Wow, is it ever snowing out there! It looks like we're going to get some real winter after all. My second son is out there making a snowman; from the looks of the snowball he's rolling, a big one. Um, OK, I just peeked out the window again, and now I'm a little concerned. He's rolled that snowball down out of our yard and across the street into the vacant neighbor's yard, and it is now HUGE. I'm wondering if he'll even get it back across the street. To roll it back up into our yard, he's going to need help. I have to give the kid credit, though. Nathan always seems to have grand plans, and he quite often surprises me with what he can accomplish. (another peek)
It appears now that his goal is to roll the snowball not into our yard but into that of the neighbor girls that my boys play with. There are several other started and abandoned snowmen in that yard with children sitting atop them throwing snowballs at one another. Meanwhile, Nathan is industriously heaving the snowball in that direction. It's now almost as big around as he is tall! A guy came by with a small tractor and snowplow and helped him roll it when it got flat on one side and hard to roll. Nathan is like that- he seems to inspire people to like him and pitch in with him, due to his raw enthusiasm. And sure enough, he's rolled it to the other children and they've now gathered around patting it into place and making it spherical. All I can see of Nathan is his head with a green hat peeking over the other side. ;-)
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It sort of makes me think. I end up not even starting a lot of stuff because I plan it out extensively, think on it, and I want to make sure that all the setbacks have been foreseen and solutions found for them. Sometimes I don't even talk about these dreams and goals, they just fester inside of me like so many dead embryos. Every new day, rather than shimmering with possibilities, haunts me with its passage of time; one more day that I haven't reached for what I wanted, that I've been too cowardly to pursue it. I guess I should take a clue from my son and just go for it?

Rant for the day: I think I've mentioned that I work in the deli/bakery of a grocery store and that my hips cause me a lot of pain due to standing, pivoting and lifting weight for 8+ hours a day on a hard, unyielding surface. That surface was those 12" by 12" linoleum floor tiles that you frequently see in commerical and institutional applications. I may have neglected to mention that the aforesaid grocery store has been undergoing a major remodel. It's getting bigger and better in many ways. Heck, we're even going to have a fireplace (a fireplace!!) with chairs and tables around it as an eating area next to the deli. (Hmmm, guess who gets to clean the tables?) Suffice it to say that the store has been in a horrible state of disarray, given the fact that it hasn't closed down at all during all the remodeling except for Christmas day. Doors have been moved, rows of shelves moved, windows boarded up and opened...the changes are staggering.

Ah...the floors. The floor tiles throughout the store, including the deli/bakery, have been ripped up, exposing ugly blackish gray concrete with the old adhesive stuck to it. I noticed today that the main store has pretty new beige tiles laid down. They're shiny and nice. Guess what kind of tiles we get in the deli? None. That's right, we don't get new tiles. They going to paint and coat the bare concrete for us. Isn't that sweet? Pardon me for saying so, but I'm inclined to think that the deli girls work harder on their feet than most of the other employees. Our job is high pressure and requires a lot of constant action as well as lifting. It isn't really surprising that I developed chronic hip pain, but I am appalled that they would give us nothing but concrete to stand on!! I mean, maybe I have a sense of entitlement, but I actually sort of feel that if one area in the store needs extra cushioning or floor mats or whatever, it's that deli. Whatever meager cushioning was provided by those old tiles, they should've been left in there if we weren't going to get new ones. Employees in chronic pain are not productive workers....I guess they don't care, or maybe they haven't thought of it. :-/

It just doesn't look like a sustainable long term work prospect for me...

I was misinformed. We are getting new tiles just like the rest of the store! Rant over.