Month: December 2011

At the Moment

It’s Time to Get Serious …

Karen

hahahaha!!

Also?

http://twitter.com/#!/writefromkaren/status/147816883599572992

Seriously ya’ll. I’m SERIOUSLY behind. I’m usually DONE by this time. But that was back before I started this job and back before it took every last brain cell that my pea-brain possessed to simply FUNCTION in this job.

*sigh*

Guess what I’ll be doing this weekend?

Besides celebrating Christmas with my family.

Besides cleaning my house.

Besides looking for tile. (More on THAT soon).

Besides making fudge. (Because the Christmas season is NOT complete without at least one batch of fudge).

Yep. You guessed it: wrapping presents.

Here’s to hoping you’re more ready to celebrate this holiday season than I am. *cheers*


(Click the blue arrow to play)
(Michael Buble “Holly Jolly Christmas”)

Day-By-Day

Here’s your Voucher, For Your Certificate, For Your Free Turkey

Karen

This little guy has nothing to do with a turkey, but he's cute and who cares.
We got a free turkey today.

Actually. We got our vouchers for a free turkey last week.

I went and picked up the CERTIFICATE today before I went into work.

Now. I get to cash that certificate in and get a free turkey from Price Cutter.

Why my company didn’t just give us the certificates to begin with and skip the voucher stage is beyond me.

I suppose they wanted to make us come up to the hospital so they could make a fuss over us. Which. Okay. But I was in a hurry to get to work and I felt sort of silly being made a fuss over, so I simply walked in, switched out my voucher for my certificate (silly, I know), and left with a smile and an “excuse me.”

It was a nice gesture, though. My company had some gifts displayed that you could buy along with food and even a Santa that you could have your picture taken with. (And to my complete surprise, a few of the people actually took advantage of that. Call me crazy, but watching grown women sitting on some “old” man’s lap seems a little pervish to me, but I’m a prude, so …)

I have no idea what we’re going to do with a turkey. I mean, we’ll EAT it, of course, but Kevin and I are already talking about different left over ideas for all of the turkey we’re sure to have left over. Sure. I have two teenage boys, but they’re not exactly vacuums in the food department – evidenced with their anorexic appearances. (Not eating disorders, just over-active metabolisms. They actually inherited that from me and Kevin. I know. It’s hard to believe I was EVER as skinny as a bean pole but yep, once upon a time … in the land before children …)

Kevin and Dude are hitting the town tomorrow. We need five gag gifts. We’re having Christmas at my folks’ house on Saturday and we have nothing to offer.

Other than our sparkling personalities, of course.

I’m looking forward to seeing what they come up with. They mentioned something about hitting the flea markets …

If you’re reading this and happen to be a member of my family … be afraid. Be very afraid.

AudioPlay, Life-condensed

We’re Watching You

Karen

Remember when I said that I thought someone was stealing our Netflix movies out of our mailbox? And remember when I told you about the package from Walmart that contained two very large pillows that was supposedly delivered to our front door but we somehow never got it? (I’d link to the article, but I’m too lazy).

Well. Leave it to my clever husband to do something about it. He set up a web cam, trained on our front porch, to catch any would-be thief who might be tempted to troll our house for potential Christmas presents.

We're Watching You

I was seriously considering paying for a PO Box to have our mail routed to. But Kevin talked me off the ledge and set this up instead. I’m not exactly comforted by the fact that our packages sit on our porch all day long, but at least now we’ll get a look at anyone who might snatch them.

So beware, potential thieves, we’re watching you.

And we’re the sort of people who press charges.

Just sayin’.


(Click the blue arrow to play)
(Glee “The Most Wonderful Day of the Year”)

Abundant Life

Audio Teaching: Building an Enduring Work of Truth

Karen

by Dan Gallagher
History demonstrates that great achievement is often preceded by great vision, and the clearer a person’s or organization’s vision, the more likely they will achieve it. Jesus made it clear that everyone is building something all the time. The questions we need to ask ourselves are:

– What are we building?
– Are we building on the right foundation?
– What is the quality of our work?
– Will it endure?

In this teaching Dan Gallagher explores in detail the scriptural basis for Spirit and Truth Fellowship’s vision, which is Building an Enduring Work of Truth. In doing so, he demonstrates how this vision is applicable to individuals as well. We believe you will be both inspired and challenged as you see how you can build an enduring work of truth in your own life.

Click the arrow to listen.

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Work Stuff

All It Takes is Two Little Words …

Karen

I’ve never understood why people bitch and moan about getting along with each other … getting along with people is really very easy – it really only boils down to two little words.

Two little words will defuse nearly every tense situation. Two little words are enough to puncture a hole in a person’s bad attitude. Two little words will make a person drop their defensive body language and deflate before your very eyes.

Two little words – that’s all it takes.

I’m sorry.

But the trick is, you have to mean it. Because if you say it wrong, people will pick up on that and they will get even more annoyed/angry/irritated and they will perceive you as a condescending, sarcastic prick.

And that doesn’t help any situation.

Trust me.

Almost every single sentence that comes out of my mouth at work is, “I’m sorry.” And I am TRULY sorry.

–Because I couldn’t get back to them fast enough
–Because they are in pain and I’m powerless to help them
–Because they are scared/concerned about a recent test or what the doctor might find on a test
–Because they’re frustrated with the whole test after test after test and very little answers process.
–Because these tests are necessary in order for the doctor to find out what is wrong and/or eliminate possibilities
–Because people are tired of not being told what is wrong with them.
–Because our doctors are only human and even after all of these tests, they still can’t find anything wrong and patients are desperate for an answer – any answer, that will magically make everything better.

I hear the pain in their voice. I see the fatigue in their eyes. I sense their desperation. And I’m sorry – I’m truly sorry I can’t help them. I wish I could wave a magic wand and help everyone that comes through our doors, but I can’t. All I can do is say with as much sincerity as I can muster, “I’m sorry.”

For even though people WANT to be helped, they also WANT a little empathy. They WANT people to listen to their story and show a little compassion. Some people are STARVED for that little nugget of compassion.

They just WANT to be heard.

And I’m willing to listen to them. Whenever I encounter a “difficult” patient, I simply listen to them. I allow them the time to get whatever is frustrating them off their chest. Sometimes, I wish they wouldn’t share quite SO much of their story with me, but I don’t mind because I can sense they need to talk to someone.

And I’m an easy target.

Am I always in a listening frame of mind? No. Do I wish they would just leave my window so I can get back to work? Absolutely. But then I stop and think, “What if that was someone I loved sitting there? What if that was me? How would I feel if yet another person flicked me from their shoulder like an annoying fly?”

Exactly.

People just want to be HEARD before they want to be HELPED.

So. I say “I’m sorry.”

A lot.

Because I am.