Amazing People... Michelle James

I have some pretty AWESOME people in my life. So I thought I would randomly post blogs about them.

First up... My mother in Law..........

Michelle is a very AWESOME and amazing person. I have had the honor of having her in my life for almost 4 years and she has been my Mother in Law for just over 3.......


I was intimidated by her before I met her, mainly because of previous experiences, as well as my own version of stereotyping.

Clay had told me before I met her how awesome and amazing she was and that entire nice mommy spiel. And in my experience this is what you hear from a bone fide momma’s boy. This is never a good thing, because moms of momma’s boys tend to have that “no-one is good enough for my son” mentality. So considering this and where I was in my life at that point. This scenario did NOT bode well for me. Lol
Then I found out that Clays parents lived in St. Charles… So for a South City girl that meant one thing. SNOOOOB…. Then I found out that she had once been a recording artist…… TO me that read as egotistical (seriously how many people who have been signed no matter for how little of a time don’t have ego issues?) Then I found out that Clay’s dad was a retired pastor… And in my experience preachers wife = Holier than thou mentality.



So before I met her, I had her pegged. I knew exactly what I was getting myself into… And it was NOOOT going to be good. Cause my boyfriend’s mother was….. (drum roll please….)


An egotistical, snob with a better than everyone else mentality and even if I had gold streaming from my ears I would NEVER be good enough for her baby………


BOOOOY was I wrong….. Wrong wrong WROOONG


I was ready for the above mentioned person and being used to fake people I was fully ready for her to try to fake it out. So I was not surprised that she seemed nice when I met her…


However it did not take me long to see that I was so far off base. The first time I had dinner with Clay’s parents was awesome. She made an awesome dinner (anyone who knows her knows she is an awesome cook). And she managed to make something with onions in it that I was actually able to eat without consequences. Lol Throughout dinner she and my father in law made jokes about Clay as well as about them… So she pretty much knocked out all of my preconceived notions in one day.


Over the years I have learned a ton of things about her that demolished my pre-conceived notions about her.


She has worked as a caseworker for family services for 14 yrs and has not gotten to the point where she doesn’t care. Her problem has always been she cares too much.


She was a professional singer for awhile but she rarely sings, and never in public, although she did make an exception for Clay and my wedding. It was the BEST gift she could give me. And let me tell you on the rare occasions that I am sitting next to her at church and she REALLY sings… It is quite amazing!!!!


She is a retired preacher’s wife, but she is in no way holier than though. She is very down to earth and she loves people. She is Christian but she does not wrap herself in the piousness of it all.


She is a truly amazing person and I am lucky to have her as my mother in law.

Learning..... And A Lesson Learned

This week has been an interesting one. I have gotten into a book that I am reading for my leadership class at church that starts next month (CANT WAIT!!!).  The book is called “Be the Leader you were Meant to be” by Leroy Eims.   It is quite the interesting read. It is written very down to earth and has information and practical information.  I have to read the first 3 chapters before the 1^st of September, which for me is not hard at all. I read pretty much anything I can get my hands on (besides manuals… those bore me. lol)

And while reading it I have kind of been on a teeter totter as to whether I should be taking this class. Am I cut out for it? And of course the flip side, being sure that I am going to do this and how awesome it is going to be. lol Ironically the book starts off by saying that doubting doesn’t mean it’s not meant to be. And one of the first stories discussed is when Moses was told by God that HE was to lead his people out of their enslavement and into “the land of milk and honey”.

So reading this book and preparing for this class along with another class Clay and I will be taking together. This has pretty much once again refocused my life. I find myself focusing on more Christ centered things. Thinking of things that I want to change (I do this a lot)…….

Ironically a few days ago I was having a nice little chat with God.  And I was asking him to help me with one of the major things I have a problem with… And that is anxiety… I am an overly anxious person. A few years ago I started referring to myself as a p.w.w. (paranoid worry wart). If there is something in a 500 mile radius to worry about, I’m on it.  If there is something that can go wrong, I’m thinking about it…

This drives my husband NUTS…..  Cause is pretty much the opposite. Lol

So after this conversation with God… it is my belief that not only did he showed up, He decided to teach me something.

I am currently working a temp job… and I have to wear a badge to work... If I lose it the price of $15 comes out of my pocket…  So every day my husband puts it in my purse. So Tuesday night I decide to do it myself. I go to take my badge off my shirt and realize it is NOT there. Since being home I have been in 2 rooms the kitchen and the bedroom. So I tear both rooms apart... And can NOT find it. I walk from our apt to the mailbox to see if I dropped it and no luck. I am FREAKING out…. So I go to bed thinking of how much of an annoyance it is to go through the rigor to get this taken care of. UGGGH

Wednesday morning is the first day of school for the 2 kids that live with us (my husband and I have 2) so I’m up early with them getting em ready and doing the mom thing (pictures.lol) when Logan goes to ride his bus it never shows up… By the time we realize I’m going to have to take him to school its 7:20… I have to be at work at 7:45……  So now not only do I have to deal with the badge thing I have to deal with the being late to work thing…. So now I am doubly freaking out. So I rush through getting stuff ready and I get in the car…. I go to put my seatbelt on and what is hanging on the TOP of the seatbelt…………… Yep… my badge…. The badge I had an anxiety freak out for 4 hrs the night before….. So I joke around with Logan as I take him to school… And I jump on 70 to 270 which are not moving very fast and jump on Page… Get to work look at the clock…. Its 7:35…………………………  I am 10 minutes early…………….

So I look up and I say………. Ok got your point…..  Coming in clear... I need to calm down. Lol………

 

Now right or wrong I believe that God likes to test you…..  And I feel like he did. I’d say I got an A on the first test…. And a C+ on the second.

Test # 1…..

It’s gorgeous outside so I left one of the windows down…… When the RAIN starts to come down I cannot remember how low the window is and if it is the only one….. Ok so instead of instant panicking (my usual m.o.) I tried to figure out if I rolled the other window up... Cant… but I decide to let it ride…….. I refused to get all freaked out about it. It probably helped that I turned my back on the GIANT windows by my desk. Lol When I was able to take break I checked on the car and one window was all the way down… but only a few droplets had managed to get inside… Which is amazing…………. Test past.

I’m texting Logan to see how his day went and at 4pm Joey still has not made it home. He gets off school at 3….. We live 10 minutes from school…… And he is not home yet………. Can you feel the anxiety going through my head…….. Yeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah……  As I’m texting my son and trying to get through to my husband my battery dies…….. Yeaaaaah... So I am driving home trying to figure out all the things that can cause him to be an hour and a half late… But I’m deep breathing and trying to shut out the entire list of  p.w.w. thoughts hat come in. I decide to just get home and deal with it then…. So I manage to calm myself down… Focus on all the weird people driving in the wrong lane. Lol I get home and Joey is munching on some snackage…. Test past C+……..

Some might see these as coincidences… I see them for what they seem like to me.

Life Lately

written 9/8/2011

My life has been pretty chaotic the last few months.  Now this is not unlike it normally is. People who know me know there is generally always something going on. I have a chaotic normal day life and an insanely chaotic family. And I usually strive on chaos.

But the last few months have been ubberly (no I don’t care if that is not a word lol) chaotic.

This chaos started early this year when we found out my former employer had decided to sell the company. And the new owner was moving it to its previous location. This meant my 10-15 min commute would turn into a 25-35 minute commute, which in my gas guzzling car means about 2 times the cost of gas.  And of course being a 1 income family of 3 that was stretching an already overly- tight budget.  So yeah farther commute same salary…  But with the economy the way it was, we were just going to have to make it work.

Ironically the day we moved. I had my car packed with stuff from the old office, on the way to the new office when it decided to break down on the highway…  I should have seen this as a sign.  But I forged ahead, helped Melissa get the new office organized and all the fun stuff. Then one Friday my car wasn’t working and I wasn’t feeling good. So I texted Melissa and told her I probably wasn’t coming in I wasn’t feeling good etc. But she was having a hectic day and I’m stubborn so we rented a car and I went to work…. After being there for about 2 hrs I got called into the big man’s office. And was told they couldn’t afford to pay me so I was being laid off.  Now the ironic thing is I’m sure they knew before that moment that they were going to fire me. So, why they saw fit for me to drive all the way to Crestwood and work… So they could fire me a few hours later, is pretty much beyond me.

So I was fired. I have NEVER been fired. And since I started working when Joey was in Kindergarten I have never been out of work. So talk about new, this was brand spanking new. So like 3/4^th of the country I had to go on unemployment. So I went from making ok money to making about ½ what I made when working.  So that air tight budget was being pushed like never before.

What seemed to surprise people was that I wasn’t freaking out.  I knew there was a reason for this chaos. I believe in God, and I believe in the plan. Like most people I wished God gave me a hint at the plan. Lol

After 4 months of unemployment stressing and chaos. It’s starting to feel like things are normalizing… I have a job, a temp job but a job nonetheless. I am gearing up to take 2 classes at church that I am UBBER excited about. The kids are getting ready to start school and so far seem excited about it. So it’s a new school year, a new plan and what feels like a new chapter.