A really awesome day

What an awesome day today’s been!

I knew it would be good as my department at work was celebrating my birthday today, but it surpassed my expectations.

It began with a very inspiring prayer meeting at work in which our Executive VP reminded us not to let petty things and petty people bring us down, that we are here to accomplish a great mission. I work for a charity/Christian ministry. We help the destitute poor of the Caribbean and Latin America. Angel (pronounced “An-hell” in this case – Hispanic) told us the incredible story of how 15 poor widows in Nicaragua have come together as a co-op to raise pigs – not something simple or expected like sewing or cooking, but pig farming. Not only that, they have taken in two orphans. Of course, Angel being the eloquent speaker he is, elaborated on the details. He told this tale to a group of our high donors and one immediately offered to send the older of the two orphans, a young lady raising her two younger brothers, to college.

I keep repeating how I love my job, but this is one of the many reasons why. We help hundreds, maybe thousands, of people every day. We change lives for the better.

Lunch brought a surprise. Elaine, a Jamaican lady in my department, brought rum raisin ice cream. I’m not big on rum so I only tasted a bit. But most of the ladies ate one or two scoops. I teased my boss that he shouldn’t let them eat it or else we’d be giving wild customer service the rest of the afternoon (we’re the customer service department). He said there wasn’t enough rum in the ice cream to make anyone tipsy so he wasn’t worried.

Well, he’s not only our boss, he’s in charge of company-wide training, so he went off to lead a training class for the rest of the afternoon. Let me tell you, the ladies kept the party going. They were giggling and laughing till they cried. They were so loud I’m surprised Sydney didn’t hear us cackling all the way at the opposite end of the building where he was. Something tells me that the rum was at least a little to blame. We have fun a lot, and we joke around, especially on birthdays and holidays. But this was the most unruly we’ve ever been. Luckily, our phones didn’t ring too much this afternoon, so we didn’t have to service too many donors. We almost took the party on the road to Linda’s house up in Boynton as her husband is away at a Deacon’s retreat all weekend. Next time…

Linda gave me the new Carrie Underwood CD I wanted. Let me tell you, it’s pretty awesome. It’s in my car’s CD player right now. But when I told my daughter what I got for presents, she told me she’d bought the same thing. So we exchanged it tonight for Constantine’s CD. (Remember? I’m also a HUGE American Idol fan and I adore Constantine and Carrie, Bo and Chris, Kelli and Kelly). I’m so happy I have new music.

That’s not the end of the great day.

My younger daughter had a softball tournament game tonight. They finished their rec regular season in second place. They won tonight. They not only won, but they walloped the other team. One inning when we were a non-stop hitting machine, I felt sorry for the other team. Also, my daughter got to pitch two innings and she was fantastic. Some friends from church came to watch Steph and Rachel, and we had a lot of fun cheering them on.

Of course, with being so busy, I’m behind in my NaNoWriMo word count. I wrote about a thousand words today – pretty pitiful. But you know, I have a very full life. I wouldn’t have it any other way. We’re usually running from the day job to one of the softball teams or lessons, to one of my favorite writing places, or to church. There are only so many hours in the day. I also squeeze in time to work out at the gym 4 or 5 days a week. And of course, there’s the usual mom and house wife duties. Let’s not forget that I spend time with my grandchildren and my married son. I just received an edit last night that my editor needs returned by my birthday – this Wednesday, November 21^st.

Over the years, a couple people have wondered why I don’t have time to squeeze in other activities. However, far more of my friends and acquaintances are in awe of how much I do. Most of my work friends go home right after work, eat dinner, watch an hour or two of TV, and then hop into bed by 9 or 10. I don’t have to write, and I suppose I don’t have to take my kids to their softball, scout, and church meetings, but I like to. These activities are important to me and I enjoy them. We are awarded one life with only a small amount of time, and it’s up to us whether we waste it or fill it with activities and people who fill our heart with joy, of which we will be proud.