Author: Karen

Hi! My day job is a CMA in the Precertificiation Department (I work with insurance companies). I'm a mom to two young men. I've been married to the same man for 34 years. I have a lot to say about nothing. Lucky you.
Throw Back Thursday

Throwback Thursday: Four Years of Florida Beaches

Karen
Twilight beach family photo – this was the last night on Sanibel Island and our last vacation on a Florida beach.

Other than camping, some of our first family vacations were at the beaches in Florida. We drove down to Pensacola one year, (and I remember being really frustrated because we had a hard time trying to find something to eat. And that’s been our Achilles’ Heel ever since – finding places to eat on vacation and not having to spend a fortune to do so – that’s why we love cruising so much – food everywhere, all the time), Madeira Beach one year, St. Petersburg another year and Sanibel Island was our last beach vacation – believe it or not, we were all pretty burnt out on beach vacations by that time.

Look closely, we are all sloooooooowly melting in this picture. It wasn’t so much the heat, but the humidity … UGH

The thing about beach vacations – it’s pretty hard to hide every bulge and roll. The first time I went to the beach was on our honeymoon – we went to Cozumel Mexico, and I absolutely did not pack the right sort of clothes. Everything I packed was way too heavy – I remember this one shirt, it was green and white striped, I loved that shirt, but it was a heavy cotton and I nearly passed out from heat stroke when I wore it. And even the first few years of going to the beach, I still packed heavy summer clothes like capris and t-shirts.

Helpful hint: Get over your body image because feeling like you can breathe is WAY more important over trying to look better than you really look.

I finally got smart and started packing tank tops, spaghetti strap tees and flowey skirts and lightweight shorts.

And bonus! They look better on me, anyway.

I’ve told Kevin that my swimsuit days are over, but really, I don’t feel comfortable wearing a swimsuit in front of Roy. It’s just … disturbing. So if (when) you ever get me into a swimsuit again, it will absolutely be a one piece, in fact, I don’t ever recall wearing a two piece – ever. I tried those cutsie tankinis on once and I wanted to love it so much, but it did NOT complement my body, at all. (Hello muffin top)

I need to buy a new suit – it’s been YEARS since I’ve bought a swimsuit but let’s be honest ladies, swimsuit buying is even worse than going to the gynecologist, can I get an Amen??

I look better in sportier suits, the ones with the high necks. I’m planning on buying a new suit this year, Kevin and I are throwing ideas around on where we want to go on vacation this year, and we’re definitely leaning toward a beachey destination, but I think I’ll wait until this Fall when they go on sale.

The boys weren’t crazy about the beach. It was SO HOT. Of course, we went in the middle of summer and well, summer is hot. But we didn’t have a choice since they were in school the rest of the year. It was the cruise to the Western Carribean and we were traipsing the jungle in Honduras when we decided – WE ARE DONE WITH SUMMER VACATIONS. If we go on vacation, it will be in off season when it’s not so DAMN HOT. It’s hard to enjoy yourself when you’re literally drenching your clothes. (True story – I had to photoshop sweat stains out of my clothing in the pictures we took in Honduras because it was so bad).

I still have this outfit – too bad I can’t fit into the shorts anymore.

I remember the first time we went to the beach, Brandon couldn’t have been more than … four or five, and he would sit there and make a disgusted face because the sand was dirty.

Have I mentioned one of my first words was dirty? Like mother like son.

And I admit, I’m not crazy about sand, it’s so … gritty and gets EVERYWHERE. And I’m not crazy about the ocean, either. Oh sure, I enjoy looking at it, smelling the salty air, (not to mention, it does wonders for my skin), listen to the waves crash, but swimming in the ocean? YUK, NO. If I stick my body into any water, there better not be any mysterious creature/plant that brushes up against my leg.

Did we enjoy the beach? Of course, and we made some pretty great memories but I do wish I would have relaxed more and just let things happen – I was too much of a control freak and traveling out-of-town, (isn’t that what travel means? To leave one’s home??) stressed me out. I went ape shit if we forgot to pack toothpaste.

Um. Hello. Karen. It’s possible that other stores in other cities may, and I stress MAY, sell toothpaste and it’s possible, just stay with me a moment, to actually BUY a tube of toothpaste from said foreign store. (*GASP*)

Sanibel Island was gorgeous and I felt the most comfortable there, but I think the prettiest beach we saw in Florida was St. Petersberg. I remember the beach down there sort of taking my breath away. It was so pretty. I can’t remember – was that the year we stayed at a hotel and there was a wedding party that was so loud and obnoxious that none of us could sleep?

It’s hard to smile and stay upbeat when you’re sweating inches off your body by the hour and you’re so tired your head is too heavy for your body.

I think that’s the biggest reason I’m not a big beach person – because I don’t feel attractive when we go to the beach. I’m hot, sweaty, gritty, stinky, my hair is greasy and tangly from the wind … and then I’m forcing a smile for vacation pictures.

If we ever go back to the beach, it will be during off season, when it’s not so hot and unbearable. I love the beach, don’t get me wrong, it’s peaceful and beautiful, but I don’t like how it turns me into a walking sandcastle. It’s not fun or attractive, for me.

 

At the Moment

What Do You See When You Hear This?

Karen

Isn’t this a fun video?? I love The Piano Guys – such a cool duo.

Watch it first because it’s cool.

Then push play, close your eyes and listen. Breathe. Take a moment. We’re all in such a rush nowadays. It’s nice to just slow down and EXIST.

What sort of images do you see when you hear this song?

I see a young couple in various stages of their relationship  – romantic, exciting, volatile, sweet, loving, fun, determined to make it work,  then older, sitting on their back porch, satisfied with life and with each other, and then finally reflecting back on their lives together, hands joined, small smiles creasing their faces.

Comment below.

Work Stuff

Patience: Ain’t Nobody Got Time for That – Or Alternatively Title – Waiting for the Doctor

Karen

I’m not sure I can write about this topic without coming off as preachy because it REALLY STEAMS MY BROCCOLI, but I feel like it should be addressed and discussed:

Waiting to see the doctor at the doctor’s office.

Believe it or not, making you wait for your appointment is not some evil plan we concoct to torture you - people will be people.
Believe it or not, making you wait for your appointment is not some evil plan we concoct to torture you – people will be people.

First of all, I read this Huffington post and that was my first mistake. I should never have clicked on the link because everything about Huffington Post rubs my last nerve – their mentality, or overall premise, is this is what we believe, therefore it’s the only way to believe, and if you don’t agree we’re right, or you dare to offer an opposing view, you’re racist/homophobe/sexist … blahblahblah

*eye roll*

But secondly, I’ve had a pretty hellacious week and nothing irritates me more than people who can’t wait ONE COTTON-PICKIN SECOND while I’m literally running my ass off (I achieved 6,000 steps by 3:00 PM on Monday) so that I can try and get people shown back to rooms in a timely manner.

For the love of God, you had to wait 20 minutes to be shown back, CHILL.

Okay, look, it’s super annoying to have an appointment at the doctor’s office at 11:00 and not be seen until 11:45. And before I started working for a doctor, I felt the same … wait a minute, no I didn’t. Because I had patience. Because I know people will be people and I always took a book, or something, to occupy myself because time never moves more slowly until you have nothing to do.

(Translation: TAKE SOMETHING TO OCCUPY YOURSELF AT THE DOCTOR’S OFFICE. PEOPLE. SHEESH)

I can’t speak for what goes on in other doctor’s offices, but I can tell you what goes on in my doctor’s office and possibly, just possibly, something similar may be going on at your doctor’s offices, too.

Before I present the doctor’s office side of things, let me preface this rant by saying, yes, there ARE doctors who take their sweet time and you end up waiting on them – a lot. But consider this, they’re spending a lot of time with their patients, which means, your turn will come, and then, when it’s your turn, and your doctor spends time with you, thereby making other people wait,  will you be as irritated?

Or, another doctor has called for a consultation on a tough case. Or, the doctor is studying films and preparing to give good/bad news to another waiting patient. Or, they are filling out test results. The point it, doctors are busy doing something. They aren’t just sitting around waiting for us to give them charts to review.

Or in my specific case, my doctor is a surgeon, which means he has patients in the hospital, recuperating from surgery. So the nurses taking care of those patients call us A LOT with medication questions, or updates, or God forbid, problems, or to tell us the patient’s family has arrived and would like to speak to the doctor because they have questions.

What’s he supposed to do, ignore those patients because we have patients in the waiting room ticked off because they weren’t shown back ON THE DOT?

Here’s the thing: we live in an INSTANT GRATIFICATION and IT’S ALL ABOUT ME society. I want it NOW. I want it PERFECT. I don’t want to WAIT FOR ANYTHING. I don’t want to be INCONVENIENCED in any way because I’m special and three minutes is just too long to wait my turn, damn it!

*eye roll*

Here’s something that people forget: Healthcare, Medicine, is not a one-size-fits-all industry. You’re not getting your oil changed, you’re not going in to get your tires changed, healthcare is not a precise process.

Far, FAR, from it.

It’s a personal, and oftentimes, embarrassing and intimate process. You are seeking help from a professional about your most bothersome issues. Issues that are preventing you from comfortably living your life from day-to-day. Every problem is different. Every person having an issue is different. Loved ones are concerned and need more explanation. Patients have been given bad news and are in denial – it takes a few minutes for the bad news to sink in and then more time to answer any/all questions patients/loved ones have every right to ask. Patients have the right to be educated about a specific condition/treatment – THAT. TAKES. TIME.

Would you rather have a doctor step in, take one look at you, maybe do a quick exam, give you a diagnosis, then step out without really speaking to you, or treating you like a human being? Because that’s precisely what needs to happen in order for him to run EXACTLY on time. Perhaps doctors need to treat people more like cars – as emotionless objects who simply need a part replaced now and again.

Call me crazy, but somehow, I don’t think people would appreciate being treated that way.

There are different types of doctor’s schedules: first come, first serve, cluster scheduling, (you schedule all well patients, all sick patients), and wave scheduling, (you schedule three patients per hour). There are more, but I can’t think of them right now.

My doctor operates under the wave scheduling. Yes. Our template schedules three patients per hour. And here’s why: Two spots may be for new patients and one spot may be for a recheck patient. (Patients who come back for an ongoing issue, or as a check-up to make sure they are doing well after surgery). My doctor likes this type of schedule because while his PA is interviewing the new patient, he can go in and see the recheck. Then, the recheck appointment concludes, the PA comes out and gives him details about the new patient, he reviews the new patient’s films, then goes in and speaks with the new patient.

We’re all helping patients throughout various stages of the appointment all day. Then, on the half hour, we have a post-op patient come in. The PA sees the post-op patient, takes out his/her staples/sutures, makes sure the wound is healing properly, prescribes more pain meds if necessary, then sends Mr/Ms Patient on his/her way.

This all sounds efficient on the surface, and yes, it is, WHEN EVERYTHING RUNS PERFECTLY AND THERE ARE NO HICCUPS. But guess what, remember that little detail I brought up earlier? We’re dealing with people, and people are not one-size-fits all.

You have the chatty ones.  You have the ones who are in more pain than others and require more TLC/attention, you have the ones who ask a lot of questions, or the weepy ones who need a moment to compose themselves.

The patients who drive me nuts are the ones who bitch because they’ve had to wait 30 minutes to be shown back to a room only to take up my time when I room them by telling me more than I need to hear, or whining about this or that, or bitching because he/she is in pain and what – suddenly those patients we left in the waiting room are just supposed to somehow magically get shown to their rooms? Who do you think rooms them?!? But I guess it’s okay if THEY wait because you have my attention now and damn it, you’re going to take your sweet time.

And then I rush/rush/rush around to hurry and bring the next patient back, sweating and dying of thirst because I have to literally gulp down a swallow or two of water because I’ve been talking so much only to be greeted by snotty, holier than thou pissants who are ticked off and annoyed because I didn’t show them back to their room ON THE DOT.

Newsflash! Look around – you’re not the only person waiting to see the doctor. Take a moment to consider the possibility that maybe, just maybe, they deserve attention, too.

*takes a breath*

And then there’s the doctor, who is trying to explain to the patient what is going on with his/her body and his recommendations. Then the ball is thrown to the nurse who follows up with the patient by making appointments for more testing, or surgery, so that the patient leaves with a plan.

This process takes time. This process works. This process is efficient. And it takes finesse because we’re trying to get all of this accomplished in a timely manner without the patient feeling like we’re rushing him out the door.

Because then we hear about that, too.

We can’t win, we truly can not win. We are trying our best to provide the best, most thorough and precise care we possibly can. And if people were more like machines, your wait time would be less, but people are not machines and we refuse to treat them as such.

Contrary to popular belief, doctor’s do not schedule more than they can handle. Doctors approve templates that will move the maximum number of patients in/out and be the most efficient use of their time. Yes. Part of the reason is compensation, doctors care about people, but it’s also how they make their momey, but the other reason is because there are way more patients out there than doctors in our world nowadays and if they scheduled one patient per hour, true, there would be little to no wait times when it came to the appointment, but then it would take MONTHS to get IN to SEE the doctor. Is that a better solution?

So yes, you’re going to have to wait when you go to the doctor’s office.

But if you truly want quality care, isn’t it worth the wait?

random stuff

This or That?

Karen

this-that

Dog or Cat?
Neither – I don’t like animals. (*collective gasp*)

Netflix or YouTube?
Mmm… tough one. I love them both. But probably Netflix

Phone Call or Text?
Definitely text – I LOATHE talking on the phone. 

Toast or Eggs?
Another tough one – both? Okay fine, eggs.

Cardio or Weights?
Cardio – I’m already an Amazon woman, why would I want to bulk up more??

Facebook or Twitter?
Definitely Facebook

Ice Cream Cone or Snow Cone?
Ice Cream Cone!

Mobile Games or Console Games?
Console (better yet – board games!)

While walking: Music or Podcasts?
MUSIC

iOS or Android?
Absolutely, positively Android – (I am NOT an Apple fan)

Pop or Indie?
Pop

Cake or Pie?
ACK! I love them both … I’ll choose pie, then follow it up with cake. That’s not cheating, right??

Swimming or Sunbathing?
Yuk – both require a swimsuit – probably sunbathing

High-tech or Low-tech?
High-tech

Big Party or Small Gathering?
Small Gathering (the smaller, the better – hate parties)

New Clothes or New Phone?
New Phone

Rich Friend or Loyal Friend?
Loyal Friend

Football or Basketball?
Hhmm … it’s fun to watch football because of the butts. Basketball is just fun to watch – I’ll choose Basketball

Work Hard or Play Hard?
Work Hard – I don’t play anything, I nap

Nice Car or Nice Home Interior?
Nice Home Interior

What’s worse: Laundry or Dishes?
DISHES

Jogging or Hiking?
Hiking

Bath or Shower?
Shower – hands down – sitting in my own filth?? YUK

Sneakers or Sandals?
Sneakers

Glasses or Contacts?
Glasses

Hamburger or Taco?
Hamburger

Couch or Recliner?
Recliner

Online Shopping or Shopping in a Store?
Online shopping, hands down

Receive: Email or Letter?
Email

Passenger or Driver?
Driver – I get car sick when I’m a passenger

Tablet or Computer?
Computer – it’s hard to type on tablets

Most important in a partner: Intelligent or Funny?
BOTH – I’m sticking to my guns on this one

Car or Truck?
Car

Blue or Red?
Blue

Money or Free Time?
Money

Amusement Park or Day at the Beach?
Day at the Beach

At a movie: Candy or Popcorn?
Candy (my sweet tooth will be the death of me)

Pen or Pencil?
Definitely Pen

Toilet paper: Over or Under?
Don’t care – just as long as it’s accessible

Cups in the cupboard: Right Side Up or Up Side Down?
Upside down

Pancake or Waffle?
Waffle

Coke or Pepsi?
Neither – I don’t drink soda

Coffee Cup or Thermos?
THERMOS! (We just recently converted Blake)

Blinds or Curtain?
Blinds

Train or Plane?
Plane

Phone or Phablet?
Phone

Iced Coffee or Hot Coffee?
Hot Coffee

Meat or Vegetables?
Vegetables – not a big meat lover

International Vacation or a New TV?
International Vacation

Save or Spend?
Duh – have you MET me? Save, OF COURSE

Honesty or Other’s Feelings?
Honesty (suck it up, buttercup)

Coffee or Tea?
COFFEE

TV or Book?
Book

Movie at Home or Movie at the Theater?
Movie at Home (Gah, going to the movies is way too expensive)

Ocean or Mountains?
Mountains

Horror Movie or Comedy Movie?
Comedy (I don’t do horror)

City or Countryside?
City

Winter or Summer?
Summer

Mac or PC?
PC (Remember the part where I don’t DO Apple??)

Console Gaming or PC Gaming?
PC Gaming (the problem with that is, you have to constantly upgrade to keep up)

Soup or Sandwich?
Sandwich

Card Game or Board Game?
Board Game

Classical Art or Modern Art?
Classical Art

Beer or Wine?
Definitely Wine – Beer is nasty

Camping or Binge Watching Shows at Home?
Binge Watching Shows at Home – Camping it too much work

Working Alone or Working in a Team?
Definitely Working Alone

Dine In or Delivery?
Delivery

Sweater or Hoodie?
Hoodie

Comic Book or Comic Strips?
Comic Strips

Motorcycle or Bicycle?
Bicycle

Book or eBook?
eBook

When sleeping: Fan or No Fan?
HAVE TO HAVE A FAN RUNNING AT ALL TIMES – I even have a mini fan on my desk at home AND at work – have fan, will travel

Ninjas or Pirates?
Um….

TV Shows or Movies?
TV Shows

I know this was a riveting post, but do you feel like you know me better? Do you care?

Don’t answer that.

Abundant Life

Dedicated to God, Not a Denomination

Karen

This teaching exactly personifies my religious beliefs. I have never felt comfortable going to church, sitting passively by and just accepting what was being tossed my way. I’ll never forget sitting in a church when I was a pre-teen and reading the passages the preacher was dramatizing (why is that? Is it passion for the subject? Or is it theater?), then continuing to read the rest of the context while the preacher went off on his tangent and thinking, “what in the world is he talking about? This verse doesn’t mean what he’s claiming it to mean at all!’ That was the moment I became disillusioned with churches.

Don’t misunderstand me, churches are great. Like John says in the video below, it’s a chance to fellowship with like-minded individuals and God wants us to fellowship, but I can’t pretend to agree with something I know in my heart is not right. At that time, and to this day I’m sure I don’t believe 100% of what is true,  I didn’t know what to believe, all I knew was that I didn’t believe what that church was presenting.

It really wasn’t until I met Kevin and he introduced me to this ministry that light bulbs started going off in my brain. I’ve never been one to just blindly accept what someone told me – I may nod my head and appear to agree but I always take what people tell me, or what I read, with a grain of salt. I’m always skeptical. “Truth” is always skewed and manipulated in one way or another. Some people know this and spin their version of the truth, some don’t know enough to question what is being told them and others simply don’t care enough to seek the truth – if you tell me this is what I should believe, then I will believe it.

I’m not built that way. If I care about something enough, I will seek the truth. I will work to find the original source, go back to the beginning, and figure out what the truth is. Getting the “truth” from several different sources and re-told over hundreds of years is bound to be suspect.

That’s why I cringe whenever a new “version” of the bible comes out. It’s one step further from the truth. It’s another group’s interpretation of the truth. If I had the passion and desire to learn Hebrew, Arabic and all of the languages the original Bible is written in, I would do so. Because reading the original text is the only way to truly get the truth.

This is why I absolutely do not believe in the Trinity. Because if you take the time to do some research, you will see we do not have one entity with three different names: we have God the father, Jesus the son, and the Holy Spirit, which is the GIFT God bestows on people when they accept Christ into their hearts; they are three separate entities. There are not three different names to call God, God is God, the father. Period. The Bible does not contradict itself – it’s a puzzle made up of complex pieces and if you’re reading a verse and it seems to contradict everything you’ve read thus far, don’t throw up your hands and think, “well, this ONE verse must make the rest of the Bible untrue,” consider the possibility that you’re not interpreting it correctly and dig a little deeper.

Everyone is so willing to take everything they hear or see as gospel truth. Be skeptical, find out the truth yourself. Learn the whole narrative, seek the context, listen to both sides of an argument and then come to your conclusion.

Do not be a sheep led to slaughter, be a shepherd for God.

Every Sunday I provide videos and valuable links to the Truth or Tradition teachings. We’ve been following the Truth or Tradition teachings for many years now and they have truly blessed our family. We have found peace and happiness through our beliefs and we walk confidently for God. My hope, by passing on this information to you, is that what you find here, or on the Truth or Tradition website, will guide you to a better, more blessed and abundant life.

Thanks for watching.

Check out Truth or Tradition teachings on:

Truth or Tradition Website
Facebook
Twitter
YouTube
iTunes
Online Store

More from Write From Karen

Fiction Fix

Fiction Fix: Gotta Run

Karen

friday-fix

You are walking home from work when something hits you from behind.

Tonya waved goodbye to her fellow co-workers and walked down the steps of the courthouse. She shifted her briefcase to her right hand and caught her purse from slipping off her shoulder at the last minute. She casually smiled at Tony, the janitor, as he made his way toward the building to begin his evening shift.

She drew in a long breathe of fresh air and slowly released it. It had been a long week but she felt like she had made a dent in her mountain of research. Her boss had an important case coming up and she wanted to make sure he had everything he needed in order to present his argument.

Transferring her briefcase into her left hand, she dipped her right hand into her front skirt pocket to make sure the keycard was still there.

It was.

She allowed herself a secret smile before tossing her long reddish, brown hair out of her eyes. The wind was brisk but smelled like honeysuckle. She loved the fresh air but her feet were beginning to hurt in her three inch heels and she wished, for the thousandth time, she would just bite the bullet and buy a car.

It was only 20 minutes to her condo, but today, it felt like she had been walking for three hours. “I should have packed my sneakers,” she mumbled absently to herself.

She listened to her heels clacking on the sidewalk and thought back to her day. She usually dressed a little more casually, slacks and flats, but Connor, her boss, was scheduled to work out of his office today and she wanted to make a good impression. There was just something about him … his dark blue eyes and dirty blonde hair were simply window dressing, she sensed there was so much more behind the curtain. He had vacationed at the beach last week and he was sporting a very attractive tan. But his appeal went much deeper than his looks, there was something dangerous about him. She was usually pretty good at reading people but she couldn’t quite put her finger on Connor.

She thought he liked her. She caught him watching her at times. And though they didn’t come right out and flirt with each other, there was an underlying current of sexual tension between them. At least, she hoped she wasn’t imaging the tension between them.

She tiptoed through a muddy patch, not wanting to dirty the heels of her shoes as she continued walking. What would it be like to date someone like Connor? she thought to herself. He was active, she knew that. He routinely went wake boarding with his buddies and his physique was evidence he liked to play sports. He was nice enough but always managed to maintain arm’s distance with women, like he was being careful how much of himself he allowed people to see.

Maybe he was gay?

She lightly shook her and chuckled at the thought. No way. She had caught him, more than once, checking out various females at work. Especially Sydney. Sydney liked to wear low cut tops and then conveniently drop things in front of men – she knew they would not be able to resist sneaking a peek at her generous boobs.

No, he wasn’t gay. Then what was it about him?

A car backfired and she jumped and immediately tensed. She stopped walking to gauge her surroundings. When she didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary, she began walking again.

Her cell buzzed in her purse but she ignored it. It was probably her mother checking up on her. She was always worried about her, she thought she took risks, lived a dangerous lifestyle.

Tonya allowed another small smile at that thought. Her life wasn’t dangerous, it was … unpredictable.

She adjusted her purse on her shoulder then transferred her briefcase to her right hand again. She was almost home. Just another five minutes.

Without meaning to, her thoughts returned to Connor. Was he seeing anyone? She had never noticed any pictures of women in his office. He was always on his cell though but she was never able to get close enough to eavesdrop on his conversations to guess who he was speaking to. How could she get …?

She was suddenly knocked forward and she tripped a few steps, a small cry of surprise leaving her lips.

“Oh wow, I’m sorry,” a male voice rumbled into her right ear. “I totally wasn’t paying attention.”

Tonya righted herself and turned to look at the man. Her eyes widened in surprise and she could feel her cheeks flaming. Connor.

“Wha … what are you doing here?” she stammered.

“I thought I would go for a quick run, burn off some energy after work,” he replied and she noticed, for the first time, he was wearing a t-shirt, running shorts and Asics sneakers. Her eyes lingered on his muscled legs before lifting to meet his face. Her cheeks burned hotter.

“Oh well, I’m sorry,” she said.

He laughed while continuing to jog in place. “Why are you sorry? I’m the one who ran into you.”

She let slip a sheepish laugh, “because I was in your way.”

“You could never be in my way, Tonya,” he said, his voice silky smooth. He jogged ahead a little, turned around to face her and continued to jog backwards. “You live around here?”

“I do,” she replied then nodded toward a brown house with tan trim. “Right over there, in fact.”

He followed her nod and turned back to smile at her. “That’s good to know,” he said. “I’ve got to run,” he winked at his little joke. “See you at the office.”

She acknowledged his joke with a bright smile. “Yeah, see you.”

He gave her a small salute, turned around and jogged away, placing his earbuds back into his ears.

She watched his butt for quite some time before snapping out of her thoughts. She again handed off her briefcase to her other hand and absently padded her skirt pocket. She would need to turn the card over this evening.

She suddenly stopped and dropped her briefcase. She stuffed her hand into her pocket and searched around.

No keycard.

Her expression hardened and she narrowed her eyes at Connor’s disappearing figure on the horizon.

“You son of a bitch,” she hissed.

She suddenly scooped up her briefcase, reached for her house keys and ran up her driveway.

Letting herself into her house, she sprinted up to her bedroom, quickly pulled off her office attire and put on a dark t-shirt, jogging pants and sneakers. She pulled her hair back into a sloppy ponytail. She dropped to the floor, pulled out a small, dark case and popped it open. She lifted her 9 mm Glock pistol out and screwed on the silencer. She strapped the gun around her waist, jerked her t-shirt down to hide the gun and ran downstairs. She grabbed her cell phone and hit 5 for the speed dial number.

“Go,” the low voice answered.

“The keycard has been taken, I’m going after the guy,” Tonya crisply barked out. “Locate me and send backup.” She punched the number to disconnect, slipped the phone into her pocket and sprinted out the door after Connor.

Hey, if you guys want to play along, feel free. You can grab that graphic up there and leave a link to your story in the comments below. I would love to see what you do with the prompt. I plan on doing a prompt every Friday to give me a chance to exercise my creativity.

Happy writing!

Throw Back Thursday

Throwback Thursday: My Community Service

Karen

Have  I mentioned that I’ve been maintaining the boys’ middle school and high school websites for the past 10 plus years??

It all started back in college. I was working toward my technical writing degree and one of the classes I had to take was designing a website class. This was back in the days of Microsoft FrontPage and Adobe Dreamweaver. I learned how to use these programs and just enough HTML to get myself into trouble. I learned about Color scheme, design tricks and where to put content.

In short, I LOVED this class. We built a website for my father-in-law’s business, Good Feet. He had an arch support business for people with chronic back pain. I have a screen shot of that early website somewhere but I can’t find it right now.

I worked with two or three people and we all worked together to build our very first website. I was so proud of that website! And I thought it looked pretty professional, if I say so myself.

Somehow, I saw a tiny ad in the boys’ elementary school newsletter asking for anyone with HTML knowledge if they would be interested in volunteering to maintain the school website. I was a stay-at-home mom at that time and since the boys were in school, I had some time on my hands. So I contacted the school principal, who in turn contacted the district IT guy and he gave me permission to access the website. The school principal gave me carte blanche over the site.

I had SO MUCH FUN posting cheesy graphics and various content that the school gave me to post. After a while, word got out about our awesome website and pretty soon, parents got annoyed if it wasn’t updated on a regular basis. I was hooked, in more ways than one.

About a year of doing this, the boys’ middle school principal contacted me about redoing their website and again, I said yes. I redesigned their site from scratch, (this was back before they had ready-made, consistent templates that all of the schools use now) and began to update it on a regular basis.

Again, word spread and before long, I ended up maintaining nine school websites. It became of “business of sorts.” However, after the boys’ elementary and middle school websites, I started charging for my services. I charged the school district a fee to redesign the sites and then a monthly fee to maintenance it. I didn’t feel right charging very much, one, because I was still new to all of this and didn’t feel very confident in my skills and two, the district didn’t have a lot of money so I felt guilty asking for very much. Besides, I justified it as my way of giving back to the community. I felt, hoped, what I was doing was benefiting other parents.

About … three years (?) ago, the school district purchased package templates from a school website company. Now, all of the schools had the same template but were allowed to design them with their school colors/mascots and individual personalities. I thought finally, this would be the end of my services to the district. (And I say finally because by this time, the boys had graduated from high school and I sort of felt like my duty was done, in a sense).

Most of the school fell off and started asking one of their staff to maintain the sites, save for the boys’ middle and high schools. They wanted to me to stay on and continue maintaining the sites. It was a little frustrating at first because I no longer had control over the code, I could only do what the template allowed me to do, but I soon got the hang of it and I still maintain the sites to this day.

I maintain them from August to May, they are in “summer mode” right now. I stay quite busy at the beginning of the year and the end of the year – the middle of the year sort of flattens out into a routine.

All of the graphics, structure and content is me. Though I don’t come up with the content, the school provides that, I decide on where and how it’s going to be displayed. Again, the schools trust me and give me free reign over their sites.

I’ve been doing Cherokee’s website for 13 years and Kickapoo’s website for nine years. Kevin asks me all the time when I’m going to stop doing the websites but honestly, I have fun doing them, I earn a little extra money every month and I’m still giving back to the community.

I guess I’ll continue maintaining them until they ask me to stop.