Home Is Where The Heart Is

As of 4:00 PM EST Friday, Melody became a Stay At Home Mom...... Home may be where the heart is, but a Mom is the heart of a home. I know that it isn't going to be an easy adjustment. I don't know of a time that Mel hasn't worked. When I first met her she was working for a florist doing arrangements. I think she was working there when she sent the beautiful fall arrangement to me at my work? They were so beautiful as was the thought behind it, but the arrangement had a wee bit of golden rod in it and it was closing my throat to where I was just barely able to breathe. I still have to smile when I think of that. I fixed it right up though by taking the golden rod out of the arrangement. It was still a beautiful arrangement even without the golden rod ......

From being a florist she went to work in the office of a lumber company. I used to tell people that my daughter-in-law was a lumber jack. It took a lot for her to change jobs, but this meant more money. In the winter I worried about her driving the distance to her job because I know she was nervous about driving in the snow. She did it though and became a valued employee.

Again it was difficult to make a job change, but the pay, benefits and experience of a new job offer couldn't be ignored. Right around the time that Riley was born Mel went to work in the city auditors office making sure that our emergency service responders received their paychecks. Now Mel can put all those other hats in storage for a while and take out the Domestic Engineer hat and wear it for a while. I know the children will be so happy to have her home for them. I hear people complain about staying home, saying that it gets boring, but I know from experience that there is always something that needs doing if you look for it. I can also speak from experience that being a stay at home Mom can be very rewarding. Congratulations Mel!! I know that you will love having the time to do those things that you didn't have time for when you were working. I have no doubt that you will be one that loves your new job!

I am pretty sure that just about everyone reading this post can relate to the story I am about to tell you and recall an experience while shopping that fired you up and caused smoke to spurt out of your ears. I have suffered being run over by other peoples carts without even a whisper of an apology. Yet, I smiled and hobbled on down the aisle. I have been prepared to get in the check out line only to have people actually run with their carts to jump in front of me. Yet I smile and take the place behind them. I have stood in line patiently waiting while a little gray haired woman (or the occasional man) count out the price of their groceries in coins from their coin purse. I again smiled and waited patiently because I remember my own mother doing this before. I have smiled and been patient, as well as forgiving in most cases of this sort, but our last trip to the grocery store was the "I Can't Believe This" moment of all moments. It was busy time of the day to begin with and only two registers were open for check out. We were third in line with a cart full of groceries that was half unloaded on the conveyor belt. The lady at the front of the line had a fist full of coupons. With the economy like it is a person has to save where they can. The register wouldn't accept one of the coupons because she hadn't bought the item. Everything comes to a sudden halt. The cashier explains to the lady why her coupon was rejected and at the same time calls for someone to go get what the woman wanted off the shelf and bring it to the register. We wait and waiting meanwhile more people are lining up behind us. I turn my attention back to the front of the line only to find that Coupon Lady has disappeared. We all just continue waiting. After a good 15 minutes the grocery employee returns with the Coupon Lady's item. Still we wait because Coupon Lady is still out there some where. By this time we are closing in on 25 minutes waiting and the line behind us is still growing. I start standing on tippy toes watching and finally I see her coming in our direction. I am feeling relief that this ordeal is almost over. How wrong can one person be? Well let me tell you............ Coupon Lady didn't even look in our direction, instead she dashed down another aisle. I am just guessing here, but I believe she must have decided she needed to do a little more shopping. When Coupon Lady reappeared at the register she didn't come empty handed. To answer your question; No, I wasn't nice about it. Yes, I complained just like everyone else in line. The bottom line is that everyone has their breaking point. Evidently mine is when people go off to finish their shopping after the cashier has started ringing up the items in their carts.

May Your Greatest Treasures Be God's Blessings !