YEP, I AM STILL ALIVE

i am glad to be working so much, but i am so tired all the time.  how on earth did i hold down a full time 40+ hour a week job before?????????  oh, wait, i was much younger.....that has to be it, lol.

i am off today (woohoo) but have so much to do, i almost wish i was at work.  sigh.  i mentioned to my new boss that i could work some thursdays, and he put me on the schedule for this week.  i will work the front end (cash register) all by myself (unless someone makes erica mad or hurts her feelings, then back up front she will be).  it is hard to transition between jobs..........the cash registers are different, the rules are different...........i even forget where i am when answering the phone, lol.  all in all, it is working pretty well.  hopefully i can cut the "old" job back to 2 days a week and work the other job 3 or 4 a week.  the second job is less stressful.

the weather cannot make up its mind........72 as a high one day, 48 the next.  windy, some rain, and just plain cold.  my landlord is pushing for me to have the gas heat turned on, but i don't plan on turning it on this year.  i already have to pay the electric bill, so why pay 2 different bills when i can heat with my electric heaters.  my house mate has already had her gas turned on.  that heats her ceiling, which in turn, heats my floors, and that means less heating i have to do.  i have covered up all the drafts and holes around the windows and air conditioner units.  i don't get as cold as most folks.  i just don't like wind.  even warm wind makes me sick.

i feel sorry for the wild bunch, but cannot bring them all in this winter.  i feed them once or twice a week.  they are all still around, just come over to eat on different days.  i think the rooming house across the street feeds them as well.  rocky and gray are absolutely beautiful with their winter coats.  the 2 white kitties, ditto and whitey, don't look much different than in summer.  i brought home the honey baked ham we had at my "old" job after thanksgiving and plan on stripping the bone and giving it to the babies to fight over.  instead of putting on my back porch though, i am going to put it on the ground.  i would hate for that big bone to fall on my house mate's head as she leaves for work, lol.

i have tons of stuff to do today, but really miss being online and reading my online friends' journals.  i got an email from one of these friends that i would like to put here in this entry.  i don't know if the story is true or not, but it does make you stop and think about things.  so here it is..........................

I was driving home from a meeting this evening about 5, stuck in traffic on Colorado Blvd., and the car started to choke and splutter and die - I barely managed to coast, cursing, into a gas station, glad only that I would not be blocking traffic and would have a somewhat warm spot to wait for the tow truck. It wouldn't even turn over. Before I could make the call, I saw a woman walking out of the "quickie mart" building, and it looked like she slipped on some ice and fell into a Gas pump, so I got out to see if she was okay.

When I got there, it looked more like she had been overcome by sobs than that she had fallen; she was a young woman who looked really haggard with dark circles under her eyes. She dropped something as I helped her up, and I picked it up to give it to her. It was a nickel.

At that moment, everything came into focus for me: the crying woman, the ancient Suburban crammed full of stuff with 3 kids in the back (1 in a car seat), and the gas pump reading $4.95.

I asked her if she was okay and if she needed help, and she just kept saying " don't want my kids to see me crying," so we stood on the other side of the pump from her car. She said she was driving toCalifornia and that things were very hard for her right now. So I asked, "And you were praying?" That made her back away from me a little, but I assured her I was not a crazy person and said, "He heard you, and He sent me."

I took out my card and swiped it through the card reader on the pump so she could fill up her car completely, and while it was fueling, walked to the next doorMcDonald's and bought 2 big bags of food, some gift certificates for more, and a big cup of coffee. She gave the food to the kids in the
car, who attacked it like wolves, and we stood by the pump eating fries and talking a little.

She told me her name, and that she lived in Kansas City Her boyfriend left 2 months ago and she had not been able to make ends meet. She knew she wouldn't have money to pay rent Jan 1, and finally in desperation had finally called her parents, with whom she had not spoken in about 5 years. They lived in Californiaand said she could come live with them and try to get on her feet there.

So she packed up everything she owned in the car. She told the kids they were going to California for Christmas, but not that they were going to live there.

I gave her my gloves, a little hug and said a quick prayer with her for safety on the road. As I was walking over to my car, she said, "So, are you like an angel or something?"

This definitely made me cry. I said, "Sweetie, at this time of year angels are really busy, so sometimes God uses regular people."

It was so incredible to be a part of someone else's miracle. And of course, you guessed it, when I got in my car it started right away and got me home with no problem. I'll put it in the shop tomorrow to check, but I suspect the mechanic won't find anything wrong.

Sometimes the angels fly close enough to you that you can hear the flutter of their wings...

Psalms 55:22 "Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and He shall sustain thee. He shall never suffer the righteous to be moved."