Staff meetings, what a novel idea!

I have worked three jobs in my adult life. Two out of the three jobs have had monthly staff meetings. Funny how the one job I spent the longest at never had a formal monthly staff meeting. It is amazing how a group of co-workers can sit down, talk about problems, schedules, and each person is allowed to voice their concerns. Concerns about co-workers, situations, and a chance to defend themselves/ourselves in any conflict. I wonder that if the job I was at for seven years had done the same thing would have had the same outcome? I figure it would have went one of two ways: I would either still be there or I would have left a lot sooner. Either way, I can say that I am happy and healthier now. It must be a sign when you get a prescription filled and on the bottle it says "Needs a recheck appointment." You know what that means???? It means that I haven't been in to see my doctor in so long that they would like to check on me, either that or they are wanting more money out of me. I am taking it as a good sign, a very good sign! I still have the occasional stomach issue that one with IBS is prone to. I still have the occassional cold that one can only avoid by living in a bubble. My back, well it was doing great until I fell down the stairs last night. Mental note: no matter how many times you walk down the stairs, ALWAYS turn on the basement light. And it still isn't major back problems, just a little tweak here and there. Not the bed/couch ridden-ice pack packing-major analgesic pain. The moral of this story, albeit kinda a rambling one, is that even though I got "honorably discharged" from my longest running job, it is turning out to be one of the best things that ever happened to me. I guess I owe a big thanks to the Big Guy upstairs. While on the subject of said Big Guy, I have been observing Lent this season. As in usual fashion, I gave up one of my big loves of online shopping. I do love it but unfortunately I have had to break that twice now. I only deem these breaks in online shopping to be of major importancy and completely essential. One is to buy a repair kit for the honking big tv and the other is to buy a new computer cord since someone, who should remain nameless (PHOEBE), chewed through my other one. Usually my online shopping consists of music, movies, dvds, books, anything Nightmare, and clothes, and unfortunately online shopping became even more convenient with the addition of the laptop. Maybe Phoebe was just trying to help me to continue to observe my sacrifice for Lent......I doubt it though. But I have found a way to occupy my time from mindless surfing of the internet for useless crap. Mom and Dad gave me a Daily Bible. It is to help someone read the Bible in a year. I started a little late (not my fault....ahem), but I find myself enjoying it immensely. It can be a struggle but the good thing about this one is that it gives you a summary to help you understand the verses to which you are about to read. I guess it is just another great step in improving and strengthening my faith. I know the power of prayer will always continue to amaze me but now I am understanding it a little more day by day.