If you have something to prove...

...prove it everyday. This will probably be seen as a rant but it is also an important life lesson. If you want to be an honest, ethical, fair and likable person be that person everyday.

 Don't wait for someone to question your behavior live every day like you are under a microscope. Unless you are a hermit, and at times I wish I was, people will be watching you and making judgements about your actions and behavior. If they question those actions and you do a 360 going way overboard it then raises the conundrum of, were they right in the first place? Were you acting inappropriately? 

In the work world you do have to make adjustments, you do have to change and be flexible to meet bosses demands and the changing work environment but by going overboard you really aren't fooling anyone but yourself because all the people around you know what is really going on and respect your effort to 'prove' something even less. 

There is one who always sees what is done, even in secret, and one day you will stand before Him even if you don't believe in Him. 

To my future employers...

...I know you've googled me looking for all my deep dark secrets. Here they are,
1. I'm not good at networking in person but I'm pretty good at digital social networking
2. There are times that I say more than I should. I like to think it is because I have an aversion to secrecy but some may think of it as gossiping
3. I work hard, think creatively, and problem solving is one of my skills. The downside of problem solving skills is that it leads me to thinking that my solutions are the best
4. I don't present visually as a very professional person but I am well educated, communicate clearly, and have a professional attitude
5. Once hired I don't like changing jobs so I very likely could be that employee who stays forever (unless I'm shanghaied by a jealous library who wants me for my 'mad' blogging skills

I know I'll hear from you soon!

My Day Off

Sleeping, shopping and Subway!
It's been a long time since I've enjoyed a relaxing week day off and I'm making the most of it.

Yesterday was a long training day for the library in Kentwood. The Black Belt Librarian taught us many important things about security and customer service. Security isn't something we think a lot about in a small town but as pointed out to us yesterday, "You never know who you are dealing with and you can't judge by appearances."

Tomorrow my oldest niece is getting married. I haven't decided if I feel that she is awfully young or if I just need to admit that I'm older than I pretend. It does help to remember that I was still in college when she was born. I'm excited for her and she's marrying a good guy, I just pray they are ready for the changes ahead.
Today is my best friend's birthday. God brought us together in college and she's been BFF ever since. Life may not always turn out the way we wish or plan but if we trust God we know that it will all work out for the best.

"Blackie's Day Off", by Cheryl Lucas

Blackie was a horse. He was a strong horse. Blackie worked for the Miller family. Blackie worked HARD for the Miller family. He would plow the field. He would plant the field. He would harvest the field. Blackie knew how to raise barns and pull logs. Blackie was tired of working. Blackie lived in a big red barn with other horses, pigs and cows. Blackie lived right next to a horse called Betty. Betty was not a strong work horse. Betty was a buggy horse. Betty got to go with the Miller family to visit the neighbors. She would take the Miller family to town. Betty would go with the family to their Sunday Meetings. Betty was a traveler. Blackie would listen to Betty talk about all the places she had been. Blackie wished that he could see all the places Betty talked about. One Sunday morning after Betty and the Miller family left Blackie found a broken fence. Blackie knew how to fix the fence but he needed farmer Miller and his tools. Blackie thought about all the work he would have to do at the farm. He thought about all the places Betty had told him about. He looked again at the broken fence and decided to take a day off. Blackie jumped over the broken fence and headed down the road. Soon Blackie came to a hard road with white and yellow stripes. There were fast machines on the hard road. They went really fast. Blackie decided it was safer if he traveled in the soft grass beside the road. Up the road Blackie trotted. Some of the fast machines would slow down and watch him. Others would move far away from him like they were scared. Blackie thought they were very strange. Blackie saw a big house up on a hill. The house had beautiful flowers. Blackie loved flowers. He went up the hill and smelled all the flowers. Betty had told Blackie that neighbors were friendly and would often have a treat for visitors. Blackie decided that the beautiful roses would make a wonderful treat. They tasted good. After visiting the house on the hill, Blackie decided to go to town. On his way to town Blackie found a really big pond. The pond was so big that he couldn't see the other side. Blackie stopped to drink from the pond. The roses had made him thirsty. When he finished drinking Blackie continued on his trip to town. Betty had told him about all the big buildings. There was a library, a bank, and a grocery store. Blackie wasn't sure what these buildings were for but they were big. There were a lot more of those fast machines in town too. Some of them were not moving so Blackie could get a closer look. After seeing what was in town Blackie headed back into the country to explore. Blackie saw even bigger machines in fields. It looked like those machines were doing the same job Blackie did. Blackie was glad that he didn't have to work with those big machines. They looked a little scary. Blackie saw all sorts of funny things. He saw a woman riding a two wheeled machine. A man driving a machine around in circles in his yard. Children standing throwing a ball at a circle again and again and again. Pretty soon Blackie was ready to go home and enjoy a nap under the shade tree. Blackie headed down the road looking for his pasture. He was a cow pasture, a pig pen and a field with some kinda of tall long necked sheep. When he went over to talk to them they said they were Alpacas. Blackie asked them if they knew where his field was. They didn't. They weren't very friendly either. One even tried to spit at him. Blackie continued down the road looking for home. Blackie heard a familiar sound. The rumbling of buggy wheels. Over the top of the next hill Blackie saw a line of buggies leaving a neighbors house. Blackie trotted on up to the closest buggy horse and asked if he knew Betty. Again and again Blackie asked if any of the horses knew where Betty was and how he could get home. Soon Blackie heard his name being called. Blackie followed the sound and saw Betty. She was pulling her buggy full of the Miller family. Blackie was so happy to see his family that he gave a loud whinny and kicked up his hooves. Young John Miller got out of the buggy and came to click a lead on Blackie's halter. Blackie followed the Miller family all the way home to his pasture and took his nap under the shade tree. The next morning Blackie and Farmer Miller fixed up the broken fence. Blackie worked many days for the Miller family. But now as he worked, he would remember all the wonderful places he had visited on his day off. As he would plow the field he would think of the neighbor's roses. When he had to plant or harvest the field he would remember the big pond he drank from. Every time he helped raise a barn he would wonder how the big buildings in town had been built. At the end of the day Blackie would bed down in his barn and dream about the places he would visit on his next day off.