Blech

I don't feel good. It all started yesterday afternoon. Michael and I were driving around checking out neighborhoods of potential rental properties. After a while my head started hurting and I started feeling sick to my stomach. I have a tendency toward carsickness, so I thought that's what it was. I convinced him to take me home and I went immediately to bed. I actually started crying a little I felt so horrible. I slept for about two hours and missed the thing we were supposed to go to last night. Of course I couldn't sleep last night when it was time to go to bed, though I still didn't feel good. I awoke this morning fighting waves of nausea and decided to make use of my meager four hours of sick time. At least I'll get paid for half the day. So, I've been reading and watching TV, drinking 7up and eating toast. Hopefully I'll feel better by tomorrow. I hate feeling yucky. It's no fun.

Paper Cuts

I started a new job last week. I'm working in the prosecuting attorney's office for the county at the front desk. I answer the phone and talk to people who come in (ask me about my favorite visitors thus far). I also build and schedule the dates for traffic infractions and misdemeanors. It's fairly interesting, I stay busy (which means, not bored), and the people are nice, so it's pretty good. It's much better than the last place where I felt bored and unappreciated. Also, I don't support one particular person, so no one's breathing down my neck if they don't like something I did. And, if a file gets lost it happens so much that no one seems too perturbed, we just order another report and bug the records people. The biggest downside to my job is the paper cuts. Last week I ended up with five or six, and I've gotten two so far this week (one per day isn't bad). The one from yesterday is on the webbing between my thumb and first finger on my left hand and the other one got my cuticle on my right middle finger. That one really hurts, especially since I kept catching it on things all day. Hopefully I'll learn how to avoid them better, but for now paper cuts are the bane of my existence.

Interruption

I just needed to post a quick little addendum to let all interested parties know that I finally have a job. Starting Monday I will be working in the Prosecuting Attorney's office for Kootenai County. I will be a Senior Clerical Aide. I had the interview yesterday morning, they had me go wait in the conference room for a bit while they checked my references and deliberated, then called me back in and offered me the job. Apparently they liked me.

Part 2

So, my series idea was originally that I would post about these women on three consecutive days. This, as you can see, didn't happen. What can I say, I'm kind of a slacker sometimes. Moving on, the second woman that has had a large impact on my life is Shari. I knew her for so long, and she seemed like such a permanent fixture in my life for so many years. Through her life she taught me so much, and in her death she brought home to me that life is transient, and no one is here forever. When she died of breast cancer I was in Abilene, TX in my sophomore year at Abilene Christian University. I was unable to attend the funeral, but I did write something to be read at her funeral. I have no idea, really, if they did read it, but I will post it below. It is a good summation of what Shari meant to me. Here it is:

I am truly at a loss to put into words all that I would like to say. It was suggested that I choose a memory to share, but even that seems nearly impossible. I have known Shari almost my entire life. Selecting just one of the many memories made in the last 19 years or so is difficult, to say the least. However, I shall try.

Over the years Shari has taught me many things. From the time I was a five-year-old in her kindergarten class to just this last summer during the short time I was home, I’ve learned from her example. One thing that constantly stands at the forefront of my mind when I think of Shari is when I was learning to read. We all got to take turns reading aloud with her one-on-one. I remember looking forward to that time the most during school. After mastering the first little books, Shari, or Teacher, as I called her at the time, would have me read some of the shorter, easier Psalms from the Bible. I believe those times cemented my love of reading and my love of the Psalms.

More recently, Shari has taught me what it is to be courageous and dignified, while still keeping a Christ-like spirit. Never once dwelling, or even letting me dwell, on her sickness, her concern was always for others. The last time I spoke with her was when I called her this last time she was in the hospital. She answered all of my inquiries into her well-being as briefly as possible, and soon countered with a question of her own that required a much more detailed explanation than my questions. I have been loved by and have loved Shari from the time I was a very small child. Knowing her has been one of the greatest blessings of my life and I will cherish her memory until the day I can see her again.

9-23-02