Mama/Grammy, work, tiny visitors

I texted Cori yesterday after Mama confirmed that she was safely on her connection to Pensacola; “Get ready. Here she comes!” Cori responded that Blake refused to eat breakfast that morning because Grammy had promised to take him out to eat for his birthday – which was this week. Cori ended the text to me with; “So it begins.” I do not know how chaotic their normal schedule is at Cori’s home but it goes without saying that Grammy adds a whole new dynamic. 

Mama and I will celebrate 33 years together this year and she has been the delight of my life for all that time. I do not know what we will do to celebrate our anniversary but the date will come while we are there with Cori and the kids. I am sure we will figure something out but with finances being the way they are it will not be extravagant. Fortunately, it does not take much to make Mama happy.

I have been careful to let Mama know that we do not have money to do much more than get there and enjoy the visit but I know Mama pretty well and the best I can hope for is to slow her down enough to keep the finances manageable. I do feel, with things like they are at the moment at work, that we need to start ordering our finances as though we did not have my current income. We may very well need to adjust to that budget very soon – and very quickly.

It puts me in one of those uncertain situations where I have to hope for the best and plan for the worst. That is not a bad thing if you consider the slowing economy, global turmoil and the pending financial crisis. It is actually a very helpful exercise in budgeting if we really take it seriously; both me and Mama- along with Victoria, Grandma and Grandpa, etc.

I think of a portion of one line in the song “I’ve Got a mansion” that says, “I’m not discouraged, I’m Heaven bound. I’m just a pilgrim, in search of a city.” Or the lyrics, “This world is not my home, I’m just a’pass’n through”. My hope is not here. My home is not here. Yet, all I know is here. The rest is a step of faith. It should be kind of fun to see how all this plays out.

I was a little disappointed that what was supposed to be a confidential discussion with my direct reports on Wednesday afternoon went out to the masses even before we finished the discussion. I was prepared for that to happen so I did not give out any information that was not ready for general distribution, but I was still disappointed. It is only one person who behaves in that way but one is always enough to keep things unnecessarily stirred up.

I will have to refill the humming bird feeders this evening. From what I can tell we have three pairs that eat at them all day long. I can only assume that there is a nest near the house but I could not tell you where. I do know that it is quite fun to see them flit about and then hover over the feeder as they take a sip of the nectar. None of them is bigger than my thumb and at times it is difficult to keep them in sight as they move about. It is truly erratic – and impressively fast.

Hopefully we can keep them fed until they head back south later this year.