Now I am not the most politically informed person but I am adamant about exercising my right to vote in every election and on every issue. Too many people sacrificed too much for that right for me not to take advantage of the privilege.
I can honestly say, though, that I have no idea which presidential candidate I will cast my vote for. I am totally torn. When I weigh all the issues, it comes up as a draw... I hate all the negative ads and the phone calls. I hate having to choose between the lesser of 2 evils.
I wish there was a decent Independent candidate who could shake this country up. When I was in college, I used to think that eventually, enough people would decide they had had enough and vote for the Independent. Then the US could get a complete overhaul. But now I am realistic enough to see that if I voted that way, I was just tossing my vote away.
So still no solution. I know it is my responsibility to educate myself so that I can make an informed decision. But I just don't have the time or the desire to do so. My husband is a talk-radio addict so he is pretty informed. Since we've been married, I have been deferring to him. He explains the issues so that I can see how they will effect us personally. I typically ask him how he thinks I should vote and then follow through with his suggestions.
But this time I am not sure.
Please remember to vote today no matter what or who for.
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Monday, November 3, 2008
Our "Little" Girl
Bailey and I paid a visit to the place where we did all her training yesterday. I had been there to purchase food a couple of times since Bailey's advanced class graduation in August, but she had not been.
Everyone was so happy to see her. She had pretty good manners considering we hadn't been to the dog park first to run off some energy. And we hit a milestone: we purchased her first bag of adult formula dog food.
Since we hadn't been there together since August, she had not been weighed since then. She was 73+ pounds the last time she was weighed. I knew she had grown some since then but I had no idea how much. She won't be a year until November 12th so I was sure she still had some growing left to do. When she got on the scale, I could not believe what it read. Our "little" girl weighed in at 79.3 pounds!!!
And my husband swore he didn't think she would hit 80 pounds...
Everyone was so happy to see her. She had pretty good manners considering we hadn't been to the dog park first to run off some energy. And we hit a milestone: we purchased her first bag of adult formula dog food.
Since we hadn't been there together since August, she had not been weighed since then. She was 73+ pounds the last time she was weighed. I knew she had grown some since then but I had no idea how much. She won't be a year until November 12th so I was sure she still had some growing left to do. When she got on the scale, I could not believe what it read. Our "little" girl weighed in at 79.3 pounds!!!
And my husband swore he didn't think she would hit 80 pounds...
Sunday, November 2, 2008
Play Time
I spent Saturday afternoon at the funnest birthday party I have attended in a long time.
The husband of a friend of mine from church turned 30 on 10/30 so they had a party for him Saturday afternoon. The thing is that he is the very definition of the phrase "a kid at heart" so they had a party that was suitable for a 10 year old.
They had a cook-out, cake, presents meant for a ten-year-old, a neighborhood scavenger hunt that we did in teams (girls against boys, of course), and a pinata. I have not had that much fun since I can remember. When my husband turned 30 four years ago, I planned a surprise party for him. I was fun, but nothing like this.
It got me thinking about some of the fun things we used to do as kids that we only do sparingly as adults, like going to amusement parks, miniature golf, bowling, and going to the zoo. Why don't we do these thing more often? And I am talking about doing this stuff as a couple or on a date, not with kiddos in tow.
We work so hard that when we finally get a day off, we spend it working on the house or just relaxing on the couch. But I think it's important to work a little "play" into our lives, too.
I think I am going to make a real effort to "play" more often. I hope my husband is up for the fun...
The husband of a friend of mine from church turned 30 on 10/30 so they had a party for him Saturday afternoon. The thing is that he is the very definition of the phrase "a kid at heart" so they had a party that was suitable for a 10 year old.
They had a cook-out, cake, presents meant for a ten-year-old, a neighborhood scavenger hunt that we did in teams (girls against boys, of course), and a pinata. I have not had that much fun since I can remember. When my husband turned 30 four years ago, I planned a surprise party for him. I was fun, but nothing like this.
It got me thinking about some of the fun things we used to do as kids that we only do sparingly as adults, like going to amusement parks, miniature golf, bowling, and going to the zoo. Why don't we do these thing more often? And I am talking about doing this stuff as a couple or on a date, not with kiddos in tow.
We work so hard that when we finally get a day off, we spend it working on the house or just relaxing on the couch. But I think it's important to work a little "play" into our lives, too.
I think I am going to make a real effort to "play" more often. I hope my husband is up for the fun...
Saturday, November 1, 2008
The Family Dynamic
I tend to talk a lot about my family so I thought I would give those of you who don't know me a little background.
I have been married for about 5 1/2 years. Although I knew my husband when we were in high school, we never dated. But that's a story for another post so I'll just say that we are 2 years apart in age and were married when we were 26 and 28 years old.
For those of you who do not know, my baby brother (BB) is 22 and is a Marine serving in Iraq. I will refer to him as my BB for the duration of this blog due to the fact that I also have a little brother (LB) who is between us in age. He is married and he and his wife are expecting their first child in March. They live in a city about an hour away from the home we grew up in, and where our parents still live.
Growing up, we had a charmed existence. Dad worked, Mom stayed home, and Nani (our paternal grandmother) lived with us. So we were a 2 income family in a 3 parent home. Nani worked at a restaurant in the evenings so my parents had time to themselves after dinner before us kiddos came along.
We recently lost Nani. She passed away on Mother's Day this year. That's also a story for another post.
My folks still live in the house we grew up in. Mom is slowly going through things, though. She is preparing for the day when they do decide to put the house on the market, which I can foresee happening in the next few years.
My husband's family also lives fairly close. His grandmother lives pretty close to my parents. His mom and step dad live about halfway between us and my parents. It's really nice having everyone so close. We are very lucky.
I sometimes wonder what I did to deserve such a great family. My folks, although we have our differences, are very supportive and sacrificed a lot for me. My in-laws are almost too good to be true. I enjoy the holidays with my side of the family playing cards and board games together. And I am content hanging out with my MIL doing a puzzle or just watching the dogs play.
I may not know why I have been so blessed but I make sure I thank God for these blessings every time I pray.
I have been married for about 5 1/2 years. Although I knew my husband when we were in high school, we never dated. But that's a story for another post so I'll just say that we are 2 years apart in age and were married when we were 26 and 28 years old.
For those of you who do not know, my baby brother (BB) is 22 and is a Marine serving in Iraq. I will refer to him as my BB for the duration of this blog due to the fact that I also have a little brother (LB) who is between us in age. He is married and he and his wife are expecting their first child in March. They live in a city about an hour away from the home we grew up in, and where our parents still live.
Growing up, we had a charmed existence. Dad worked, Mom stayed home, and Nani (our paternal grandmother) lived with us. So we were a 2 income family in a 3 parent home. Nani worked at a restaurant in the evenings so my parents had time to themselves after dinner before us kiddos came along.
We recently lost Nani. She passed away on Mother's Day this year. That's also a story for another post.
My folks still live in the house we grew up in. Mom is slowly going through things, though. She is preparing for the day when they do decide to put the house on the market, which I can foresee happening in the next few years.
My husband's family also lives fairly close. His grandmother lives pretty close to my parents. His mom and step dad live about halfway between us and my parents. It's really nice having everyone so close. We are very lucky.
I sometimes wonder what I did to deserve such a great family. My folks, although we have our differences, are very supportive and sacrificed a lot for me. My in-laws are almost too good to be true. I enjoy the holidays with my side of the family playing cards and board games together. And I am content hanging out with my MIL doing a puzzle or just watching the dogs play.
I may not know why I have been so blessed but I make sure I thank God for these blessings every time I pray.
Friday, October 31, 2008
I Promise
I owe my few but faithful readers a huge appology:
I have been so crazy with work (50-60 hour weeks but wow that OT is nice) that I have really neglected everything that wasn't necessary for survival. I eat, sleep, work, and try to spend what little time is left with my husband and Bailey.
So I am sorry.
To make it up to you and to challenge myself to see if keeping this up is something I really want to do, I have signed up to do NaBloPoMo. If you are not familiar with the blogosphere, it means "National Blog Posting Month" which means that I have committed myself to posting every day for the month of November.
That's right. I promise to do it. I do not promise that the posts will be good. But a lot has happend lately and I think I can come up with something each day with out too much trouble.
So, see you tomorrow :-)
I have been so crazy with work (50-60 hour weeks but wow that OT is nice) that I have really neglected everything that wasn't necessary for survival. I eat, sleep, work, and try to spend what little time is left with my husband and Bailey.
So I am sorry.
To make it up to you and to challenge myself to see if keeping this up is something I really want to do, I have signed up to do NaBloPoMo. If you are not familiar with the blogosphere, it means "National Blog Posting Month" which means that I have committed myself to posting every day for the month of November.
That's right. I promise to do it. I do not promise that the posts will be good. But a lot has happend lately and I think I can come up with something each day with out too much trouble.
So, see you tomorrow :-)
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
A Hook, A Brain, A Trick
Work has not gotten any better since the last post. In fact, it's gotten worse.
During the first week with NC I was told that if I had any problems with anything I was not to vent to any hospital staff, but to one of my supervisors. So when I had an issue with someone who was over both myself and my supervisors and I knew there was nothing I could do about it, I vented to the supervisor I felt I connected with the most. Two days later, the person I vented about showed up. (Keep in mind that the office these people work out of is a 2 1/2 hour plane ride away.) Then she proceeded to tell me how unprofessional and disrespectful I was and that if I ever said anything about any of my superiors again, I would be terminated immediately and she would not have to give a reason why. Oh, yeah... we were in a busy hotel lobby when this conversation took place... and I am "unprofessional."
It took every ounce of self control in me not to throw the 4 inch binder I had in my arms at the time right in her face... I wanted to break her already crooked nose, I was so angry. My response: "I was doing what I was told... I am sorry if you felt I was being disrespectful... if that had been my intention, I would have said it all to your face."
Two weeks later, during a conversation with the supervisor who narked on my vent, she asked me how things were going. I told her the I was upright and breathing and that was as good as I could give her:
Sup: Well you know you can talk to me if you need to.
Me: No, actually I can't, because if I say something you don't like, you'll run and tell (hook nose) and I'll get fired.
Sup: You can still talk to me, you just have to watch what you say.
I just said "no thanks" and told her I'd text her when I got to my next site.
I have a call into NC HR to speak with someone about the whole thing... if they want to fire me, I'm taking hook nose with me...
********************
Bailey was 73 pounds last time we weighed... her growth is slowing down, but her intelligence keeps growing...
She gets 6 cups of food a day, 3 in the morning and 3 in the evening. The other day, I was filling her bowl one cup at a time. She watched me put one in, then the next... as soon as I put the third cup in, she got up from where she was lying and walked over to eat... she waited until the 3rd cup to come eat... too smart.
And the trick she learned in only an hour's time: to play dead. I tell her "Bang!" and she walks in a circle all dramatic and such, then falls down on the floor... sometimes, her head barely hits the floor when its back up looking for the treat she knows must follow such a performance :-) She has the dying part down, but the actual part of looking dead seems to be a bit of a challenge...
Still, I am proud...
During the first week with NC I was told that if I had any problems with anything I was not to vent to any hospital staff, but to one of my supervisors. So when I had an issue with someone who was over both myself and my supervisors and I knew there was nothing I could do about it, I vented to the supervisor I felt I connected with the most. Two days later, the person I vented about showed up. (Keep in mind that the office these people work out of is a 2 1/2 hour plane ride away.) Then she proceeded to tell me how unprofessional and disrespectful I was and that if I ever said anything about any of my superiors again, I would be terminated immediately and she would not have to give a reason why. Oh, yeah... we were in a busy hotel lobby when this conversation took place... and I am "unprofessional."
It took every ounce of self control in me not to throw the 4 inch binder I had in my arms at the time right in her face... I wanted to break her already crooked nose, I was so angry. My response: "I was doing what I was told... I am sorry if you felt I was being disrespectful... if that had been my intention, I would have said it all to your face."
Two weeks later, during a conversation with the supervisor who narked on my vent, she asked me how things were going. I told her the I was upright and breathing and that was as good as I could give her:
Sup: Well you know you can talk to me if you need to.
Me: No, actually I can't, because if I say something you don't like, you'll run and tell (hook nose) and I'll get fired.
Sup: You can still talk to me, you just have to watch what you say.
I just said "no thanks" and told her I'd text her when I got to my next site.
I have a call into NC HR to speak with someone about the whole thing... if they want to fire me, I'm taking hook nose with me...
********************
Bailey was 73 pounds last time we weighed... her growth is slowing down, but her intelligence keeps growing...
She gets 6 cups of food a day, 3 in the morning and 3 in the evening. The other day, I was filling her bowl one cup at a time. She watched me put one in, then the next... as soon as I put the third cup in, she got up from where she was lying and walked over to eat... she waited until the 3rd cup to come eat... too smart.
And the trick she learned in only an hour's time: to play dead. I tell her "Bang!" and she walks in a circle all dramatic and such, then falls down on the floor... sometimes, her head barely hits the floor when its back up looking for the treat she knows must follow such a performance :-) She has the dying part down, but the actual part of looking dead seems to be a bit of a challenge...
Still, I am proud...
Saturday, August 2, 2008
Time Management And A Ladder
I want to apologize to my few loyal readers for taking so much time between posts lately.... I started training with NC and those were the longest 2 weeks of my life... Then they left and it got worse...
We went live at 2 of the hospitals I cover on July 15th, one site without a full staff which I didn't know about til I showed up on the first day... who in their right mind does that? Especially when the largest of the hospitals they are taking on isn't set to go live til September? It makes no sense... so I trained with them for 2 weeks then on Friday 7/25, they left me to it and went back to the regional office, which happens to be a 2 1/2 hour plane ride away.
That Sunday, I had a screener at one of the hospitals text me at 8 am to tell me she had a fever... so I had to go in... It's happened before and on a bad day it took me maybe 30 minutes per baby... but with a new machine on which I did a total of one baby during the training and all the extra paperwork required, it took me 5 hours to do 4 babies... absolutely ridiculous!!!
Then this last week, each day I had to go to the understaffed hospital to screen, then perform the administrative duties I was hired to do for NC, then cover the main hospital that isn't yet a part of the NC system... I usually work 35 hour weeks... I worked 50 this last week... and because the time was split between 2 different companies, I won't get overtime... luckily, I am currently hourly at both so I will still get paid for all 50 hours... However both companies are refusing to pay for my mileage, which is part of my compensation package with each, because I an traveling between companies, not between sites for one company... WHAT A NIGHTMARE!!!
********************
Last weekend, my husband and I were out on the water for a local festival and water ski show when we tied up the boat with a few others. On one of the boats in the make-shift barge, there were a couple dogs who kept jumping in after a ball their owner would throw out in the water... I watched them closely for a while and noticed that both dogs USED THE BOAT LADDER TO GET OUT! That ladder can be difficult for a human to use, so canine use was impressive... I decided if they could do it, so could my dog.
My mom came out to the house today and we took Bailey out on the boat. I dropped her in off the side closest to the ladder and guided her around to it. I then took her front paws and held them on the top rung of the ladder until she got her footing and could lift herself the rest of the way out of the water. With my help, she did this 4 times over the course of 4 hours and each time she found her footing quicker and quicker. I was so proud.
She still isn't a fan of swimming but she loves the water and is learning to get out on her own...
On 7/27, Bailey weighed 71.5 pounds... I can't wait to see what she weighs tomorrow.
We went live at 2 of the hospitals I cover on July 15th, one site without a full staff which I didn't know about til I showed up on the first day... who in their right mind does that? Especially when the largest of the hospitals they are taking on isn't set to go live til September? It makes no sense... so I trained with them for 2 weeks then on Friday 7/25, they left me to it and went back to the regional office, which happens to be a 2 1/2 hour plane ride away.
That Sunday, I had a screener at one of the hospitals text me at 8 am to tell me she had a fever... so I had to go in... It's happened before and on a bad day it took me maybe 30 minutes per baby... but with a new machine on which I did a total of one baby during the training and all the extra paperwork required, it took me 5 hours to do 4 babies... absolutely ridiculous!!!
Then this last week, each day I had to go to the understaffed hospital to screen, then perform the administrative duties I was hired to do for NC, then cover the main hospital that isn't yet a part of the NC system... I usually work 35 hour weeks... I worked 50 this last week... and because the time was split between 2 different companies, I won't get overtime... luckily, I am currently hourly at both so I will still get paid for all 50 hours... However both companies are refusing to pay for my mileage, which is part of my compensation package with each, because I an traveling between companies, not between sites for one company... WHAT A NIGHTMARE!!!
********************
Last weekend, my husband and I were out on the water for a local festival and water ski show when we tied up the boat with a few others. On one of the boats in the make-shift barge, there were a couple dogs who kept jumping in after a ball their owner would throw out in the water... I watched them closely for a while and noticed that both dogs USED THE BOAT LADDER TO GET OUT! That ladder can be difficult for a human to use, so canine use was impressive... I decided if they could do it, so could my dog.
My mom came out to the house today and we took Bailey out on the boat. I dropped her in off the side closest to the ladder and guided her around to it. I then took her front paws and held them on the top rung of the ladder until she got her footing and could lift herself the rest of the way out of the water. With my help, she did this 4 times over the course of 4 hours and each time she found her footing quicker and quicker. I was so proud.
She still isn't a fan of swimming but she loves the water and is learning to get out on her own...
On 7/27, Bailey weighed 71.5 pounds... I can't wait to see what she weighs tomorrow.
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