The Feel Good Department!

[Brad Russ]

I was rushed to the hospital by ambulance last night around midnight. I woke up and was unable to breathe for 3 to five seconds. Was gasping for air. This happened two or three times, before the ambulance arrived. I cried out to God, and said I don't want to die, and I'm not ready to die. I thought I was dying. Thought I was having a heart attack. Even with that though, yesterday was still the best day of my life. I went for a walk, and started playing that game we all played as a kid, I lay down, looked up, and tried to see shapes and stuff in the clouds. Boy did I ever get a show. lol The first thing I saw was a cross, then Jesus was hanging on the cross. Then the cloud would turn into a demon, then to an Angel, to many illuminati signs. I saw a plane several times crashing into a building right after I saw many of the illuminati signs. This went on for an hour, or an hour and a half It was the most amazing thing. It was wet outside, and so the ground was wet, but I was so focused and in awe of what God was showing me that I was oblivious to everything, and everyone around me. When I went inside, mom yelled at me because she was worried sick about me. before all this happened, I had one of the scariest moments of my life. This is like the worst of the worst, and amazingly, I went for a walk, and even though I felt like my life was over, and amazing peace came over me. That's when the clouds did their thing. My mom had been out searching for me, and was worried sick. So I understood her being so upset. When I told her what had happened, I started sobbing with tears of joy. She held on to me, and started sobbing herself. So much better than any laser light show I ever saw. My mom was scared and thought that I had taken drugs, or that I didn't take my meds. I calmly told her that I was great, and that I was happy, and full of the Holy Spirit. Nothing around me matter, I was almost in a trance, a wonderful trance. Last thing I saw in the clouds was a huge smiley face. I actually saw three or four smiley faces, but the last one eclipsed them all, and was bigger than all of them put together. I knew exactly what that was about too. I'm sure most of you have noticed, but in the nearly 10 years that I have been here, I probably end about 70 to 80 percent of my posts with a smiley face, sometimes two or three. As soon as I saw that last smile, I knew exactle what God was doing that for. I smiled back before going into my house for the night. THANK YOU LORD FOR GIVING ME THE GREATEST GIFT THAT I HAD EVER GOTTEN IN MY LIFE!!!

[treky]

I started my P.T. again on thursday. Exercise is IMPORTANT for my condition, I was taking it at a local hospital but I could only go for a few months then do it at hhome for a while, then go back for a while, etc. since that's how Medicare works.
Now they have me doing aqua therapy (that means exercising in a pool) It' good-I haven't been in a pool in years. (and as a bonus, the preety therapists assistant goes in with me-but not in a bikini, damn it-she's in a one piece suit. Oh well)

[Family Ties Forever!]

I just watched America's Cutest Cat 2010. It was on Animal Planet over the weekend and I recorded it. It was so cute!

[Brad Russ]

i had a wonderful day yesterday. i was very sick physically, but still would give it an 8 or 9. Went upstairs at 3:00am to get some dinner. Instead i ran into this tall 6"8 good looking dude with huge feet who was really cool. He saved Carl down at the river after my mom couldn't find him. Also supplied last nights dinner, some salmon that he caught. Got a chunk next to me right now. Delicious!

He was into the illuminati, and is the first person who iv'e come across who genuinely was interested in my thoughts and experiences with the subject. Mom had been talking to him for hours about me, and my experiences with the illuminati. Anyway, this dude was smart. Knew all the science, and technicalities of the illuminati, and this corrupt world. i was amazed at his knowledge, truly. Anyway, i told him some stuff that amazed him, as he did me. We talked for about two hours before i went downstairs, and ate my three burritos. Even got his email address so we can share things. Really cool dude.

Also met up with my therapist. Was mostly in a retrospective mood, and mostly talked about the impact others have had on my life.

Walked down to the liquor store with Carl. An older guy smiled at me, and we exchanged pleasantries, then me an Carl walked down to shell to get him a couple bad, but not too bad beers, lol, and me a fountain drink. Pepsi to be exact.

Later on i went to shell myself to get Carl a couple more beers, and walked to Albertsons to get two cans of mushy dog food, and four cans of chunky cat food. Went to the self check out line and had no problem with it for a change. A day before this nice black lady explained to me how to do it. All i had to do was push a button. First time in over a year that someone took the time to explain it to me, instead of rolling her eyes, and doing it for me like the previous women.

Anyway, i left a couple dimes in their incase someone had just 20 cents short which has happened to me many times. Got really sick on the way home, and had to sit down about four times. Just took the time to thank God for the amazing day. Night got finished off when i told this pretty lady in a car to go, instead of me walking first. She gave me a beautiful smile and a wave, and i returned the favor. Made my heart feel good. The night was ended when i told Carl to hang in there, and that i'd say another prayer for him. He thanked me before assuring me that he'd be alright.

Darn near a perfect day, and will have many more even better ones, and probably a few worse ones in the future. Looking forward to the weekend!!

[Family Ties Forever!]

I had lunch today with my friend who is retired from teaching middle school.

I can't wait for my trip next Tuesday.

[PZelda]

Things are going well here at work. I'm on a temporary transfer assignment for 2.5 months at another store in my employer's company in the same state - this particular town is going thru an oil boom right now and as a result, things have REALLLLLLLLLLY picked up. Not sure when exactly this started (around 2 years ago, I think), but it's been ridiculous since then and things show no signs of slowing down. In fact, the oil boom has hit closer to my home (the town I'm in is further away from home).

Anyway, I am finishing up my 2nd week here, and it has been nothing but great fun! The store is SUUUUUUUUPER short staffed and is allowing what employees there still are, to put in all the OT they want (70 hours for me this week so 30 hours of OT, **** yeah). Plus they pay me WAY the hell better here than at my home store, because this store does SO well in everything. (it's a hairy, ugly situation with the oil boom - there is high demand for housing... there is demand for 5,000 houses and right now they can only meet 2,000 of that. Also, there is ZERO VACANCY in any hotels ANYWHERE, all apartments have a 6-month to 2-YEAR waiting list, etc... Good luck finding a place, because you're not going to find one! I'm here because my employer has a deal with the hotels here to reserve a # of rooms)

I wouldn't wish this growth on anyone - it's pretty tough when something like this happens, because you're not prepared for the sudden growth. If this ever hits my hometown... You betcha I'm leaving. This is no joke - landlords have raised their rents to $2,000/month because of the demand and because the oil workers can afford that kind of money. But they are also evicting people, usually longtime residents, because of that. Lots of homelessness going on too. Like I said, hairy and ugly.

My boss for the time being (the store manager, heh) is actually really awesome and if she hadn't already accepted a new position in the same company in another state, I would soooo be asking her to come work at my store, lol. She blew me away with her awesomeness the first morning I swung by her office to chat with her... a little backstory to this, I did a brief gig at this store last year (so right now is my 2nd time being here), and found out my last gig here that she knew sign language (I'm deaf; sign language is my first language). I didn't get to talk to her much last time so I never got to ask how she knew sign language. Well, the first morning I stopped by her office, I finally asked her about that and she said she'd started while in college over 10 years ago... and bonus, she would be willing to practice sign language for me if I knew it (oh of course!). Um, how AWESOME is that?! Everybody adores her - so I am bummed she won't be a store manager for much longer! On Sunday, she told me she was on her day off from work and actually sitting at home, practicing her signs. SO HAPPY (and flattered!). It may seem insignificant to you guys, but it means so much to me. I don't expect ANYBODY to know/be fluent in sign language. This is very much a hearing world... I am just one deaf gal living among the hearing, and she has to deal with the fact that this is really all about the hearing people. Just a fact of life for me. I'd already liked her from the start, so it is an added positive to our newfound friendship. So maybe now you guys understand why I was seriously flattered to hear that from her! That would be like me taking the time to practice, say, Arabic. Not a language that everybody knows. Finding someone who does know it is hard to come by. So when you do find someone who knows more than just the basic aspects of that language, it really means a lot!

I am gonna be SUPER sad when my assignment is up and I have to go home. I love everything about my work situation right now!

[Family Ties Forever!]

^That's cool. I had a sixth grade teacher who felt it was important for our class to know how to sign the letters in the alphabet in sign language. I know that's obviously not being fluent in it, but it's something. No one in the class was deaf so she must have known someone who was or just felt it was important to know. Twenty years later I still remember how.

[Brad Russ]

Originally Posted by PZelda

Things are going well here at work. I'm on a temporary transfer assignment for 2.5 months at another store in my employer's company in the same state - this particular town is going thru an oil boom right now and as a result, things have REALLLLLLLLLLY picked up. Not sure when exactly this started (around 2 years ago, I think), but it's been ridiculous since then and things show no signs of slowing down. In fact, the oil boom has hit closer to my home (the town I'm in is further away from home).

Anyway, I am finishing up my 2nd week here, and it has been nothing but great fun! The store is SUUUUUUUUPER short staffed and is allowing what employees there still are, to put in all the OT they want (70 hours for me this week so 30 hours of OT, **** yeah). Plus they pay me WAY the hell better here than at my home store, because this store does SO well in everything. (it's a hairy, ugly situation with the oil boom - there is high demand for housing... there is demand for 5,000 houses and right now they can only meet 2,000 of that. Also, there is ZERO VACANCY in any hotels ANYWHERE, all apartments have a 6-month to 2-YEAR waiting list, etc... Good luck finding a place, because you're not going to find one! I'm here because my employer has a deal with the hotels here to reserve a # of rooms)

I wouldn't wish this growth on anyone - it's pretty tough when something like this happens, because you're not prepared for the sudden growth. If this ever hits my hometown... You betcha I'm leaving. This is no joke - landlords have raised their rents to $2,000/month because of the demand and because the oil workers can afford that kind of money. But they are also evicting people, usually longtime residents, because of that. Lots of homelessness going on too. Like I said, hairy and ugly.

My boss for the time being (the store manager, heh) is actually really awesome and if she hadn't already accepted a new position in the same company in another state, I would soooo be asking her to come work at my store, lol. She blew me away with her awesomeness the first morning I swung by her office to chat with her... a little backstory to this, I did a brief gig at this store last year (so right now is my 2nd time being here), and found out my last gig here that she knew sign language (I'm deaf; sign language is my first language). I didn't get to talk to her much last time so I never got to ask how she knew sign language. Well, the first morning I stopped by her office, I finally asked her about that and she said she'd started while in college over 10 years ago... and bonus, she would be willing to practice sign language for me if I knew it (oh of course!). Um, how AWESOME is that?! Everybody adores her - so I am bummed she won't be a store manager for much longer! On Sunday, she told me she was on her day off from work and actually sitting at home, practicing her signs. SO HAPPY (and flattered!). It may seem insignificant to you guys, but it means so much to me. I don't expect ANYBODY to know/be fluent in sign language. This is very much a hearing world... I am just one deaf gal living among the hearing, and she has to deal with the fact that this is really all about the hearing people. Just a fact of life for me. I'd already liked her from the start, so it is an added positive to our newfound friendship. So maybe now you guys understand why I was seriously flattered to hear that from her! That would be like me taking the time to practice, say, Arabic. Not a language that everybody knows. Finding someone who does know it is hard to come by. So when you do find someone who knows more than just the basic aspects of that language, it really means a lot!

I am gonna be SUPER sad when my assignment is up and I have to go home. I love everything about my work situation right now!

i enjoyed reading this Allison. So glad things are going so well for you. You deserve it! Have a great weekend!!

[PZelda]

Jenny, that is way awesome! Yeah, it's not much, but it's a good start. And it's pretty neat you still know the alphabet 20 years later! There are actually different variations of sign language alphabet -- for instance, we here in North America use 1 hand to sign our alphabet. But in Britain, they use BOTH HANDS. (yes, I know! Crazy!) Unfortunately, I don't remember any of the BSL alphabet because it seemed too complicated for me to remember. Plus they sign differently too... sign languages are languages of their own! Someone who knows ASL isn't going to understand BSL as easily, just like someone who knows German isn't going to understand Spanish so easily. But yeah, the alphabet is pretty easy to remember. Rock on, Jenny!

TY, Brad! Yeah, it's been nothing but fun here. Yes, I'm serious. Even tho my workload is heavier right now and all that. There are sooooooooo many problems with the store building up, but we do what we can do to make the best of it. It's interesting, my home store is like a well-oiled machine. Here at this store, not so much. But everybody is pretty laid back and it's actually not a bad environment.

[Family Ties Forever!]

I'm ready for tomorrow.

[Janice]

Originally Posted by Family Ties Forever!

I'm ready for tomorrow.

Me too!!

[Retro4Life]

Originally Posted by Janice

Me too!!

I'm very happy for you both. It's awesome to read about two great friends finally meeting, like a Hallmark movie or something.

It's nice to read something positive, thanks for supplying that.

[Family Ties Forever!]

Originally Posted by Janice

Me too!!

[Janice]

Originally Posted by Retro4Life

I'm very happy for you both. It's awesome to read about two great friends finally meeting, like a Hallmark movie or something.

It's nice to read something positive, thanks for supplying that.

What a sweet sentiment. Thanks so much.

[Retro4Life]

^ You're quite welcome.

I'm sure you'll both have a wonderful time. Post pictures of the food, if you're willing!