Another LOOOOONNNNGGGGG Post!

Hola Mis Amigas! Yeah for Hump Day! Although, I just realized as I was making myself get out of bed this morning that I won’t get to sleep in on Saturday this week. That is a bummer. But I am sure I will make up for it with naps on Saturday and/or Sunday! I hope I am able to anyways! Anyways…HUMP DAY!

I need to clarify something for Minnie…I forgot to do it yesterday. I made a comment about my aunt not having my kids for almost 6 months. No, I do not get that much time off of work….wouldn’t that be lovely if I did? I do get 3 months off work. So…I will be off for October, November and December. My mom will be watching the kids for the first few months after I go back to work….at least for part of the weeks. She has done that with both of the kids. She loves being able to spend that time with them. So, that is the plan for now, at least. I am never sure how long she will do it….we play it by ear. But that is the plan, anyways. But…the good news is that I am off for 3 months and will be off for the holidays! YIPPEE!

Yeah, so yesterday was a good day. Work was fine….actually it was interesting. We had a meeting with about 23 people (the Senior Management Team) and my boss did a “team-building” thing. It is something we had all done before (when we were in our previous roles) but hadn’t done in a while. So, basically we had to define our leadership style. The four styles were “Controlling”, “Analyzing”, “Promoting” and “Supporting”. The first two (controlling and analyzing) are more formal….where the other two are more informal. And then controlling and promoting are more dominant whereas analyzing and supporting are more easy-going. So….guess where I fall? I am “supporting”…the same place I was the last time I did it. Some of the characteristics are: team player, consensus builder and relationship-oriented. Some of the “liabilities” or weaknesses are: too agreeable, avoids conflict at all cost and not demanding enough. It was pretty interesting because my two closest friends at work (well, KK is really my closest friend at work and outside of work) were in the opposite of me…the controlling group. And as I look at their characteristics (takes charge, decisive and results-focused)…I realized that nearly all of my close friends (and Hubby) fall into that category! I think that is who we best work with because they have the strengths that we don’t have (uhh…decisive…hello?!?!?). Well, two funny things. We had to list our positives and then our weaknesses. Well, we (the group of us that were all supporting) just kept rattling off positives. It was very funny. Then we were struggling a little more with our weaknesses….but the first weakness we all said was “indecisive”. SO…then we were asked to prioritize them into our top 3 positives and our top 3 weaknesses. So, we had a hard time narrowing our positives to 3…it ended up being like 6 that we combined to make 3. And then we got to our weakness page and we put indecisive as number one and I said….”Heck! We are too indecisive! Make that number 1 and forget the other 2. We can’t decide!” We cracked up. The other funny thing we had to do was to make an invitation to invite the “opposite” group to a party. Make it with them in mind….so they would want to come. So….we made it very simple, one color and bullet-points for our controllers. We told them to come and bring “their opinions”. They were all over that. Well, before they showed us the invitation they made for our group, they had made a flip-chart that said what they would really do is “Call Missy and ask her to make it pretty.” Which is SOOOOOO what they all do! It was just funny. Hopefully you were able to follow that. It was interesting because it just makes you think about how you communicate with those that are in different groups than you. For example, as a “supporter”, I am a highly emotional person (really??!?!!) and the “controllers” are NOT. So, when one of them is calling me about something…I tend to be more emotional and get my feelings hurt. But if you look at where they are coming from, they have removed emotion from it and just want to get it done and move on. I don’t know if that is making sense….but it was very eye-opening. Like I said, we had done it before…but it was good to re-visit that yesterday.

So….after work, I went and got the kiddos…we dashed home and got ready to go to Family Camp. For those that don’t know what that is….it is a Church of Christ thing…kinda like a “tent meeting”. Families come and camp all week and listen to preaching and singing all week long. Well, I went a few times there as a kid with my child-hood friend who went to a Church of Christ. And I also sang there a few times when I was in high school….because I was dating a guy who was pretty active there. And Hubby and his family used to always go and camp there when he was a kid. When we were dating and first married, we would go every year with his parents….we didn’t camp, just drive down for a night or two to hear the preaching. SO. It is very traditional church stuff. So, we got there and hooked up with Beef and SQ. We dropped I-Man off at the kid’s barn with M-Girl. We got a seat and FAB and A-Girl both started getting loud…the people in front of us kept turning around. So, Hubby started walking around with FAB and SQ was walking around with A-Girl….and then SQ decided to take A-Girl and FAB to her parent’s camper for a bit. Beef, Hubby and I sat and listened to the first preacher. It was interesting. He used WAY too many scripture references….I know that sounds weird. But I think he probably ended up quoting half the Bible. I couldn’t keep up. He was talking too fast….he only had 30 minutes….I guess that was a short time for him. Anyways….he made this one point that when he first said it and the way it was spelled out on the power point…you kinda (and Beef did) went “uhh…..I don’t agree with that”. But then when he actually explained what he meant, you did agree. The statement just didn’t sound right. So, that was interesting. Beef and I were talking about the service on Sunday at our church) and I was telling him how I thought it was great and that you need to get your toes stepped on in church…that is how we grow….and we just had a really good conversation about that. Anyways…..so then Beef took off to check out the youth program there and the next preacher started. I listened for a minute and then decided to find FAB and take her off SQ’s hands. I felt really bad that she was stuck with my kid….so I took off to find them….but couldn’t!!! Beef told me the camper was brown (come to find out…it wasn’t!!!). Anyways…so I headed back to the main tent to hear the preacher and sent Hubby to find them. I am glad I went back. That preacher was GREAT. We almost bought the tape of his sermon to play at Bethany one week!!! He was talking about how “Christians” complain about everything at church….but they miss the point. It isn’t about THEM. It is about HIM! He was talking about how the people at his church….and many others….complain because they have the music on overheads instead of hymn books. He said…..”Why? So you can bury your face in the book and not have to focus on WHY you are singing?” Then he was talking about how wonderful the old hymns are and how meaningful the words are….but do we realize the people that wrote most of our favorite old hymns were drunks and rarely saw the inside of churches? But when a young band comes along….or when you introduce a new song at church…people complain. Only to find out that the “new song” that the young band is playing was actually written by DAVID….it is a PSALM. It was just so powerful the way this man….this old preacher….this “restoration movement preacher” put it on the line. He said that he just couldn’t understand how someone who proclaims to be a Christian….and a “Church of Christ Christian” (because again…we are at a Church of Christ “revival”) could question WORSHIP that is straight from the Bible. What is there to complain about worship that is biblical and it for the purpose of glorifying our God and Creator? Then he went on to talk about how a lady at his church complained one Sunday because they moved communion to a different part of the service (at the end.) She told him that she “didn’t feel like she had been to church” because she was worried about when they were going to take Communion and then it was not when it is supposed to be. He said…”Well, then I don’t think you were at church at all today if that is all you were able to focus on.” He also went on to say “Have you ever wondered why they don’t have Academy Awards for preachers? Like…and the winner of the Academy Award for Best Sermon while he had the hiccups is… Well, the reason we don’t have Academy Awards for church is because we realize that THE ONLY person worthy of the PRAISE and WORSHIP and ADORATION and a STANDING OVATION is GOD! It isn’t about us, people!” I am telling you….it was one of the best sermons I have heard in a long time. My toes got stepped on and I am sure the toes of nearly everyone there did too. Oh, something else he said that I LOVED was….”I wear black a lot. Mostly because it is very slimming! Some of you people ought to try it! Well, last night someone made a comment about my dressing all in black…they told me I looked like a priest. And I told him…I AM A PRIEST! We are ALL called to be PRIESTS! We don’t need to go see a “priest” to confess our sins to because God has called us all to be PRIESTS and to proclaim HIS word.” I am telling you…it was a great sermon. Thanks SQ for watching FAB. I needed to hear that.

SO! After we retrieved our kids and said goodbye to SQ and Beef and their family, we were on our way home. Hubby and I talked a lot about the two sermons. We had a nice drive home….I told him that I was sorry for how hormonal I have been…especially towards him. He has been such a sport! We got home and put the kids to bed and then I crashed. I was exhausted! I woke up exhausted, even though I slept better last night. It seems to be a permanent state for me!!!!

Well, that is about it for now. KK was just here at my desk and we were CRACKING up laughing at this voicemail that Stinky Pete left her. He asks her to take a listen to another voicemail that he forwards to her and then asks her to type in an email what it says……well, that in and of itself is stupid. But then…when you listen to the voicemail, it is all garbled and cuts in and out and you can’t even make out if it is a person or an animal…that is how bad it is. Does he think she is a magician and she can decipher it? We were crying we were laughing so hard! He is a piece of work!!!!

Love you all…have a great day and I will talk to you later!!!!