It’s Friday again! This has almost become my favorite day of the week (Saturday is still the front-runner).
Yesterday, I decided to take off at 2 pm, mainly because I was not busy and could think of other things I could be doing away from work. One of my co-workers approached me Wednesday and informed me she needed someone to rake the leaves in her mom’s yard. You see, her mom is suffering from cancer and has not been well for many months. Just recently, she fell in her house and broke her hip……so now, she is going through rehabilitation. My back and legs aren’t what they used to be, so I told my co-worker I would try to find someone to do it for her.
I know what my co-worker is going through….having a mom that is suffering from cancer. My mother-in-law passed away August, 2009, of cancer. It’s hard to watch a loved one suffer from this horrendous disease. Plus, my co-worker is the one that is basically taking care of her mom and making sure everything is in order. The more I thought about my MIL and her battle with cancer, the more I knew I needed to help out my co-worker’s mom.
Even though I have not felt real well, or been energetic this week, yesterday was a beautiful day to get any kind of outside work done. When I left the office at 2 pm., I went by my co-worker’s mom’ house to check it out and then headed home to get the tools I needed for the job. Then the work began. I raked and raked for 2 solid hours without taking a break. There were lots and lots of leaves. I had bought 18 trash bags and used all of them in no time. When my co-worker got off work at 4 pm, she came by to help me. After all was said and done, we had over 23 bags of leaves (after she went and bought some more bags). It was a tough and physically demanding job, but we got it done. NO CHARGE! I did not do this to make any money…..that would not have been right. I did it in honor of my co-worker’s mom and did it in memory of my MIL.
After doing my good deed for the day, I received a text message from my wife, informing me my daughter had run out of gas. She ran out of gas on her way to work, so one of her friends came by, picked her up and took her to work. I went by the house, got my 5-gallon gas can and went to 7-11 to fill it up. In process of filling up my can, I sprayed gas all over my jeans, my jacket and my shoes. The next challenge was finding her car. She had told my wife she had pulled into a parking lot across from Cambridge…which told me absolutely nothing. So, for 1 hour, I drove down SW 89, SW.104…down S. Western and S. May, trying to find a neighborhood called Cambridge. No luck. When my wife finally got the right directions, I went to where her car was at and put gas in it. Then, I drove it back to 7-11 to put more gas in it.
Since we were so close to the house, I decided to take her car back to the house and then pick her up from work at 8 pm (when she was suppose to get off work). I went home long enough to start a load of laundry and check my email on my computer. At 7:30 I left the house, went by Sonic for a half-priced burger and then headed to my daughter’s workplace. Well, when 8 pm rolled around and she did not come out, I figured she was running a little late. Then, when 8:30 came around, I finally determined that she was getting off at 9 pm instead of 8 pm. So, I waited over an hour for her in the parking lot. She finally got off at 9 pm and then explained to me she was scheduled to be off at 8 pm, but they needed her for another hour. I made it home by 9:15 and worked on my laundry as well as checking things on my computer. My right shoulder and arm was already very tired and sore from raking so long. I took some ibuprofen and went to bed, but still did not sleep well because my arm ached so bad.
Today, my co-worker is off, so I am working her radio. It hasn’t been too bad. Karla is feeling well, so I am sure we will stay in this evening. Tomorrow morning is prayer breakfast at church, followed by a work day (we will be decorating the auditorium for Christmas). At noon is my REACT Christmas party and then that evening, we are meeting at a friend’s apartment to watch football and have some snacks.
http://www.neighborhoodlink.com/OCFD_Citizens_Fire_Academy_Alumni_Association/home
http://www.okcentralreact.org/
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