This and That

It has been an eventful couple of weeks so let's start from the beginning

1. As of August 26, I once again joined the ranks of the unemployed. Somehow, I always end up on the short end of the stick...the person who I works for tells me I am a wonderful employee, they hate to have me leave, etc. but then I get booted out the door. It used to be that a person was valued for being a good employee. The college I was working for has a system of board approved employees and temporary employees (temporary is a relative term...there are those who have worked there for 5 or more years that are still considered temporary). A temporary employee is one who is not eligible for benefits and can be let go at any time. Welcome to my world. My position was eliminated with the restructuring of the administrative staff. Fortunately, I acquired many skills during my time there and have much more to offer to my next position.

2. Just a few days later, I got a call from the facility that Mike is in telling me that he seemed to be having trouble breathing and they were sending him to the ER across the street for evaluation. I called Lisa right away and she was able to get down there to see what was going on. By the end of the day, he was admitted to the hospital with pneumonia (yes, I learned how to spell it!). Because I was available, I got in my car and drove up to Utah and spent a week up there. Michael responded well to the treatment and was released 6 days later. He is doing much better now. I feel fortunate that for as sedentary as he is, this is the first time he has been hospitalized.

3. Katie turned 30 last week. THIRTY???!! It seems weird to have children that age. I feel like I'm barely 35.

4. On my way drive home from Utah, I saw the rain clouds starting to form and knew I was in for a treat. I love driving through Southern Utah in the summer when the afternoon rains begin. By the time I got to Paige, it was pouring...POURING!!! I don't think I've ever been in a rain storm quite like that. I had my wipers going at full speed and couldn't keep my windshield cleared off. People were driving at about 35 mph because it just seemed too dangerous to go any faster. The rain continued (not that hard) through Flagstaff. It made for a pleasant, cool drive home.

5. Saturday night we had a microburst here in Mesa. Trees were uprooted, the streets were flooded, and things got blown all over my yard. This is the mess I cleaned up out of my yard. TWO GREEN WASTE BARRELS FULL TO THE BRIM...All of this was in my yard and swimming pool.

6. As luck would have it, I missed the microburst, which was a good thing because I had just washed my car earlier in the day. Instead, I went to a wedding reception in Scottsdale. It was outdoors and somehow, the storm missed that area.

On my way home, I spotted a Goodwill and since it was half off Saturday, I stopped in to see what people in Scottsdale donate to Goodwill. I found all kinds of goodies but decided to expand my thrifting and look at the clothes. Two of my favorite fashion bloggers ( her and her) get at least half of their clothes from thrift stores. So after looking around, I found this skirt:

It is wool and fully lined and still had the tags on it and the slit in the back sewn shut. It had never been worn and it fit perfectly. Goodwill price was $4.99 but with half off Saturday, I picked it up for $2.50. The possibilities are endless with a skirt like this..I'm sure I will wear this for years to come.

I also found this jacket:

This is a brown velveteen jacket. One of the buttons is missing but that can easily be remedied. It fits like a glove and I imagine that this will be a fun thing to wear with many outfits. This was selling for $8.00 but I picked it up for $4.00. Not bad for a quick trip on my way home from a wedding reception, huh?

7. Sunday after church, a friend suggested we drive over to Tempe Town Lakes to see the flag memorial.

There was a flag for every person who died in the terrorist attacks 9/11/2001. Some of them had yellow ribbons around them and we learned that those people were first responders. Others had a pair of boot beside the flagpole and they represented Veterans who had died in the attacks. Still others had a little teddy bear attached and those represented children who had died. It was quite a sobering experience to see, visually, how many people had died that day. We both commented on the reverence we felt there...that people were in a different frame of mind as they strolled around the park. There wasn't loud talking or laughing or children running around. It was a very reverent, peaceful, reflective exhibit.

So there you have it. Hopefully I will have more to report in coming days. In the mean time, if any of you know of a job in higher education, let me know!