THE Check up

So I had my health insurance check up this past week...oh joy! The typical things like weight, cholesterol, glucose levels, tobacco use (or non-use in my case) and what I need to do to improve my health.

Hopefully this year I didn't scare them enough that they will assign me a "Health Coach" again this year.

The thing that cracks me up is that even after losing 100 pounds they still consider me to be "morbidly obese" by their little charts. Because I only have lost 12 pounds in the last year they are a little concerned. Here is the catch though...in that same time frame I have lost 8 inches off my waist and brought down my BMI by 7 points. I point this out and they seem to be happier. I explain that I have been exercising more and that I am becoming more defined with muscles...

Oh! Yes they agree!

My thinking on this is:

1. He is supposed to be the "Health Professional".
2. He had the same numbers in front of him that I was looking at.
3. He is a RN and I am a regular gal just trying to get healthier.

Why was I the one who pointed out these differences? He was the individual that is in charge of advising me about my health for the 20 minutes we are together and I was the one interpreting the numbers to him?!?

This may be part of the issue with the current health care crisis. Which is why I have always taken it upon myself to learn as much about my own health as possible.

Learn about any conditions you may have and take responsibility for your own health because you may be the only one paying attention.

I will get off my soapbox now...

Mom is still crazy....

So my lovely sister had a surgery recently. She had her ...um...internal female parts removed.

We sit making small talk to try to cut the tension. Well the word Cancer had come into play and we discussed family history etc.

So my Mom in her infinite wisdom looks at me in the waiting room and says....

"You might feel better if you just had it out too...." I said no I will deal with whatever comes along.... and she says, "well is might ease your mind and you aren't going to use them anyway."

Thank you Mom for giving up on me once again.

She has given away or sold all the toys she was saving for my children. I have been given the blankets that my late Grandma made for my children (it is traditionally a shower gift given to you). She purchased the "final set of stockings because we aren't adding anyone else to the family"

Why should I not begin to expect these things from her? After all we had to buy back some of the family heirlooms from a local consignment shop. She wouldn't give them to us or let us buy them because we "couldn't afford them". Well I bought them for half of what she wanted to sell them to us for :o)

Boundaries are a wonderful thing! She has been home from the southern regions of the US for over 2 months and we haven't had her over to the house...and have no intentions of making that invite. We are doing great at meeting at neutral places...so far....

Anyway....Mom is still crazy....

So I resisted the urge to choke him today....

So after dropping the squirrel off at school today I had to stop and get gas. And what is up with $3.45/ gallon?! That just cements my idea of finally buying the motorcycle this summer. Well that and I don't have to park a 1/2 mile away from my desk...it will be just 50 feet or so. I filled the tank up and it cost almost $50.00!! This is where I make myself sound old by saying, "I remember when..." gas was only $0.59/gallon.

How did I get so off track?

Any way... I ran into Big Red at the gas station and he had enough nerve to tell me that he was taking his girlfriend's son to the orthodontist. The man who did not want to be bogged down with a kid...didn't want the responsibility of a child...is now playing "Mr. Dad".

He hasn't had time to follow through on the rest of his obligations from the divorce decree but he can take time to criticize me for missing church last night, ask me about new car deals available right now and a host of other things while I was waiting for the gas to finish pumping...

Anyway I am just mad...I'll get over it....must get ready for work.

May the force be with you....

So we have added a little Jedi Warrior to our house. Santa came early on Thursday night because he didn't want the new puppy for the Squirrel (on crack after 4 or 5 espressos) to get cold in the sleigh. Awww... So cute and cuddly and LOUD! He seems to be a Border Collie mix with small feet. They...errr....I mean Santa said he would only get to be maybe 30-35 lbs.

He is pictured here with a full belly after a hard morning of playing with Squirrel. We only let him sleep a few times and only about 15-30 minutes at a time. Last night his day and night hours where a little mixed up.

He is not fond of being alone. Oh and you know it! Tonight he only barked for a half hour before falling asleep.

Smart little sucker he is alright.

We have decided to go the age old route of Kennel training simply to save the carpets when we are not home or sleeping. He is only 12 weeks old. As he watches the other dogs he has figured out (for the most part) piddling outside. Of course he is what I call an excited piddler. When he gets too excited or happy he piddles a little on the floor but he tries to stop himself at least. On the other hand we will be VERY EXCITED when the "yard bombs" are actually outside in the yard and not in my bathroom, the hallway, the bedroom... well you get the picture.

We are anxious to get past this part of the potty training...house breaking....or whatever you call it so he can start sleeping with the Squirrel at night. The cat is actually still bigger than him at this point. Right now he is just too "leaky" and well he decides to play at night and actually tried to nurse on my sister's earlobes while she was sleeping...briefly sleeping at that point :o)

Puppy surprise at Christmas time sounded like such a good idea but of course the youngest dog I have ever had was a fully trained 2 1/2 year old lab. Well at least we have the next several days to work on this training thing.

If only...

If only the job I need was marked like this.

I am getting frustrated but I can say that I have been
turned down by some of the finest places in
Fort Wayne.

Still looking....

Just in case you are so inclined....

The cleaning frenzy

Due to me losing my job...why do they call it that? I didn't lose it...I know right where it is, they are the ones that lost it went... crazy and decided that 1 mistake was not acceptable...

Anyway...what was I saying?

Due to some unforeseen circumstances Mom, Beau, myself and an Aunt have been cleaning, sorting and hauling all of my Mom's JUNK out of this house. This has been interesting to say the least. At last count they have taken 4 trailers of stuff out of here of my Mother's things...Trailer like the size of a U-haul truck type trailer.

And did I mention that it did NOT include any furniture...just paperwork and all of the stuff she has hoarded all of these years.

The ironic quotes of the week so far have come from the Aunt:

"I have known your Mom for over 60 years and I have just now realized just how much stuff she hoards!"

She went on to tell me how apparently my Mom has also been complaining to her about the house being a mess and how it is all MY fault for the way it looks.

"One4JC you do not even have a fourth of the items in this house! It took you ten minutes to clean your stuff out of the living room and days for her to get her stuff out!"

However I am excited because I now have a dresser in my room and we cleaned all of her things out of my closet so I have places to put things.

It is no joke when I say we have been working nonstop since Saturday getting this place cleared of her stuff and getting things more settled around here.

And the real kicker is this:
Beau walks in yesterday morning and has the nerve to say,"So have you gotten a job yet?"

Silence.

I stumble out a "No not yet I have been a little busy around here helping you guys."

He then goes on to tell me he thought maybe something would have fallen into my lap by now etc.

Crickets chirping.....................................................................

So off the computer I must go so that I can look for a job and be a productive member of society again...LOL

Not so Priceless...

Working 60 + hours a week

Working the last 4 Saturdays and part of a Sunday as well

Being paid a salary for 40 hours

Not being paid well for those hours

Working in a classroom 7 hours a day with children because my board won't let me hire a replacement for the teacher they had me fire

AND trying to be the boss at the same time

Making 1 mistake...

That was corrected before any ill effects had taken place

Not so Priceless...

NOW...

Not being able to move into the long awaited apartment

going back on the hunt for a job

Uncertainty

Changes

Patience

Waiting on God

The fun this week

Work was NOT fun this week! I had issues with employees. I had issues with funding sources. I had issues with my office.

I also am trying desperately to locate and lease an apartment within my price range. Mom and Beau have been here almost every day. I have managed to avoid them purely by coincidence. I have put in so many hours at work that by the time I get home at 7:00pm or later they are gone for the day.

In fact I will spend most of the day tomorrow at work as well trying to play catch up from being in a classroom. I had teachers suspended, sick AND in the hospital this week. I do have an appointment to look at an apartment at 4:00pm and then probably to the laundromat to do the daycare laundry for the week.

The sooner I can get out of this house and into my own apartment a lot of my stress will be gone. I need to feel independent again...that is something that Big Red took from me in the divorce.

Once I get past this month at work and get my staffing settled a bit it will be less stressful there as well. What with Picture Day coming up, a retirement of an employee and appointing a new Assistant Director all this month it is no wonder things are a little tense in the building...

I never did manage to get a motorcycle this summer. I seem to have run out of time as far as the weather is concerned.

As you see I played with the layout a bit. I am not done but I am growing tired so alas maybe I can get back to it this weekend.

Actions have consequences...

Actions have consequences even if you apologize. An employee this week learned this the hard way where I work. Yes One4Jc is fairly laid back and easy going BUT I do have my limits. She is the first person to push me far enough for serious consequences. Being "written up" is not good but an actual unpaid suspension is a sure sign that you have pushed too far.

She is appealing the suspension but it doesn't look good for her. Several of my supervisors thought she should have been fired over the incident not just suspended.

My actions have consequences as well. I missed a deadline and I am paying the penalty for it. It is repairable but time consuming. I got too caught up in enrolling new students, staffing issues and other paper work and the deadline whooshed up on me today and the items are not ready. The kicker is that I got a letter of "recognition" of my mistake today...before the actual deadline had passed...so did my boss. Whoops.

The last actual day off I had was Labor Day...I have been working through the weekend to play catch up on all the things I have missed by being bogged down with other stuff like ...oh say....staffing classrooms. Looks like I will work through this weekend as well.

And my Mom wants me to get this apartment when???????

If it could go wrong....

What a week and it is only Weds. morning! I stayed at work until almost 9:00pm last night trying to get some uninterrupted work done. I did get a lot accomplished but man I'm tired today!

We have had several children pushing the limits at work this week and just lots of little stuff that has snowballed to make an UGH kind of week already.

I sent a child home yesterday after he bit 2 teachers and myself...scratched 3 different teachers, threw toys at other children and slapped a child so hard it left a red hand print on their cheek. He's 4. Old enough to not get away with this stuff.

Of course we have had the general fevers, runny noses creeping crud kind of stuff...oh and Hand, Foot and Mouth.

Lots of paperwork to be completed. Annual inspections to be completed and returned to the correct agencies, cleaning carpets in the "new" room and getting it set up and organized for use.

I have a cover to build for an A/C unit, testing to be done on several levels for staff because it was deemed "unreadable" as the bottom 3 millimeters (LOL) were cut off the bottom of some of the pages....I tell you they have to find something to issue a citation for don't they?

I will be running one of the corrections pages downtown to save time today and then back to work I go...I am VERY ready for this 3 day weekend.

Yet another new experience...

Last night was awful! Yesterday was not the greatest day ever but I had no idea what the night had in store.

I am a person who on occasion has nightmares. They have gotten much better since I have grown older and well... all those years of counseling have helped tremendously.

Last night I had a hard time falling asleep to begin with because I could not get my mind to "turn off" for the night.

It seemed like I had only been asleep minutes when I sat straight up in bed with THAT feeling in my stomach.

You see I had been having a horrid dream that I found to be truly upsetting.

I woke up so upset by this dream that before I was even conscience I found myself running to the bathroom.

Now a little side note here would be that I detest vomit. Once upon a time I was so skinny that I was constantly accused of having an eating disorder. I would laugh at them...I hate puking that much...no amount of weight loss could coax me to purge.

Of course after the "event" I felt fine. I couldn't go back to sleep because I was scared to have the dream again but I felt fine.

I basically have been awake since 4am and have been eating things slowly just in case but so far no problems what so ever.

I did skip church today so that I could try to sleep in but that didn't work. I will be doing a load of laundry so that my nephew will not get the "kitty sniffles" tonight when he sleeps over and then I am off to a softball game with the young lad later this afternoon.

I pray for good sleep tonight as missing work tomorrow to sleep all day is not really an option.

It is hard to be a light when the "F" word abounds...

I have learned many things while sitting at a strange place checking my email.

One of which is that teens swear....a lot....

They can swear and put some of the military men I have known in my life to shame.

I do have many many many things to post about but until my computer is internet ready you will have to wait with patience...

I just passed my First wedding anniversary as a divorced woman....Women of Faith was awesome....I am hiring at work again....we are opening a new room to deal with our high numbers of new students....

But alas until my computer guru from yonder visits you will need to wait...

Still alive and kicking!

I am still alive and kicking! I am finding it hard to post as I sporatically check my email....I have discovered I am entirely to dependant on the internet!

Annoyed

I have been generally annoyed the last few days. I am not sure what the deal is...but a few things I know have contributed to my mood...

I can't get my scooter started. Yes it has gas , the battery is charged and I have checked all the filters etc which is about as far as I can go without taking the chance at seriously messing it up. My knuckles are sore from tinkering with it today.

The fireworks going off until 2 in the morning are wearing on my very last nerve. My cat is not thrilled with them either. Those screaming bottle rockets are about to get shoved somewhere the sun doesn't shine.

Sometimes working with a group of women can be wonderful. They can be the most supportive and caring people you will ever meet. Sometimes they only look out for themselves and can be the whiniest, nasty, caddy people you can ever meet. The whole "cycle" at the same time thing can really get UGLY.

Sometimes facing a problem can be heart wrenching.

I don't want to do that which I know I must do.

Be warned...Whining coming

After tying almost 300 balloon yesterday and then helping my little clown prodigies turn them into animals I could care less at this point if I ever see another balloon EVER again.

My fingers hurt.

My uterus hurts. Yes you guessed it PMS has struck and I am feeling evil today.

This however did bring a slight smile to my face:




13 things that PMS stands for:


1. Pass My Shotgun
2. Psychotic Mood Shift
3. Perpetual Munching Spree
4. Puffy Mid-Section
5. People Make me Sick
6. Provide Me with Sweets
7. Pardon My Sobbing
8. Pimples May Surface
9. Pass My Sweatpants
10. Pissy Mood Syndrome
11. Plainly; Men Suck
12. Pack My Stuff
13. Potential Murder Suspect

As always the little APS thing has made this an interesting weekend.