"Good Morning, DMB Construction"

I spent the first 25 of my working years in the ministry.

Which meant that I worked, primarily, from our home.

There were meetings and travel,

and church services to orchestrate,

but for the most part we did a large part of our work 

right from our living room.

Perfect for those child-raising years.

Little did I realize, that was also perfect for me.

For the past nine years I've worked for a really good friend

who owns a construction company.

When I need to sound like I have some clout to get something done

(at a utility or bank for example)

I call myself the office manager. 

Truthfully,

I'm just a good, old fashioned "girl-friday" like secretary.

Which works for me.

I pick up the phones, run the errands, try to keep the little pieces from falling through those proverbial cracks

 and take good care of the people around me.

I'm very blessed in that I really enjoy the company of my boss and love his whole family.

I just wish I could do the job from my living room.

Turns out, I'm a home-body.

And the 9-5, everyday routine, really isn't my cup of tea.

Oh well....

Off I go.

Eager to use the typewriter that you saw in that first photo.

Yes, you read that right.

That's not an old photo I found on line to edit...

That's our office IBM selectric.

And we use it almost every day!

Joining Kathy for

Song-ography

10 on 10 ~ Pumpkin Spice?

{9} {coffee. straight up. no pumpkin flavor for me}

{10} {keep these 2 pumpkins close to me all day} 

{their 20 something selves really love this...not.}

{11} {this adorableness popped into my instagram feed and cheered me up!!}

{12} {work errand at a nearby nursery. we need new office plants}

{1} {lunch.... oregano. basil. still no pumpkin spice...}

{2} {spotted. on the way to the bank. LOVE my new england neighborhoods}

{3} {p is not for pumpkin. not here. more like plumbing. or paychecx}

{4} {always have to have some mary engelbreit with me}

{5} {it's fall!! even in the parking lot....leaving work!}

{6} {nice long walk around my pretty neighborhood}

linking up here

10 {Little} Moments

8 am ~ quiet beginnings

9 am ~ rainy drive through

10 am ~ let's open the mail

11 am ~ let's process some invoices

noon ~ time for today's deposit

1 pm ~ grabbing lunch from Bruegger's

2 pm ~ watering the plants...this one's my favorite

3 pm ~ let's do some filing

4 pm ~ oh, my aching back....

5 pm ~ my time at the pond

{got a kick out of this guy....standing on one leg & stretching his wing}

6 pm ~ meeting a client to choose a wedding invitation design


Just a look at a very typical day in the life...
Full of little moments that added up to a pleasant and productive day!



Joining in with this month's Ten on Ten 
over at a bit of sunshine
and linking up with Little Things Thursdays
over at Little By Little

Black & White Wednesday: Buried Treasure?

When you walk in the front door of my office, you're greeted by some plants, this wall and sign...and a few of the many 'treasures' that have been found at some of our construction sites. Nothing that's made us rich so far, but kinda funky, don't you think?

Photo Challenge: Silver/Treasure

For the first time, this past fall, I participated in a photography challenge co-sponsered by Kristi at live and love out loud and Rebecca at Bumbles and Light. The challenge, which they call Nurture Photography, brings the participants together around a theme, introduces us to wonderful photo bloggers and teaches us many things along the way! Most of the photos I've taken for the challenge have been nature shots. {I might have misread the name of the challenge....and thought it was nature photography the first time around. Maybe..} For this week's challenge - Silver/Treasure - I was a bit stumped....until I started to notice little glimpses of silver that surround me daily in my office.

I work for a Construction Management company. 

When I need to get results {or sound like I have real authority} I call myself an Office Manager.

I'm a secretary - a 'go-for' - doing what ever needs doing.

Sometimes I'm wrapping gifts.

There are errands.

And lots of phone and computer time.

We have the ordinary office stuff - filing cabinets, staplers, discs and clips.

And lots of industry specific stuff...
Racks to hang drawings, door hinges, corner guards, and hundreds of keys - all kinds of keys.

Since my boss is originally from Texas we also have silver spurs and lassos.

No office is truly complete without them!

When I leave the office in the winter it's pretty dark outside.
So I'll add a slice of the silvery moon.
Just because.




To see more, head over here

In My Dreams {Bigger Picture Moment}

Before the coffee and the office and the errands, there was the awakening.
From a dream. From a nightmare?
It came early. Before the sun had fully lit the skies, I was troubled by the dream. My son had been hurt and had kept it from me. And the hiding of it was so odd, so off...so not him. As I asked him why? What had happened? He found my eyes and began to explain. As he spoke, his face changed and for just a split second I was looking at my brother. Then it was my son was in front of me once again. Before I woke up I saw my brother a few more times.
The awakening was unsettling.

After that there was coffee, and the office and the midday errands. All so mundane. So boring. But I had songs to carry me along....some instagramming to document the dullness....a note pad to scribble some words that would be written somewhere more permanent later...just a typical day. A day in which I fought for meaning. Struggled not to miss the beautiful and the Godly. As I walked through the light drizzle towards my car, the town green lured me in. So I slowed my steps and then stopped. Not to smell the roses...but to photograph them. And in those few minutes, the tension of the traffic, and the dullness of the routine fell away and I remembered to be awake.

Minutes later an email came to my inbox. A travel itinerary from my brother. He was making a last minute trip from Hawaii to Boston...to help see his son through a minor operation next week. When I called to let him know our door was open and his room was ready, I shared my dream. As we talked, we figured out that he had been online making his plane reservations around the same time his face had come into my dream.

Now - I'm not one to go searching for meaning in my dreams.
But if meaning finds me there, I'm not one to ignore it either.

Soft rain. Pretty petals. Faces I long to see.
I wonder ~ is it my job to find meaning, or simply to stay awake and aware as meaning finds me?

Sharing the Simple Moments that
connect us to the Bigger Picture
at Sarah's Place today.

Monday, Monday

My heart music is

written at home, sung sweetly

by my family.

When Monday drags me

away to work, photos are

my window back home.

Sharing a photo with Rachel and friends,
and inspired to write by:


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