Month: October 2016

Posted in It's all in a day's work.

Free Fallin’

Posted on by jenniferrsalveson

Do you ever have one of those, shut your office door and cry, three different times in one day, kind of day?

No?!

Hmmm. Well I do! And I did. Just last week. Or was it this week.  Okay, so maybe I have those days more often than not.  Anyway, it had been quite an overwhelming day with a major shortage risk trying to creep its way in at our highest output factory.

Finally, 5:00pm came and I was heading out the door with my handbag (it’s not a purse-that is slang, I learned that early on in my retail buying career from a seasoned vet buyer) and my knock-off Yeti.  Or so I thought.

Next thing I know, I’m face down on the pavement, at the bottom of a set of 6 cement steps. Yep! I fell.

See, I’m already clumsy sometimes, so that certainly doesn’t help the equation and I can be careless about trusting all will be okay (No. Faith-filled. That’s what it is, I’m faith-filled). So as I was about to take the first step downward, the heel of my shoe got caught and gravity worked alongside that mess and pulled me forward.  My shins took the brunt of the fall as they smacked one of the steps, with my knees trailing behind to the next step and ending with my left elbow halting the fall against the pavement. As all this was happening in the physical realm, I was having an “out of body” moment. I was hovering above myself, seeing the fall, thinking… “Oh no, I’m falling. I’m falling. What am I gonna do. How can I stop this. I can’t. I can’t stop this. Oh no.” And in the end, there was no stopping it. I was falling whether I wanted to or not.

So there I was. Face down. On pavement. My handbag and 2 cell phones (yes, I’m That important) sporadically scattered at the bottom of the steps and my knock-off Yeti lying there with all water gone from it; even my fruit diffuser flung across the ground.

Even though I was still in complete schlock and trying to process what just happened, I decided I needed to get up because I simply couldn’t be found, face down lying at the bottom of these steps. So I pushed myself up from the ground and was able to maneuver myself to sit on the bottom step.  “I’m okay. I’m fine.” I kept telling myself. I looked around to see everything scattered about on the pavement and thought, okay what’s my next move. I need to get my phone and let hubby know I’ll be delayed in getting home. I started to move to get my phone, yet went nowhere because my body simply hadn’t gotten past the shock or initial pain.

“And, I’m not okay. I’m not fine and now I can’t reach my phones to even call for help.” What in the world am I going to do?

Mind you, I haven’t even looked at any injury yet because my main thought was, let’s get home and I’ll clean myself up there. Granted, this is totally the wrong approach and breaks many, if not all, of most companies’ safety procedures for accidents. But my ego was so bruised; I simply wanted to get home.

(All of this processing really only happened in a matter of 3 minutes, but with my writing you’d think I’d been sitting there half an hour at this point.)

As I sat, debating how I will even get home at this point, a car starts to back out. This could be my answer. Or wait, do I really want this colleague, whoever it may be (as I don’t recognize the vehicle), to come to my rescue?? Can you believe I even pondered that!?  I mean at this point, I have no other options because I couldn’t get my body to move to even pick up my phones.  Geez!  The things one thinks to avoid being seen after an embarrassing accident. The gal rolls down her window and to my surprise it’s our safety manger. Needless to say she pulls back in, and comes to my first aid rescue.

As she’s cleaning my wounds and bandaging me up, she begins to lay an ice pack on one shin and tells me certain warning signs to watch for throughout the night. I’m listening. I’m getting queasy. I’m thinking, ‘man I’m glad it’s not a 90 degree day’. I start to feel nauseated. I casually move said ice pack from my shin to my neck in order to avoid throwing up all over her and potentially passing out. And all of this happened as another colleague joined to support in any way. Yes, let’s make it a group effort-oh the embarrassment of it all!

(And by the way, how in the world did I have 3 kids??)

After she finishes and I think my nausea has passed, she looks at me and says, “Can you please let me take you home, you don’t look well enough to drive yourself.” Clearly, not all color had returned from the conclusion of the ‘what-to-look-for’ signs conversation, and I gave in to the offer (because sadly, I would have had to sit there another 30 minutes just to regain composure to drive 10 minutes home).  Both colleagues gathered my things and helped me to her car.

So the lessons learned… Always use the hand rail. Don’t ever be too embarrassed to accept needed help—Be Real Folks.  And, don’t drink too much Coke-this could have been reason for my fall (just kidding, but I had to include some sort of “coke” joke).

Posted in Random Ramblings

Random=Chosen without method

Posted on by jenniferrsalveson

I love to ramble at random. And I would often do so on my Facebook page, which my husband found extremely annoying. He’s one of those that if the post has to involve you pressing the button for “read more,” he ain’t doing it! So when I would “Facebook Blog,” he would always mention how I needed to get a blog-so he finally set it up for me. Little does he know, that’s been the plan all along.

I’m a bit spoiled, but that’s another post.

So today I just want to leave with you several thoughts…

Have you ever had a bruise on your elbow? Oh.My.Gosh.  I know, it sounds all harmless, but it’s not.  It’s so not. It’s painful. Well, maybe not painful, but it’s a nuisance.  Anytime I graze arm across my desk, console in my car, whatever…it tingles. And so that’s been the painful part of the last couple weeks because once I got rid of the bruise on my right arm, I somehow obtained one on my left arm… Have I mentioned I’m clumsy?

Worship.  I just love to worship Jesus.  I was never a concert goer, and in fact I’ve only been to 2 concerts-Shania Twain and Jack Johnson.  Yes I know, not even the same genre, but stay with me, I’m going somewhere with this… From what little I have experienced ‘live’ and what I have seen on TV, most people are quite excited to be there; singing the songs by the artist, waving phones in the air, jumping, etc…  This is how I view worship.  I am there to experience my favorite ‘artist.’ And sing His songs (as loud as I possibly can). And jump for Him (or dance or stomp my right foot-my daughter even does this). And “wave my hands in the air like I just don’t care.”  So for anyone ever wondering why I worship the way I worship…there ya go!

My Planner/Bullet Journal is so not in order at the moment. So much so, that I feel like I barely know what day it is. Well, except for the fact that I do know tomorrow is my birthday. (I always know when my birthday is!).

Beth Moore. Go to YouTube and just watch some of her short clips. You’ll loose an hour of your life because you’ll be in awe of her awesomeness, but just do it.  I mean, not until you’re done reading this of course. But yes, she’s awesome.

It’s that time of year… Ya know, when I post past pics of myself with short vs. long hair, and ask my nearest and dearest FB friends to select my destiny. But really, I am trying to decide whether to continue to grow it out and let my face look “drained” from the long length, yet have an easily thrown in a “mom bun” look.  Or cut it off for something shorter and sassy and easy to manage with 3 kids, who like to check on you when you’ve been in the bathroom getting ready for too long.  Decisions.

I love this quote I recently heard from a pastor quoting Andy Stanely : You’re 1 of 3 things-You are a mess, You were a mess, You are about to be a mess.  Perspective. Because life is a continuous cycle.

Trump vs. Hillary.  Are you kidding?  I’m not touching that one with a 10-foot pole.

I’ve been reading lately.  No one fall out of their chair please, but yes it is shocking news.  But from the books I’ve been reading, articles I’ve been studying, messages from church, there is a common thread.  What is it?  Breathe.  Focus.  Plan. Discover your purpose and press on!  So with that, my husband and I both have been talking about the future and God’s plan for us.  And let me tell you, it’s a scary thing to openly talk about.  Try it.  It will scare the life out of you. Because essentially, you are staring your future in the face while praying/talking about ‘what do you want it to be’ or ‘what could/should it be’. And while yes, the possibilities are endless and exhilarating, you may discover that what you thought was just a ‘daydream,’ may be the very thing where God asks you to take action.

Finally.  Yes, today is Sunday. Tomorrow is Monday.  After the 2nd presidential debate. Before Taco Tuesday, if you do that kind of meal planning. And it’s my birthday Monday!  So, you’re welcome.  I’ve given you a reason to be glad it’s Monday.

 

 

Posted in Travel

I’m leaving on a jet plane…

Posted on by jenniferrsalveson

And always with a journey ahead.

As a disclaimer, this is a bit of a quirky post but I’m kind of in a quirky place…(not literally, just in my head).

Uneventful travel would be such a drag. Good thing mine is always the opposite.

It started off last Monday morning, waking at the hour of 4am, which entailed a 1 hour drive to the airport, trying to leave Knoxville, only to find myself in a mess by the end of it. First the plane changed from a 76 seater down to a 64 seater. Now, I’m not sure how the airlines do that, nor am I criticizing that this is a rare commercial transaction where it seems you pay for something and sometimes don’t get in return what you paid for exactly, but I did feel bad for the poor guy delivering the news that 12 people needed to give up their seats… Upon boarding, we find out about a slight delay because of storms, and naturally I start praying, cause ain’t nobody want to fly in that!

“Please be sure to collect all personal items & carry ons upon exiting the plane.”
Yep, we deboarded and returned to the airport gate, to wait it out…

As I’m sitting waiting for our 1/2 hour updates, I get an email that my connection has been cancelled. I call the travel agency and they have already re-booked me for a later connection. Great! I continue to chill out & peruse work emails and social media. This is not me y’all! I was calm the whole time. It’s crazy. Normally, I would have been a hot mess, but from the time we deboarded I had the thought, “what is God trying to teach me from this?” Now I’d like to say the rest of my trip was this spiritually insightful, but it wasn’t. I reverted back to my flesh at some point, but between a book I finished reading in 4 days (it usually takes me 4 months) & my husband, we decided God is teaching me to breathe. (More on that in another blog post, on another day)

Anyway.

An email of my new travel itinerary comes through only to find that my “re-booked, later connection” was 24+ hours later. The next day! I called back.

Now it’s Tuesday. I finally leave Knoxville because all other options left me stuck in Charlotte airport, in a dress, with heels, until 10:30pm Monday night…~I’ve always wanted to be that carefree passenger. You know, the one not worried about anything. He’s not preoccupied with getting on the plane early, so he continues to sit until time for him to board while the rest of us stand in group, hovering around the gate entry, even though we still just stand and wait, while he sits and waits… He also has no carry ons because he’ll just buy whatever might be needed; yeah totally not me. I love my stuff. Well I don’t love stuff, because if you know me, you know I hate excess “stuff” but I do like to have my necessities. Snacks. Notebook. Gum. Phone chargers. Ear buds. Lotion. Hand sanitizer (even though I haven’t packed it the last 3 times I’ve traveled, but it’s a nice thought).  So as I’m looking out my window, one of those carefree travelers boards. He’s pretty much a modern day hippie. Long hair. Flat bill hat. Backpack. Probably had ear buds in. And the last one to board.

“This is going to New Bern, right?”
The flight attendant says “Yes, what seat are you in?”
“I have no clue.”
Wait, what? You are given a ticket. How do you NOT know your seat. That is too far carefree for me. I’ll keep to my OCD travel ways.

~And then there’s That One person. You know, The One. They have no clue of airline etiquette, that or disregard that it may apply to them. So we land in Charlotte and a lady stands up as the ‘fasten seat belt’ sign goes off with a “ding” 🎶. Now this is typical behavior but what comes next is not. She makes a bee-line to the front of the aircraft. Even up through first class. I always chuckle inside when I see the folks that do this, because then the rest of us just kind of look around at each other.

But wait. Before my cynical & critical thoughts take off, perhaps people just don’t know. I myself still don’t know all there is, which is why I have such eventful travel. Maybe there should be a class.  A class to teach all the pieces of airline travel. Like proper boarding etiquette, how to check-in, how to get through security in the most efficient way, when/where you have to have extra passport checks while flying internationally (this one gets me every time). Yes, there should be a class.

~And finally, as we prepare for take off and hear from the cockpit,it seems that our American Airlines pilot has a fake British accent. (Try that on for an oxymoron).

It’s like when you can tell someone is trying to fake an accent, in the sense of, it becomes so thick and heavy that it seems like an act. That’s how this was. It didn’t feel natural.

And so now, regardless of if he’s real or fake, I am wondering what would make one fake an accent. If I tried this, it would end with myself, mid-sentence, reverting back to my Tennessee southern drawl, probably not realizing it except to finally stop and ask myself “why is this person giving me the strangest look.”

And then that led me to think, do WE ever “fake an accent”? Not for real. But in life. Maybe we fake to have the perfect family. Especially as we walk into church, because we definitely don’t want to be real in front of those folks, we want to be perfect (or maybe your like me as we prepare to leave church, yelling at my oldest while the van doors are open, and my husband asks me to lower my voice…no shame here). Or maybe fake at work and trying to constantly please everyone (that is so tireless). Or here’s the real kicker, maybe with money, by decorating our home and “ourselves,” while credit card debt piles high.

So my final thought inside this quite random post is: Let’s be real.

Real about the fact that we can all be panicky travelers sometimes, or have moments where we fail to adhere to proper airplane etiquette (or any etiquette for that matter), or that sometimes we simply have no clue which “seat” is ours and that’s okay because that is what can make the journey a little more interesting.

And by being real, we become what the world needs, what our co-workers need, what our people need, and importantly, what our children need.

And Coke. We all definitely need Coke. (My husband disagrees).