Contemplating Stilettos as Weapons of Mass Destruction...

So, I'm at work now...but this is a good time to link to more pics because I'm fairly angry and need a welcome distraction. But first, a short venting about my stupid job:

a) Everyone else's jobs are SO much more important than mine that when either of my coworkers is gone, I have to do their work instead of mine. So I've only been at my desk 2 days this week. Yet despite the supposed expendability of my work, the boss is still unhappy with me for not having completed parts of it because (did I not say this already?) I'VE BEEN DOING OTHER PPL'S WORK ALL WEEK, LIKE I WAS INSTRUCTED TO DO!!!

b) My office (which has been only mine for over a year) is now going to be shared with an 80-something named Joe, who is supposedly helping organize our office. He'll use my office every Friday while I'm at Marcia's desk (b/c she gets every Friday off, but her work still has to be done...by me).

c) Not only is this degradation to take place every Friday starting today, but my boss couldn't even be bothered to TELL me this was going to happen. I'd heard rumors from other coworkers, and then Joe just showed up and went in there this morning. Never a word from my boss.

After Joe-the-Usurper left this afternoon, I said to my boss: Um, thanks for letting me know my office was to be his office from now on.
Boss: What? Did you think you have an exclusive claim over it or something?
Bethany: No, I just thought I could have been told that it was gonna happen.
Boss: Well, fine. It's gonna happen.
Bethany: Thanks.

d) Also, today while I was on my "lunch break," I had to run from one end of the bldg to the other (in heels) to answer the phone 4 (four!) times because apparently having a Y-chromosome makes the THREE men NOT at lunch exempt from such a duty. Even when it's usually a call for one of them.

e) Apparently the Y-chrom. also renders them incapable of printing out a word document, and of creating a new user account on our website. Also tasks I was called away from lunch to do, without any sort of apology for the interruption. There's nothing like already-microwaved, leftover-to-begin-with french-fries which have gotten cold again. Mmm.... :(

I have to be honest, by the 6th interruption, as I sprinted past 3 offices of males somehow incapable of answering that phone, I was secretly kinda hoping one of them would suddenly trip and fall into the hallway so I could slam one of my sprinting stilettos down on him and claim it was an accident. I know it sounds mean, but I was just so frustrated. And all of these things happened after I asked for prayer on Monday night about my attitude at work. Needless to say, I'm not doing too well on that front...

Anywho, yay for (those people lucky enough to have) happy weddings....and for the ease of sharing digital images of them. ; ) Click on the link below to see them.

Jonathan's Wedding

Preview

There will be more later, but here's a tiny glimpse of my weekend:

Guaranteed to Brighten Any Monday!

If you want to see the absolute cutest little girl EVER, click on the picture below. It is a video of my niece Kathryne singing Twinkle, Twinkle to me. She learns these songs in preschool, and then usually sings them to me on the phone. Sarah (K's other aunt) told her she was making a video for Aunt Bethany, so what she says at the end (as she reaches for the camera) is, "Bethany sing it," telling me it's my turn, like we do on the phone. This video is guaranteed to brighten any ole' Monday. : )

P.S.--Pray for this little girl. Her paternal side of the family has decided to contest the abandonment charges we filed. You can see how cute she is, but she needs to be securely in the custody of someone who will love her and take care of her, even in her ever-so-slightly-less-than-cute moments. Custody does not need to be given to someone who seems to care about her only from time to time, and even then only as a posession to be shown off.

Things for which I am grateful (a substantial, but not all-inclusive list)...

1) My grandma who lives in Florida is better. She was released from the hospital exactly one hour before her 90th birthday party, but she made it, and so did my mother and her two brothers, and about 55 other people! : )

2) The lovely red rug which I found on clearance for no apparent reason. (see picture below)

3) The new throw pillows for the couch, which I made myself for less than $3.82 each! More pics/story to come on those...as soon as I finish stuffing the 2nd one.

4) My new apartment, which (after removing 2.5 million stacked boxes) feels luxuriously spacious for a single girl like me. : )

5) The friends in my church Lifegroup (who will hopefully come to my new apartment this Sunday).

6) Yummy candles and coupons for free Pumpkin Pie Lotion at one of my favorite stores!

7) Department store Bonus Time exactly the week I run out of both moisturizer and makeup! I know it sounds silly, but I feel I can't afford to pay that much for such non-necessities...unless it comes with twice as much make up for free!

8) Online scrabble. Should have a surgeon general's warning about addiction.

9) Lunch with my roomie's fiance, and a couple hours spent reminiscing about the past, and discussing plans for the future. There's nothing like catching up with good friends.

10) A long phone call with another good friend, who sends me lovely samplers of tea and stationery, and catches me up on all the newest marriages, books, and other fun stuff from A-town. ; )

11) My adorable niece. I've been sorting though pictures to frame today, and I am constantly amazed at how she can continue to get steadily cuter by the day. (see pic below)

12) My dependable, Texas-plated car Anabelle. Last night I accidentally left my purse in my car and didn't realize it until it was late enough I was afraid to go out and get it. Then, I had two separate nightmares about someone seeing the purse in plain sight, and breaking the back window glass of my car to get in and steal it (along with my credit cards, ipod, and identity inside). My first thought when I woke up was, "Oh drat, that was a dream! I'll have to call and cancel those stolen credit cards all over again!" Then I remembered that it might or might not have actually happened, so I threw on some clothes, ran outside with my keys, and... Anabelle was sitting happily in the shade, all windows intact, and my purse still on the seat.

And I am thankful. : )

Please pray...

To those of you who read this who pray, please pray for my other grandma--my mom's mother who lives in Florida. She was taken to the hospital this morning, and they just found out she has a combination of asthma and congestive heart failure, so they're trying to get her moved to the ICU. So please pray. My family doesn't need to lose two in the same month. Please pray.

Thanks.

Lately...

Lots of things have happened in my life since last time I blogged on here. I did move to a new apartment, just down the parking lot from my old one, but much roomier, and with space enough for my washer and dryer. But, the most important thing that's happened recently is that my grandmother went to rest in the arms of Jesus. She was 90 (would have been 91 in November) and had a tiny bit of dementia, but was still as stubborn and hard-working as ever. She had been in an assisted living home in Chattanooga, and near the beginning of July, she started going down hill mentally and becoming more and more confused. Then, a sore on her leg got infected, and when my aunt took her to the emergency room, her blood pressure was 190 over something! Turns out (after further research) the home had run out of her medicines, and hadn't bothered to let us know, so my grandma hadn't had her blood pressure medicine or her Aracet (sp? it's for the dementia/alzheimers) in THREE WEEKS!!!!

So my aunt did what any good daughter would, and took her out of there immediately. She lived at home with my aunt (which is where she'd been before the assisted-living home) for about a month, but she was still really confused, and my aunt had to lock the doors to keep her inside, and it was really sad. Then, one Saturday the door was left unlocked, and my grandma got her clippers and went outside and started clipping weeds in her rose garden. (I should mention that my grandma loved working outside and clipping things more than anyone I know, so this was fun for her...) As she was clipping, she fell and broke her hip. They had to do surgery on Sunday, and the doctor said afterwards that it went really well. The only problem was she didn't ever really wake up from the anesthesia. She was in the hospital from Saturday, August 25th, when she fell, until September 4th. I went down on Thursday, August 30th, when they decided to move her into hospice care. My parents drove all day on Friday the 31st, and got there that night. They said if she'd had just the broken hip, or just the anesthesia trouble, or just the dementia, or just the pneumonia...but she didn't...she had all of them at once, and her body couldn't heal. We stayed at (or near) the hospital until Tuesday the 4th, when she started breathing quieter and quieter, and then, with my aunt, my dad, my mom, and me standing next to her, she stopped breathing and went home to be with Jesus. My siblings drove out on Thursday, and we had her funeral on Friday.

And then I came home to boxes everywhere, and catching up on a week's worth of missed work, and being alone again, and (I'm sorry to say) just not feeling up to trying to blog about it all.

So, at some point I'll get back to normal, though I don't promise that it's now or anytime soon.


This picture was taken about a year ago, when my baby niece was visiting Grandma at the assisted living home.

I'm Still Alive!

I'm not actually dead...or still in Iowa...I've just been (and will continue to be) very busy. So here are a few hightlights from the last few weeks:

~ I went to Iowa, where I: drove a tractor, shot a gun, went to a tractor pull, rode a horse, and picked raspberries.

~ My lovely roommate, Katie, came to see me in Nashville! We: spent hours talking, painted pottery, found pretty clothes on sale, finished each others' sentences, and just had fun being "us" again.

~ I drove home to Texas, where I: saw my family, got my car inspected, visited with good friends, and helped with the release party of the 7th Harry Potter book at "my" bookstore! I ran a trivia contest, organized a covert operation to spy on Hastings (they only had about 200 ppl, compared to our estimated 800 or so), and then at midnight, I got to help sell more than 700 books in less than an hour on only 4 registers! It was awesome!

Kathryne's Easter Bonnet

Lots to do tonight (including knitting group!), but I wanted to post the pics of my niece in the crocheted hat I made for her before they get too old. I actually made it for her back in February or so, but only gave it to her when my whole family came for Easter weekend. She loves hats of any kind, as well as high-heeled shoes 10 sizes too big for her chubby little feet. She's

just too adorable. Also, props to my sister Angela

for picking out a perfect dress to match the hat she

didn't know I'd made! : )