Working Remotely

Working remotely!  Can I say I LOVE IT!!! 

Now, I'm not so much liking the reason why of course.  But I am so thankful that I do have that option and do not have to go into my work thus exposing myself to the possibility of contracting the virus or bringing it home.

Am I still working?  Yes I am.  And I feel like I'm accomplishing quite a bit.  I'm able to assist students through e-mails and voicmails.  I am not receiving calls but I am available to my on-campus co-workers if they need me to follow-up with a student who might be needing extensive assistance. 

We actually have three workspaces set up at home as Gary is also working remotely.  I have the breakast room, Gary has the dining room and we have Lily's bedroom in case privacy is needed.  Not necessarily  privacy but maybe quieter space.  Such as if we both happen to have Zoom meetings at the same time or both need to use our phones.  One of us goes to Lily's room which can be set up with a small desk as needed. 

You can see from my first picture that I have a pretty great view.  I've picked a few roses that have bloomed from my garden and brought inside. I also have a picture of my favorite partrooper there.  Did you see the engraving on my tray?  Enjoying Life  -  that's what I'm doing.  Enjoing this time I have at home.  I watch walkers in the neighborhood.  We have provided chalk should anyone wish to leave a picture or message on our driveway.  It's always fun to see someone sitting in the driveway drawing a picture. Not to mention, I now think I know which neighbor it is that has the big dog who uses my yard for a restroom but doesn't pick up after it.  I can tell that my across the street neighbor must be bored as it appears he has been mowing his yard twice a week. 

I know that this is a temporary thing but if I could I would work from home forever!  If they could just forward my phones.  Yes, I know phones can be forwarded but a call center is a little bit different. 

So for now I will continue Enjoying Life. 

Clothespins On A Line

Who grew up hanging their clothes on the clothesline? 

I did -- it was my job to do the laundry at the house.  And like everyone else we had a clothespin bag. 

A year or so ago my cousin gave me a little baggie of clothes pins. You might think - how weird.  Our Granny hang her clothes out on the line and had a clothespin bag with clothespins.  Now Granny has been gone a very long time but her clothespin bag and clothespins were still around.  The clothespins were divided up among the cousins for a remembrance. 

So I have had this plastic baggie of clothespin trying to decide how I wanted to display them.  I knew I wanted to write some kind of poem but nothing was coming together.  That's the way it is sometimes with poems.  I kinda know what I want to say but it just doesn't work like I want. 

Well, yesterday I saw a clothespin shadowbox with a hymn behind it.  I thought, well that's cool I'm going to save it.  Then I thought of Granny's clothespins and I thought a shadowbox would be a cool idea but I need something with it.  So I penned this little poem:

These clothespins on the line

Bring Granny to my mind.

Gone but not forgotten

I wander back in time.

Memories that make me smile

For just a little while.

Just a memory of my Granny

Clothespins on the line

Written by:  K. Marrs 03/11/2020

I will be putting together a shadowbox to hang with a cord of some kind with Granny's clothespins hanging on it and this poem below.  

Unexpected Memories

I stepped off the elevator at work the other day and it hit me. 

The smell of cherry pipe tobacco.

This is a very distinctive smell and one I hadn't smelled for over 30 years. 

My dad was a pipe smoker and he liked cherry pipe tobacco.  So there it was - a memory of my dad from nowhere.  Unexpected.  But it lead to another unexpected memory of my brother who passed away just a few weeks ago.

My dad had several pipes and always had pipe tobacco around.  Always.    Sometimes it was a small pouch but he also had a humidor that he kept pipe tobacco in.  One year for Christmas one of us kids got him some cherry pipe tobacco for that humidor. 

Fast forward to July after that Christmas.  We kids were home while Mom and Dad were at work.  Wayne convinced me that we needed to try chewing tobacco. 

Don't you know that there was still some of that cherry pipe tobacco in Dad's humidor?  And of course Wayne thought that was what we should try chewing. 

OH MY WORD!!!  That stuff was so nasty!!!  It was the one and only time I ever tried chewing tobacco. Wayne of course chewed his longer than I did but neither of us really chewed it for very long.

Those unexpected memories come from nowhere sometimes.

They can hurt.

But at the same time - it brings a smile and gratitude that I have those memories. 

Curve Ball

Sometime life throws you a curve ball - out of the blue.

One of those curve balls came my way last night in the form of a phone call.

Not a phone call that anyone wants to receive.

A phone call I knew I would receive and had been expecting for some time but still not ready for it.

I knew when I looked at the screen of my phone it couldn't be good.  It was worse than I thought.

No, my brother wasn't in the hospital - he was gone.

That curve ball hit me right in the gut!

I just wanted to go off in a corner by myself.  But I had calls I would have to make myself.

A part of myself is gone. 

It will take getting used to. The pain will always be a part of me. It will lessen in time but will always be there.

My other brothers and I will continue but it won't quite be the same.  No more calls saying 'Wayne, said I had to call you.'.  Well, I'm not sure why he told you that but I'm glad you called, what's up?

We will reminisce about things.  We will share our good times. We will share laughter.  We will share hugs.

The next few days will be hard -- a 15 hour drive - service to attend.  Condolences to accept but we will get through it. I have great support with my husband and my girls. 

The calls about my parents were hard when I was 19 and 24.  It's not any easier when you're 62. 

Oh My Heart

Did the title grab you?  Are you expecting some mushy story?  

Sorry to disappoint but you know what's coming up!  A cause that is near and dear to My Heart!  

Women's Heart Health

Every February is designated as Women's Heart Month and everyone is encouraged to wear red as often as possible.  If nothing else wear it on the first Friday of the month.  

I've shared stories in the past of losing my mom when she was only 48.  I've shared stories about my mother-in-law and her surgeries, heart attacks, etc.  

I've shared all kinds of statistics with you. 

I drill this into my kids and grandkids -- PROMOTE NATIONAL WOMEN'S HEART HEALTH DAY!!!  

So I asked myself -- what can I say that will make an impact?  How do I stress how important this is?  Important for you - your mother, your daughter, your aunt, your cousin, your girlfriend, your wife. 

Think of all the women you know and then remember this:  1 in 3 women die of heart disease each year.  Did you read that?  1 in 3!

Heart disease is the leading cause of death for women.  

So pay attention to your body.  If someone you know talks (I don't want to use the word complain) about 'vague' symptoms such as pain in their back or jaw, feeling overly tired, nausea  encourage them to go to their doctor. 

Have you heard them say 'I just feel off'?  Have them get their blood pressure checked.  

Trust me - at my house we take these things seriously.  I'm feeling off?  I'm calling to get a blood pressure check - I know it's going to be high and I'm not wrong.  And it's not just me -- Gary will be checking with me too -- probably more concerned than I am.  :)  

So here's your reminder:  Friday, February 7, 2020 - WEAR RED!  for Women's Heart Health. 

I'm going a little bit further here and encouraging you to post your picture on Facebook wearing red next Friday.  Ask your friends to post theirs as well.  

OH MY HEART!  

Mouse in the Lunch Box

This picture has been showing up all over my Facebook feed the last few weeks - not sure why.  It always brings back memories of my dad.

My dad worked at a manufacturing plant in our town.  His shift would vary.  It might be first shift which was 7-3. Second shift was 3-11 and third shift was 11-7. 

My mom also worked outside the home.  She left for work early, not sure what time but us kids always got ourselves up, made breakfast and got ourselves off to school.

One of my jobs was packing Dad's lunch, probably because I was the only girl. If Dad was working the first shift he would wake me up about 6:15 or so to pack his lunch. If he was on second shift and it was during school I guess he packed his own but it if was summer I was the one packing his lunch.

Lunch always included a thermos of coffee.  Mom always had some frozen pies or cupcakes or something from the day-old bakery shop in town.  She would buy several and put them in the freezer for snacks and lunches.  There would be chips and a sandwich or maybe some sardines and crackers or vienna sausages.  My choice what Dad ate - I made the lunch. 

While in Junior High I was in Home Ec class. One thing they advised was to 'make lunch boxes interesting and fun.'  Well, one summer day I tried to decide what I could do to make Dad's lunch 'fun'.  I took a plastic mouse and added it to his lunch box, kind of underneath a frozen pie wrapper so it looked like it was nibbling on the sandwich. 

I thought this was really funny of course.  What did my dad think when he opened his lunch box that night at work?  I don't know. I hope he found it amusing but he never said a word about it. 

I took a lunch box break for a few years but when my kids started school they quickly decided that packing a lunch meant they got to save that lunch money.  So I again started packing lunches.  No little rubber mice in these lunches though.  I would write little lunch-box ditties and poems and send along with them or else a short little note.  Their lunch boxes weren't anything like Dad's but I packed their lunch every day until they graduated.  With 5 kids and the last one graduatiing in 2011 I have packed many many lunches.

But this picture, whenever it shows up on my timeline, always makes me think of Dad and the mouse I sent in his lunch. 

Sparkle to Paratrooper

That little girl right there -- she used to call herself Sparkle.

My name is Sparkle she did declare

Back when she was young without a care.

I’ll give you a makeover, it will be fun.

Glitter everywhere when she was done.

Time marched on as it tends to do

Bringing with it challenges new.

The Army life was calling her

Now she is an Infantry Paratrooper.

Miles from home she answered the call

To protect our country one and all

No more Sparkle but still the same

She just goes by a different name.

Katherine to most but to me she will be

A girl called Sparkle when she was three.

Written for :  Katherine

By: Kathie Marrs

November 25, 2019