Oh how they can make me laugh!!!

Okay, I think that being older and having children I am able to enjoy the naughtiness and not panic and throw a fit. This last week or 2 we have had some instances that I think years ago I would have panicked and yelled but this time I realized its just the small stuff and decided to take pictures and laugh, so enjoy!!!



This is what happens I tell Caddis to go get his pajamas on, he says he does not have any and I tell him to go look in the dryer I had just washed some that day. Next thing I hear is giggling and him yelling "Hey, I fit in here!" and more giggling. My first reaction is to yell and then my second thought is grab the camera and go find out what he is talking about and here is the result.... Got to love 'em!!!!

So for Zlee's birthday party I let the kids decorate their own cupcakes and this is the result of letting Miko my 4-year-old decorate her own.

So I say just appreciate them because one day they will be all grown up and out of the house before we know it!

Yeah, back to work is going good!

I have been working for 2 weeks now. First week of training, drove me insane but last week was good to be working on live work. I had to send all my work to QA so that they could check to make sure that I was doing it right and correct any mistakes or blanks that I could not understand. Last week was also a little hectic with the holiday weekend. My new schedule is Tuesday through Saturday and went I started working on Tuesday there was an email from my supervisor asking me why I hd not worked on Monday. I explained my schedule and she said that she needed to update my info, they still had my old schedule of Monday through Friday. Well on Thanksgiving I needed to work but was only able to get in a little less than 4 hours before the work ran out. Then on Saturday I also was only able to put in a half day before the work ran out so that bothered me because, no work, no money! Now I have started my 2nd week of real work and when I checked my email the first thing this morning there was a note that I do not need to send to QA, YEAH!!!! Now I just have to be very careful and make sure that I look things over before hitting send.

I enjoy working as a transcriptionist, it is a constant learning process but at the same time it is very hard work, because you have to sometimes translate what is being said, in fact the company is now calling the position medical language specialists, and boy is it another language; so I guess I can say that I am bilingual now, hehehehe. Also working on production sucks!!!! You have to check in and check out on their time clock, but you do not get paid by the hour, only by your production so it bothers me that I have to remember to check in and out all day long. Oh well, such is life, at least I have a job and I am able to work from home which means I do not have to pay a babysitter, which would just take all the money that I had just made. Now hopefully there will be plenty of work this week and I can keep busy.

Now if only the IRS would call......but rumor has it that it will not be until mid to end of January possibly even February, so the wait continues!

YAHOO!!!!! It's back to work for me!!!

Okay, I am still waiting for the IRS to call back but I finally got a job. I called my old job when I was furloughed in July. They would not let me come back because I had been working on clinic accounts for the past 4 years and they said that they were only hiring for acute care (hospital) accounts and I had to have been working on them within 3 years. RIDICULOUS!!!! I have been transcribing for over 16 years and most of that has been acute care. Well they said that they would keep me in mind if a clinic account position became available. I thought "yeah right, you won't be calling me back." Well I was wrong I received an email last week that they just received a new clinic account and would I still be interested. So as of next Monday I will be working as a medical transcriptionist again. They have already sent the computer equipment, with a note that I needed to set it up immediately to make sure that there was no damage during shipping. Well........

Since I have not been working at home since February, my poor old desk has been piling up with bills and junk. I had to hurry and clean it off so that I could at least set it up and test the equipment. I have my desk in our storage room and I have had the thoughts that I would clean up the storage room and get it all organized while I was furloughed, well.....I found games on facebook and became an addict and therefore the storage room is a HUGE MESS!!!! Now John is saying that we need to give the old desk (it is his dad's) to his sister who wants it and then bring my real computer desk home and set it up. Now not only do I have to clean it off to set up but now I have to clean out my stuff from the drawers and probably everything that has been left there by his dad....UGHHH!!!! But I definitely prefer my desk to his.

I have to say that I am a horrible procrastinator and that I am easily distracted and I now have the proof, I have been out of work for over 4 months and I have not accomplished a whole lot. I had great intentions but me and my procrastinating has left me with a long list of unaccomplished things.

Now for an update on my dad. He is still recovering from his surgery. The last time I talked to him he is still not able to physically move except his arms and wiggle his toes. I also think that there is some memory loss but overall he is doing okay.

Now I just had to patiently wait for Monday to come so that I can get back into the groove of working but I am so dreading the first week of training.......BORING!!!!! I need a little refresher course but I have to go through the week long torture instead. In reality it would only take a couple of days to do the training but people ask STUPID QUESTIONS, over and over and over again. So I have to sit there and bite my tongue and listen to their stupid questions and remember that I am getting paid to sit there and listen, my only salvation. I think that last 2 days I will get to do some live work and that will hopefully make it all worthwhile, we will see.

In case I don't get on before, Happy Thanksgiving to all!!!!.

My life this last month

I can't believe that it has been over a month since I last posted something. I have actually had some events happen during that time. The last time I posted it was about my dad and I am happy to say that he is actually doing better. Last week I took my mother-in-law to the doctor's office and while I was waiting for her I got a call from my stepmom saying that someone wanted to talk to me. My first thought was a doctor or nurse to talk to me about his condition (OH NO!) but instead the most wonderful sound in the world, my dad's voice!!!!! He is now off the ventilator, they have put in a smaller trach tube, and he is moving his fingers and toes. He was now talking but was only awake for about 15-20 minutes and then wearing out and falling asleep. He told me that it was scared when he collapsed and realized that he may never see us again until we die. I think that is what kept him going.

Last night my stepmom called to say that he is now eating solid foods with someone feeding him and staying up and talking all the time. They will put him in a chair so that he can sit up straight for a while but he has to be straped to the chair because he still has no control of his body. I am so greatful that he has pulled through and continue to pray that he can recover fully or almost fully but I am greatful that he is still here and he does not seem to have brain damage like they had feared.

Now also I was able to reconnect with a long time friend who I had ended the relationship years ago. We have been chatting on facebook and last weekend we went out and had a "GIRLS NIGHT OUT!" It was wonderful, went to dinner and a chick flick. I decided to go to SLC to meet her and I had my mom watch my kids. I decided to spend the night at my mom's afterwards so that we could have time to chat and not worry about getting the kids home before too late. Turns out we talked until 3 in the morning. It was great reconnecting. She kept asking me what happened, why did we stop being friends and I had to tell her it was because we were going down 2 completely different paths. We had moved out together and I was enjoying the freedom of being on my own and not worrying about rules and curfews. She was enjoying the freedom also but decided to party with her friends that were into that. She also was spending time with creeps that were taking advantage of her. I was stressing out every time she left to spend time with these "friends" and I even made myself sick worrying about her. I had to end the roommate situation for my health.

After moving out she moved back home and continued to hang out with these "friends." She became pregnant with a much younger guy (boy actually), she did not tell me until after she had given birth. They ended up marrying 2 years later and I am happy to say that they are still married 16 years later. I really felt that it would not last and they have somehow made it through and have 3 teenage girls. She has totally settled down and I see so much growth in her and in her attitude. She truly was a friend and it was so hard to end the relationship. She was someone I could talk to and she would listen and help me figure things out.

Well now I need to go get ready and take Miko to Headstart. That is also something new for me. I have 2-1/2 hours without any kids and it is so strange!!! I have a hard time having a quiet house except for the sounds of TVs, John snoring, and some movement upstairs from grandma Alice. The kids really love school and I am so proud of them, but of course I am their mom and I can say that I enjoyed going to school too!

My life this week!

So I took John to the doc for a follow-up visit. He asked what the plan was and we said that nothing was really planned. We were not able to get insurance so that we could go to the surgeon in SLC before he retired in July. He then informed us that the surgeon decided not to retire after all. Our prayers have been answered. Now I just need to get back to work and work for 2 more months to qualify for insurance.

Then we went the next day and talked to a lawyer about fighting for disability. After telling him John's situation he feels that we can win the case. We will probably be denied again but he said that that was standard practice and to then appeal to be seen by a judge. He said that it can take up to a year and a half before all is said and done but he was very hopeful that we would win. It will be nice to have that extra money but it really sucks for John to have to admit it is time for disability. It has been hard to accept for him. I told him that stay-at-home moms do not get paid by the government and he will at least be getting money to help out the family. Now the wait begins.

And last but not least....my phone rang right at dinner the other night and I saw my dad's name on the phone and thought "now what story does he want to tell me about me?" I answered the phone and it was my step-mom (she never calls me) and said that she had to take my dad to the hospital that morning. The she says and I quote "he died on the table!" I gasped, and then she says "oh they shocked him twice and he came back and then they had to put 2 stents into his heart, he is in the CCU now." I about had a fit!!! You do not tell someone He died, that was horrible. She could have said your dad had a heart attack, that would be a little easier to hear. Then she proceeded to tell me that the doctors thought that he was doing well after surgery but she said that they have not been there and that he is not doing well. She said that they thought he would be transferred to a regular room the next day. I thought about it and having had experience in the art of being the spouse of someone in the hospital, I realized that yes you know them well, but the doctors do know what they are talking about.

I was going to call her yesterday for an update but thought that she would have been at the hospital and I did not have her cell phone number. When I did remember (after John reminding me) it was 10:30 their time and I figured it would not be a good time to call her. I called the hospital and after a few run arounds I finally found out that he was still in the CCU and that the nurse was in his room at that moment and they would have him call me back when he was done. The nurse called me about half an hour later and informed me that my had had gone into respiratory failure and distress and therefore they put him on a ventilator and sedated him. GREAT, now what do I do? The nurse was very gracious and helpful and told me that I could call back during the night if I needed to and that they would take good care of my dad. It is very hard to think that my dad could die but then again he is 67, not a young man, and he has had problems with his heart for a while now. I know that he will be in a wonderful place when he does die but still it is hard to think about. He lives in Texas and it is really hard to not be able to just run to the hospital and check on him myself.

I called my step-mom this morning and talked to her. She told me about the ventilator situation and said that the medicine they used to sedate him is the same kind that killed Michael Jackson. That does not bother me because he is in the hospital under supervision in the CCU unit.

I will definitely pray for my dad and hope that all turns out well. Now I am going to SLC to spend time with my family for my nephew's birthday, YEAH!!!

10 years of being married to my love!!!

We have officially made it 10 years of being married. I had a few scares during those 10 years where I did not think that we would see this day. With John's health being poor I remember quite a few times being in the hospital with him or in the ER room with him and thinking of things like: who should I call first, what will I do now, how do to make funeral arrangements, what would like to have in his funeral service, he wants to be cremated am I ready for that, and so forth.....

Even this last week while he was in the hospital I had those thoughts and it scared me. But I also know that I have a wonderful support system that will be there when I need them, so really no worries.

We have been so blessed these past 10 years, we have 3 wonderful blessings that are healthy, well behaved most of the time, beautiful, smart, loving (okay I could go on because I am their mom) and they are definitely the joys of our lives. We have been able to get through the difficulties we have faced with our marriage still intact, our faith in Christ still strong, our dreams of eternity still intact, and still in love.

I went to a funeral of a dear childhood neighbor this morning and listened to all of the wonderful talks and memories shared about her. I sat there thinking I am sad for the family members left behind to lose their wife, mother, grandmother, etc., but having the understanding that she is in heaven it made it so much easier to handle. They only found out less than a month ago that she had leukemia stage 5 and were told that she would not being going home from the hospital, and so it was. I sat and thought about all the times I played at her house with her daughters, going on a few excursions with them, and how she was a great lady. She is someone that I have been able to look up to in the role of a working mom. She worked graveyard shift so that she could be home with her kids and be able to attend all of their school functions, and she did. But if you tried to call their house in the morning it would be off the hook and you knew that she was sleeping. If I was over there when she was sleeping you had to tip toe across the front room floor, because her bedroom was directly below and she would come upstairs and get mad if you woke her up. Now as a mom who has decided to work a night shift, I totally understand now what she was going through. I deeply respect her decision and am glad that she was an inspiration to me. She also had the opportunity to help care for her mother when she had dementia and was unable to care for herself well enough. I remember going over there many times and she was off to take care of her mom, or there would be grandma spending the day with the family and eating dinner with them. She was able to show me compassion for others and taking care of your family.

I hope and pray that one day when I look back on my life I can say that I am not ashamed of the way I lived my life and hopefully I made a difference in the life of someone else.

Now if I can just be able to get John well enough so that we can spend our 20th anniversary together.....

Why does it take an episode to make you appreciate things?

Hubby had another episode that sent us to the ER. He had been vomiting all night and morning and was not able to keep anything down. We left home at 9:30 am and did not get home until 5:30 pm. It was a very long day in the ER and we were in a room with just a curtain between the room and the next room. It was very hard to sit there and have to listen to everything going on in the next room when I just want to concentrate on my hubby. We told the doc to call our doc and let him know what was going on so that my hubby could be admitted. They called and he was off for the day and talked to one of his associates. The associate did not want to be responsible for him being admitted. We did not even make it home, and he was vomiting again. We came home and I called some neighbors to come and give him a blessing. They gave him a lovely blessing and he calmed down a little bit. He was still very nauseated and still vomiting so I called the ER and they said to come back.

When we got up there they had a 1-1/2 hour wait. UGHHH!!!!! He was admitted this time but did not get into his hospital room until 4 hours later. I did not get to bed until after 1:30 because some dork kept calling the cell phone. I would answer thinking it could be the hospital and it was some dork saying oops, wrong number!!! I was so MAD!!! Then hubby called me at 6:30 in the morning to say that he had a bad night and needed me to bring clean unders.... oh the joy.

I went and spent the morning and left at about 1 p.m. My hubby called at 4 and then again at 5 in a panic needing me to come to the hospital. By the time I got there he was panicking and the CNA told me that they had given him a combination of pain med and nausea med and he was having a bad reaction. He was not breathing well, shaking his legs like crazy, eyes dilated, and definitely out of it. It took 4 hours for the meds to wear off and he was okay (well enough) that I came home to take care of the kids and get them into bed.

I definitely can say that I love my husband and it tears me apart to see him so sick like this. I have to remember what a blessing it is to have a husband and all the blessings that God has blessed us with. I can only take my family to heaven with me and that is what keeps me going down the right road, I want to be with them when I die!

Where does the time go??

Miko had her 4th birthday this last week and it had me thinking where did the time go? It seems like only yesterday I was pregnant and miserable in the July heat and then going to the hospital to have a C-section to get her out into this world. Her birth was memorable because they had just cut me open and got her head out and she was screaming. I think she was demanding that they put her back into that nice warm place and not out in the cold operating room. She has been screaming since. She is the little princess in the family but I love her so much. It is interesting to look at my 3 children and see how different each one is but yet they come from the same parents. She is the little demanding princess yet so full of love, willing to give anyone a hug and has to have snuggle time. Now she is 4 which means next year my baby will be going to school, wow how time flies. It is still amazing to me to realize that I am a wife and a mom now. I spent so many years being single and thinking that I would never have the opportunity to be in the place in my life. Now here I am with a husband and children who have given me more love than I could have ever believed possible. I thank God every day for those blessings in my life!!

A week and a half and still surviving, well sort of!

As you can see it has been 1-1/2 weeks since my furlough, UGHH!! I finally was able to file my first unimployment claim, but the bad part is that my claim was still open from February/March when I was last furloughed and therefore I will be paid the same as then, which bites since I am making more money now, but will not count because of the claim being opened in February. I do not have to look for a job technically, but I think to survive I will have to find work. I am having a hard time trying to decide what to do. I have been applying for every job within IRS that I can but still it is a long wait and then probably will be disappointment. I have already received 2 rejections saying that I do not have the experience necessary.

For all of those moms out there that stay at home, my heart goes out to you, you are saints! It has been very hard dealing with all the bickering and fighting from the kids, it just seems to be getting on my nerves right now, can't be that I am a little down with the furlough situation, hehehe!!!

Well only 9 more weeks (or so they say, more like 6 months according to the others at work that started last year).

Furlough time has arrived!

Last night they started the furlough process. They asked for volunteers and were taking up to 40. Only 24 volunteered and so that meant that they had to start the force volunteer process. There are 322 in the department and my number at this point is 235 so I was not involved in this first one, they went to 305. There was 1 volunteer in our team and 2 forced to furlough last night. Now it is time for the worrying every night when I go to work if they will tell me it it time for my furlough. I am currently applying for all permanent jobs that I am qualified for and hopefully I will be able to get one of them and then not have to worry about it, I will keep my fingers crossed and be on my knees asking the good Lord above for help.

Furlough time is officially around the corner!

We were called into a "meeting" in the hallway and they officially gave the "5-day furlough" notice. They are right now asking for 15 volunteers to be furloughed on Friday. If they get that many (which rumor has it that there will be more than 15 willing to go) then they will not use the recall numbers. My recall number right now is 235 out of a possible 322, so I have 87 people below me that could be called out before I am. The girls in my team that were there last year said that they did not even get a warning. They showed up for work and were told that if your number is between 250 and 310 (I think that was the number) then you are furloughed, clean our your desk, leave your badge, and go home. WOW, I hope that I takes at least a few weeks before I am furloughed. The longer I stay the better we are financially speaking. I was also told that if you opened a claim for unemployment within the last year, if you have not used it all up (which I did not) then you will receive the same amount as last time until it it all used up. That will really suck because I received unemployment in March for 2 weeks and it was based on my part time job pay, YUCK!!!! Also I applied for some detail jobs, where you work for a specified amount of days in a position; the ones I applied for were a day position and a swing shift position. I was informed that they filled the positions (16 in all) with permanent employees. That really bites my ---! They know that seasonals will be leaving soon due to the season is at the end and yet they filled the positions with permanent employees so that they can add that to their resume, while the rest of us have to figure out how to survive for the next say 6 months! UGH!!!!

Well I am off to take the kids to swimming lessons!

I Like FUNDER, but not RAINGING!

This is what was said by my littlest one the other night. I wanted to laugh so hard, she just cracks me up. Her brother was all upset about the thunderstorm and we had to sit him down and explain that he would be safe inside the house and not to worry, it was just noise made by he lightening. So then we have a discussion about "funder and rainging." Evidently "rainging" is not fun because you get wet but we like to see the "lightnin" and hear the "funder." I just love my kids, they keep me laughing which helps my sanity.

Last night at work I heard a rumor that they are furloughing the mail department which in essence we will be furloughed soon, probably in about 3 to 4 weeks. I have also heard that it will most likely be the end of June so that they do not have to pay holiday pay. DARN!!! I have been enjoying my new job (have a hard time with the last couple of hours though). I have enjoyed my coworkers and being able to get out of the house. I did not realize how hard it was to work from home, but now being back in the work outside the house force, I realized that I have so much less stress, not having to worry about getting my quota every day. Now I just have to worry about what recall number I will receive and when we will be called back. My manager warned me that it could be as long as January, but it will all depend on callback numbers and how many people they need. Oh boy, now the waiting......

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY TO ALL!

I am sitting here without my kids today, they are spending the weekend at my mom's so that we can go out to dinner tonight to celebrate Mother's Day with my mother-in-law at our favorite restaurant. It takes me back to the days before marriage and children. I would dread going to church on that day because I was "old enough" to get the gift (usually a flower to plant) to honor mothers. I truly appreciate now the wonderful blessing of being a mother and know that there are many out there that do not get the opportunity to have children. I am truly greatful for the fact that my children are all healthy and I pray for those mothers that have children who are not, it must be a real struggle for them, but I also know that they will receive wonderful blessings for being a great mother in raising their children.

I have realized that those that have not been able to have children are just as influential in the lives of others around them. For example, I have an aunt that was unable to have children but she has been there for each of her nieces and nephews and you can always count on either a card, phone call, and/or email on your birthday, she never forgets.

I was raised by a wonderful mom and had the priviledge of having a wonderful grandma and aunts to help me in my path in life, I salute all of them this Mother's Day.

Happy Mother's Day to all moms and women of influence!!!

Hmmm I thought I was doing a great job?

Last week I was informed that I was receiving incentive pay, YIPEE!!! It was $67 and I was so excited, only a few weeks of working and I had made incentive. When I got home I showed John the paperwork and he was happy and then as he was looking at it closely he asked why there were 2 different columns and I was not making quota for one of the columns. I took a closer look and realized that I made incentive on the extensions, which were a piece of cake to do only a few entries per document, and my regular forms that I work on I am under the incentive quota. DANG!!! We are through working on the extensions and therefore I will not be able to get incentive for those. My manager was impressed that I made incentive, she said that most people do not get incentive until their 2nd year and sometimes not until their 3rd year. I felt good to hear that but now I know that it will be awhile until I make quota for incentive pay and probably by the time I make it they will taken incentive pay away (they are talking about doing that within the next couple of years). Oh well, I will just keep plugging along and hopefully get to incentive before it is taken away. It is kind of nice to have a little extra money.

Ughh! Key Drills!

So last night at work my manager comes up to me and shows me that I had 2 errors on my review and therefore I need to do key drills for half an hour. 2 errors out of over 200 documents, they were finger errors which meant that my finger hit the wrong key such as a 7 instead of a 4. We were originally told that those types of errors were nothing to worry about and now I get 2 and was put on drills. Drills are like a typing test that you took back in the old typing class in school. Yeah, boring!!! The girl next to me said we should protest and go to the union office but I said if they want to waste 1/2 an hour of pay for punishment instead of having us work to get the workload in that was their fault. So I plugged through it and was able to keep my eyes open the rest of the night. The worst part was that the other girls next to me asked if they had errors and she said no, so they gave each other high-5's as I am sitting there doing the stupid drill, that really pissed me off!!!! If this keeps up I just may end up slapping them.

Now if I can just keep my fingers where they belong.....

I'm just too darn old!

Last night at work we had a "pajama" party. It was thought up by two 20 something girls that each weigh no more than 130 lbs and say that they are fat after having 1 child. Are you kidding me? I wanted to slap them both and tell them to shut up! I am bigger than the 2 put together and they have the nerve to say they are fat, give me a break! So last night I wear a T-shirt and sweats for my PJs and felt like a dork all night long. Now when I worked from home that was my attire most days of the week, but since going back into the out-of-house work force I feel that it is important to dress up somewhat, still casual, but definitely not sweats. The whole night I felt like something was wrong and then I would look down and think oh yeah, I should not be wearing these to work. Well I survived and did not even once raise my hand to slap them when they said "do these make me look fat to you?" Give me a break, I would love to be that little again but it is just too much work and so I am content for now to be this size and maybe lose a few pounds to help improve my overall health.....then again I do like my Coke and chocolate, and it would be too much of a sacrifice to give those up, hehehehe

Too Much Information??

So this past week at work I kept hearing different people say that they heard different things about being able to apply for other jobs within the company. I decided that the best approach would be to ask my manager and get the straight answer. But low and behold she was sick for most of the week. Last night she finally was at work and so I asked what the policy was. I told her that I had heard that we could apply for jobs now even though our 90 days were not up yet, in fact next week it will be 60 days. She said that we do have to wait 90 days but if a job comes up between now and then that we can apply as long as the job opening closes after our 90 days. So now I am just waiting to see if there is anything available in a permanent position.

I asked my manager last week if we would qualify for 6 months of work so that I could get health insurance for my family. She said that last year's group were furloughed in June and did not return until the end of February. GREAT! Now I am wondering what to do if that happens to us. I will definitely be keeping my eyes open for new PERMANENT positions in the company. I do not think that I can handle the furlough business for too long.

I have been enjoying my new position. The only problem is that there is one new girl there that LOVES TO TALK!!!! One night I noticed that she talked the entire night to anyone that would listen to her and then some. I just want to get my work done and go home to bed, I do not want it to be a chat session. I have learned to just plug in the iPod and type away. Last night I messed up my iPod before going to work and so was unable to listen to it and had to listen to all the chatting going on around me. Thankfully though some people were gone and others had decided to listen to their books or music and I was able to concentrate on my work, but sometimes I sure hear things that I wonder if I really should be hearing it. I think I am getting OLD!!!! Now if I can just find a way to get my sleep caught up.......

First official week of work is over!

I had the first official week of working this week. It was amazing to realize how much I forgot with being off for 3 weeks, but it came back quickly. My desk is next to a girl that has been there for 13 years and her fingers fly. It motivates me to try to catch up to her so that is a good thing. They check your work every night and my first night of working I had no errors and the girl that checked my work asked me if I had worked there before. I said no, I have just been in the data industry for over 20 years. It felt great to have that compliment. Now I hope I did not set myself up to high at the beginning. Besides the lack of sleep I really enjoy the job. I can definitely see myself staying there and retiring from there. But of course I will look to move up in the company along the way.

Finally received phone call!!!

I finally got the phone call I have been waiting for, for almost 3 weeks now. I am going back to work on Monday. I would love to go back tomorrow but they said Monday. I have been having depressed feelings this past week and worrying constantly about not getting a call back. They warned us that it would be 2 to 3 weeks but I was hoping more like 1 week tops. So it will have been 3 weeks when I start back on Monday. It really sucks being furloughed. I have had to sign up for unemployment and they automatically do not let you collect for the first week off of work so since finances were tight before switching jobs, it seems like it is worse right now. But we are back on track and hopefully will be working for at least 6 months so that I can now collect health insurance benefits. I think that I will survive after all. Besides, it's only money, you can't take it to heaven when you go.

My hat is off to those stay-at-home moms!

I have always had the dream of being a stay-at-home mom, to be able to be there for my kids and be able to run them around to their different activities and such. This week while being on furlough I have been trying not to go crazy. Working around the house all day is not my kind of thing. I HATE housecleaning. Working from home kept my sanity in check but now with absolutely no work involved this week I am having a hard time. I did end up spending an entire day on the computer filling out paperwork for John to get disability, I thought it would be only a couple of hours at the most, and I spent the entire day doing it, YUCK! But hopefully he will be able to get on disability and we can have that supplemental income to help us out. At least he will be bringing in some money while he is the stay-at-home dad.

So for those of you who have the opportunity to be the stay-at-home mom, my hat goes off to you. You take care of your family, home, friends, neighbors and do not get paid anything of monetary value, but hopefully your family will appreciate you and give you the love you deserve! Money cannot by love and happiness! Besides it's only money!

Can you say MIGRAINE?

Okay week 2 day 2 of training... I was dragging all night long, even the time last night dragged but when we took our first test to see where we stand I got a 95%! YIPEE! It puts me at the top of the class which is great because if we end up going on furlow they call you back based on score, so I will be one of the first called back. We will be taking another test tonight and I hope to do better, my mistakes last night was forgetting that I was in a dollars and cents field and not a dollars only field and so I forgot to enter in the cents. I just have to remember to look for the prompts in each area and make the correct choice. They will take the best of these 2 tests for our final score.

So this morning when Zlee woke me up I had this huge migraine. I know that my body is telling me that I need to sleep but I also need to spend what little time I have with her before she goes off to school. It is worth the sacrifice and I have taken my prescribed naproxen to help with the headache. I also have my lovely mug of ice cold Coke, that I am chugging down this morning. Caffeine take me away....

I guess I will just have to take a nap before I go to work, oh darn! Yesterday I was teasing Miko when she was asking me what time it was, I told her it was time to take a nap and she said "I take too much naps it's not nap time." Only a child would believe in too many naps, I only dream of having a nap every day.

Well hopefully I can survive the night tonight. One good thing is that if I stop by WalMart on my way home from work there are no crowds, and I realized that I could do my Easter, Christmas, etc., shopping when the kiddies are sleeping and be able to sneak everything in without their curious eyes watching me. See there are advantages to working nights.

1st week of training -- check. 2nd week about to begin...

So I have survived my first week of training. The first night was horrible, all of the policies and procedures to go over. Spent the first 6 hours in lecture type setting then spent the last 2 hours in actual training with a little tour of the facility. It was a LONGGGGG night! Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday turned out to be tolerable but we had our time pushed back half an hour as the computer system shuts down daily from 3:30 to 4:30 between shift change. So I have to now stay until 1 a.m. and hopefully get home between 1:20 and 1:30 and in to bed by 2 a.m.

There are some interesting people in training. I have to wonder how they passed the security check. Hopefully they will not be on my team when we break into teams.

We were told that the workload is down because of the stimulus package not being signed (this was on Tuesday) and we could possibly be furlowed after our 2 week training course. The furlow they say should only be about a week long. They will be calling back based on test scores and I have been busting my butt to make sure that I am on the top of the list. So far it looks good. The kid I sit next to gets mad at me because I finish the practice exercise quickly and he is struggling every time. He is very young and does not have a family to support, the pressure is on. But as strange as it is, I have stress with new job, trying to remember all the new info, but my stress level has dropped considerably otherwise. It is so nice to be back to hourly pay, not have to worry about getting a daily quota, how much longer it will take me to make quota, will I have to work the weekend, etc.. So lovely to just go to work, do my job, and know that I get paid.

Also of note, every night as I get to work I have noticed that the "trucks" or what the rest of the world would call carts, are starting to fill up with paperwork, I assume that it is for us. I have never been so excited to hear about a bill being passed as I was on Wednesday to know that the stimulus package had been signed. We handle only business forms and I believe that companies have been holding back about filing until they knew what to expect and now they are filing and sending in their forms. I pray every night that there will be work come next Monday so that I do not have to go on furlow.

The sad part of all is the other day Caddis said that he wished that our house was a house and a restaurant. I asked him why, and he said then I could stay home and work. He thought that I was working at a restaurant. So cute. I had to explain to him that it was okay and that I would be home every morning for him and we could spend time together before he goes to school and I go to work and that I would have Saturdays and Sundays off. He seemed a little bit better after that. I guess it is hard for him to see me leave for work when I have been working from home his whole life. I sure love that little guy.

So tomorrow starts week 2 and I have been reviewing my study guide so hopefully I will be able to pass the test in the top of the class! I am off to bed now so that I can get my last good sleep for the week.

The anticipation is killing me!

Today is the day that I start my new job. I report in at 3:45 this afternoon. It is killing me sitting here at home waiting for time to go by. I have been working from home now for more than 10 years and it is a very weird feeling to not be working right now. I am excited for the new job but I also know that I have to go through a training process and I know that I will be overwhelmed but also bored. John worked there over 5 years ago, and only for a few months, but he said that the training was terrible. He worked in a different area that I will be but he said back then they flew in trainers from back east and he said that he knew how to do their job better than they did. He wondered how they got their jobs and how they could be paid, they were terrible. I hope my department will be different, I know the training will definitely be different but I hope that I will not be bored to death. The thought of staying there until after midnight, listening to lecture training, the thought just scares me. But I know that this it the direction I need to go to provide for my family. I was told at orientation that if the manager can guarantee that we will be working for 6 months that we will be eligible for health insurance. I am so hoping that we do, we really need the insurance so that John can get the operation he needs.

A New Change in Life

So it is official, I will be working soon for the IRS. I am nervous, scared, but mostly EXCITED! I have been at the same job for 7 years. I am ready for a change of pace. I have been saying for years that computer voice recognition programs are taking over my type of job and that I wanted to get out before there is a massive job displacement in my field. So here I am embarking on a new adventure.

I went to my orientation meeting yesterday (can you say boring!) and had a moment where I almost cried. I realized that this is an answer to prayers, a blessing from the Lord. I will be paid for sick leave, vacation time, have life insurance, and hopefully I will be able to qualify for health insurance. The insurance coverage looks wonderful but they said we have to find out from the manager if our job is considered certified for 6 months. It has taken months for this new job but I am now looking forward to it.

I will be working the swing shift which turns out to be the best for our family. John is sick most mornings and is not able to get up and around until around lunchtime. So I will be home with the 2 little ones in the morning and will have to leave around 3:30, so I will miss seeing Zlee in the evening but I will have the mornings before school and the weekends available to spend time with her. That will be the hardest part about this change, being away from the kids. I will miss nighttime rituals but I think that daddy can handle that just fine. It will be nice to be able to know that when I am at work, I am at work and there will be no little ones interrupting me asking me for this and that. Also when I am at work I am getting paid for being there and not just for what I have done in the day, no waiting for someone else to do their job so that I can then do mine. YEAH!

They told us that it is a seasonal job but it is also a permanent job so if we run out of work we will be put on furlow and called back when the work is ready again. Benefits and all will stay the same, such a wonderful thought.

The worst part of all of this was telling my current job that I was quitting. Last Friday I had to send my 2 weeks notice to my supervisor and it took me half the day to get the courage to write the e-mail (pathetic I know). I had tears in my eyes while writing it and feeling bad for leaving my job, but I know in my heart that this is the right thing for me to be doing at this time.

Also of note, John was sent to another specialist, who is reported to be the best in the country, but who is retiring in July. So we saw him on Saturday and he said essentially what took you so long? We explained what has been happening and what the primary car doctor's ideas were and he said that he needed to see all of John's previous records to make a decision. We explained that it was going to be a novel and he said that he enjoyed reading novels. John's PMD wanted this doc to do a procedure to severe the nerve permanently. This doc said that he would look over the records and decide which procedure would be best and then while he was inside of John he could do a gastric bypass since it would only take another 45 minutes. What a blessing that would be. We have spent the past 2 days going to different doctor's offices to request records and when we went to the hospital medical record department to fill out the release of information paper, the lady there said that we just have to have the doctor send in a fax requesting the info. John got upset with her and said that he was there to sign the papers and she said that there was no need to. He had to at every other office and could not understand why he did not need to for the hospital. They wanted to charge 28 cents to us if we got the reports ourselves and after 9 years, 22 hospital visits, and too many ER visits to count, we decided it would be too expensive for us to just get them for ourselves. Oh the fun of dealing with other people!

YAHOO! YIPEE!!

So last night as I was getting ready to go to bed, I was grabbing the remote to turn off the TV (it also works as a monitor for John's computer, just have to push button to change) and a thought cam to me to check my email, I thought why I checked it earlier and nothing was there I will just get more depressed. So again the thought came check the email, so I think okay, it won't hurt to just look. After I logged in there the very first email is from IRS and I have been offered the position of a data transcriber, FINALLY! I applied for the position back in the first part of October! I could not believe it. I had to go right before Thanksgiving and do a fingerprint and turn in some paperwork. They had to do a background check. I figured that the only bad thing in my background was bad credit, so I was afraid that I might not get the job because of that, especially it being the IRS. They said then to check your email every day including the spam section and I did but nothing came. I had applied for 2 different positions and the first choice (tax examiner) started the end of January. Well about a week before it was to start I sent an email asking when they would be interviewing so that I could work it into my schedule and they replied that they do not do interviews just background checks and how high you scored on the test. Well I scored in the 90s on both positions so I thought okay, but the first job is still starting soon and no response. Well I waited a few weeks and still nothing so I sent another email asking when we would find out about the jobs and they said that they were sending them out this week (That was last Thursday). So I faithfully checked my email every day and nothing. I checked Friday afternoon about 3 or 4 and no offer. I was really bummed and thought that I would be receiving a lovely letter in the mail with a denial. I was so excited when I read the email (mind this it is 11:00 at night and the kids are in bed) that I started screaming Yeah, Yeah and John was yelling What? I told him the good news and he came out and we hugged and then we read over the email. I had only 2 days to reply and so I waited until today to really think about and pray about it and I replied with an acceptance.

It will be a swing shift job (4-12:30) so I will be able to see Evanslee off to school in the morning, get to spend time in the morning with Caddis and Miko and then take Caddis to Headstart. Depending on where the actual job location is (I heard it could be at the Freeport Center, which would be lovely because that is only about 15 minutes from here) I may be able to see both of the older ones for a few minutes after school before I have to leave for work. I think I will enjoy working out of the home. I have been working from home now for 11 years and I need a change and a chance to socialize with adults besides at church. I am hoping and praying that this will go permanent but right now it is only seasonal approximately 6 to 9 months, but I will do my best so that they will want to keep me on permanently.

YIPEE!!!!

ER doctors are dorks!

So my reason for the title, Monday night/Tuesday morning John started not feeling well and was throwing up all night. Tuesday I got Zlee off to school and then John said that he felt that we should go to the ER. So I take him up there and we spend 5 hours or more having them give him fluids, antinausea meds, and pain meds. He feels a little better and they give him a prescription and send him home. I eat some lunch and then go to WalMart to fill his prescription. While I am waiting for his prescription and getting some groceries my mother-in-law calls and says that John wants me to come home now and he needs a blessing. I tell her to call the bishop's house and see if he is home. I get home and she said that she called the bishop's house and talked to his wife and she would get the message to him. By this time John is freaking out and unable to even keep down a sip of water. I called the next door neighbor (an old bishop) and he comes over, then the bishop calls and says he just got home and will be right over. They give John a blessing and then he wants me to call 911. I called the neighbor and she kindly took the kids to her house. I called a 911, they checked his blood pressure, extremely high, having a hard time breathing so they give him oxygen by mask, and decide to take him to the hospital. On the way up they started and IV and gave him some meds. Now for the fun part..... We arrive by ambulance (well I drove in a separate car so I would have a way to get home) and are immediately put in a room. By this time John has calmed down somewhat, not throwing up, but still not feeling well. They doctor and nurse examine him and we explain that we were there earlier this morning and are back. The doctor (DORK) says that he will go check the records and see what they did. I told him to enjoy the reading it will be long ---9 years worth. He comes back and says that he will give him some medicine to control the nausea and some pain meds. We are left back there FOREVER without anyone checking back. In fact John needed some help and I pushed the nurse button, I swear it was half an hour later before someone came back to ask what we needed, by this time I almost forgot it took soo long. She said that she was not the nurse and that she would go find the nurse and see what they will do. I was sure glad he did not go into cardiac arrest because I would have a dead husband from no response to our asking for help. We finally talked to the doctor and he said that all of the labs were normal so there was no way that he was having pancreatitis, probably just a virus. We ask if they can do a CAT scan because his symptoms are similar to a time when he had a blocked common bile duct. So they agree to do a CAT scan and it came back negative. He decided that we should just follow up with our doctor and contact a surgeon about possible surgery on his splenic thrombosis but that was all he was willing to do.

Now I forgot the best part of the ER. While I was sitting in the room waiting for John while they had taken him for the CAT scan, a woman was brought into the next room. I heard her complaints and understood why she was there but they way she was moaning it sounded like she was having SEX!!!! She just kept moaning and moaning, as if she was in middle of some intense stuff but no she has pain in her stomach. John comes back from the CAT scan and hears her moans and asks what is going on next door. I started laughing, and he gave me some hand gestures to indicate what he thought was going on, I thought I was going to lose it, I bent over and whispered to him what was happening and that I thought the same thing. I few minutes later she stopped so I assumed that they gave her some pain meds. It was just hilarious!!!

Okay, so we are sent home (doctor kindly gave us some samples of pain meds, since we said that the ones prescribed earlier are sitting in the pharmacy and it would be closed before we got there). John is afraid to sleep downstairs in the bed, because of his trouble breathing, he felt it was making him more sick. So he sleeps upstairs on the recliner, and all night I was startled awake either from him talking in his sleep (do to the meds) or throwing up (now let me explain that John is a VIOLENT vomiter and is SO NOISY). So needless today I got approximately 3 hours of sleep in total. I got Zlee off to school the next morning and as soon as I walked into the door he said that he wanted to go back to the ER. So again we go back up and fortunately we see the first doctor that we saw the morning before. He says since this is your 3rd time in 24 hours we are just going to admit you. FINALLY!! John later that evening called to tell me that his doc came in and talked to him. He said that the ER doc from the night before had called him and said that he felt that John was faking it. HELLO!!!!! He came by ambulance! I want to pay $1000 for an ambulance ride plus $2000 to $3000 for the 2 ER visits just for drugs, ARE YOU CRAZY! I would rather find a drug dealer and pay him a few hundred then go through all of that crap. His doc said he totally believes John and that they should read his first experiences 9 years ago and see the labs back then (that were so high it was unbelievable) and then say that he is to be called before they make and decisions. He said he knows that John is only coming because he is to the point that he needs to be admitted. PHEW!!! Somebody that really believes us and has our back!

Well today they had to catheterize John because his kidneys were not working properly and his sugars are so low they are keeping a close eye on him. Now I would love to have that ER doc read the reports now and tell me that John is FAKING IT! DORK!

Oh the life of chronic diseases!

Happy New Year

Happy New Year to one and all. I am hoping that this new year will bring more blessings and less struggles. I am hoping that I will get the job that I applied for and be able to support my family better. I do not make New Year resolutions because I never keep them so I will just try to be a better person, wife, and mother. Hopefully I will be able to accomplish that in the next year. We had an enjoyable New Years Eve with the kids, we actually went out for pizza and then came home and played games. Wii Mariokart and Monopoly. The 2 little ones actually went to bed by about 10 and Zlee stayed up until after midnight playing Monopoly with John and I. It was fun to spend time as a family since many years before we would end up going to bed since everyone was too little to stay up and dad was usually sick anyway, so it was nice to be able to ring in the New Year with my little family.

John and I have a late night date last night and went to see Valkurie (so if I spelled it wrong) and enjoyed the movie and the time together. We went late so that the kids would be in bed and grandma would be able to handle watching them. It turned out just fine. I have to say thanks to my brother for giving us gift cards for Christmas as that is what we used to SPLURGE on ourselves. It was a very needed time for us to just be alone together and I got to have MOVIE Popcorn with butter, YUMMY!!!! It really is sad how much they charged for it, and I have a hard time now paying those prices when my budget is so tight!

Well I hope that everyone has a Happy New Year and receives all the happiness and blessings in their lives this next year.