Hard Times for 08,09

The picture was taken in front of my business called Bums. I had this retail store for nearly 30 years and eventually added a wholesale section and another retail store called Catalog Factory Outlet. It was a long hard , hard, road working in your own business and I would never do it again ever. Especially now that the government is going to be taking most of what small business makes. This is not the time for venture or adventure. Thos of you who are working for a large company, the city, county or state or govt. be sure and keep what you got because the job market sucks now. That business I had went through some really rough times and some good times. It gave jobs to high school seniors in their first try at working, college kids needing their 200 hours to graduate, single moms with kids, and retired people who needed to work to keep going. We treated them with respect and taught them everything we could from cleaning, straingtening, putting up clothes and pricing and closing and opening and balancing out the register. Some were great, most were good , some were awful and stole from us. But they knew if they had a sick kid, we understood, if they needed time off, they could have it , and whatever else we could do for them from giving discounty to them and their family and even loaning a buck or two. We bought lunches, had birthday parties, Thanksgiving turkeys and Christmas hams, we gave gifts and bonusus at Christmas and tried to accomodate the football schedule.

We worked 7 days a week, sometimes from 7 am to 9 pm and sat and sun. WE never asked anything of an employee that we would not do ourselves. We hired people based on what we saw in them and not what was in their past and we were rewarded in our trust. We worked hard and in the years we did especially well, our employees benefited also. In the years that really sucked, I went many months withous pay to pay them and the rent and the bills. Many , many times I covered bills and payroll out of my own pocket and it shows in the amount of soc sec i get now. Though it was hard, so hard, it was also great fun and happiness. They were family and on big saturdays, we took everyone out to eat for a reward. I would not be able to do that again in this economy and now it is taking a great toll on me. For years, I saved a little bit now and then and tried my best to help my family when i could. Now, the stock market has managed to crash and take almost all i have saved in my IRA and retirements funds. i don't know what the future will hold or if I will be able to make a house payment and a car payment or have to choose between ...the housing market sucks so much, its not a good time to sell, and the move again would kill me...i will be 69 next year and i am tired. i have been for quite a while, just tired of trying to make ends meet and it would be nice to be cared for but i have been caring and looked after so many for so long, I just have only one way to go, put my trust in The Lord and pray.

Almost Fall!

Hey, its a little cooler and the trees are showing a bit of color. It has been rough the last few weeks with my family moved a little further away. I still catch myself looking across the street and checking to make sure they are in at night, but its getting better. I really miss my Logan but she is in 6th grade now and her time is limited. i know she knows that I am here for her and would be at her side in a heartbeat if she needed me. Maybe she will get some time to call every now and then. But she is 11 , going on 25 and an old grandmother is not so much fun anymore as boys, school, friends, music, The jonas brothers, and new cell phones!! Miss my kids. Some things have been said in anger and some in honesty that will be hard to overcome. i have been accused of things that never happened and misjudged and my best friends here in the neighborhood know that its not so. One of my friends here has been hurt badly and we will miss the friendships and closeness that once was. Lane is very much missed and Logan and the family get togethers we use to have. But maybe the hurts will ease and the slights will be forgotten and even if things are never as they once were, some tension will be gone and we can at least talk for a spell. Hope so. Finiances are horrible with the stock market and i worry that our way of life as we once knew it, is gone forever. Don't know what will have to our United States and the state of our finiancial status all the way from the top to the bottom. I know that i have lost a lot of money in my retirement funds and have no idea what the future holds, if I will be able to stay in my home or look for a section 8 apartment somewhere, just worry all the time and have already cut back on services, and anything i can think of...never go anywhere or spend any extra..just don't have the income that once was. Lets pray that the right man wins and that the economy can get back on track so we all won't lose what we have.!!! Thank goodness for wine and football!!