Merry Christmas to All!

What A Day

I've requested time off during this holiday season. Tuesday this week, through Tuesday next week, returning to work, Wednesday, December 26. I had to request this time, quite some time ago to give proper notice at work with my boss.

My initial plans were, I would drive to California to visit with my brothers for the holiday this year. It's been a long time since I've been home to California. But, I wasn't sure if Sadie was pregnant, if she was, we'd stay home.

Well, now we know, Sadie was pregnant and has had her beautiful puppies. I am not going anywhere now. And that's okay. The puppies are just now opening their little eyes, they're so cute! I need to get new photos to post.

My parents had also changed their minds about going to California. My dad is not too keen on the the idea of driving through the Sierra's with a trailer in tow, through the snow. So, my brothers are on their own in California for Christmas this year. My daughter too, had planned to drive up from Los Angeles to my brothers' town, to meet with all of us. She will be staying in L.A.

Anyway, now I'm off work and staying home. Well, my boss emailed me this a.m. I guess he's had issues with a couple of my staff members. So, I ended up at work all afternoon today anyway. My boss and I met with one of my employees. It's the part of my job that I could do without, letting an employee know they are not meeting standards. This task is just one step above letting an employee go. Just hard things to do. Sometimes, it is necessary though.

So, I met with this employee. She defended herself and blamed others for her poor performance. In the end, she seemed to understand we want her to do her best, try to change the things that are keeping her from getting her work done. If she still felt miserable, we challenged her to find other employment. One of her complaints was with another employee that I personally have had many unnecessary dealings with.

This particular second mentioned employee, comes up smelling like a rose, every single time there's an issue. Anyway, I suggested that before I go home today, I would pull the four employees together (yes, there were two more involved in this issue today) to get their issues aired and hopefully, resolved. This ended up another hour and half long. Tears streamed, feelings were aired, apologies made, hugs given, and a promise to move on from today, leaving the past in the past. I will be gone for the next week, and I'm hoping this will give everyone a chance to cool down. Can I just say, STRESS!

To top things off tonight, I felt like I had a touch of food poisoning. Fever, chills, upset stomach.

Aww, but a couple of good things... One good thing, my guy left a huge Christmas present, all wrapped pretty, on the kitchen table for me before he left on his run to California. He won't be back until late Saturday night. I don't have a clue what he got me for Christmas. I want to peek, but I want to be surprised more than I want to peek.

The other good thing... when I got to work, there was a brand new crock-pot on my desk! See, yesterday I brought my famous breakfast burritos. Another employee broke the lid to my old crock-pot, given to me as a wedding gift in 1978! The lid shattered slivers of glass all over the office. It really was incredible how this lid shattered so. Anyway, this employee felt she needed to replace the crock-pot. I told her just find me a lid. Well, I guess she couldn't find just a lid, and now I have a brand new crock-pot! I thanked the employee. She felt bad, but it was just an accident.

I don't have a Christmas tree up yet. I'm still thinking I will get this done. I've got all my gifts, just need to finish wrapping. My daughter loves her GPS device I gave her at Thanksgiving when she surprised us by driving up here, arriving just in time for Turkey dinner! I did send off a package to her with little odds and ends I've been collecting for her all year. I even put together a stocking filled with fruit and candy and little things.

So, this was day one of my Christmas vacation.

Sunday, Dec 9, 2007

Sunday, Dec 9, 2007: Pvt JMM came home exhausted, all dressed in his uniform! He survived his first weekend duty at Gowen Field. Gosh! He looks so young, and tired, in this photo!

He's Gonna Grow Up Fast

This morning at 6:30 a.m., my son reported to his first weekend as Private JMM of the Army National Guard. He will spend all weekend at Gowen Field in Boise.

I do not know much about the service, other than even the National Guard is going to Iraq. Something I am NOT happy about. But, my son has told me some of what he's doing and why he is doing this. And also I've found information online. The more I find out, the better I feel about his decision, and I have to remember - it is HIS decision - whether I like it or not.

The program he enlisted with is a School First program offering 24 months of college before any active duty. He did enlist for eight years. That's a LONG time in something if you find you're not happy! Again, this is his decision. I do hope he has great experiences and finds opportunies that brighten his future, which will make him very happy. So, he enlisted November 26, 2007 - he'll be out in November, 2015. Oh, that sounds so long from now.

I've talked with my son, my parents have talked with him, his girlfriend's parents have talked with him, all trying to give him as much support as we can and help him make this life changing decision. There are some awesome opportunities for him through the Army Nat'l Guard and as soon as I step back from being a mom full of worry, and see those opportunities he has, I think I'm good with his decision.

What I've found good about all this is, I do believe it will be good for him. Maybe he'll find a little appreciation for home and his mom. Angry teenagers seem to turn on those who love them most, he is no different.

Today, he started his once a month weekend with the Guard. In March, he'll go to basic training in Oklahoma, then transfer to Missouri for advance training, graduating in late July. From there, he'll be back home for 24 months and attending Boise State University, starting as a Sophomore.

Pvt JMM phoned late last night to let me know he was staying over at his girlfriend's for the night. He would leave early and get to Gowen Field about 6:15 a.m. I reminded him it was snowing and the roads would most likely be icy in the morning, to be very careful on his drive. He said he'd go slow. I wanted so badly to give him a hug and was sad that I didn't see him before he left. (I'm being such a BOOB! He's only gone until tomorrow afternoon.) I told him, "Good luck, tomorrow!" and that I loved him.

This morning I woke up at 7 a.m. to find an inch of snow on the ground. The house is empty, just me and the dogs. It's my son's girlfriend's, LJ, 17th birthday today. Her family is having a weekend full of parties for her. Pvt JMM is missing those. I had a gift for LJ. She stopped by after school yesterday to see me. She and Pvt JMM left after just a few minutes to start her birthday celebration with her friends.

Puppies

Our Sadie has her first, and last, litter of puppies today. Sadie was in labor and doing well, she did not seem distressed. But, her labor continued without producing any puppies. I could feel the puppies kicking, so I knew they were alive. I called the Vet, explained how long labor had been so far, and how Sadie was behaving. They thought it best for me to bring Sadie in. After an x-ray and ultrasound showed three puppies, two doing fine and one stressed, we agreed on a c-section to deliver the pups. Her puppies were not that big, but she was not able to deliver them naturally. The puppies were too big for her birth canal. I had them spay Sadie too. I just could not put Sadie through this again. Sadie and puppies are doing great!