Another Day Another Blizzard

Wow, have we had an usual amount of winter storms this year. Over the weekend - Saturday - we had a lot of rain. Yipes, rain in Minnesota in January is not good. It usually means lots of car accidents and loss of electricity. Well, there were a lot of car accidents, however we did not lose any electricity. Yesterday it got colder so all of the rain from Saturday froze solid - just like glass. Today we had more snow and 40 mile an hour winds. There were white out conditions. The girls who live out of town left the office at noon. I am glad I live in town so I don't have to worry about driving home in bad weather. In that same thought, however, I am getting very tired of covering for them when they all leave early. I know that sounds terribly selfish, but those who live in town do get the shaft when this happens. I sure hope we have better weather tomorrow.

Wonderful Day Off

Today is Martin Luther King Day. The office is open, but half staff. I have today off, but have to work on Presidents Day. I got my immobilizer off on Tuesday and started therapy on Thursday. The therapy is quite "uncomfortable", but I know it will be worth it. I have to go twice a week for 4 - 6 weeks depending on how quickly I get my muscle tone and range of motion back - if I get it all back. The therapist said there is a chance I may not get 100% of it back. Well, I am going to work as hard as I can to get it all back. Anyway, without the immoblizer on I can get a lot done. I did a lot of cleaning over the weekend. I still can't scrub floors, but I can mop them. That helps a lot, I just can't get into the corners. I feel so much better when the house is clean and picked up.

The weather is fantastic right now. Over the weekend the highs were in the upper 30's so there was a lot of melting going on. I think everyone just feels better when the sun is shining. The down side is that as the snow melts off of the roofs, it creates a lot of ice dams on the edges of buildings. Leon spent a lot of time on the roof trying to get rid of the ice dams. We don't need any of that kind of damage to the house! I just heard the forcast - more storms coming in this week!!!! :( I am very tired of the winter already and we have a least 2 months left of winter weather. We haven't had a winter this cold and snowy for a long long time.

Just found out that Leon's brother Roy is doing very well. The last bone marrow test came back clear of cancer cells. FABULOUS!!!!! An answer to our prayers. I hope he continues to do well. Then he intends to move back to Minnesota. It will be nice for him to be back here where there is a lot more family to take care of him. It will be a lot of pressure off of Becky and Dennis.

A Minnesota Winter

Last week we had some pretty horrible winter weather. On Wednesday it started snowing. Then it kept on snowing all night and the next day. The wind was blowing about 30 mph as well. Only 5 of us made it to work. That was fine because it wasn't too busy. I took the opportunity to start catching up on some things. The snow stopped by Friday, but it got down to -25 with wind chills of -40. Brrrrrrrrr

Saturday I started to clean the house. I did what I could, but I still can't scrub floors or anything. That will come I guess. Denver and Danielle came home so Leon could fix the snow blower. Well, there was no fix left to it so they went out looking for a replacement. When they got back they decided we should go out for supper. We went to the Grain Exchange. What a mistake. We sat there for nearly half an hour and nobody came to wait on us. Not even get a drink order. I was so upset. We just left. We ended up going to the Loon for their buffet.

Sunday I only left the house long enough to go to church. I didn't mind being a hermit at all. In fact it was very relaxing to just snuggle up under a blanket in my chair and watch football all day. I did some laundry and other putzy stuff, but it was just a very nice day.

Then came today. It was like they opened the flood gates at work!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Everyone who didn't make it out of their house last week came in. I have such a huge pile of work that I didn't get to today. I am going to have to go in early again tomorrow and try to get some more things done. I just get so much more done when there isn't anyone else around. I just don't know if things will ever smooth out so that I can get most of my daily tasks done in a day. I just don't see that happening. . . . . .

Post Holiday Depression

Yup, here it comes. . . . . . post holiday depression. It is 3:30 in the morning and I can't sleep. Work was terrible!!!! I just can't seem to get caught up. I know I keep saying that, but it is so true. Besides that, I just can't seem to turn my mind off. Everything from the day keeps reeling through my mind. My arm hurts like crazy. Because of how busy it is at work, I probably use it too much during the day and then at night it hurts. My house is so dirty right now. I can't clean it like I want to. I try to keep it picked up, but I am not able to scrub floors or anything. I can barely do dishes. I think tomorrow night I am going to have to get the "Simply Sleep" out and start taking them. This is driving me crazy.

A Christmas to Remember

Wow, a lot has happened in my life since my last post. I continued to put in 12 hour days the rest of that first week after the acquisition. Then just one week after the acquisiton date, I fell and broke my arm. My right arm no less. It was after the community band Christmas Concert and I was going to put my chair, stand, and horn away. I had them all in my hands and turned - I was closer to the top step than I thought and went down hard and fast. Boy did that change things for me. Especially at work. I had to be creative and figure out ways to get things done. It was so busy and I was so frustrated as things were taking me 3 and 4 times longer than they should have to get done. By the time I would get home from work, I would be in tears. Tears of frustration and release of stress. It is a good thing I got my Christas shopping done before the acquisition, or I probably would not have been able to get done.

Then on the 18th Randi and the kids came home. What a blessing that was. Randi helped me a lot. So nice to have Logan and Lauren around. On the 23rd Denver and Danielle and Travis came home. That was also very nice. I was just overwhelmed with joy at having all of the family here. by the 24th the blizzard started. We were without electricity for 14 hours. So for Christmas Eve supper we ended up having turkey sandwiches and chips. Christmas day the elecricity finally came on again, but it was still snowing and windy. We ended up getting 18 to 20 inches of snow. Christmas Day was really fun though. Opening gifts with the kids was hillarious. Finally on Sunday Denver and Danielle were able to get home. By Sunday night Becky and Dennis were here. It was good to see them, but I was worried that I wouldn't be able to cook and clean for everyone. Well, it was a blessing that Randi was still here she and Becky did so much especially since I had to work the entire time they were all here. New Year's Eve was fun with everyone here. I think I finally relaxed after 3 weeks of stress at work and the frustrations of dealing with my arm. Anyway, then last night it got down to -25. Thank goodness everyone's cars started this morning. Becky and Dennis took off around 8:00 a.m. and Randi, Travis and the kids left after lunch. Now it is so lonely here. I have cried most of the afternoon. Well, I better keep cleaning and putting stuff away.

Exhale

Well, the aquisition and move are complete. Whew! Last Friday I spent 12 hours at the new building doing inventory, auditing their teller drawers and vault, and getting all the books closed out for the aquisition. Saturday I was back by 7:30 a.m. to help the tellers get situated and comfortable with our proceedures. Our tech people were there setting up the teller machines and getting everyone's computers set up in their offices. By noon the "Great Move" began. It is hard to imagine how much stuff was in that old building. I think the last load came over about 6:00. Then I spent time trying to find the items I would need to use on Monday when the door opened. Sunday was spent training on our policies and proceedures. Monday I was back by 7:00 a.m. to get try to get the Saturday drive-up and walk-up work through the teller machines. When the door opened it was like black friday at Walmart!!!!! People everywhere complaining about the free checks we sent them, wanting to get their debit cards activated and wanting to get re-set up for internet banking!!!! I finally went home about 8:00 on Monday. Tuesday was a little bit better, but still very hectic. I left at 7:00 because of the nasty weather, but I should have stayed and uploaded a few more internet banking agreements. Yesterday we had a blizzard here so I was expecting a very quiet day. WRONG!!!! It was just as busy as Tuesday. Even though we got all the internet banking uploaded, there were still things to deal with. I spent time dealing with some of the "backroom" issues. I even left the office by 6:00! I hope that today will be the beginning of my quest to get to a normal day. Now, off to work . . . .

Take a Deep Breath

Well, this ahs been a very productive weekend. I completed all of the Christmas shopping, we got the lights on the house and I finished the Christmas cards. Whew! I know tomorrow will be a long day at work, but when I get home I intend to decorate the house and start (and hopefully finish) wrapping all the Christmas gifts. Tuesday will be a long day at work packing up a lot of the stuff in my office. Wedensday I have a VIP trip to Minneapolis. We leave at 7:30 a.m. and won't be home until about 8:00 p.m. I don't think I will get much done when I get home. Thursday I will finish packing up my office. Then Friday is a huge day. I am going to spend most of the day at the other facility making sure that at 3:00 we are ready for the aquisition. I have to make sure their cutoff is smooth and everything is accounted for. At 3:00 we will start moving things and getting the equipment set up. It will be a very long day. Saturday I need to be at the new building by 7:30 a.m. to help them open up and start training. The balance of the day will be spent deep in training on our systems and setting up my new office. I am guessing I will get out of there around supper time. Sunday I need to be at the office by 1:00p.m. to do the policy and proceedure training with the new staff. We need to make sure they understand the policy and proceedures that are specific to us - dress code, time clock, non-frat rules, etc. But the real stress will begin on Monday morning when we open to the public. The will be a lot of customers coming in with questions and issues that we wouldn't have known about before hand. believe me, we have had a ton of calls in the past 2 weeks. Friday was a nightmare!!!!! I suppose a lot of people didn't have to work so they took the opportunity to call or stop in and complain about some aspect of the aquisition. I understand that they have concerns, and quite honestly I probably would too if I were in their position. It just sucks up so much of my time that I can't get my daily work done. Anyway, I am guessing that the first 2 weeks we are open inthe new facility are going to be very long hours just trying to get everything done. Not just for me, but for the entire staff. So, tonight I am going to take a deep breath, have a glass of wine, and go at it full force tomorrow.