Wednesday, November 9, 2011

Playing Hooky


I'm home today. I've been fighting off some malady since Saturday that seems to come and go and I decided it wasn't doing me any good to keep trying to overcome it while going to work so, here I am, feeling a little guilty because it's been ingrained in me to never, ever  call out sick, unless you're dead, in which case you'd better have the courtesy of phoning in before you keel over. Well, I'm not dead but there have been times these past few days when I didn't feel far from it, so here I am.

I met with a lawyer this week to discuss fighting my case against my former employer.  He was hopeful we had a strong suit that might set a precedent for others to follow.  You know what? I came home and decided the last thing I want to do is fight an Ivy League institution.  Life is too short and there are more worthwhile things to battle, so I'm going to step aside, let them believe they won, and let God sort it out.  In God's grand scheme of things: What do I care?

Like the day I handed over my beautiful icon from Gargano, I don't think it's really me who made that decision.  All of the best that I am comes not from myself but from the One I hope finds a place to dwell within.  What's a few thousand dollars as compared to suffering scorn, derision and death on a cross?

Anyway, my employees are getting a little too spoiled by me, so it will be good for them to imagine what life was like without me and then maybe count their blessings.

Now that I have a job in what could be called "the country", I have been thinking a lot about the days when my oldest and I were so enmeshed in the horse world.  I cannot see a dirt trail in the woods without wondering if it's a bridle path.  There was nothing like the Fall for riding cross-country.  The gorgeous color of the leaves on the trees and underfoot provided a bucolic setting that was unmatched at any other time of the year.  There are times when I miss those days so much, it aches to think about them.  I saw the four seasons and God's creation in a way few people are afforded, on a daily basis.  The problem was that all of it revolved not around God, but around one of His most noble creatures.  The challenge was to appreciate the horse's unrivaled beauty without making him an idol.   Since I didn't manage  that very well, it was best to just move on, so I did.

Have a blessed day.

13 comments:

  1. Good decisions - all of them! God bless.

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  2. Hi Joyce. Hope you will be feeling much better soon. Sometimes I think just sleeping most of the day is one of the best cures for lots of those "bugs" we start getting this time of the year.

    I love the picture! Here in the deep south, it is rare to find a lovely fall colored tree. When we lived in North Carolina, I was like a kid at Christmas during my first spring and fall there -- dogswoods, tulips, peonies..a confection of beauty. And then the fiery show in fall. Wow! Woods behind our house. It was glorious. Enjoy!

    In Heaven, I'm living in the Northeast area : )

    Have some chicken soup and watch an old move..maybe The Trouble With Angels... ?

    I'm off to the dentist, but I'll say a prayer for you when I stop in at the chapel on my way home.

    Love and get well wishes,
    Patricia

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  3. Thanks Richard, I'm always honored when you are able to drop by.

    Thank you Patricia. I'm 51 years old and my mother still feels compelled to visit when I'm sick. She brought her incomparable chicken soup and even made a roast beef dinner for the family for this evening. I am going to head back to bed shortly as I think you're right - sometimes you just need a day of solid rest to get rid of what ails you.

    I don't think I ever appreciated Fall and Winter until Caitlin started to ride and we had to drive through all kinds of country in all kinds of weather. I know people dread Winter, but I do not. And the show that we get before it arrives is too spectacular to take for granted. I don't know how people cam still not believe in God after they look at the splendor of Fall.

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  4. Awh,you have a great mom! Don't you love when someone else brings home cookin'?

    My sweet little mom, when in her 90's with dementia, still worried about my sisters and me having birthday cakes. She couldn't bake them, but she wanted to buy them.

    I miss her so...she died 3 years ago this month.

    Enjoy your mom...nothing like a mom's love..no wonder even God compares His Love to a mother's.

    Be well!
    Patricia

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  5. Patricia, I do have a wonderful Mom, though our relationship was rocky during my teen years and it has taken an effort to get over it. I'm very lucky to have her.

    I will keep your dear mother in my prayers. May she rest in the peace of Christ. Isn't that just like a devoted mother that even in her dementia, she wanted you to have a proper birthday cake? Thanks for the well wishes, I'm feeling much better, thank God. I'm becoming such a wuss in my "older" age that it gets harder and harder to go to work sick.
    God Bless!
    Joyce

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  6. I hope you are feeling better. I wouldn't feel too badly about staying home when you feel badly, that's what sick days are for. Our company gives us personal time off and you use it for vacation or sickness, no difference to them. And about the classes, really you are the winner anyway, you walk away with the knowledge and they can never take that away from you.

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  7. I hope you feel better soon, Joyce..You're in my prayers as always. I'm from the same school of death is the only excuse for absence.. so I hope you really enjoy the forced rest.

    IMHO I think you did the right thing too..God has a way of working out injustices.

    My poor mom always asks what she can make for me when I'm sick since chicken soup without chicken isn't too appetizing.. : )

    + and blessings

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  8. A gin and tonic often works wonders also!

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  9. Thanks Kathy, that's how our time off works as well. I hope Taylor had a happy 7th birthday!

    Caroline, thanks, doing much better today. I would imagine for a vegetarian chicken soup may not be the ticket! However, I love it. Did you know Fantastic Foods makes a vegetarian version? No one in my house even knows the difference and it's easy :)

    Richard, don't give me any ideas! lol

    Blessings to all
    Joyce

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  10. I've had a cold for a week myself. And I strained my back last weekend. I wanted to take a day off but there were just too many things going on. I hope you feel better.

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  11. Feel better Manny. How did you hurt your back?

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  12. Actually I've had this pain shooting down my left leg for over a month now and it altered my walk which led to it affecting my back. It was kind of strange. Friday night (this is last week) my back felt extraordinarily stiff, but no pain. When I woke up that Saturday morning I couldn't move without excruciating pain. When I finally was able to swing my feet over the bed and try to stand up, I just collapsed to the floor. I couldn't move. Somehow I got back to the bed and lay there for an hour praying that I wouldn't be a cripple. I've had some back pain in the past but nothing where I just couldn't move without sharp pain. Finally I had to go to the bathroom so bad I had to slither off the bed and crawl to the toilet where I was able to lift myself onto the seat. Do you think my wife had any sympathy for me? Of course not. She thought I was trying to be a lazy husband as usual and milk my illnesses...lol. Anyway after a while I got it better by moving it. The act of moving got it loosened up. It feels fine now, though my leg is still bothering me.

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  13. Manny sounds like sciatica, which is very painful. Maybe you have a bulging disk?

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