Happy Veterans Day

A many of you know, today marks a day where we honor those who have served our country, some going so far as to die in their service. I find it interesting that its history is a bit different than I realized!

U.S. President Woodrow Wilson first proclaimed an Armistice Day for November 11, 1919. The United States Congress passed a concurrent resolution seven years later on June 4, 1926, requesting the President issue another proclamation to observe November 11 with appropriate ceremonies. An Act (52 Stat. 351; 5 U. S. Code, Sec. 87a) approved May 13, 1938, made the 11th of November in each year a legal holiday; “a day to be dedicated to the cause of world peace and to be thereafter celebrated and known as ‘Armistice Day’.”

In 1953, an Emporia, Kansas shoe store owner named Al King had the idea to expand Armistice Day to celebrate all veterans, not just those who served in World War I. King had been actively involved with the American War Dads during World War II. He began a campaign to turn Armistice Day into “All” Veterans Day. The Emporia Chamber of Commerce took up the cause after determining that 90% of Emporia merchants as well as the Board of Education supported closing their doors on November 11, 1953, to honor veterans. With the help of then-U.S. Rep. Ed Rees, also from Emporia, a bill for the holiday was pushed through Congress. President Dwight Eisenhower signed it into law on May 26, 1954.

Congress amended this act on November 8, 1954, replacing “Armistice” with Veterans, and it has been known as Veterans Day ever since. I also find it interesting that the holiday is commonly printed as Veteran’s Day or Veterans’ Day in calendars and advertisements. While these spellings are grammatically acceptable, the United States government has declared that the attributive (no apostrophe) rather than the possessive case is the official spelling. Who knew?

While I will be going to work on this holiday, I would be remiss if I didn’t share that I, too, acknowledge and appreciate those that have served in the military to protect me and my family (or ancestors) and to uphold the beliefs that are melted into the American Dream. In my family I have my Dad (Navy), brother Gary (Army), brother David (Navy), and nephew Matthew (Army). My Dad was in the Navy during the Vietnam War, and my nephew served a tour in Iraq (and worked an additional year there as a civilian). THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE!

Also on this important day is that it marks the 15th anniversary of my Dad surviving full cardiac arrest. I will ALWAYS know in my heart that God protected him that day for the benefit of all of us who love him! I am thankful that I have had the years since then to have him in my life.

Happy Veterans Day!

Things Change…..

As for me, the only thing that has changed about me is that I am honest about the way I am.  And yet, that has caused those who’ve I’ve held closest to my heart to change their view of me.  And I can deal with that.  But I have felt their loss.

As for me, I will encourage my children to rest in the fact that I love them, period.  I will love them if they “change”, or if they are imperfect.  I will love them, period.

 

Pity Party on Gina’s Blog

So, you’ve been warned – this will be a pathetic, self-indulgent post.  Run before it’s too late!

First of all, if my 2.78 readers wouldn’t mind praying for a friend of mine named Carolyn H.; she is having surgery on Monday 11/2.  She and I appreciate your thoughts!

Secondly, work continues to get worse every……single……moment!  I will not get into the details here because, well, I live them most of the time!  But it seems as though the owner’s nine lives may finally be up.  He has definitely manifested some really amazing life savers to date, but his magic seems to be running out…….or at least put off the inevitable……which appears to be crashing into the present with a huge and unfailing force.  While there is a huge part of me that is freaking out to be out of a job, I would be lying if I said “the end” would also offer long awaited relief!

Health wise I have had a few struggles lately.  While I don’t feel comfortable sharing the details in this venue, they HAVE caused me some tough spots.  These spots have varied from concern to inconvenience to down right freaking me out.  So, if you have a spot on your prayer list (if you are one that has such as thing) I would also appreciate a shout out on my behalf as well.  If not, your positive thoughts will be accepted! 

And on a random note, I am disappointed in myself in that I am constantly surprised by how very self-centered so many people have become!  I mean, at my age, I should be much more jaded or at least conditioned to realize that this is a common piece of society today.  Yet, I expect people to be considerate, understanding, and even POLITE.  Sheesh, what do I even know?!?!?!!?!  I forgot that today most look out “for number one” and that’s about it.  Maybe I am that way, too, come to think of it!

And I realized tonight, perhaps though it is not constant, that it would be amazingly wonderful to spend one evening without the TV blaring, without everything centering around the kids, and maybe allowing the working adult who drives 70+ miles a day to have some peace and quiet for maybe an hour.  That would be heaven on earth.  And that is the springboard of the pity party…….

Gina out.

Celebration Saga, Episode 2

Not Sure the Definition of My Thoughts….

…..I WAS going to title this “Deep Thoughts”, but they’re not that deep…..and well, I think I overuse that phrase.  So then I thought, “Shallow Thoughts”, but well, they aren’t shallow either and I surely don’t want to imply that my thoughts aren’t important (at least to me!).  So hence, my ambiguous and – okay, I will admit it – lame title!

No one likes to be rejected.  Conversely, most would acknowledge they want acceptance.  I seek acceptance the most from the people I love…..you probably do, too.  And when I feel as though I haven’t received it in some areas of my life, I get what I call “sensitivity buttons”.  Like today, there was a scene in the movie “Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs” where I totally wanted to cry.  Not that it was a sad scene – perhaps it is best described as a touching scene.  In any case, it made me feel very clearly that I was missing a part in my life because of what I perceive as non-acceptance.  And while acknowledging it was not a surprise, the emotions it evoked totally blindsided me.

When I was younger, more naive if you will, and expected “everything to work out” the way I wanted it to, I would have angst until all the pieces fell into their perfect places.  This often meant I needed to change ME so that I could obtain the acceptance I so yearned.  I was cool with that when I was younger, although now I know it cost me to do that as well.  Now, while I have progressed to a point of accepting myself for who I am, I still often want all the pieces to fall into their smooth places and everyone end up feeling hunky dory.  But I realize, I am not there and the pieces may never fit back together.  This DOES make me sad, as today showed me (even if I try to put on a brave face to myself as well as to everyone else).  But instead of me trying to figure out what I can do to “fix this”, which used to be changing to be “more acceptable”, I am facing my emotions.  I am letting my feelings of being rejected (or whatever the case may be) flow through me and acknowledging that I really can’t fix this as this is not my problem.  I have been honest, something that I have failed at in the past, and I have been candid – lying now about the truth to somehow gain acceptance is not cool.  And yet, facing this fact doesn’t add to my emotions, but almost frees me.  I am no longer chained by my past behaviors, but I certainly do feel pain.  The pain is tied to the perceived rejection, but I am feeling stronger knowing that fighting that rejection no longer pushes me to change the truth of me.

This may make no sense to you, but it has helped me tremendously!  :

Gina Out

Ramblings of an Insomniac

Well, it’s not exactly fair to say this is MY fault for not being able to sleep – some crack head person called my home number at like 3:15am!  Of course, that meant I needed to call them back to say, “Hey, do you even know what time it is?”  And that didn’t exactly work out as I think it was a telemarketer and the number doesn’t ring through.  But the activities meant I was wide awake.  THEN, I checked my email on my phone and saw that one of my co-workers added me on Facebook, so I HAD to get online to add him!  Right?

Maybe it IS my fault!

Speaking of work, it sucks.  Now vendors are taking us to small claims court and the boss, well he thinks he can call them and tell them not to.  Of course, the demand he wants to make doesn’t include any payment on the account, but that’s just a small detail.

I am loving the new home, though!  We ride bikes, go to the beach, and have so much fun here!  And the neighborhood is GREAT!  I can’t say enough good about it and – although the circumstances that got us here were not the best – I am glad we are here.

So I had much more to say, but got distracted researching something.  So that’s it for now!

The World is Filled with Funny People

So here are some observations that have occurred over the last few weeks:

• I pretty much walk to two banks my work uses each day.  Since I am dealing with business accounts, I stand in the Merchant line instead of the LONG line at one of the banks.  However, merchants often take longer than consumers so the shorter line might prove to be deceptive.  One day a man was ahead of me and was doing business on his cell phone.  He walks up to the teller, stayed on the phone, and then asked for a deposit slip!  Now, maybe its just me, but I get my deposit slips or withdrawal slips ready BEFORE I get to the teller!  But anyway, he KEEPS talking on the phone throughout the whole transactions; picture him balancing his cell phone as he tries to fill out the deposit slip and add the checks he is depositing…….while loudly talking on the phone (which seemed to echo off of the security plexiglass).  It was a LONG wait day and just made me shake my head a bit…….
• During my walks, I have to cross a major thoroughfare (I have mentioned the dangers of crossing in previous posts!).   Invariably, the following happens: I get to the crosswalk and push the button for the signal.  Even if someone who is walking up SAW me push the button, they usually walk in front of me and push the button again.  And the cycle continues as each new person walks up (even if they’ve already seen 5 people push the button).  OCD at its finest.
• This one makes me laugh a bit!  I usually get one woman at the bank who I confuse when I ask for multiple cashiers checks.  Since the form needed assumes you need one cashiers check, I usually write *see list*, which I provide with the form.  EVERY time I get this teller, she goes through the process and asks, “You want the cashiers check made out to see list?”  I am THIS close to saying, “are you serious???”

That’s all I have today.  Lots going on but don’t have the energy to write about it!

G

Weekends in the Outdoors!

So I accomplished a lot this weekend; FINALLY finished my office – I am now officially unpacked!  Woohoo!  In fact, I am typing this post from the comfort of my desk, sipping my morning coffee, and enjoying my split-screen set-up!  Yes!

So, one of the amazing bennies of living where I do is that “the outdoors” are much more pleasant to deal with.  Unfortunately, SCV is often too hot to enjoy much more than the swimming pool.  However, although it WAS pretty warm this weekend, it was workable.  We got to go kayaking through Naples, which is a gorgeous island of sorts off the Long Beach Marina.  That was AWESOME and great exercise, too!  Then we hung out on 2nd Street to take in the community and also I was able to get my hair cut.  We checked out a sandcastle contest that was pretty cool and then we did some shopping.

Yesterday, I spent a lot of my time unpacking the office, but DID find time to ride my bike down to 2nd Street for more fun.  I didn’t realize there are so many hills in LB!    But it was fun and again, more great exercise.  I LOVE IT!

I hope these activities are easily incorporated into the fall and winter as well!

Gina OUT!

Things Are Different In These Here Parts…….

For those of you who have been readers of this blog for a while, you may remember how I shared living and working in the SCV and The Valley were very different than the good ol’ OC.  Well, now that I reside in beautiful Belmont Heights/Long Beach, I would like to articulate how different THESE part are!

However, first I’d like to mention that today is my Grandma Minard’s Birthday – if she were still with us, she would have turned 91 today.  However, the Good Lord thought fit to call her home in May 1999, so it’s been a while since she has blown out any candles.  I miss her SO MUCH and will be smiling all day thinking about all the wonderful memories I have about and with her.  I LOVE YOU GRANDMA!

Okay, so I still work in the Valley, and due to problems at work, now WALK to two banks every morning there as well.  Crossing a major street in the Valley is VERY dangerous!  But that calls for a different post in itself!  ANYWAY, you may remember I said – in general – Valley peeps are impatient, rude, drive like crazy people, and THE TRAFFIC FREAKING STINKS!  If you run into a nice person on the street, the first thought is to beware as they are either crazy or about to rob you.

However, there are VAST differences I’ve noticed so far in LB.  First of all, everyone seems overall laid back.  Not as much impatience, cars don’t freak out and rush forward if you dare to put your blinker on the change lanes, and the sort.  People actually say HI when they pass by walking on the street and may even add, “Have a nice day!”

And the neighbors?  In the SCV, no one talked to each other.  You could walk by and they wouldn’t even look at you.  Once I said hello and was looked at like I was crazy.  (maybe they work in the Valley, too!)  But here, about 12 neighbors have come over, introduced themselves, offered help, etc.  There are A LOT more people who walk, ride their bikes, etc. and everyone interacts.  It is glorious.

So, what have I deduced from this?

1)  The ocean must be better for personalities than smog!

While the reason I moved was not the most relaxing, I am thankful that things worked out the way they did!  I am less than a mile from the ocean, love my neighborhood and neighbors, my new landlord rocks, and it all rocks.  So I am thankful AND becoming less uptight (AKA “de-vally-ized”) with each day!

Now, if you wouldn’t mind praying with me that my payroll check will clear……..

Thursday – What to Say?

I am not sure what to post, and I know it’s been a while.  I have started a few and never posted them…..yeah, the lifestyle of the unmotivated!

We moved successfully, if not with a few bumps, and are now settling in nicely.  Kenny LOVES being so close to the beach!  We rode there one night and it was AWESOME!  The kids love that there is a huge olympic pool right on the beach, too.  So that part is awesome.  This is also a very nice neighborhood – quiet and about 10 neighbors stopped by to welcome us.  Even Gracie is loving it!

I am sad to report that all my complaints about Du-par’s before were NOTHING compared to the crud that is happening now.  Each day I become a bit more weary with the shenanigans that go on and the unrealistic optimism I feel I am supposed to display when being basically yelled at throughout the day from people who want money.  The biggest group of these people, lately, are the check cashing places trying to collect on bounced payroll checks…….sheesh.  But even worse, the “golden child” of the firm, who the President loves, treats us the worse and I am really getting tired of it.  Sigh.

Hey, if there are any labor lawyers out there – I have a question.  We have an internal policy (aka the President said so….) that we NEVER process a workman’s comp claim because, if we have no claims, then we get a dividend back from our insurance.  One person said they hurt their leg and has been off for about 6 weeks.  The President has paid several bills, including for an MRI, and we have been paying their salary when off, but the employee feels as though more needs to be done and is tired of the President telling him that “he does not have a workman’s comp claim”.  I have raised my concerns, too.  However, the President claims that we have a right under California law that says we can treat “first aid” without filing a claim.  If a person has been off work for 6 weeks, has had about 6 doctors appointments including an MRI, and such…….is that considered first aid?  What are the requirements for filing a workman’s comp claim?  The President says, “well, we could file it, but they would just deny it because this injury would be rejected.”  Said President is NOT a doctor……..so if anyone knows, let ME know!

Okay, I must get ready for work.  I will write again, I am sure!

Gina OUT.