Friends

Two of my best friends, Steve & Theresa. You guys are the best!! Thanks for making me part of your family. I'll be over this week to buz some more of your trees with my chainsaw.

Angel

I Love Being An Angel

This is my cat Angel. She really is an Angel.

Finding Treasures

You've probably seen those piles of junk at the sides of the roads. The thing that amazes me is that you can find treasures in those piles. I know you may have a hard time believing this, but I know first hand since I've picked through enough of these piles during our spring or fall cleanups on the reservation.

Some of the treasures that I've benefitted from include:

• brand new golf bag with tags still on - I'm using it today;
• brand new Yankee Candle that provides a nice cedar & citrus smell in my house;
• a picture book of the Thousand Islands that reminds me of the wonderful times I had growing up in the Islands;
• Christmas lights that look great on my tree; and
• brand new wallpaper that allowed me to bless a friend in need.

Although I won't be picking through any of the piles this year, I will be keeping a watchful eye as the loads come into the transfer station. Let me know if you are in need of any treasures and I may be able to find just what you are looking for.

Morning Drive Update

I pulled out of my driveway and noticed that the road was wet. This raised some concerns with me since the temperature was hovering around 32. I slowly drove onto the road and tested to see if ice would be an issue for me this morning. I also noticed that the road surface had steam rising off it. This was an indication that the road surface was warmer than the air, which meant that the wet surface was just wet and didn't have ice on it. I was thankful for this.

I drove my usual route that I talked about in my post from yesterday. The main thing that was different from the drive this morning was fog. I encountered several areas of dense fog along the way. The fog has its own beauty and in particular when the sun shines through it. I saw several areas where for great photo opportunities, but I didn't have my camera with me. Oh, well, maybe next time.

I also saw some wildlife this morning. A mother goose carefully watching over her nest and several herd of deer. They didn't seem to mind the fog and carried on with their usual activities.

I left a little early and arrived at the transfer station on time. I've already had one customer and am waiting for more to come. I'll let you know if anything more exciting happens in my day. Have a good one.

Morning Drives

I enjoy my morning journeys to work and I always marvel at the things that I see.

My route to work depends on whether I have to report to my main office or the transfer station. This morning I traveled the roads that took me to the transfer station. This means I got to view some of the Racquette River before entering Norfolk. I made my way through Norfolk and headed out on the Plum Brook Road when the bright orange sun began to peek over the horizon; for all you people who live in Norfolk or nearby, do you know what time the sun came up? I'll give you a hint: I left my house at 5:50 am.

The Plum Brook Road didn't have much activity on it. The adjacent fields had a heavy frost on them. There were spots where water on the road was frozen; I thought my days of worry about ice on roads were over until next year. Not to worry though, I was cautious for the rest of my drive and I didn't encounter anymore ice along way.

Upon entering the Tri-town area, traffic picked up. I guess it must have been people going to work at the plants in Massena. They whizzed by me like I was standing still. That was ok since I was continuing to enjoy the view along the St. Regis River. The river was like a mirror that reflected the sun. It was amazing to see such beauty so early in the morning.

My next stop was Helena. Not much was happening in Helena. Helena has a diner called Bobby I's at the corner of the intersection that I turn at. Of course, Bobby I's was not open, but I always think that I should check it out sometime. It looks like a nice place and I particulary like the fact that they serve Green Mountain coffee; this is evident by the large sign in the window that indicates "We proudly serve Green Mountain Coffee".

I reached the reservation and turn onto Route 37. My next stop was the transfer station. Traffic on 37 was heavier than normal. No problem for me since I was right on track with my schedule to begin my day at work. I arrived at the transfer station promptly at 6:35 am and began to get ready for the day ahead of me.

I'll be going to the transfer station again tomorrow morning. I'll let you know if I see anymore interesting things along the way.

Homework Assignment: Read The Phantom Tollbooth

My sister emailed me last week to ask if I would help my niece, Sara, with a class project. The assignment: get a copy of the book "The Phantom Tollbooth", read it, and answers questions that Sara will email me.

I went to the public library and got the book on Friday. As I read the first chapter, I realized that this was not the type of reading that I'm used to since I read mainly non-fiction material. I also noticed that there were some words in the book that I didn't recognized: Dictionopolis, effusive, beguiling, monotonous - I think these would be good words for my friend Nancy to use in her next game of scrabble.

I'm only in the second chapter and am enjoying the story of Milo traveling in a strange land and I'm anxious to see what adventures he finds.

Sara just started reading the book today. I haven't received any questions from her as of yet, but I'll keep you all posted.

God Hears & Truly Understands

The recent presbytery meetings at my church reminded me of the time that I received this type of ministry.

I pulled the tape out and listened to the words that the Lord spoke to me in 2000. I was amazed at how the words are applicable for the season that God has me in today. The major things that God spoke to me are:

1. "And I want to tell you that of your own hurts and brokeness and confusion of your life, God has come to untangle the yesterdays, to put an experince in you, that you can be a woman with a testimony that there is a God in heaven, that there is one who hears, and truly understands. You can let the yesterdays go; you can cut yourself away from the moorings and begin to float upon the ocean of His grace and of His love."
2. "You will be a life changer because God has changed your life."
3. "You will show people who hearts are filled with poisons of the past how to release it to the Lord and see them walk in freedom and see them walk in newness of life."

Many of you know that in January I started on a journey to get physically healthy by loosing weight. I requested the assistance from Blanche Smith who suggested that I try the a nutrition plan that was developed by the Nutrition Twins; see the following link to learn more about the Nutrition Twins: http://www.nutritiontwins.com/twins/home.cfm. The plan allows me to eat six times per day and gives me the proper balance of proteins, carbohydrates, and fats. To date, I've lost 31 pounds.

I started on this journey with one destination in mind: to loose weight and reach my goal weight to maintain (I have only 11 more pounds to go). Little did I know God had another destination for me to reach. It was a destination that I didn't even know I needed to head towards until God began to reveal to me that I had been holding on to some of the yesterdays. As I continue to float upon the ocean of God's grace and love allowing God to work in my life, more of the yesterdays are being untangled so that I can fulfill God's purposes in my life: to help people release past hurts so that their lives are changed and walk in freedom and newness of life.

Initially when God began to show me His destination, I resisted and didn't want to follow Him. I finally came to the place where I realized being bound up with the yesterdays hindered my walk with the Lord and I wouldn't be able to fulfill God's purposes in my life. Although there were times that I found myself saying "what about me God, I don't want to face the tangled yesterdays and all the hurt and pain", God reminded me that reaching His desitination in my life was not just about me, but about the other people that He wants me to help. If I'm bound up with the yesterdays, how can I help other people walk in freedom and newness of life?

The cells in my body are constantly dying, shedding themselves and being replaced with living ones. In a sense, this is what I've been experiencing over the past few months; shedding old dead yesterdays (feelings and thoughts) so that God can bring in new fresh life to me. In the process, God is restoring things in my life that once was lost, I'm learning to trust God more, and I'm coming to a place of more acceptance of God's love for me. I am a woman that knows there is a God in heaven who hears and truly understands how painful it is to untangled the yesterdays, but He will never abandoned me or let me go. I'm so thankful for this.

True or False

The story I'm about to share has parts that are true and other parts that are not true. Try to determine which parts are true and which parts are false. Have fun.

Have you ever seen a garbage truck out between the hours of 10 pm and 4 am? I am betting your answer is no. I travel quite a bit and I'm in the garbage business. I've never seen a garbage truck out during those hours, nor do I allow our garbage trucks to operate during those hours. Now comes the question why?

Did you know that garbage has microbes in it to help with the natural decaying process; I thank God for microbes because our garbage wouldn't decay without them. Microbes, just like us, have a metabolism and their metabolism can have high and low peaks, just like us. Microbes metabolism is peaking during the hours of 10pm -4 am. This means that they are highly active during these hours. Consequently, the garbage trucks must remain stationary during these times so as not to agitate the microbes and create a metabolic energy release within the truck. A metabolic energy release is a situation where all the microbes come together and release their energy all at once, which produces an off gas called microbe methane. Microbe methane will have adverse impacts to our vehicles and the environment. The release of the microbe methane also causes pieces of garbage that are not fully enclosed in the truck to drop out of the truck onto the road. This creates another dangerous situation since the microbes in their highly energized state will eat the natural rubber in the tires to satisfy their thirst for food to sustain their metabolism. Consequently, if you are out driving your car between 10pm - 4am, call 1-800MICRO BUSTERS, give them your location, and they will come and clean the street so that it is safe for you to drive.

Adventures for the Day

I arose at my usual time (4:45am) with the realization that an action packed day was ahead of me.

I began with my normal routine of eating my 1 cup of cheerios with 1 banana and 3/4 cup of soy milk; a good twinnie breakfast to help my metabolism get going. I then packed my food for the day and hit the shower. Twenty minutes later I'm in my car driving to work. I prayed and listened to worship music all the way while taking in glimpses of God's beautiful creation.

I arrived at the office at 6:20 am, unlocked the door, and turned off the alarm system. This was when all the action started. My mind raced a thousand times a minute going over things that I needed to accomplish in the day: continue with planning for the spring cleanup, complete receiving reports, make phone calls, and all those other things that I needed to get done. Planning for the spring cleanup was the biggest task ahead of me and the one at the top of my priority list.

The Tribe will be picking up large bulky items from the community and I need to hire 4 additional people. I have already hired two, but need to hire two more by the end of this week. I had two interviews scheduled for the day.

One interview I conducted at the Franklin County Jail, which was an interesting experience. I had never been in a jail before. As I walked in the building, in front of me was a wall of glass that I couldn't see through. I wasn't sure what to do and turned to the office to the right of me seeking some guidance. The lady said that I needed to go to the glass wall and speak to the person on the other side. I walked over to the glass wall and I couldn't see through it. I stood there for some time really wondering if someone was on the other side. Finally, I heard a woman's voice ask me if she could help me. I shared with her that I was there to conduct a interview for an inmate that had been approved for the work release program. She checked my ID and then unlocked the door to my right to let me in the world that was hiding behind the non-see through glass wall: officers with guns watching prisoners in bright orange suits walking around; prison cells with bars; and offices. I was amazed to see that there was life behind the glass wall. I had to report to the main office, sign in, and then an officer escorted me to the interview room that was located across the hall. The officer indicated not to remove the block that was holding the door open since if the door closed it would be locked. A few minutes later the inmate showed up. I conducted the interview and was impressed. I hired the person on the spot.

After the interview, I headed to have lunch with a dear friend of mine. We ate twinnie food, visited, and got Green Mountain coffee (my favorite). After praying for my friend and dropping her off at her house, I headed to the local DMV office to get a driving abstract from the person that I just hired. Afterwards, it was time for me to head to Madrid for a meeting with my Pastor. Meeting concluded and then I was off to have dinner with another dear friend in Potsdam. After dinner, I was off to another meeting at church for the lady's mentoring program. I got home at 9pm, ate my last twinnie snack for the day and am ready for bed.

I hope you enjoy reading about my adventures for the day. Good night.

Living In A Garbage Dump

I was watching Life Today yesterday morning. The special guest was Joyce Meyer. Joyce was talking about her new book entitled "Look Great Feel Great." The book presents 12 keys to gaining and maintaining a healthy body, soul, and spirit. After Joyce was finished speaking, the program switched to showing a situation in Cambodia that moved me to tears.

There are children and families living on top of a garbage dump. The majority of the children are orphans. I saw pictures of several children with nothing on their feet walking in the garbage and picking through it for food or anything else that they could recover for their homes. One older lady sells the food that her grandchildren finds in the dump to other people living on the edges of the dump. I saw people living in tents that they had made from materials from the dump. In one picture, there was a bull dozer moving garbage around; this tells me that this is an active garbage dump and that fresh garbage is brought in daily.

Since I work in the garbage business, I know that the stench gags you at times and the maggots can get large enough that you think they would carry you away; the realization that the maggots would be crawling on the children broke my heart. I also know that the spread of disease must be so widespread amongst the people living on top of the garbage dump.

I was so moved by the clip that I made a donation to Life Today for their outreach efforts in Cambodia. If you are moved to do the same, please see the following link http://www.lifetoday.org/site/PageServer?pagename=out_cambodia.

Partrige Dancer

As I was cooking dinner this evening, I looked out of my back window and to my amazement I observed a partridge standing underneath my big pine tree.

My first thought was "this bird would sure taste good for dinner". I began to think how I could sneak outside with my gun and then I realized that all my neighbors would hear the gun shot and probably call the police since hunting season is over with.

I then stood and watched the bird peck at the ground for food. All of sudden, the bird lifted its head and went on alert. For sure, he must have heard something to interrupt his dining experience on my lawn. He then did a 180 and began to walk to the other side of the cabin. I was amazed how he synchronized his head movements with his walk; for sure he should be on broadway as a partridge dancer. Without warning, he immediately stopped and stood attention; not a feather was moving. If I didn't know he was there, I wouldn't have seen him since his colors blended in with the background of the brown grass and he didn't move at all. After five minutes of watching him stand attention, I went back to cooking my dinner. A check on him after dinner showed that he was no where to be found. I suppose that he is on his way to Broadway to audition as a partridge dancer. I wish him luck.

Computer Files are Important for Managing Trash

Our file server crashed last Friday and I haven't been able to access any of my computer files at work.

It makes for an interesting day in the world of trash without computer files. I realize now how much time the computer saves me. Before the crash hit, I was able to whiz around with my cursor to get files that I needed in an instant. I now can't even see them on my directory. Our computer guy tells me my files are all on the backup drive, but that the table of contents is corrupted - this doesn't sound good. He has been trying to recover my data since last Friday.

He is in the process of buying software to help recover my data. I hope it works because my world of trash will be messy if it doesn't.

The Object Lesson of a Buzzer

I'm weighing trucks in and out of the transfer station today. A few hours ago a truck came in when we were extremely busy. The truck pulled onto the scale and weighed a whopping 25,000 pounds (12.5 tons). I couldn't let him pull off the scale until the unloading area became free of traffic; the unloading area is approximately 100 feet from the scales and I have perfect view of it.

I use a buzzer to signal to the truck drivers when they can move to the unloading area since I have no way of direct communication with them. Realizing that I can't allow this truck to move forward, I kept my hand away from the buzzer and continued to watch the activities in the unloading area. All the time I'm thinking "how long will the truck driver sit on the scale?" Answer: till he hears the buzzer.

I began to think how much power I had in controling the movement of this 25,000 pound truck; all I needed was to either push the buzzer or not push the buzzer and this truck would respond. Now don't worry that I'm off on a power and control kick here, but I do believe there is an object lesson.

If my choice to push the buzzer or not push buzzer determines the movement of this truck, how much more power do I have as a believer in Jesus Christ? Wow, probably more than I can truly comprehend. The key is for me realize my authority in Jesus and step out in faith to put into action. I step out in faith every time I push the buzzer or not push the buzzer that the trucks will respond accordingly. I need to do the same with Jesus. Nevertheless, there are days when I don't feel like I have power and authority in Jesus. It is during these times that I need constant reminders of who I am in Christ. I'm so thankful that I have the buzzer to remind me of this now.