The amazing Josh

Josh has been verbally abused at work by a CSM who for some reason despises Josh and has been a repeated offender in calling him names, lying about him, and trying to get him in trouble and make his life harder. Josh has put up with it time after time, but it has gotten increasingly worse and it's apparent that this guy is trying to get Josh to quit or find any excuse to fire him. Today, Josh planned to go and register a complaint in HR about this CSM's behavior. It may make things worse for Josh, but this guy's actions are unacceptable and he should have been fired a long time ago. I hope Josh can increase management's awareness before he is no longer an employee there. I also hope he can get a new and better job somehow, and soon.

Itching away

I have an appointment to see an allergist next week, and I have to be off all antihistamine medication for a full week prior to that visit. I'm now in my third day without meds, and I'm feeling sick. My nose is running, yet congested, and my eyes and throat itch. I'm starting to itch all over my skin in random spots. It's the same whether I am indoors in air conditioning or outside in the summer sun. I'm glad this isn't contagious, but I really feel like crap the way I do when I am sick.

Missed

My Beckie has been away at our church's High School Leadership Training program for the last week. She was complaining about going, but we had already committed to it. I talked to her about being open to new experiences and meeting new people. She has one friend that she spends a lot of time with who was not going with her (thank God), and was not allowed to take her IPod with her. She focused on every negative moment she's ever had at previous camps, and was convinced that she was going to miss everything by being gone A WHOLE WEEK. She acted like it was forever. She borrowed her leader's phone because they make the kids call home to let us know they arrived at Myrtle Beach. She was abrupt then, making sure we were going to feed her fish while she was gone, saying she would tell me about her roommates later, and then ending the call. I didn't hear anything from her the whole week, and I prayed for her every day - usually multiple times a day. I asked my Bible study to pray for her this week, too. I knew she was supposed to get back today, and that they would have the kids call when they were about an hour out so we'd know when to pick them up at church. When Scott and I got home from breakfast, Josh and Beth said there had been a weird message left by a cell phone caller. We all listened to the message, which was only a couple of vocalized syllables that were unintelligible and none of us recognized the voice. It turns out, that was Beckie, because as I was doing laundry my cell phone rang. I didn't recognize the number but it was a local area code so I answered it. It was Beckie, but I didn't even recognize her voice at first as she didn't even mask the hostility in her voice and greeted me with "Hey! Where are you?" It took me a few seconds to realize that it must be Beckie, and I told her I was home and asked where she was. With non-diminishing hostility she spat out "Church. I left you guys a message." I told her that none of us could understand the message that was left and she radiated frustration and disgust as she asked where her Dad was. I told her he was also at church, helping set up for the VBS that starts this week. She said she would go find him and cut off further conversation. Actually, it never was much of a conversation and I told her to call me back if she couldn't find her Dad. I didn't hear anything back, but I'm afraid that whatever God had planned to bless Beckie with she missed it because she was so busy finding things wrong with having to be there.

Time

Beckie has been gone at camp this week and I've made the most of the extra time by going to my Bible study on Monday, meeting a friend for coffee and doing an apheresis blood donation and volunteering with the cats at the Humane Society Tuesday, meeting a friend to walk at a park on Wednesday, and going in to work and answering e-mails and setting up appointments today. Tomorrow I will do a speech evaluation and maybe tomorrow night I will go to an outdoor theater to watch a Shakespeare production. I've also done some cleaning and reading. I talked to my Dad on the phone this morning. He is 80 years old and is still wishing he had more time to do all the things he wants to. He is very busy and in good health, but still feels like I do that there is not enough time to fit it all in. Maybe it is normal to feel this way, and maybe even after I retire I will feel like I can't do all the things I want to.