A Six Week Change

Adventure!

Such a cool word, adventure. It can mean the craziest, wildest things in life you could experience in either a good way or a bad way. The noun definition is "an unusual and exciting, typically hazardous, experience or activity." The verb usage is to "engage in hazardous and exciting activity, especially the exploration of unknown territory."

Hazardous? Exciting? Unusual? Exploration of unknown territory? Sounds like the makings for an Indian Jones movie, doesn't it?

As you know, this journey of mine has been and still is an adventure for sure. I have been "exploring unknown territory" throughout its duration. Every slippery slope turn seems to have another new aspect  of adventure in store for me and my family. This new job in 2011 has been no exception.

The company was just a year old when I began. The job I was to do was Email Marketing. I had been doing this type of job for 6-7 years already, so it was not a new thing for me to pick up. Given my condition, my boss didn't want to stress me out too much by giving me a ton to do right up front. Needless to say though, the job was still being developed, and I was the one who was going to need to develop it further.

The first few weeks were quiet and I basically felt as though I had to make up what I was to do. Truthfully, that was what they were looking for. They wanted me to design the position and document it along the way. I could totally do that. But I really needed to be challenged along the way too. Mom and I praised God each and every day for the blessing of this job.

So, I was given some additional work to be a back-up to the lady who was managing the web site for the company. I would work on the radio broadcast side of the web site so that she would have a little more time to develop a new store-front for the inventory.

A month after I started, this lady gave her two-week notice that she was going back to the company almost all of us had worked for before. We had all been laid-off from there, but she had an invitation to get back in the door and do more web site stuff for them. It was a little scary knowing that the web site here would suffer with her being gone. But, my boss asked if I could learn more along the way in those two weeks so that I could take over until they found someone else.

So, six weeks into this new job of mine, I changed gears and managed the web site as my primary function. Email Marketing became a secondary function, which wasn't given too much effort as the web job was growing by leaps and bounds. Every day something new was added onto my plate with the web. I had to take a lot of it home with me to finish what was needed as most people got stuff to me late as it was.

As always I managed to keep myself sane.

As the days rolled by, Mother's Day quickly approached. As mom and I were driving around the city and I was showing her a few of the sites of the Springs she had not seen yet, I had a brilliant idea of how I could give mom a huge surprise gift for Mother's Day. I was going to give her a day at The Broadmoor Hotel Spa (Colorado Springs only 5 star hotel). The more I looked into it, the less of a good idea it was. I had no idea what services mom would like to have done. So, instead of giving her a spa day, I booked a room for an overnight stay, a posh dinner at one of their restaurants and a Sunday buffet brunch for the next day.

It was grand! Mom enjoyed herself so much. Grandma paid for a bottle of wine for our dinner at the Summit. It was a wonderful dinner too. Then, mom and I went  around the corner from our dinner site to the Golden Bee for their nightly entertainment. We had so much fun singing along with the whole joint. The Golden Bee is a piano bar set as an old English pub. A live piano player takes requests along with singing from a song book passed out to everyone in the building. Mom and I lived it up!

The next day, we got up and had a great buffet brunch at the hotels Lake Terrace Dining Room for Mother's Day. We needed reservations, so it was perfect I had made them ahead of time knowing it would get very crowded for Mother's Day. We were sat right next to the buffet itself and we had such a great time. We have talked about it for two years now. I don't think there is a chance I could ever out do myself with another gift. Nothing could compare with that weekend.

Not long after Mother's Day, mom and I headed to California for a check-up with my surgeon and radiation oncologist. I wasn't doing too bad, and I felt good. All in all, this year was shaping up to be a bright spot after a long, hard 2010. Thank you Lord for such a big blessing.

Next..."Going Another Round"

Reflection:
In 1985, singer/songwriter and Christian artist Leslie Phillips released Black and White in a Grey World album. One of the songs on that album was Psalm 55. It was one of my favorite songs for many years as it was just scripture sung over and over with a great tune in the background. The lyrics were directly from Psalm 55:16-17, 22. Here are those lyrics (scripture):

When I cry He hears my voice
Evening, morning and noon

Cast you cares on the Lord
And He will sustain you
He will never let the righteous fall
He will never let the righteous fall

As for me I'll trust in Him
Evening, morning, and noon

When I bought the cassette tape of this album, I think I wore it out within months. Leslie Phillips was one of my ultimate singer/songwriters of Christian music back then. I loved all that she produced. When you write directly from scripture, you can't go wrong. There is nothing like singing the Word of God. As I travel through this journey, there is nothing like the scriptures to keep me focused on the Father!