Suicide ~ no one talks about it ~ people do it

Once again, in the news another TV Personality, has taken his life.

RIP Anthony Boudain

No one talks about suicide,

but it happens

a lot!!

And people think about it a lot!!

I have thought about it often,

even came so close to following through

on more than one occasion

Thankfully

the Lord spoke to me in that split second

and I didn't.

This information is not news to my family

or close friends or even not so close friends.

It is a horrible place to be

feeling like there is no reason to live

that the world would be better off without me

I am so thankful for 

my husband,

my son's

my daughters-in-love

my grandchildren,

my pastors

my counselors

my psyche nurse

my friends

Life has not always been easy for me

I have dealt with things that no one should have to deal with

BUT

I am thankful that those who love and care about me

did not throw me out with the trash

or hang the phone up on me

or get so angry with me they walked away

I took suicide off the table,

out  of the room,

out of the building in 

January 2010.

Yet I have to say

there have been a couple of times since

that a tiny thought has come into my mind,

and then I remember the letters

my son's and their wives wrote me,

the letter Ron wrote me,

and the compassion and love

I felt from God

reminding me that I am never alone,

the phone calls, texts, messages

from friends and family

And I have seen how when a young person took his own life

affected his parents, his siblings, his friends

And I am reminded that

and

Suicide is something people choose

when they feel alone 

and unable to continue with life

for whatever reason

and I am reminded

My heart aches for 

Mr. Boudain's little girl

and all those knew him

So again,

if you are 

thinking life is not worth living for

please call someone,

call

call 911

call me

call someone

Gate Guarding ~ What It's Like ~ from our perspective

Gate Guarding

We came into this job thinking that 

Gate Guarding 

we would be at the beginning of a dirt road/driveway 

into someone's ranch

where one of the oil companies had made a deal to get 

the oil out of the ground that the rancher owned.

Well, we got the call and said

"Can you come now?"

sure, we are unemployed and need the money

and 16 days early means a lot of money for us

So off we left New Mexico

and made our way to McCamey, TX

And this was our view

It was quiet, well except when the trucks pulled in/out

We worked this station from

Friday morning to Tuesday morning

Wednesday morning 

Val came to our trailer

(we were staying in the Pecos lot for our next job to start Wednesday night)

Change in plans

could we go to Barstow Station

so after doing laundry, going to Walmart and La Tienda

(the only grocery store in town!!)

we made our way to

Barstow Station 

We are at the BLUE dot

at the corner of 516/3398

for 138 days!!

We told TimeKeepers/Val that we are leaving on the morning of 

October 1, 2018

so we can go see this kid

graduate from the Marine Basic Training

in San Diego, CA.

Our typical day

(if there is such a thing)

goes sort of like this

A ~ work from Midnight/1 am to 7/8 am

R ~ work from 7/8 to 2/3 pm

A ~ I take a nap from 7/8 to about 10; then make brunch for us, take another nap from about noon to 2

A ~ I work from 2/3 till about 6 pm

R ~ takes a nap during that time

A ~ makes dinner about 6 (tonight I am making lazy man's lasagna in the crock pot (will put it on after I make breakfast )

R ~ works till midnight or so

So far it is working well.  During the midnight shift I do the computer work entering all the logs into Excel; email it to the office by 8:30 am (before I go lay down)

Our goal is to work, not spend money and save $$

Today we are on Day 22!!

Only 116

Days to Go!!

We have had some beautiful sunrises

And lots of blue skies!!!

A few nights ago we had a double header thunderstorm

but the rain

was refreshing,

lightning woke me up,

I did some fancy foot work walking to a rig

AND 

all in all 

we are thankful to be here.

We have met some wonderful guys,

been able to share a little of Jesus

and can now say

we have been

Gate Guards for a season.

Will we do it again?

Who Knows!!

Ask me in 123 days when we are on the road to San Diego!!!

Blessings to each of you!!!

And keep checking back!!!

Roller Coaster!!!

If you know me,

you know I hate

any and everyone!!!

And lately I have been on an 

EMOTIONAL 

roller coaster

and it is no fun!!!

Insurance/Medication Roller Coaster

Turn in prescription on 5/30 that expires on 5/31.

Go to pick up said prescription on 6/1 ~ nearly have a heart attack as the bill is $472 for a 22 day supply of my Lantus insulin

Walk out in tears; no insulin

Talk to friends

Get encouragement

Find coupon to lower to $278

Go back to pharmacy on 6/5 w/coupon

(after spending two hours doing laundry)

NOPE can't honor it because to get discount 

have to rerun prescription but remember it expired on 5/31

EVEN THOUGH FILLED ON 5/30!!

Cry, get made, feel very alone,

so frustrated

thinking diabetes will kill me with our without my medication

Return to trailer,

Snap at my hubby

(thank goodness he loves me!)

Nice to drivers

(can't afford to lose my job!)

Pump goes down,

move drivers around

Ron takes over shortly after 3 PM

I go to bed!!

Sleep till just about 6:00 pm

Hubby says go back to sleep

Sleep till just about 9:30 pm

Hubby says go back to sleep

first, eat a small container of applesauce

(forgot night time meds and went back to bed)

Rolled over about 12:30 am and went back to sleep

Hubby woke me up at 5:10 AM 6/6

to see if I was okay

YEP I'm okay

Got up,

dressed

and started new day.

Logged in all 69 loads for the last 24 hours

(oh did I tell you a pump went out in the middle of the day too!!!)

Read a morning devotion on Facebook

Hilda Thompson Aldridge

3 hrs · 

Today I have chosen two words, HOLD ON. Revelations 3:11 tells us, "I am coming quickly;  HOLDING ON can be a challenge sometimes. I read this and it gave me hope. "He, being God, has promised to HOLD ON to us, if, we HOLD ON TO HIM. We know that people and circumstances will try to rob is of our joy and try to discourage us, but BE ASSURED NOTHING can take away what God has given you if you will NOT LET GO. Pray with me. "Heavenly Father, Thank You for all You have given me. Today and every day I ask for strength to HOLD ON until Your Son comes to carry me Home. In His Name." Love, Hilda

and thought

"Lord I am trying to hold on!!

It's so hard trying to remain positive when the

roller coaster of life 

is in full gear

(from just one car)

and felt encouraged!

Read comments from friends

on one of my posts of frustration yesterday

and felt encouraged!!!

Read an email from my bestie

and felt encouraged!!!

and thought of

and was encouraged!!

Sent an email to my doctor in Waco

and praying he can help me,

but have a plan if he can't,

checking on the clinic here in Pecos

to see if they can help me with a prescription for my insulin. 

Yep,

sure hate roller coasters

but love it when they get here

THE END!!!

Stay tuned for more updates

from The Wandering Workentins!!

God Did it Again!

I often say
"I can't believe God meets me right where I am"

but 

alas

HE has done that once again.

Yesterday I took a break from gate~guarding 

and drove to Kermit, TX to meet up with a new friend.

We met through a mutual friend ~ all three of us being gate guards!!

Anyway, on the way back I was

having a chat with Jesus

about some of my frustrations,

lots of my joys,

many of my concerns

and life in general.

This morning

(2:30 AM ~ it really is morning)

I grabbed my little devotional and turned to today

 (sorry for being blurry, I was trying to keep the shadow off)

but the title says it all

Give Up on Worry!!!

I tend to worry about everything and anything.

I am a planner by nature.

I love my calendar,

to make lists,

keeping a schedule.

Back up to earlier in the day ~

I got an email from my bestie, Dee,

and she had written

"Something I’ve noticed – you are SO much more flexible! It used to be that you had to have a set plan and if something happened that made that plan change, you would go into a panic. Now, you know that the plan will probably change and you are ok with that. I’m proud of you!!"

I had shared that with Ron 

and we talked about how I used to be

~ if things didn't go as planned,

watch out Tornado Ali

would be on the warpath!!!

For those who have known me for many years,

you know how true that was ~ the littlest unplanned change would 

send me into a tailspin ~

and yet, look where I am today.

I give thanks to God

for healing me of so much pain and anger

that permeated my life for so many years.

I give thanks for a husband who has been with me for almost 43 years,

for the renewing of our faith in Christ

in the back of our little Datsun pickup in February 1976,

and all those who have been a part of our lives

over the years.

Way too many to name,

because I know I would forget someone,

but know that we are blessed beyond measure

and that God has faithfully taken care of us over the years.

Something else happened today

to remind me of how God has guided me

and how I have learned to use healthful thinking (mindfulness) to 

keep the truth in the forefront

and the lies on the very back burner.

I found out today that my friend, counselor, therapist,

confidant, listener and sister in the Lord is retiring from some of her "jobs"

and immediately I thought

"WHAT???  What am I going to do if I can't call Marla???"

Now, you need to know I don't talk to Marla often, email once every six months and have not had a "counseling session" with her in over 8 years!!!

But immediately, the old thinking clicked in

BUT GOD

reminded me with his word

during the early morning hours!!!

Thank you Lord, 

for friends who share their observations,

for the little devotional book I bought over a year ago

and for your unfailing promises!!!

Thank you Lord

for healing my heart

in so many ways!!!!

Gate Guarding ~ What's Happening??

We did our first gig of gate guarding at

McCamey, TX.

It took a bit of adjustments 

but we got a little schedule going.

We worked there from Friday, May 11 to

Tuesday  morning, May 14

when we moved to the 

Pecos Yard for one night.

And par for us ~ our plans changed once again...

Wednesday morning we were informed that we would not be going to Wink or to Orla 2 but instead be going to Barstow, TX

which is about 7 miles from Pecos, TX

So off to do laundry,

run some errands and then we were off to Barstow

The little blue dot is where we are and will be 

through the end of September

(well that's the plan anyway)

This is the view out our back window...

all the trucks must come through right here so when

it's hot outside we can sit in the coolness of 

our little home on wheels.

this was our first sunset on 

Thursday, May 17. 2018

and another view from our rig!

Our schedule sort of goes like this ~~~

A ~ work from Midnight/1 am to 7/8 am

R ~ work from 7/8 to 2/3 pm

A ~ I take a nap from 7/8 to about 10; then make brunch for us, take another nap from about noon to 2

A ~ I work from 2/3 till about 6 pm

R ~ takes a nap during that time

A ~ makes dinner about 6 (tonight I am making lazy man's lasagna in the crock pot (will put it on after I make breakfast )

R ~ works till midnight or so

So far it is working well.  During the midnight shift I do the computer work entering all the logs into Excel; email it to the office by 8:30 am (before I go lay down)

Our goal during the next few months is to work, not spend money and save $$

We have lots to do ~ reading, writing, Ron is scanning all of our pictures; I am taking my journals and putting them on the computer - still thinking I would like to write a book and this is one of the first steps, I am also crocheting - trying to make things using up my stash of yarn - thinking of going of going to sell things through friends and make gifts.

Right now I have a lot of cotton yarn for making dish cloths.  Ron came up with a suggestion to make a set of placemats, coasters and a couple of pot holders.  So thinking I might do that.

Ron also has a couple of projects on the trailer for this summer ~ reseal the roof, build some cupboards in our closets and also making our pantry a little more user friendly (it is very deep so awkward to get stuff from the back)

Well those are the projects we have thought about doing.

I say that, 

because I have talked with a couple of people who 

have been doing gate guarding for awhile

who had projects they were going to do

and have yet to begin!!!

So we will see.

Anyway, here's a glimpse of 

our life of gate guarding!!

Well the first week anyway!!!