The Christmas Gift

What happened to the Christmas holiday this past year? My last post was Dec 3rd. On Dec 9th I was offered the job of General Manager at Theatres of Georgetown, under the new ownership. WOW, what a day! I walk into the theatre for the first time in over 2 years, I was home. My mind was racing, I was going to an interview with someone I had never seen or talked to except to say yes I can be there at that time. As I entered the theatre, an alarm was going off. I knew exactly what it was and when Mr. Roaden(Scott) ask me if I knew, I walked him over and pushed the button and stopped the alarm. Took a min or two to explain what the problem was and Scott said, Ok there is a point in your favor.... I smiled and felt a little more at ease. After talking with Scott for less than 5 minutes, he ask, "What would it take to get you here?" We agreed on an amount, the date I could start and the race was off......

That night I turned in my resignation at my current position as Assistant Manager at Regal and started working out my 2 week notice. For 2 weeks, if I was not at Regal, I was at Theatres of Georgetown, trying to help get ready to open on Dec. 18th, YES I said less than 2 weeks we planned to open. There was so much work to do. The booth equipment was in terrible shape and the theatre itself needed so much cleaning and repair and I don't even like to think about the concession area and how not clean it was, it makes me cry.

After 2 weeks of cleaning and fixing and hiring the open date was here. It was 30 mins before we were to open, no money in the register, not all the stock in, and they had just finished putting on a new popcorn kettle. We had not had time to train the staff, luckily 1/2 the staff was my old staff, so they help with on the job training the others. The system we were using was an excel program, my husband wrote for us to use. (He spend over a week on that program, no pay, not promise of pay, just because he loves me and wanted to help me. If your spouse will do something like that for you, hang on to them, that is a love worth more than all the money on the face of this earth.)

Anyway, with all the challenges we had that night to get things going, we opened only 5 mins late and the people were so understanding and waited as I put the money in the registers and others were still stocking in items. It was a wonderful night, we had not done a big grand opening, as not everything was truly ready, but we had a good crowd and it was enough for the staff and registers we had. Shortly after that during the holiday we were slammed! It was so much work, but so much fun. I was finally home, where I belonged- manager of Theatres of Georgetown! That was my Christmas gift.

My family

This is my most wonderful, kind, patient, loving man that I have the great honor to call my husband, Mark. He is and will always be the true love of my life. A very wonderful gift from God above, that is my husband and I thank God everyday for him.

Also in this picture is our grand-daughter Bailey. She is an absolute joy for us to spend time with her. Mark is not very emotional outwardly, but the look of his face when she smiles at him or recognizes him is beyond explanation! He would give his live for her is needed. The dog in the picture is Tessa, one of out Shi-tzus.

This is my youngest son, Alex. He is now 20 years old and in college. He is a unique creation and gift from God. He is his father's son! I know God gave him to us for a very special reason and we love him and are very proud of him. He is a strong man of God and I truly believe that God has a very special job for him.

This is my mother and father. Two of the most wonderful people that God placed on this earth. They worked hard the whole life to give my brother and myself a good life. I owe them more than I could ever repay them, and I thank God that he gave me to them to raise.

These pictures of of my brother, Carter and his wife, Allyn and daughter Addison. These were taken at is very early birthday party, 40th. Carter and Allyn are such fun to spend time with, I only wish we lived closer. And my niece, Addison, makes me feel young as we dance around the hallway. I love them all so much!

This is my father and mother-in-law with me and my husband. They live in Gatlinburg and are two of the most positive people I have ever met in my life. I am not sure of what kind of daughter-in-law I have been to them, but if I have fallen short of their hopes or have ever hurt their feelings, I know even if nothing is said, they forgive and truly forget. They are wonderful, loving people.

Below is my oldest son, Nick and his family. His lovely wife and my daughter-in-law, Nicole and their daughter, my grand-daughter, Bailey. Nick and Nicole have been married over 3 years and were together either as friends or boyfriend/girlfriend seems forever. They met when Nick was in either 4th or 5th grade at St. John's School. Nick is a teacher and soccer coach as well as a devoted husband and father. Nicole is in real estate and loves to cook and has wanted to be a mother for as long as I can remember and she is doing a wonderful job with Bailey. I am not sure what kind of mother-in-law I am, but I pray they know I am here if they need me and that I pray for them everyday. Bailey is the absolute joy of my life. I would do anything I could for her as would her grandfather, Mark and her Uncle Alex.

Well, this is my family. Family is the first institution that God created. He created it before the church, so logic would say that it is very important to him. When we leave our family that we grew up in and marry - there by joining the two families- families grow. Whether you are directly related or the "in-law" don't forget that your parents and your spouses parent and siblings are all part of your family now. And family will always be there for you, just as God meant for it to be. I know my family is here for me and I believe they all know I am here for them!

Family love is a love that is beyond explanation.

Pain

In our world today, there are so many different pains. There is physical pain, mental pain, emotional pain and heart pain. Most pains come and go. Some are worse than others, some last longer than others, and some go away completely, and still some never go away.

The ones that often don't go away are from what I call heart pain. They are pain caused by those that are close to us, those who we love and trust. Often they do not even know they are causing pain and unfortunately sometimes they know they are causing the pain. For some unexplainable reason they seem to take joy in causing the pain, like it gives the control or payback for something that really no longer matters.

How do we deal with that pain? If you go to that person, they act like it was not on purpose, or they brush it off as "you should not feel that way" or "don't let it get to you" .

Some pain is so deep that although you want to let it go, you don't know how. For some people they can just just go on and ignore the pain and the person causing it, for others it becomes so overpowering they choose to take the life God gave them. In both cases, I feel sorry for them.

As I see it, either case does not have God in their life, so they handle it wrong or don't handle it at all.

If you have a family, and you have extended family through "in-laws" you have felt the pain of the heart. Those that are the closest to us are the ones that can hurt us the most. Why? Because we open our hearts to them. We open our lives; therefore, giving them the chance to hurt us. When (not if)... when it happens how will you handle it?

Jesus tells us to give it to him, place it at his feet and forgive it and them forget it. For me, personally, forgiving is not the problem, but forgetting is somewhat harder. Some will say that if I have not forgotten it, then I have not forgiven. I disagree with that, we can forgive them and with time forget it also. As long as we do not act or bring up the hurt or try to get revenge, then

with time we can forget.

We each have our own situations that we deal with on a daily basis, happiness, sadness, hurt, helping other and hopefully healing. I will make a deal with you if you are reading this:

I will pray for healing for your pain, and you pray for healing for my pains too.

Father of all Heaven and Earth,

May God heal the pains of all those that read this blog. May each heart be open to the love of God. That each person will be filled with the loving, forgiving and healing spirit that only the God of heaven can provide.

Amen

I do not know how many actually read this, but if you are a reader, let me know and share your blog with me.

Frustrations

During a time in life, when most people think of slowing down, I have actually taken on a more demanding job. I have to admit that I love the job, but it is still very physically demanding. Mentally I could do most of it in my sleep, as I have managed several type of businesses and it seems to be what I can do very well, but the physical demands I am getting use to again. I have been out of the movie business on a full time basises for over 2 years and now that I am back into movie managing full time, my body is having to reacquaint itself with that part of the job. Walking for up to 8 hours at a time with very few chances to sit down, cleaning theatres, getting stock, helping customers, watching employees to make sure they are on top of things and keep them motivated to do their best, all falls into a day at work for me.


My belief in management is to lead by example, am I perfect at it no, but I try. If you, as a manager are not helping when help is needed, then how can you expect your employees to step up and try to do their best? How can you expect them to respect you and your authority over them. Yes I understand that the authority part is suppose to be a given, but which is better- to basically tell them, "Do as I say, not as I do- because I said to do it." Or "Do as I say because I do it too." You may think that I am looking for their approval or friendship and that is why I get my hands dirty and help the employees do their job, plus I do mine, but that is not it. When I do my job to the best of my ability and help them to get their job done when they need help, or I make sure that what they need to do their job is ready for them, then it makes my job easier in so many ways.


Another belief I have as a manager is that we should be like coaches, team builders! If my team of employees care about their job and each other and the management staff, then guess what..... there are better results when we are checked by corporate! How do you do this "team building" you may ask, well there are several task that you as a manager must perform. First is you have to look at yourself. The Bible, which should be the guide to live by says in Matthew 7:3 "Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?"(NIV translation). In short look at yourself first, what needs to change there first? Do you need to first step up and do your job as a manager better? The second thing I believe is vital is praise to the staff. How can you praise them? Look for things they do the way it is correct to do and thank them. Thank them at the end of the shift, of if they have done something that is especially hard or not very pleasant to do. Pats on the back are always welcome if if you think they really are not that kind of person. Humans in a lot of ways are the same and we all need those stokes, the praises, the affirmation that what we are doing is right and good. While you are looking for ways to praise and thank employees and other managers, you and also start to treat them with RESPECT! The old adage of you get more flies with honey that vinegar is very true. How much further would you get with someone if you ask rather than demanded. Manager that thrust their authority on others, usually are afraid of loosing it. They may have the authority in name, but it will always be an uphill fight for them to get things done. Their will always be conflict. Often this type of manager lives by the saying, "Do as I say, not as I do." because they are too lazy to really do the work.


Lastly, to build a team from your employees, contest are always fun. There are so many ways to reward them. It usually does not take a big expensive thing, but one that is a gift, not $$ off something if you buy something. There is always team within the employees that can compete for the title of the best at ...... well whatever you need to work on improving. The contest and team competition can be used to train or re-train so that employees improve in the areas you need and they have some fun doing it. By the time the contest or competition is over, they have performed the task often enough that it is now habit and you can move on to the next item that needs improvement.


You know I have been not yet addressed the title of this post and that is FRUSTRATION!


As a manager, the most frustrating thing that comes up is working hard while other managers, don't pull their load and you end up doing both your work and theirs. Plus, in all honesty, except for maybe 3 managers and a 3 - 4 employees, I am old enough to be everyone there's mother and I can run circles around them, at least when I am concessions manager or floor manager.


Where is the work ethic? Why are they so lazy, even other managers will be sitting doing nothing while a few of us pull the load. You just want to scream when you are sweating and you walk into a back area to get something and you find another manager, on a cell phone, or when you need help, they have disappeared. There is so much more, but if I go into much detail, it may be apparent that my frustrations is aimed at one person and that would not be professional!


So in short, look at yourself for faults before you point the finger, treat others with respect- whether they are above or below you in the pecking order, give people praise (look for things) and lastly stick with the adage, "Do as I Do and I will not ask you to anything I would not be willing to do myself or help do."


Managing is very similar to being a parent. In both positions you train, praise, support, learn to trust and respect, then start the process all over again, sometimes on the same point, remembering that Proverbs says that patience is a virtue. Then often wondering why is virtue good, do I really want it? But in the long run, your answer is yes to both questions.


Good luck if you are an aspiring manager.

A Night With Bailey

A couple of weeks ago, we had the great privilege of having Bailey Grace Maxwell, our grand-daughter, as our guest for the night. I picked her up on October 30th about 7:00 in the evening after she had been to a Halloween Party at the Pavilion. Bailey was dressed as a Bee and was so cute. When she came into the house I was standing there and she cried out "Gandma!"and ran to me with her arm open. After getting and giving hugs I got a picture of her in costume. After Nicole, her mother, got her things ready and Bailey gave kisses to Nick, my son and her father, and Nicole, she looked up at me and said, "Going to gandma's house now!" And away we went.
I secured her in her car seat and away we went.
We got home and she greeted "Ganpa and Uc Aex" as she says. She immediately ran to get out her toys at our house. She has a toy that blows balls out, which when they come flying out she squeals and laughs. Such a joyous sound to my ears. It is funny that when my own children would do that over and over, I would shhhhh them, but when your grandchild does it, it is a totally different sound. Next she played with another toy that makes noise when she pushes the button. She would laugh and dance as the music played and we sat and participated with her. Again, noise toys, when the boys were young, were often lost or the batteries were long gone and could not be replaced. The difference between parenthood and grand parenthood is as different night and day. So many things that we as parents stop and have no patience for, we as grandparents allow and even enjoy with our grandchildren.
After some time of playing and an OK from her father for her to stay up a little late, we got ready for bed. We watched Scooby Doo while we brushed teeth and hair, put on PJ's and crawled in bed. We had Bailey's duck, frog, blanket, Blues Clues' pillow and a bear with rabbit ears(the bear was a gift to me from Mark), but Bailey wanted it in bed too. So the 7 of us climbed under the covers and hugged and kissed goodnight. Bailey closed her eyes for a moment, then opened them again, looked over at me and smiled and said something like this,
gandma sleep too? I said oh yes it is time for gandma to go to sleep too. We proceeded to talk for awhile before she finally was ready to actually go to sleep. I had forgotten what it was like to sleep with a 2 year old. They do not sleep in the same position all night. The rest of the night for me was made of short naps. Bailey talks in her sleep, turns cross ways of the bed with her feet in my side then head at my feet, then her head in my ribs. Next her head was on my stomach and finally on my shoulder. She never woke up once during all this turning and talking.
The next morning about 8:00 Bailey awoke and said "Gandma... up?" I awoke and ask her if she was ready to get up. She replied, "OK! I wet my diaper." I told her that is OK, lets get you dry and see if you can blue circle. To Bailey, blue circle is going to the bathroom. She and I got up, did the bathroom thing, dressed, brushed air and teeth, and came down to fix breakfast.
After breakfast, I needed to do the dishes and she played with Ganpa and Uc Aex for a bit, then she saw the bubbles in the sink. And that was that, she wanted to play in the bubbles, so we cleaned the sink up and made a sink full of bubbles for her to play with. She and I built a tall bubble tower with some help from Uncle Alex. After the timer went off, which meant, bubble time over, we clean up and went on to another activity. It was raining, so we could not feed the ducks; however, trying to be a good grandma, I had other activities ready. Bailey, Uncle Alex, Grandpa and Grandma got out the play dough. We had all kinds of things to cut the play dough with and she had such fun with it. Lunch was from Wendy's - hamburger, fried, oranges, milk and a small spoon of ice cream. Bailey loves hamburgers and fries. After lunch, we colored for a bit, then got her dolls out and "fed" them their bottles. When the babies were full, I took Bailey into the living room and she played the panio. She really enjoys music! Then back into the den to play fetch with Tessa. Bailey gets so excited throwing the ball. She seems to use both hands. Alot like her father. Nick would write right handed, but plays golf and baseball as though he is lefthanded. Then all too soon it was 1:00, mom and dad came to pick her up.
We sent her home with a special Halloween bag and a picture that Grandpa printed for her of Bailey and her bubble tower. It was not long after she left that I missed her so much.
Passing thoughts:
As a parent, we have the responsibility to raise our children and teach them values and faith in God and their savior, Christ, so that they are ready to live in society and be successful. We love our children unconditionally, but sometimes, we are so involved in raising them and making a living to support them, that a wall can easily be built between children and their parents. We realize that all of sudden, they are grown and our job is over. but then......
Grand parenthood .....As a grandparent, we want to pass on the same values, but it is not our responsibility to make sure that they are ready to live on their own when they are grown. We are giving the gift of less responsibility and the even greater gift of playing, having fun and being hopefully a confident, friend and someone they can feel unconditional love from. Someone they look forward to see and spend time with. Grandparents seem to be able to pass on the same values to grandchildren with less effort than when we were parents. If I could pass on some wisdom to parents, I think it would be sometimes less force on an issue actually pushes it through into the mind easier. I hope that makes sense. I guess it is like trying to push a feather into a hole with a hammer. The feather would crush, but a gentle touch, would allow the feather to go into the hole without harm.

A Family Weekend at the Reniassance Festival

Well, I guess you might be wondering what the heck this picture is and why I have this strange picture on my blog. It is simple, Friday is Halloween, so the picture is of the Pumpkin King from the Ohio Renaissance Festival. Yes, we went to the Renaissance Festival again this year. It is such fun. Whether you are "into" that kind of stuff or not, you can find something to sit back and enjoy. The shops are great, the shows are funny and the costumes are worth seeing. Last year Mark and I were the only ones able to go, but this year Alex was able to go with us and we spend two days.
The first day was cold, cloudy and misting rain from time to time,the high was 48 degrees, but the turkey legs were still good! We got there about 11:00 and after scoping out the place we headed for the Pirate show. It is a stunt, comedy show. The man with the megaphone is suppose to be William Shakespeare and he is trying to get the pirates to perform his newest play Midsummer's Night Dream. It was full of laughs and stunts, which started our day with a big smile.

Next we divided up for awhile, Mark and I went looking for the shop I got some earrings from last year. I wanted a necklace to match it. On the way we found a skirt for me and a beer for Mark and finally found the shop where I had purchased the earrings. They had a necklace to match and hopefully next year, I can get a bracelet to match too. Next, Mark and I watch a wonderful show of the Scottish Band, mostly drums, but they also had a bag pipe. It was uplifting to watch them men and women play the music with enthusiasm and a true love for the it.

We then caught up with Alex for the afternoon Joust. Yes, a real Joust. It is really interesting to learn how the Joust works. The point system and that they actually had other events that were focused on skills, not just trying to knock someone off the horse. The crowd is divided into two sections and we are given the Knight that we are to cheer for in the event. Our Knight, this year, was Sir Theodore of Lexington. Unfortunately, he did not win, but it was still fun to watch.

After the Joust, we wondered around just looking and watching other events. We left about 5:00 and went in search of a hotel to stay in that night. We were cold to the bone, but still had a great time.

The next day, we arrived about 11:00 and headed straight for The Swordmen's show with Dirk and Guido. Mark and I watched their show last year, but this one was different from last year. Still funny and very engaging.

Next we went to get something to drink, I discovered I like hot Mead(I think that is the way you spell it), and then on to the Theater in the Ground. In other words, the Mud show. Alex wanted to go the productions of Dante's Inferno. Mark and I sat on the 3rd row and Alex joined us just in time for the testing of the MUD in the mud pit. This is done by the "actors" in the mud play picking up a handful of mud and throwing it into the mud pit and see how far the splatter goes... how many rows back do people get hit. Well, Alex had just gotten up to us on the 3rd row when they tested the splatter of the mud pit. Mark got hit a little. I had put my jacket up in front of me as a shield and still got hit as it flew over my head and landed on the back side of my hair, but Alex..... well he.... really got hit. He had mud splatted all over him, from his head to his feet, he had mud splatters. He was not happy...

If you can not see the fun in the pictures, well.... there is nothing else to say. It does not matter who you are you have to admit the above pictures are funny. Check it out for next year if you missed it this year at http://www.renfestival.com/.
A great time of family fun.

Mark's Birthday

Well another year has come and gone for my husband. It also has come and gone for us, in that one less year we get to be together on this earth. But I have to celebrate the day of birth of my wonderful husband. He is so much fun to be married to and be around. Mark is normally a quite man, but when you spend some time with him you soon find out that he is funny, smart and kind. He rarely will start a conversation, but once he starts talking he is most engaging and you find at the end of it, that you have had an intelligent conversation with a man whom you are glad you took the time to talk with.

We invited a few people over for some chili and Beatles Rock Band. Not everyone that we invited could come, but a few were able to come. We had home made beef chili and some chicken chili with cornbread or crackers or tortilla chips or even noodles. And you could top it with cheese, onions, jalapenos or sour cream and of course hot sauce or red peppers if you wanted it hotter. For dessert Shellie brought a cheese cake and I made cookies with ice cream and hot apple cider. After we all had as much as we wanted to eat, we played Beatles Rock Band. That was fun and interesting too. Bailey, my grand-daughter sang a song with me on, while Nick (her father, my son) was on drums and Alex (my youngest son) was on guitar. After that, Nick sang, Shellie on the drums(first time) and Tony on the guitar (oh by the way he is color blind, which makes it even more of a challenge), but they did great! Grant, Tony and Shellie's son is a natural on the drums! He grabbed the sticks clicked them 3 times in the air, then started drumming, just so you know, he is only 2 1/2.

The house was full of talk and laughter last night, not only of children, but adults too. The laughter, conversation and warmth of friends and family can not be beat nor bought anywhere. To have friends like the Shouses and our oldest son and his family to come over and share their time to help celebrate Mark's birthday.... WOW! Our home was so full last night and we are grateful for the fullness.

Nick singing, Shellie on drums, Tony on guitar

Nicole watching. Loving brothers!
Nick, Alex, Nicole and Bailey Grace

I pray for you that read this, that your house will be filled with friends and family, laughter and warmth, not only at the holidays, but at times, just because.