Another rant

Why is it JC Penney's can spend a bajillion dollars remodeling their store, but can't afford to pay for more employees? The Penney's store in our local mall was just remodeled, and in the process they eliminated several customer service stands. I had to stand in line for ten minutes today to pay for two items, along with five other people waiting to purchase items. I can't imagine what it's going to be like at Christmas time. Ten minutes isn't really that long, except, you would think if they can remodel their store, they can afford to PAY people to work in the store. It probably wouldn't have taken nearly so long if one of the customers hadn't decided that she needed to save 15% by using her JCPenney's credit card, which she swore was in her name, but she didn't have with her. As it turns out, it was in her husband's name, so he had to come and show his i.d., then they realized it had been canceled, BUT (!) no problem (!) they'd just open another account. Simply fill out the application, show your i.d., AGAIN, and they'll make a quick phone call and get it all set up. Several weeks ago, I was there shopping for drapes. When I asked the lady at the desk in the drapery department for some help, she told me she only sold CUSTOM draperies, and I needed to find someone else to help me. I finally found someone in the bra department who pulled out a catalog and tried to help me. Furthermore, WHY does Penney's have a beauty salon? I mean, really, how often when you wanted to get your hair done have you said, Hmm..I know, I'll go to Penneys, I know SO many people who have gotten such GREAT haircuts there!

Maybe I'm just bitter after my experience with the bed.

Seahawks

Arghahghahghghghg!!!!!

have they EVER played SO BAD????

Sad

Today I am going to a memorial service. It's for a little girl, just 15 months old; the granddaughter of a dear friend of mine. This is the 7th time in the last 4 years that a friend of mine or my children has lost a child, ranging in age from 1 day to 28 years. It is impossible for me to understand the reason for all of this, it is also heartbreaking and terrifying. I don't want to go, but I'm going to go anyways. Because it's the right thing to do. Because I love my friend, and want to help in any way that I can, even if that's only just being there.

The farm

When I was a little kid we lived in a very small town in Iowa. Durant, Iowa to be exact, population at the time: 1,500. Our high school had around 300 kids in it, 75 of whom were in the marching band. It was a town of mostly German immigrants and their descendants. My grandparents, having immigrated to the United States in the 1920s, were on their way to settle on the west coast and never made it past Iowa, if I remember the story correctly.

This small town is surrounded by farms and in school there was a mixture of farm kids and town kids. We lived in the middle of both worlds; living on a farm for awhile and eventually moving into town. Riding the school bus when we lived on the farm was an adventure...we would see the dust it kicked up long before we ever actually spotted the bus. My parents didn't actually own the farm, we just rented the house from the owner, who was retired, while his son farmed the land. Our walk to the end of the driveway was short and on cold, snowy days we could stand in the kitchen or living room and look out the window to watch for the bus. When we saw it down the road at the bottom of the hill leading to our house, we would grab our books and run out to catch it. We had it easy, though. Often times the farm houses were built down a "lane" off the main road and those kids had to walk/run what seemed like up to a quarter mile sometimes, in order to get to the end of their driveway to catch the bus. Maybe it wasn't as far as it seemed at the time, because we were little kids back then, but it sure seemed like some of those lanes were pretty long; especially in those cold, Iowa winters. Sometimes the moms would drive the kids to the end of their lanes and sit in their cars so the kids could stay warm until the school bus came. If you missed the bus and your mom or dad wasn't too busy, they could usually drive you down the next road and catch the bus at a neighboring farm.

Bill, our bus driver, was a little crazy and often flew by our house without slowing down, only to slam on his brakes as he would see us running out to the road. One of our neighbors had a St. Bernard that was deaf and partially blind. The dumb dog would run alongside the bus, but wasn't able to judge distance very well and was hit by the bus on more than one occasion. He would bounce off the side of the bus and take off running, only to be back the next day. It was a good, simple life for a kid. We only lived on that farm for a year, maybe two, but I loved it.



Psalm 65:9 (NIV)

You care for the land and water it;
you enrich it abundantly.
The streams of God are filled with water
to provide the people with grain,
for so you have ordained it.

Ironing

Does anybody iron anymore?
When I was a kid my mom taught me to iron by starting out with handkerchiefs.
From there, I moved on to pillow cases and sheets, and then, finally to shirts, pants, etc.
I distinctly remember my mom standing in the basement of our house in Wildwood, Illinois, shaking water from a bottle with a cork in the top, punctured with little holes, onto my Dad's shirts and pants, then rolling them up, and getting them ready to iron.
I've never really liked ironing very much and avoid it as much as possible, except when it comes to handkerchiefs. For some reason, I really like to iron my hankies and bandanas and sometimes I still iron my pillow cases. I leave the shirts to the cleaners most of the time, though. Light on the starch, please!