Office Christmas Parties 2017

Several of you have asked me to post pics of our Christmas lunches.

For those of you who don't know, Jerry and I own a medical equipment company called Family Medical Supply.  We have two locations:  Oklahoma City and Kingston, OK.

Our lunch for OKC was last week, and we just had our lunch for the Kingston location today.  The weather was lovely, and we had great food (except for one dessert -- see below) and great fun.

FIRST, here is a picture of Jerry and me and all of our Oklahoma City employees from last week.  I will list their names because our employees at one store only know names from the other store.

In the back from left to right:
Tim, Mark, Bill, Lu, John, Sharon and Kathy (Sorry Kathy is kind of squished in there.)
In the front from left to right:
Paula, Kodi, Misty, Sheila, Phylly, Carol and Diane

Do you see Phylly, the one who resigned a few month ago?
And right next to her in the red jacket and scarf is Carol.  She has resigned several times.
They both still come to work, and we couldn't be happier about it!

Some of the employees above have been with us over TEN YEARS.  Jerry and I don't work at that location, so I don't even know what the girls do anymore.  Lu -- the tall lady in the back -- is the Store Manager, and she has so much work to do, I don't know how she stands it.  She does the hiring, the training, the job descriptions, the reviews, prepares for accreditation and does a ton of computer input and paperwork and she knows everyone else's job.  I'll ask Jerry about something, and he will say, "Ask Lu like I do.  She knows everything."  I honestly don't know HOW she does it, but we sure do love her for it.

I'm pretty sure that Paula has been with us the longest.  She has quit before too.  Thank God she came back.  She drives a very long way every day to and from work, and we are so very thankful for her dedication. 

Next to Paula is Kodi.  She has been with us over 11 years, and I think the next longest time.  We hired her part time to clean.  She kept offering to do other stuff, and now she is a super salesgirl on the showroom floor.  Everybody adores Kodi.  People that quit years ago still call her.

John is our ATP (like Jerry).  Bill is the Service Manager over the other two guys: Mark and Tim.

You all probably recall that Phylly and I are quilting/sewing/fitting friends and actually the reason I started this BLOG.  The other girls were all hired by Lu, and I don't know them very well.  I know they all get along great, and they all love Lu.

I'm sure you are all terribly interested in our food, so I had to snap some pics for you.

This is an AWESOME appetizer we always order at Zio's.  I have no idea what is in it, but we all love it.  I know it has bacon and cheese.

And THIS is why I like to go to Zio's.  Their apple pie is DELISHUS!!! and it comes with ice cream on top and a hot brandy sauce.  Thank God I don't know how to make it!  Phylly and I always share, so only ate half.

The Kingston lunch was at Roma's.  Also an Italian restaurant.  It is in Durant, OK.  We had a great set of tables for our group and a very good waitress.

Here we are.
In the back from left to right are Tim, Ronny, John, Lu Ann, Pat and Peggy
Behind me and Jerry from left to right are:  Maurissa, JJ and Larece

Tim is Service Manager and Ronny works for him.
John is the ATP we hired from Nevada.
Lu Ann works on the sales floor with JJ.
Pat is our Advantage Specialist who makes sure all our customers receive the right product on the right day.  She resigned many years ago, but still keeps coming to work. 
JJ does all the billing for what Pat does.
Peggy is "Jane of All Trades", and she does whatever any of us need her to do INCLUDING watching my Mom for me if I need her to.
Maurissa is my Administrative Assistant and you'll read more about her below.
Larece works for Jerry and John and you'll read more about her below.

And, of course, I had to take some pics of our food.  Only desserts though.

Pat took the first bite of her cheesecake and just squealed with delight at how yummy it was.  I asked her to please pose so I could take a pic, and she did.

And this is cheesecake again with a different topping.  Maurissa is posing for this one.

I ordered the same thing as Maurissa is holding up here, but I complained that mine didn't have much sauce on top.  The guy who brought it just walked off like I had not spoken.  I thought it was just as well since there are still about two million calories there!  A few minutes later though, the guy showed up with the sauce bottle and he squirt it all over my cheesecake.  Now THAT is service!

The next picture is of Larece.  Larece is Jerry's "right arm".  She gets all the ducks in a row -- and there are a LOT of ducks -- so we can get paid for what we do.  She is holding up her "wooden" Cannoli.  She ate the stuffing out of it and then tried to eat the pastry.  We saw her KNOCKING on it with her knife, and we all cracked up laughing.  She didn't even try to bite into it.  What a shame.  All the other desserts were SO GOOD!

The following picture is of me and the most precious lady that God put into Family Medical Supply before I ever came back to work there.  Someone else hired her.  She worked out front at first, on the sales floor.  I would see her when I went into the store, but she was always very quiet, and she acted like she was terrified of me.  I think she was at that time.

When I did go back to work due to the former office manager quitting without notice after a long sick leave, I HAD to have help.  Everyone was so very busy, including Maurissa, that I hated to ask anyone for help.  But whenever I had a question, or I needed assistance, or I needed someone to take on an extra duty, there she was asking if there was anything she could do to help me.  She has been a wonderful blessing to me, and she has become my personal assistant.  She is a super fast learner, and she will do anything I ask her to do, and a bunch of stuff I didn't even ask her to do.

Maurissa told me one time that I was NOTHING like she thought I was going to be.  And she meant it in a good way. Jerry and I thank God daily for all of our employees, but I am especially thankful for Maurissa because she and I work fabulously together.

   
So that is all of our employees.  They are really an extended family to us, and we love them all. 

Hugs, Joy

Mom's 90th Birthday is December 18th

Hi everyone.

I hope this is not inappropriate, but I was wondering if any of you lovely people would want to send my Mom a birthday card.  Corrected at 2 AM.  Decided to just buy her several cards myself -- one from Jerry, one from me, one from her cat, etc.  Since I am awake, I went in to check on Mom.  Her lamp was on and she was sitting on the side of her bed putting her watch on.  She also had her glasses on.  I removed her glasses, but I left her watch on, and I helped her back into bed.

Mom has taken a turn for the worse.  Her memory isn't even seconds long.  She has forgotten so many more things.  She even forgets to eat while sitting in front of her dinner.  We have to prod her.  Thank God, she has not forgotten me!

HOWEVER, the one thing she does remember is that it is near her birthday, and that she is going to be 90.

Whenever I take Mom with me anywhere, such as my doctor appointment a few weeks ago, she always does the same thing.  She will notice a new person in the room -- doctor, hairdresser, friend -- and she will turn to me and say:

"Joy, did you tell her that I am going to have a birthday soon?"

"And did you tell her that I am going to be 90!"

It is so cute.  Just like a young child.  She asked me yesterday if I was going to do anything for her birthday.  So I KNOW she hasn't forgotten that her birthday is December 18, and she is going to be 90.

As you know if you watch my videos, my Mother has three other children.  None of them will come to see her for her birthday or any other occasion.  One says it is "too far" (3-hour drive).  One says he is "too busy".  One says she has disowned me, and she is no longer my sister, so I guess Mom is no longer her Mother either.  I have no way of contacting her directly.  She does know where Mom is, and she does know that Mom's kids are welcome here because I had my brother tell her.

Thank God there are people here who love her and will come see her for her birthday, including two friends who will gladly make the 3-hour drive.

It is Sunday afternoon, and I am going to start wrapping the many new sweatshirts I bought for her.  THANK YOU so much to the ladies who told me about Younker's and Bergman's.  Weird names, but they had the perfect shirts for her.  I think I bought 7 of them.

Have a blessed Sunday and a wonderful week ahead.

Hugs, Joy