Working on a Sunday night...

This is my view right now.

Pathetic. I'm at the office. It's 9:30pm on a Sunday night and I'd rather be at home.

So I'm going to do a short exercise in counting my blessings. Here goes:

1. I have a job. More than that, I'm the boss, so I can come in late tomorrow if I want.

2. We leave for Honduras Wednesday. VERY excited about seeing the children at the House of Hope again.

3. Looks like Collin is getting his first car tomorrow. Scary...but we are blessed that we can help him out with this.

4. We hired summer help today. (THANKS, Kathryn, for sending us Trevor!)

5. The weekend has passed with no emergencies at the water plant, cemetery, or with Rick's clients. THAT is a blessing!

6. I enjoyed a fun day with my mother in Tyler yesterday. Barnes and Noble... 'nuff said!

That's all for now. Gotta get back to work.

Whew!

Yep...you got it.

Audit is complete, and Oaklawn Memorial Park is numero uno!

I will sleep really well tonight.

Worn down

It's Tuesday, 12:30pm. I'm waiting on Rick to finish a customer phone call before we mosey over to lunch. Mother has "breakfast" waiting on us. YUM.

I'm feeling pretty worn down. We have concluded our "graveyard shift stake-outs" and are going to rely on the newly installed motion detector's to alert us of anything thing, human or otherwise, that crosses the boundary into our cemetery.

We didn't catch the thief, and I feel a bit disappointed in that. It would have been fun to nab the person that's been stealing from the dead!

My audit is tomorrow. I'm swamped. You know the saying, "When it rains, it pours."

It's true.

Rick's off the phone. I'm going to eat now.

Silence

Sometimes I just don't have anything to say.  This would be one of those times.

I had the most wonderful weekend (last weekend) with Mother. Sometime, I'll post pictures of our Mother-Daughter trip to Jefferson. But not now.

With the new year of 2010, the ownership transfer of Oaklawn Memorial Park has been completed. I have never felt more vulnerable and inadequate than I do today. As 100% stock-holder to this Cemetery (where we have 3,030 people buried) the buck does indeed stop here. Right at my doorstep. I can't defer to good ole dad anymore, except for advice and a hug.

And right now, for the first time in 52 years, our cemetery is the target of copper theft. Two nights this week, pathetic, heartless and selfish thieves have stolen vases from graves.

I'm sick to my stomach.  When making the calls to the families to inform them, I'm met with a variety of responses. Some are more upset than others. Thankfully, no-one has lashed out in anger at me.  But I feel hurt for those affected. And I feel angry, as if the bad guys broke into my own home and stole.

I wonder if Granddaddy ever considered this day when he founded Oaklawn Memorial Park in 1958.  I wonder what he would do about it if he were around today.

Preparations continue for our annual audit coming up. My attention is needing to focus on getting ready for that, but I can't seem to concentrate.

I think I'll just be silent for a while.

Permission Granted

Sometimes it's hard to give myself permission. Like this morning... I wanted to take a slower morning at the house and work on a few things. Being in the office, amongst the bustle of activity and customers and issues can, at times, be distracting. I've been putting off a couple of reports that REALLY needed to get done because of all the interruptions at the office. My mother reminds me that I can look at my job as a "ministry of interruptions." Good thought... but I really need to get some of these reports completed! So this morning I gave myself permission to work at home. Our new admin assistant at the office is working out WONDERFUL, and we're now to the point that she can handle the office by herself for a few hours. I waffled back and forth, several times this morning about driving in. But once I was able to just relax and allow myself the freedom... I was able to be productive. See??? I even had time to update this blog. Back to work now...

Neat and Orderly

Our days have been pretty busy the last few days, and I'm finding myself significantly overwhelmed. It seems cliche to say, but I am concerned with the Economy. I'm seeing unemployment, tightened budgets, and the housing/mortgage crisis all first hand. Not all within my own life, but within the lives of people I know. It's different when the change goes from watching it on the news to actually seeing it in the lives of those you love. I've had some frustrations and concerns related to our own personal Brown Family economy, and daily I need to remind myself of how very blessed and gifted we are. Wow... I get overwhelmed when I think "Why Me?" Why was I so lucky to have been born into the American luxury that I sometimes complain about? Sometimes, when I get overwhelmed and stressed, I find myself cleaning my desk off. Or reorganizing the pantry. Or fine-tuning the arrangement of the place mats on the kitchen table to be at perfect right angles. Ok... I'll stop now. But you get the picture. So when Rick installed the new switch at the office, in his typical organized fashion, I felt REALLY good. Each cord was precisely in its place, numbered and securely fastened together. No more "rats nest" of unlabeled cables taunting me in unfashionable disarray. Yes! I think I will sleep good tonight knowing that at least one area of my life is neat and orderly.

Oh, the frustrations...

I look forward to writing about our days in Guatemala after the Carnival, as we still had work to do at other locations. And there are some really neat things that occured that I can't wait to write about. But it's not going to happen today. I need a moment to vent about Grouchy People. Why, oh why, do some people feel the need to be mean, rude, and downright ugly? With our businesses (Merchant Services, Residential Water Distribution, and a Cemetery) I have encountered a handful of these people. They can be Adverse, Severe, and Savage. (Commonly known by the abbreviation A.S.S's.) For the most part, I can handle them pretty well. I lower my tone, try to reflect back to them what I hear them saying, and generally acknowledge their frustration. Once they feel "heard," I can make the point that needs to be made related to the issue. Rick recently had the unattractive privelege of dealing with one of these people. And I must say, he handled it really well. But it sure put us both in a foul mood. I suppose that is the rub. We shouldn't give this person the power to control our moods... but it just happens. By the same token, isn't it pleasant to deal with someone who is warm and friendly? Even if there is a disagreement, it can be handled professionally and respectfully. Today I'm thinking of the way my actions and words can affect other people. And I hope that people I do business with end up in a better mood BECAUSE of me. That's all. I'll return in the next few days to continue our journey in Guatemala. Until then, keep smiling. :)

Sat morning breakfast at Athens Cafe

We spent the night at the farmhouse in Athens. Worked late moving offices around... Breakfast at the cafe starts out our Saturday, and afterwards we will resume the work tidying up our new digs. We've seen several people this morning that we know, but it's going to take say lot of work making Athens feel like home. And while it is close in proximity to our town, it still feels so very far away... I think today is the first time I've had a pang of homesickness, and we haven't even moved yet.

Back to work

We're back from Ohio. What a Monday... Reminds me of that song by the Bangles "Just Another Manic Monday...." I didn't get the chance to upload any pictures of the weekend conference we attended. Actually, I only took 2 pictures. And the stories that would have to accompany the pictures wouldn't make much sense. Kind of those "you had to be there" stories... The conference was entitled "Change the World" and focused on thinking outside of the box for ways to LIVE our mission as Christ-followers. Church is not about how to get more people into the seats, but how to get more people out of their seats...serving others and sharing God's love. I've got lots of new ideas to process about what I can do differently in my life. And I'm so grateful for the freedom we have to "think outside of the box." We're in the minority here, living in this country, with the luxuries that we have. And speaking of freedom, our cemetery hosted the "Freedom Riders" today at a funeral of a retired serviceman. You'll note the American flags in the picture below... each flag was held by one of the Military Veteran motorcycle riders that surrounded the family at the funeral. The service featured full military honors, including the 21 gun salute, presentation of the flag, and taps playing in the background. After a quick google search, I learned lots about Taps, the haunting melody that has only 24 notes. I had no idea there were words to the song, but here is the first verse. Day is done, gone the sun, From the lake, from the hills, From the sky. All is well, safely rest, God is nigh. That's really beautiful. I can't seem to get the song out of my head.

Better Late than Never

This week Rick and I have been drowning in paperwork. What you don't see in this picture is: 1. The Clock - it should say about 12:30. (AM, that is.) 2. The Pizza Box - midnight snack... practically inhaled... there are crumbs visible. 3. The Dog - Yes, Roxie perched herself on the table to oversee the mania. 4. Me - Because Rick is much cuter to look! :-) The reason for the late night? Dogwood Estate Water Company is a little bit late filing the official paperwork to transfer ownership into Rick's name. Technically, it should have happened 2 years ago, but who wants to do things by the rules? It's much more fun procrastinating. So, this was the week. I'm not sure what spurred us to complete it... but it was just time to do so. I retired shortly after taking this picture, and Rick worked on well after midnight. You wouldn't believe the detailed finances that have to be reported and projected for this application. It's insane. Especially since I highly doubt the numbers are going to be looked at very closely. But it's gotta be done. Since we were spending the night in the Farm House (our future home) adjacent to our offices, I left Rick to finish it up. I headed next door to settle in. Well, not really. First was the cricket/roach patrol, sweeping up the remains from the last extermination attempt. (See blog on July 22.) Next was hunting down that darn beep from one of the smoke detectors. Of course, I had to find a ladder before I could kill the beep. Honey, when you read this, we need a new battery in the detector over Collin's future room. Before too long I got spooked and had to call Rick to investigate the strange truck spinning its wheels behind the fence. He came promptly over to verify that it was a Red Dot Truck (certainly authorized to be back there...) Although you gotta wonder why they were trying to pull out a stuck trailer at this time of night. It was after midnight. Eventually, Rick locked up the office and reported that the Application was DONE! At least his part was. I've still got to tidy up some details before getting it off to Austin. But I'm thrilled we are this much closer to completing it. It will be a huge load off our list once it's completed and accepted.

Sunday update

Well, Rick and I were just about to head to Dallas when the dreaded call came... Ring-ring.... This is the answering service at Dogwood Estates Water Company. Someone mowed over one of your meters and water is gushing... yada-yada-yada. There goes our afternoon! Rick changed into his work clothes and headed out to meet our workcrew. Workman, actually. Just one. Hopefully, he'll get Armando started on the repair and then race back to pick me up. We're supposed to be at a going-away party for a dear friend, Dick Ivey. Dick has been Rick's mentor for years. We'll get to visit with lots of friends from Rick's past... that's always fun. So hurry home, Rick! Here's something cool - Taylor came home last night... briefly! He was in town just for a couple of hours before heading back up to UNT. I miss that boy so much. He's only been gone a week, and there were weeks that went by before where I didn't see him. But this is different. He's on his own now, making choices and stretching those wings out. I have a feeling that my prayer life is about to change. Know what I mean? Update... Rick just called. He's getting Armando started on replacing the water meter and will be heading this way shortly. Yea! That means we can resume our plans.

Audit Results... 'nuff said!

My Audit Rating!

I can't stop smiling!

Audit-Bound

I've spent the last week preparing for our annual Tx Dept of Banking audit at the Cemetery.

Well... I've spent the last week "thinking" about the audit. The physical action didn't really begin until last Thursday. I usually put things off and then kick into gear under the pressure. The Banking Dept comes every 12-18 months for our audit of the Perpetual Care Fund, as well as our operating procedures. You wouldn't believe how closely they look at our records! I used to be nervous - real nervous - about the annual Audit. This is #5 for me, and I've found that this time I'm much more relaxed about it.

Being that I took Friday off (iphone!) the real work didn't begin until Sunday afternoon. Mother met me at the office and we began preparing the folders. She has been so very helpful by keeping up with our "internal audit" on a monthly basis - it really doesn't leave much to check over before Mr. Commissioner arrives. And Shannon had already pulled all the folders, a task that was pretty time consuming. I'm grateful for all the help I can get.

We catalogued the folders, completed official Board Minutes, and searched for Stock Certificates (found them, whew!). Then the fun began for me to go through our Trust Fund statements for the past year. It's difficult understanding all of the investments and capital gains and reinvested dividends - I've never claimed to be a "numbers" gal. Truly, it's like Greek.

I fumbled my way through and finally felt like I had a handle on everything.

Rick got to Athens last night about 9:30pm, so that was my call to hang it up for the night. We are continuing to settle in at the Farm House, little by little. Last night was the first night we actually cooked over there. Rick's famous "mac and 'maters" filled our tummies and we watched a movie.

Fell into bed well after midnight. The GREAT thing about staying at the Farm House is that I can sleep until 8:30am and still be at work at 9am. No commute is fantastic!

The Audit is tomorrow. I'll spend the rest of the day tying up loose ends. We're spending the night over here again tonight, so it will be convenient to work late and arrive in the office early.

Crossing my fingers...