A Day in My Life ... Okay, so A Summer in My Life

first of all, no account of my summer would be complete without my siblings - although my brother was gone much of the summer, and I was at work most of the summer, so I didn't see either one of them nearly enough!

(My sister complains that this picture makes her look short ... I say there's no denying reality ...)






I did actually live on a farm (okay, my mailing address was to a farm ...) over the summer, so here are some of the animals. Starting with goats, of course











baby calf - these pictures are not all recent!










rabbits











kittens - so cute and playful, and even sometimes worth holding when the summer is hot enough already. the downside is the old cat; he gave me a disdainful look when I invited him to jump up on my lap, then when I gave up he climbed up and looked peeved that I wasn't petting him. go figure ... spoiled cat ... ok, I'll stop there!







a basket of eggs, in case anyone hasn't seen eggs/large quantities of eggs/eggs that are not in a carton, etc








Big Pig - my strategy when I have to do something with one of these gals is to tell the truth ('gross pig'), but to use the tone of voice one would normally associate with 'good pig'. Hopefully, if they even care, they will not realize what I think of them ...









Slightly cuter pigs - at a certain size they are meal-sized sausages :)







I take no responsibility for this picture, whomever this might be, and however it got on my blog. Just sayin' ;)









Chautauqua Lake (water, water, everywhere ...)













Is it just me, or does this sign remind anyone else of someone screaming about their bad hair day? I see a big mouth and black hair that will not be tamed ...








35 mph ... so, almost all summer, these signs have been up on my way to work. There has been no construction. I am considering writing a letter to the town asking for a different use for my tax dollars. But anyway ...










grain shocks - one of my favorite country scenes










... so much so that I had to take 2 pictures of them :)












pretty scenery on my way to work - it would be so easy to let the 19 minute drive become routine; although I'm sure it did, I tried to appreciate the land I am driving through









handily enough, as I was taking pictures on my way to work I already had my camera out! neat to be able to catch some deer on 'film' ... ok, don't tease me about my age :D If you can read this, you probably at least know what film is/was - I hope - oh no .......








Chautauqua Lake from a distance - there is a point on my drive where I can see (on a clear day) both Chautauqua and Erie. Beautiful!








***entering*****














woah yeah, so this is where I work...(ed)...












awesome - buy one get one free almonds, with a dollar-off coupon!!! (for your own mental health, I recommend you not ask how many bags I bought)











break room - I did not get a picture of the intercom, where I was consistently paged while on break >:(












Front end - the cash registers and all those people - cashiers to supervise, customers to keep happy











service desk, behind which I feel like I stood most of my summer ... but it was a job I enjoyed :)







this is me, in case you couldn't tell, and if you are wondering about the big happy smile when I don't have a customer, you may look at the clock, realize that we close at 10 pm, and I am thinking that I am almost done with my last night at work. (note that the service desk is closed)




I must say, this sign gave me countless smiles and much amusement all summer. Right up there with the light switch that had two signs - one that said "DO NOT TURN OFF!!!!" and one that said "Conserve energy - turn me off!" cute, right? :)








yes, there really are surveillance cameras. I thought this was awesome enough to warrant a picture in my summer job posting








paperwork ... (and I thought I was on summer vacation, whatever that might mean ...)










Yaya - my empty box! All done :)











the drive home (for anyone who might critically notice that all the pictures of my drive to work are about the same time of day, and wonders why I don't vary it a bit more!)












My brother :)












My sister :)

Wide Open

I've had a theme song this summer. Such a happening is not unusual in my life, but this one has been going on all summer. So, I thought I'd share it. It is the chorus from Jason Aldean's song "Wide Open".

---

"This may not be my town,
It'll do for now,
Til I can figure out,
Who I am,
Where I'm going",
She's slinging eggs and bacon,
With a college education
Just hanging out and waiting,
For a better plan,
She's okay not knowing,
She's young,
And the world's wide open.

---

That pretty much sums it up. I don't know the plans God has for me - but the plans are there. I don't know where I'm going in the world - but it's still wide open. I don't know what the future holds, but I know the One who does. I guess that's good for now.

Motivated Musings

Well, the combination of coffee, the first day since I started keeping track that I have sat down at my computer with a few minutes of free time, and one of my friends saying that "Nadea of Kelly Hill is looking more like Nadea of the Barren Desert Wasteland, without any cacti or small rodents at all" has made me click on "New Post". The other thing helping is listening to the Widor Organ Toccata, arguably one of the most magnificent organ pieces I have ever heard. (No, I haven't played it ... yet ... but it's one of the reasons I'm taking organ lessons this fall!)

This summer has been different than any I have ever known - not that any two days are the same in anyone's life, but most summers of my existence have been spent working on a farm - last summer was the first I had a job away from home, but still was pretty much on the farm too. Well, this year I have been working 40 hour weeks at my job, and now am not doing much cashiering but am doing the training for cashiers, writing the schedule, bookwork, and trying to convince the store management that they really need to let me train someone else - preferably two or three someone elses - so that when I leave in a little over three weeks to go back to Houghton, the entire thing doesn't crash. Appropriate summary right now? "Hi, my name is Dagny Taggart, and I am doing way more than I should be because I can't stand to see things go to smash". (Insert Atlas Shrugged reference here)

Okay, on to new piece now - short and funny! Also, be sure to note the architecture ...

So anyway, despite how crazy the summer has been, I have also been strangely at peace - content. I look forward to going back to Houghton - sure. Especially now that I'm counting it in days instead of months, it is more and more a part of my thoughts.

*****

and now, more than a week later, I am posting this without actually finishing it, because ... well, honestly, I don't know when I will have time to write everything that has happened this summer! and this is a start, at least :) I do have a post in mind that is a recounting of a chore time in story format - amusing, perhaps. For now, I'll just have to imagine that I'll write it sometime :) thanks for your patience everyone in my extreme lack of posting!