Week In Review

This week has been a crazy week so let's see what I can remember

Monday - walked into work.  The building was as quiet as could be.  I breathed a quick sigh of relief for the quiet but then realized the heat pump was what made the noise.  This could only mean one thing - we did not have any air.  My suspicions were confirmed when I heard the General Manager talking to the sales guys saying he had called the landlord to report no air.  Fortunately I had taken a small fan to work last year and it was still there.  The weather was forecasting it to be a hot day - maybe the hottest day of the year so far.  I am near a large glass door so turned the lights off in my area.  When I left work the air people had not been there yet and it was 94* outside.  Stopped in to see Mother between work and home.

Tuesday - still no air.  Turned my small fan on.  Continued working on payables.  It is a never ending task.  Received notice that one of our overdue accounts had submitted payment so I forwarded that on to corporate.  The air people came around lunch.  A short in the compressor.  They would order a new compressor and currently have the air set to operate at 50%.  It had cooled down just a smidgeon when we left.

Wednesday - walked into the office and there was coolness.  By the end of the day though I wished I had turned my fan on around noon and maybe turned off the lights.  Continued working on payables and scanning.  Stopped in to see Mother on my way home.

Thursday - it was much cooler.  I don't think it got as hot outside.  I did not need my fan on at all during the day.  Worked on payables and scanning.  Also sent a few customer statements to our General Manager so he could contact the customer.

Friday - the blue screen of death greeted me when I arrived at work.  I shredded and then piddled around.  About 8:30-8:45 I restarted my computer and it worked.  Most everyone else's was operational around noon.  There were a few that had wait for IT to contact them with a code.  Went home.  John & I left.  We stopped in and visited with Mother a few minutes.  I took her my Jude Precept Upon Precept study.  Also I had a few family pictures I wanted to show her to have her tell me who they were.  She was able to tell me each one.  We ate at Chick-fil-A.  Then went and had the CRV washed.  John had received a pass for so many free washes at one of the area car washes.  We left there for John's parents and then ended the day at Wal-Mart.  It felt good to walk around some.

Saturday - we were to get our new washer.  I went and got my hair trimmed.  Shortly after I returned home a box truck backed up the driveway with our washer.  It had some damage so John refused it.  They should deliver another one this week (?).  I think they will contact John tomorrow with a delivery date.

Sunday - we visited a church in which a friend's husband is the music minister.  This morning a few songs re' faith were sung.  I was reminded of the song leader from my summer camp days.  I could see him standing at the front of the chapel and leading us in those songs.  Also could see his smile.  He is rejoicing and singing in the Lord's presence now.

Hope you all have a great week

5 Cool Treats

With the past few weeks being so hot I have been thinking of foods/drinks which do not take much preparation

1. Water
2. Watermelon
3. Ice Cream
   
4. Sweet tea
5. Sandwiches - not really a treat but not much preparation
   

What would you add to the list?

Week in Review

Monday  -  was very hard to go back to work after being off Thursday & Friday for the 4th holiday.  Our check run is next week so all payables had to be to corporate by Thursday morning.  My goal with payables is to have them all turned in the evening before they are due.  Then if there is an emergency - one which I receive for the first time and it is due this check run - I only have to worry about those the day they are due.  I had hoped to devote most of Monday to payables but there were documents to scan in the computer and other things to do for the others so not many payables were completed.

Tuesday  -  the week is starting to make sense.  Feels more like a work week.  I was able to devote time to payables.  Got a little over 1/2 way through the alphabet - I organize payables alphabetically by vendor.  I'm not sure what we did Tuesday evening after I got home from work.  I think for supper John had fixed the scrambled eggs, bacon, macaroni mix we sometimes have.  Our chickens are being very productive.  We had not had this for a while for a meal.  We use a pound of bacon, macaroni and a dozen eggs.  We were able to use a few eggs for that.

Wednesday  -  I woke up thinking that Wednesday last week was our last work day for the week.  This week it's just half way through the week.  We would be finishing the upward climb for the week and then by noon reach the hump at the top and start the downward slide.  It was still a little hard to get motivated but I did make it to work.  Finished the alphabet for the payables.  When I got home we went to a big box store and purchased a clothes washer with a gift card we had received when the extended warranty people said our washer would take more to fix than purchase a new one.  We were very thankful for the extended warranty we had purchased and purchased one for this washer.

Thursday  -  received one bill that was due this check run so was able to get that submitted in time to get on the check run.  I worked on scanning documents into the computer the rest of the day - well until it was time to do the customer billing.

Friday  -  we are always excited on Friday.  I worked on scanning into the computer.  The last few days before the check run due date seem to have many more documents to scan.  This evening we visited Mother and John's parents.  Mother is leading a devotional on Sunday afternoon.  She had asked me to print 25 copies of Psalm 100 for her.  I took those to her this evening.

The weekend promises to be busy.  Niece is having a birthday get together.  John has an open house on Sunday.  Then there is a funeral and a wedding reception (close to the same time).  Not sure if we will go to one, both or neither.  I will hopefully be able to rest a little before starting next week.

Hope your weeks were good ones.

Paper Shredder

This October 19 will be the start to my 10th year at the location I work.  Well I actually started working there the end of July but that was with a temporary agency.  When the contract period was finished, I was hired full time.  

Fast forward 3 years and my office mate had a difficult year.  She was sick at the beginning of the year.  Her mother passed away shortly after she came back to work.  Then she had appendicitis.  She was out for several weeks after her surgery.  After all that was finished, it was decided she would just stay home and not work with us anymore.  I missed her terribly but had learned to do both our jobs while she was out.

Before I came to work there, she had researched and purchased a paper shredder.  Actually the company had purchased the paper shredder.  The paper shredder did not see daily use.  Some days of use were very little.  Others were quite a bit.  Last year we started storing our documents online so I no longer needed to store those documents in folders in the file cabinet to be put in banker boxes at the end of the year and moved to storage.  I started shredding every day.

This year I noticed that shredder was sounding horrible.  I prayed the sound would stop and I would not have to purchase a shredder but the day came that I had to purchase one.  We purchase our office supplies from Quill.  I went home and for a few nights researched paper shredders and looked to see if they were available from the Quill website.  I had John look at ones to see if what I was reading was actually what the product specs were.  With a deep breath and approval from the General Manager I purchased a shredder.  This shredder has an auto feed!  I did not know shredders came with auto feeds.  You can put up to 100 sheets on the auto feed area - it takes 2-3 at a time.  The shredder has a much quieter sound than the other shredder.  The auto-feed does shred a little slower than the previous non auto-feed one but to me the value of the auto-feed outweighs the slow shredding.  I do stay close to the shredder while it is auto-feeding just in case it gets jammed.  It has happened occasionally - usually on a very humid day.

The things that make administrative assistants happy.

Wordless Wednesday

 

Washing Machine

 A few months after moving back in this house we purchased a washing machine.  This would have been the summer/fall of 2012.  It was a good washing machine.  Fast forward about 9 years and our washing machine started making horrible noises and would viciously rock back & forth.  We tried to balance it but to no avail.  Called the repair guy.  He came out.  His recommendation - appliances are built to last 10 years.  The amount of money you would need to pay to fix this would be the price of a new washer.  So we went and purchased a new washing machine.  We always get a top load with an agitator.  

Maybe a month ago, John noticed the washer was making a strange noise.  He asked me if I noticed.  I did not but trusted him and agreed he should call the big box store from which we purchased the washer.  They gave us the number for the extended warranty repair center.  After a few weeks of trying to get scheduled they were to come out the last week in June.  The guy came out, looked at the washer, could not exactly figure out what was causing the noise but did notice oil in the bottom of the washer.  He said when he sent the report in he would make sure to mention they would need the parts to fix that oil.  It seemed like forever but last week we received the word they were not pursuing fixing the washer any longer.  We would receive money to purchase a new washer.  It would be sent through an e-gift card from the big box store.

So now we start the process of shopping for a new washing machine.  I am very thankful we purchased the extended warranty for this washer.  It has definitely paid for itself.

Do you have a top load w/agitator brand you would recommend?

 

5 Places I'd Like to Visit

Do you have dreams of visiting outside our country?  Here are 5 of the non-American continent places I'd love to visit:

• Israel 
• Scotland
• Cyprus
• Germany
• Paul's journeys 

 

Where are some places you'd love to go?

Who am I? A look into my family heritage

If the 4th of July falls on a Thursday we get both Thursday and Friday off work.  We forego getting Good Friday as a holiday so the time between New Year's and Memorial Day seems so long but when July 4&5 finally arrive it feels worth it.

We had a good fourth.  John's parents and a brother came.  John grilled hamburgers.  His mother brought German potato salad and we had ice cream bars for dessert.  Food City had the ice cream bars on sale - buy one (box of 6) get one (box of 6) free.  We bought a selection so we had a good variety to offer.

A few years ago (maybe 5) I received a box in the mail.  It contained the book "15 Main Street" which a cousin had put together.  15 Main Street is the street on which our grandparents lived.  This cousin had created the book for her mother and aunts (known as the Perry Girls).  Our Aunt JoNette had sent her book to me.  She had asked a sister what she should do with it and the sister had suggested sending it to me.  The notebook was full to overflowing.  Some sheets were not in sheet protectors.  Some pages in sheet protectors were not secured in the 3 ring binder but just placed in the notebook.  Some of those sheets had a sticky note with another aunt's handwriting stating where that page fit in the notebook.  For some time I have wanted to compare it with Mother's to see if all were in order.   Yesterday I sat down and went through both notebooks two times.  I hope to go through them at least one more time - just to make sure.

From going through the 2 books this weekend, I have realized each aunt has personalized their notebook.  Aunt JoNette had pictures of my 3rd great-grandparents (pictured below) and letters she received after placing 3rd in a school speech contest.  She also included 2 different school projects - one was a speech in which she received 1st place.  Mother had Grandmother's obituary which was in our area newspaper.  Mother also had  Grandma and Grandpa's marriage certificate (a copy) in hers and a few things related to Uncle Martin.  I have copied the marriage certificate to place in my "15 Main Street" and plan on looking closely at what she has related to Uncle Martin.  I may copy & include those also.

In going through the book this weekend I have been reminded of the Godly heritage we cousins have been given.  The aunts shared about growing up - quoting Scripture before eating a meal, trying to stump their father by reading a verse and then he would have to give them the Scripture reference from memory, one sister would start tapping a hymn on the headboard of her bed and the others would have to guess which hymn was being tapped.  We cousins also shared the memories we had of visiting 15 Main Street.  We each knew we were loved by our grandparents.  

Fond memories are not created by how much we spend on others but by the simple acts showing we love them.  

 

Isaac Voorhees VanLiew  

 August 11, 1811 - April 18, 1887

married January 8, 1834

 Catharine Lamoreaux VanLiew

June 14, 1816 -  April 16, 1886