bed and out like a light by 6:30pm… Now keep in mind that I was supposed to wrap gifts, bake cookies and go to my Mother-in-laws for Mike’s brother’s birthday supper…. Well let’s just say that NONE of the above happened. I was out for 14 hours! And now almost 3 days later I am still in pain… muscle relaxers and pain killers are keeping me going through the holidays… Yes, I wrapped gifts for over 4 hours on Saturday in a drug-induced haze… I floated through yesterday’s Christmas lunch with my grandmother and my immediate family… And this Christmas Eve morning greeted me with the same amount of pain that I woke up with Saturday… This is the worse neck saga to date… it is the third one this year…I just have to make it through Wednesday afternoon… in the meantime, we are floating…. Merry Christmas every one!

It's Official

Well it's official... I am sick AGAIN. The creepy-crud that I had a month ago is back... and with a VENGEANCE!! It reared its ugly head when we unloaded the plane on Sunday morning at the Atlanta airport from our trip to NC. We were both coughing and sniffling the entire way home. I broke down and went to the Doctor this afternoon... I barely made it by 5pm but, they were nice enough to see me anyway. It is chronic bronchitis and infected sinuses... NICE. No wonder my face hurts all over and my head feels like an over-inflated beach ball. I cannot taste a thing, my throat burns and I cannot breath unless my mouth is gaping open. The rims of my nostrils are so red and raw from multiple nose-blowings that I really cannot do facial expressions without the skin cracking around my nostrils. Yes, I am outta commission. Yet, I still have to go to work tomorrow!! Things have to done that cannot wait on poor, sick Kelly... Oh well, I guess I can recover on my vacation during the Christmas week.
In the meantime, we took Berkeley back to the Vet yesterday. The week of medicine has not helped her leg at all. So we are trying one last option- they gave her a steroid shot. We will see if that helps any between now and Christmas Eve... more on that later...

Another great day together last Christmas Eve 2006...

Christmas Partied Kaput...

We attended Mike's company Christmas party on Friday night up in Raleigh, NC. Yes, they flew us up to Raleigh and put us up in the Marriott hotel where the party was held. Heck, they even rented us a car! Instead of flying right back Saturday morning, we decided to make a weekend of it and stayed until today. Our hotel was conveniently across the street from a huge shopping mall so we spent some time there yesterday... laughing at some of today's popular outfits, watching all the shoppers trying to buy their holiday purchases... We met an ol' friend of mine that I used to work with at my last employer for lunch... it was so nice to see "Mims"... it has been about 4 years since I last saw her!
We flew back late this morning and hit another Christmas get-together over at the inlaws house... DELICIOUS food and fun as always...
And here we are home, both of us seem to be coming down with a cold... and I just keep staring at that mound of shopping bags with our Christmas gifts in them to be wrapped... this week is the deadline for wrapping too! It is hard to believe that Christmas is only 9 days from now!! So much to do, so little time...

A Tribute

Just a little tribute in honor of my companion, Berkeley... I went to visit her yesterday to see how she was getting along. She spent a lot of time laying down next to me. She was brushed and petted and brushed and petted. Then, she was petted some more... We go back to the doctor this coming Monday afternoon. For now, we will just enjoy our time together....

But, She Is Only 9 and 1/2 Years Old...

“But, she is only 9 and ½ years old… how can this happen?” Those were my words this past Saturday in response to the doctor while staring at the X-rays at the Veterinary office. I spent the entire afternoon trying to understand how my beloved dog, Berkeley could get bone cancer… It all started a little over a month ago when Berkeley started limping when she walked and was visibly favoring that right front leg almost every day. My mom told me about it shortly after she started doing it… I made the trip home for a visit and checked it out for myself… I could not see any cuts or bruising, no swelling, and she did not really wince when I touched her joint above her paw. But, she definitely did not want me to squeeze her leg… we decided to wait and see if it got worse and tried to help with aspirin… my mom kept reminding me about it… and then I finally made the appointment for today actually. Well, on Friday night my mom decided to take her to the Vet’s office on Saturday morning bright and early to see if she could them to work her into their busy schedule… eventually they did… they would take her in for X-rays so my mom left her in their hands. I get the call from my mom around 12:30pm… “you need to go to the Vet’s office and talk to the doctor”… “Why? What’s wrong?” I ask… Silence on the other end of line… more silence… and then I hear her loudly inhale and respond in that tearful voice (you know the one that I have always hated to hear from my mother's mouth for years)… “they think she has cancer in her leg”… The tears are now welling in FULL force from my eyes… I am devastated… I meet her there and the doctor shows us the X-rays and explains the situation… NOT good all the way around… It has progressed both directions from that joint… it the fast-spreading type of boney cancer that occurs mostly in large dogs… we take her home with a week’s worth of medicine that might or might not help… We get her home and I watch her walk… she does not move around well AT ALL. I must have cried the entire time I was with her there… she could only walk so many feet and then have to stop and rest… it just broke my heart! I just could not watch her in that condition…
I am heading back down there tomorrow to assess her progress and talk with the doctor about it… so we shall see what happens… tears are forming… gotta go.

Confusion and Dismay

December 6, 2007 is a day that will forever be embedded in my brain… a day that started out business as usual and ended in turmoil. I had gone into the office that morning to finish up some paperwork for 2 of my projects and then left late morning to head out to my project in Conyers for a quick site visit. I returned around 2:00 pm to complete a month-end report that was due today since our company’s annual strategic plan meeting was the next day and our office would be closed for business. Sometime around 3pm I saw the VP of Operations and the head of HR from Denver coming thru the office (I just assumed in preparation for the big company meeting the next day)… I heard them go into my bosses’ office and close the door (not unusual)… well what happened next left me in shock… I finished my report and went to find my boss… he was near the back door… I offered my reports to him… he just looked at me with this priceless crestfallen look upon his face… he muttered to go give them to those guys in there (his office)… I was confused and questioned him… (keep in mind we are just standing there staring at each other in dismay)… and he sadly says “ I have just been terminated… 19 years with nothing to show for it”… in shock I say, “Excuse me?” and he just shrugs and walks to the next office to tell that co-worker it has been nice working with him but he has to leave now and then on the next office and the next… and I am still standing there… in disbelief… confused… in dismay…. He manages to tell a few folks his news before finally leaving… I go back to my office and just sit… and wait….and wait…. Then I hear the VP of O and the head of HR bring in one of the Project Managers and close the door again…. My stomach is in knots… and my head hurts… I run for the restroom… on my way out of the restroom I see that PM is back in his office and head over to him… he looks at me (while slinging stuff onto his desk and says that he has been “chopped”… I go back to my office and sit and wait… and then I starting gathering my laptop and lunchbox and packing up my briefcase… I have to leave to turn in my pay application to the City of Atlanta on my way home… I take my reports to my ex-bosses’ office and they inform me that the company is making some management changes and every thing is just fine. And then they talk about how our office is here to stay and how I shouldn’t worry about my job or not to think about quitting… mumbo jumbo something or another… I really do not remember the exact words or details in that briefing…. And then I leave.
So here I am… no boss, no work on the books, half of our SE office is upset and the others are not really talking about it… Good grief, there is a long road ahead of us… makes getting up tomorrow and going to work sound real appetizing, huh??

Thanks Giant Show and Project 9-6-1

I was truly surprised tonight when I got online and found where "Giant Brian" from the "Giant Show" on radio station Project 9-6-1 had commented on my blog post from last night!! How cool is that? He informed me that their final total amount of money raised for the Empty Stocking Fund was right at $97,000!!! How lucky and blessed are those families going to feel this Christmas now?? After the ROUGH afternoon I experienced at work this afternoon (that is for tomorrow's blog when I am in a better state of mind) it was nice to come home and read Giant Brian's note of thanks. Things that make me smile....;-D

Things That Make You Wanna Go Hmmm

I am a huge fan of music…almost ALL music to be honest… Rock, rap, dance, new age, pop, oldies, funk, reggae, jam, trance, techno, slow, fast, alternative, blues, classical, electronic, metal, hip-hop, bluegrass, country, R&B, soul, disco, folk and the 70’s and 80’s… the list goes on and on. My iPod has exactly 4,345 songs that span the range of almost every genre of music…. Basically, I love music. LOVE IT. Since I have satellite radio in my work truck I do not find myself listening to the “regular” radio too often during my travels (unless I am stuck in a traffic jam and need to know what is up!). However, I do keep the radio in my office on all day in the background and I do listen to the radio in my shower those few minutes I am getting ready for work or whatever. The two stations that I tend to listen to are Dave FM- 92.9 and Project 9-6-1- 96.1 Now both of these stations used to be called Z93 and 96 Rock respectively back in the day (for those who have been any where near or within listening range of Atlanta radio). I listen to them because they play old rock, new rock, some metal, some alternative… and of course, this genre of music tends to be more acceptable to the general public in my world instead of hip-hop or rap… (which I tend to indulge in when alone) There is nothing wrong with a little Eminem, Timbaland, 50 Cent or Ludacris to stay alert in this hellacious Atlanta traffic in my opinion!
Anyhoo, (getting this train BACK on the tracks here…) I was listening to The “Giant Show” on Project 9-6-1 (that is the name of their morning show) yesterday morning while dolling myself up for work (hee hee) and heard them talking about this robbery that occurred last week sometime at the building that occupies the “Empty Stocking Fund” organization. Yes, according to their report somebody broke into the warehouse area of the City of Atlanta Police headquarters building in Atlanta and stole roughly $50,000 worth of toys and gifts from their stock. These were Christmas gifts for needy families and their children that were going to be distributed next week in time for Santa to give these poor folks a Christmas. My question is who would steal $50K in TOYS? And how did they do it under the noses of the Atlanta PD? One article on Google News said that the robbers (I believe 2 total) climbed into a window using a police barricade and used backpacks from the stock pile of goodies to haul out the loot. Oh, and the APD does not have security cameras in this part of the building oddly enough… kinda strange considering they have had a history of break-ins in this same building this same time of year for the past several years…. Things that make you wanna go hhhhmmmmmmm…
In the meantime, I heard the guys from the “Giant Show” claiming they beat their goal of raising $50K to give back to the Empty Stocking Fund and were up to over $80K as of 6:00 am this morning… Now that is awesome!!

Home-ade Holiday Cheer

So today was our day to go get the Christmas tree and decorate for the season. First off, we overslept (yes, I know it is Saturday but it seems like we are on a tight schedule for the entire holiday season for some reason!). We went to one store to pick up a few gifts that we did not get last night (we started our gift shopping last night to beat this weekend's crowds). We picked out our Frasier fir tree and came home. Next, we had to go into the attic (well MIKE had to go up into the attic). Now to some people this would not be a really big deal but, for us it is... it requires getting a 6 ft ladder and heaving oneself up into a 3ft x 3 ft opening in our upper hallway. What makes it even more fun is the boo-koos of insulation puff balls that fall from the opening since we just had new insulation blown into the attic last summer- it is almost like a winter wonderland after he heaves out the 5 huge plastic storage containers of Christmas junk... especially for the person who gets to clean it up afterwards- ME!
Here is my project of opening all of the many, many Christmas trinkets and gadgets and ornaments... I like to call it Kelly's Christmas Chaos...



And then Mike's job this year was to bring in the tree, set it up in the stand and put on the lights....



One of my most favorite things to "set up" every year is the Nativity Scene... it sits in the middle of the sofa table in the Living Room right in front of the big window that overlooks the front yard...



Here is the final product in the dark...



And here is the final product in the light...



And now we can sit back and enjoy the holiday cheer here at home...