Honesty is the Best Policy

Most everyone that knows me knows that I will tell you that I absolutely love my job. I really do. I love my job and I love my co-workers. I do however, hate some of the reality that I have faced with working retail. I used to be a very trusting person---honestly, probably a little too trusting. In my eyes, everyone meant well, no one lied, and no one was out to deceive you. Unfortunately, I have been proven wrong. It really disturbs me how many dishonest people are out there. I've seen so much theft and dishonesty and it breaks my heart. I've known people to have their children help them steal and watch them steal. It breaks my heart!!! Why in the world would you ever steal to begin with and why would you ever bring your child up to steal? I never realized how many dishonest people are in the world. It makes me sad and it also makes me just angry. I work hard for every dollar I make and the next person is doing everything they can to lie, cheat, and steal. It doesn't seem fair, but I do believe that what goes around, comes around. They will in one way or another have to deal with the consequences.

I'm the kind of person that if a cashier overcharges me and I know it...I give the money back. I accidentally had a .97 sponge under my purse one time at Dollar General and took it back to pay for it. I could NEVER live with my conscience knowing that I took something that I didn't earn or pay for, no matter how big or small it was. I thank my mom for that too. She taught me better. I remember her doing the same thing with a package of hair ties once. She went back and paid for them because she didn't notice and the cashier didn't notice that they were sitting on the inside of her buggy when she walked out. I hate the reality of knowing that people aren't as trusting as I once thought. Instead of trusting every person that I come in contact with, I've turned into the person that is skeptical of every person I come in contact with. All I can tell you is my children are going to know the good values and morals that I was taught growing up. They will know you work for what you want and you are always honest. I don't care what anyone else thinks, I still truly believe that honesty is the best policy.

Giving Back

We had a rough start to this week this week. Kylee was admitted into the hospital because she was having an entirely difficult time breathing. She was discharged today after lots and lots of breathing treatments, some fluids, and some antibiotics. They decided she had a virus that triggered some Asthma. She's been a trooper and I'm so proud of her.

So I got to thinking...She came home today with a "Project Linus" blanket. It was a handmade blanket that the pediatrics units give to the patients. It's funny how something so small has made that child's day...she loves that blanket! It made me realize again how awesome it is to give. Someone took the time to knit those blankets and put a smile on little kid's faces. I've decided that now that I am out of school, I would love to put my spare time to use by giving to others. I'm not sure yet what I want to do but I just want to make other people's day and I want to teach my children to do the same...There's so many organizations that I'm ready to give back to too and just people in general! This is going to be a main focus for us this Summer.

This mommy is an OFFICIAL college graduate!!

So this week past week I officially became a college graduate!! My college career has taken me through so many paths. I've switched majors a couple times and found out that God had other plans in mind for me at this time. I'm content. I wanted my nursing degree, but it was made obvious that now was not the time to pursue it and I don't think it could have been made any clearer. I did, however, graduate with my Associates in Business Management....and you know what? For once in my life, I'm proud of myself! I have worked HARD for this! I started college the same week that I lost my daddy, which was a huge struggle....I've had to take books to the hospital so I could work on schoolwork after the delivery of my children so I could keep up.....I've stayed up many nights working on assignments and having to go into work the very next day because there just aren't enough hours to work, do class work, and sleep when you're taking full time credits....and I've had the obvious traumatic experiences during the last 6 months to deal with. Plus, I'm just a mommy. There's been so many obstacles and it's been a long journey for me....but it's been so worth it!!!! I'm so happy!

What??? Mother of SEVEN? How old are you??

A younger associate at work (19) was exchanging diapers for her baby today. She has a 3 month old. We got in the conversation of babies and kids and the older man behind us kind of pushed his way into our conversation. He asked how old she was and she told him. He said that she needed to wait to have any more babies and definitely didn't need to get married yet. He said she didn't need any more babies until she was at least 26. For some reason, these kinds of conversations get me kind of heated so I was trying not to be part of the conversation. She then pointed out to him that I had 7 children. Of course I get the reaction I always get when people learn this fact. The "OMG, do you really? How do you do it?" kind of reaction. Then of course comes the nosy questions.....ya know the "how old are you" and other personal questions. When people ask me these questions I feel like asking them if they'd like my phone number, address, credit card information, and social security number as well.   It always angers me so I just try to smile through the annoyed emotions that I get. So, according to this man I was too young to have my child at 19 and marry at 18? I didn't know there was an age on love! Yes, for most people...18 may be too young to marry and 19 may be too young to have babies, but for some people 30 is too young to marry and 30 is too young to have babies!!! What's right for someone may be completely wrong for the next!!! I will tell you that I have been happily married for almost 10 years now and I have 7 children that I love more than life itself. I have no regrets of starting my family so young! "You sir, have a right to your opinion, but you sir, are WRONG!"----if I hadn't been at work, I would have loved to have given my opinion as well.

Daddy

I'm not a great writer at all, but for my last speech I had to write a commemorative speech. I chose to pay tribute to my father. I miss this man on a daily basis and it felt good to be able to tell people what kind of man my daddy was, even if they don't know him. He was a wonderful man and this is the Eulogy I wrote for him:


For those who don’t know me, My name is Jeanette and I am Larry’s youngest daughter. Thank you for helping me pay tribute to my father today.

My dad was an amazing man. He would give anyone the shirt off his back if they needed it. I knew growing up I could always count on my dad for anything. He never let me down. Even as I got older, married, and moved out of the house I knew he was only a phone call away and so did my sister and brother. Actually one of the very last memories I have of him was him putting antifreeze in my vehicle because I had a leak and he was worried about my vehicle breaking down on me. It was freezing cold that night and little did we know he was coughing so hard because he had pneumonia. The very next day when I showed up to the hospital because his pneumonia was bad enough to be admitted, he wasn’t worried about himself at all. The first words out of his mouth were asking me if my vehicle was still giving me problems. He was worried about me driving around. That’s just the kind of man he was.

My dad showed his family on a daily basis how much he loved them. He was married to my mother for 30 years and he treated her like every woman deserves to be treated. My siblings and I understood at a young age what true love was because we saw it everyday with the love that they shared. They never left one another without a kiss goodbye. My dad also always made time for his kids. Some of the best memories that I have I shared with my dad. It was the simple things. I won’t forget walking to the grocery store in 3 feet of snow when I was 8 just because he thought it would be exciting, or biking on the Huckleberry Trail with him while I was 8 months pregnant with my first child because he said I wouldn’t do it. I used to come home at night from doing whatever I was doing and just sit at the edge of the bed and talk to my dad while he was watching TV and I had the privilege of my daddy walking me down the aisle when I got married. I’ll never forget him being so upset about letting his little girl go. He was so excited to get grand kids though. He loved his grand kids so much! He would come over every day or at least every other day and give them some kind of treat or toy. He would sit on the floor and play with them for a while. He would take their pictures and show them off to everyone he knew.  I think he sometimes even showed them to people he didn’t know! They absolutely knew they were loved by their paw paw. We’re all going to miss that knock on the door everyday. His love for his family didn’t stop with his wife, kids, and grand kids. Since the day his dad passed away, he would take his mom a cup of coffee every day and sit to talk a while. My daddy was just a family man.

My dad was an example to all who knew him. He was hardworking and he showed us what it was like to earn a paycheck. He worked 60 hour weeks in a factory to help support his family and he raised us to know that you work for what you want and need in life.  He was an honest and simple man with great morals and values and he put more emphasis on the important things in life like spending time with loved ones and just being a good person. He enjoyed the little things in life like going to auctions, watching NASCAR races, taking his dog for a ride, and fishing.

I’m sad to know that he’ll never take my son fishing like he wanted to, but we’ll take him fishing and I’ll teach him everything my daddy taught me about fishing and life. I hope that I can leave an impact on my kids and everyone else like my daddy left on all that knew him. Our time with him was cut way too short, but we will hold onto the memories forever.

The Little Things

I'm so ready for Summer. I'll be graduated and won't have to worry about going back, the kids will be out of school, and all I will have to focus on is working, being a good wife, and a good mother. I feel like I've just been waiting on this...but everything I've done and sacrificed, I've done for them and it will finally be all over!!  I've been putting things off till I have more time to do them and I'm finally going to have that it! I almost wondered what I was going to do with all that "extra" time I'm going to have, but I've found the best use possible =).  Ready to just watch our little blessings grow and enjoy those little things with them! After all, they won't be like this for long =(.

Looking forward to the little things, like coming home and cooking dinner WITH my hubby instead of him having to do it by himself. Ready for our trips with the kids to the park and the pool, ready for our camping trip, ready for our special movie nights (I even have a cool drive in movie night planned for them for their last day of school), ready for our cookouts, and ready to just enjoy them!!! I'm going to make sure that my children remember the time we spent together. I've said this before....but one of the most awesome things about having a big family is that we can make anything into a big party!!!! I love it....and we're going to party all summer long! =P

Just so grateful

Every time that I've been pregnant, everyone has always asked me if I wanted a boy or a girl. My reply to them was I didn't care as long as it's healthy. This has always been true, but I never realized how true. It seems that I have taken my healthy babies for granted. Draven was born fighting for his life and has had a number of sicknesses since he was born. He's gone through Flu A which sent him into Hypothermia and apnea,  Pneumonia, Klebsiella Oxytoca (a rare infection in his blood stream, which can be life threatening), an inguinal hernia, Flu B, and Bronchitis. It's sad that it took me till child #7 to realize what a blessing it has been to have healthy children. I know that people think that I'm a little overbearing at times now, I freak out about everything....but I have to say that it's hard to understand until you go through it. I've experienced lots of scary firsts with him and I DO worry about the slightest sickness because the slightest sicknesses has become really serious for him. This boy has taught me a lot. I am thankful for his health because it could always be worse and I am thankful for the health of his brothers and sisters. Never again will I take my children's health for granted.