Category: Life

Life

My Man Child

Karen

I have a man child.

This “man” is my oldest son.

I gave birth to him nearly 19 years ago (this coming Friday, in fact!!).

He graduated from high school this past May.

And little by little, he is opening up to the world around him.

Day by day, he gets more and more used to doing things on his own – without momma around to hold his hand.

Because momma is working her tail off at her new job … and doing a damn fine job, I might add.

*ahem*

Even though I’m frustrated that we’re having to push this man child every step of the way, I’m encouraged by his growing confidence and the fact that he’s starting to take the initiative.

We’ve allowed the boy to take some months off to enjoy his new-found freedom after graduation. But we have always told him that he would need to start taking classes in the spring no matter what happened on the job front. (And there is nothing happening on the job front, I might add. But I’m not surprised given our crappy economy and how unemployment is in the low 20 percentile for people Dude’s age, and which will NOT improve until we vote Obama out of office – just sayin’).

But now. Now it’s time to get serious. It’s time to enroll.

Kevin has been AWESOME in making sure Dude is following through. Dude obtained his ACT scores and actually went up to his high school, by himself, to get an “official” transcript to give to the technical school he is applying to.

And he’s been accepted.

Enrollment opens this coming Thursday – the day before his birthday. He called the school today and he is to report to some orientation thingie and after that, he can enroll in his classes.

He plans on taking three classes. I’m not sure what days he will decide on, but that will keep him busy enough. We won’t be totally satisfied until he’s both working AND going to school.

Welcome to the real world, right?

He’s following a Computer Information Science tract (you can’t be surprised by this news). And if he follows the plan, he’ll have an Associates Degree in about three years – if he stays part time.

I’m hoping he will eventually transfer to MSU in order to take more challenging computer classes, but it’s his decision – we’re just along for the ride.

Kevin is taking Thursday afternoon off to make sure Dude actually shows up for his orientation thingie. Because Dude is the sort of kid that needs that push and by golly, we’re pushing him every step of the way.

And because we love him too much NOT to.

Life

2011 Trans-Siberian Orchestra Concert Review

Karen

Kevin surprised me with Trans-Siberian Orchestra tickets for my birthday.

We went to see them last night.

IMG_1085

Because we’re cheap, he bought four, (yes, the boys went with us), cheap tickets. The concert was at JQH Arena and we ended up sitting in section OO, row 12.

Just three rows DOWN from the very top.

I.E. – nose bleed section.

I’m not complaining, mind you. I would rather sit in the nose bleed section than spend another $80.00 for a better seat. But it was SO far up that I actually experienced a mild case of vertigo.

I had to close my eyes a few times to reorient myself.

Our seats were on a 45 degree angle and it was really spooky to look down because it was practically a sheer drop down to the landing below. I’ve never sat in seats in a stadium quite like that before. I worried that Dude would be completely freaked out because he HATES heights, but he actually did better than I did. I downplayed my reaction to keep the boys from being spooked, but I’m telling you guys, I WAS A LITTLE FREAKED OUT.

Before the show began, local radio show disc jockeys came out to present a check to the Victory Mission, which is a local charity for the poor. Apparently, one dollar from each ticket went toward their charity, which I thought was uber cool, and they ended up presenting them with a check for about $4,800.

The show began.

A man came out to begin the “story.” The first half of the show consisted of this story with breaks for them to play their awesome music. The light show was pretty spectacular, too.

IMG_1093

Because we were sitting so high up, we were really in the ideal spots for the light shows because they were both below and above us. The lights were so intense at times that I again had to shut my eyes to re-orient myself.

*Side note: If you’re prone to seizures, I would NOT go to these shows. Seriously.

I video taped segments of a few of the songs. This gives you an idea of what the show was like.

We thought the show was finished when the story finished – not so.

In fact, the show took a rather bizarre turn after the story – they started playing some pretty hard stuff complete with dragon eyes and jaws. It was weird because the first half of the show was about the beauty of Christmas and the second half was like we had descended into hell.

I don’t know if the group was trying to show us that they could play more than just the Christmas classics we’ve come to know and love so much, or what. But it was sort of uncomfortable, if you want the truth.

In fact, some people actually left.

Again. This type of music was pretty awesome as well. Different. But awesome, nonetheless. It was just a weird switch to what we had been listening to. And just when we thought the show was going to wrap up – it didn’t.

In fact, we all sighed with relief when it was FINALLY over.

The show lasted 2 1/2 hours.

Which was about an hour too long, in my opinion. They should have just ended it after the Christmas story was over – but they continued to play for another hour and a half.

Then, toward the end of the show, it was like they had suddenly remembered why we had all come to see them and played a few more of their Christmas classics for us.

And each song went on FOR-EVAH.

And though the lights were freaking awesome, after a while? They too became a little annoying.

The whole concert was too much of a good thing, I think.

I know they wanted everyone to feel like they got their money’s worth, and I do feel that way, honestly, but wow. It just went on forever.

Overall. It was a very good concert. There is NO disputing how talented this group of musicians are. And the female singer was so good I actually got goosebumps. But it just lasted too long for me and I found myself wishing it would just get over with at the two hour mark.

It’s worth the money and the experience, just prepare to sit for a while.

Day-By-Day

So Much Pain. Donating to a Political Campaign. We’re Going to See Who in Concert?

Karen

You... Living beside Me

It’s like I sit down to write something and then think, “Eh. I’m too tired to deal with it.” And then I see that more people actually come to read my silly blog when I DON’T write and I think, “See? Absence really DOES make the heart grow fonder.”

I can’t believe I didn’t write anything this past week. But rest assured, Internet, I’m getting used to this new pace and I will do better.

Maybe.

It makes me sad just how many people are in pain.

I have to deal with a lot of people in my job. And given the nature of my job, I deal with a lot of people who are in a lot of pain.

It hurts me to talk to them sometimes. Some of them even break down and cry when I talk to them because I, or my doctors, simply can’t do anything for them.

It’s sad and humbling at the same time.

It also makes me very thankful that I’m healthy. My family is healthy. And that we have health insurance. Some people are self-pay and they have to work out a payment plan before they can be treated.

One woman just broke my heart this past week. I went above and beyond the call of duty to help her and was able to plead her case to get her in sooner to see the doctor. I’m not telling you this to pat myself on the back but because it was the right thing to do. Because I’m compassionate and helping people is THE reason I decided to bite the bullet and dive head first into the health care field.

And I’ll tell you something else – I now have a bird’s eye view of what all of the health care insurance hoopla is about and I’m telling you RIGHT NOW, ObamaCare is not going to work. In fact, it’s going to hurt a lot of people. And though I understand that ObamaCare was well intended (well, sort of), it’s actually going to be counter-productive. Because doctors didn’t go to med-school and willingly put themselves in debt, or in a high-stress profession, simply to do the work for free. They want to be paid. They deserve to be paid for their time and talents. And though I won’t argue that our health care does indeed need a complete restructure, it does NOT need what Obama just crammed down our throats.

I’m telling you now – mark my words – if we don’t repeal this disastrous law and replace it with something that is reasonable and fair to everyone, there are going to be A LOT of people who won’t get the health care attention they need and deserve.

It’s a convoluted mess and we need some realistic, steel-spined individuals in there who will not be afraid to make the changes that we HAVE to make in order to save our health care system.

I’m now in the thick of this health-care mess – it’s not pretty, friends.

http://twitter.com/#!/writefromkaren/status/135460826063708160

Kevin forwarded me an email this week. It was a receipt and a thank you note for donating to Herman Cain’s campaign.

That’s right – we donated money to Herman Cain’s campaign.

Do I like Herman Cain? I do. And mainly because he’s not afraid to stand up to the Republican “establishment” and say what we’re all thinking. He’s got cajónes – and we need someone in the White House with cajónes.

That’s right, I said it.

Is he my favorite out of all the Republican candidates? Right now, yes. But I still wish we had someone like Cain but with more political experience. And the fact that he scares our media enough for them to viciously attack him and throw all sorts of crazy allegations at him is enough to get my attention. Because if the media doesn’t like him, then he must be a threat. And that’s pretty much good enough for me.

http://twitter.com/#!/writefromkaren/status/135459033279758336

I didn’t tell anyone at work it was my birthday. Not even after Kevin’s attempts to force my hand by having flowers delivered to my cubby hole.

(I just told people that my husband is awesome and sent them “for no reason.” Yes. I’m a stinker).

It was a quiet, and unassuming, day – just like me. (Stop laughing).

Though my co-workers sort of figured it out after the fact and one gal brought homemade red velvet cupcakes to celebrate on Friday. (*DROOL*)

I was supposed to get the flowers before noon and with a big “Happy Birthday” balloon, but the flowers came about 2:00 and they didn’t include a balloon.

Kevin was pretty ticked off. (He complained, by the way. Because if you’re going to pay extra for the extras you should get the extras, right?)

My birthday has never really been a big deal to me. I mean, it’s nice to have people acknowledge the day, but I would honestly prefer if they wished me happy birthday and be done with it.

I know it sounds strange, coming from me, but I really feel uncomfortable being the center of attention. (Stop laughing).

I had to stay after work and return a few phone calls. (I’m always about ten phone calls behind – I’m getting used to it, actually). I didn’t get home until 5:30. My folks were already here and waiting for me and they gave me a Bath and Body Works gift card (SCORE) and my mom made me a beautiful neck warmer. (I would model it, but I’m looking a little rough right now and I’ll spare you the horror. You’re welcome).

I had put a pot roast on earlier in the day and we had hot roast beef sandwiches with The Pioneer Woman’s DELICIOUS mashed potatoes. (Seriously. I could LIVE off those potatoes alone). We didn’t go out to eat because I hate going out to eat. By the time we get through the meal, it’s two hours later and we’re about $100 poorer. It’s such a waste, in my opinion. We stayed home. Relaxed. And saved moocho bucks.

I was a happy girl.

Kevin DID surprise me with a gift, though. Four tickets to see the Trans Siberian Orchestra!!!!!! Which is TONIGHT, by the way!! I’m beyond excited. I’ve been watching YouTube videos and we’re all really looking forward to seeing their show. Hopefully, I can sneak a little video to show you later.

I’m not making promises.

We finally got Jazz’s car back from the mechanic’s yesterday. It had been leaking a lot of oil. Apparently, not only was the oil thingie rusted through, but there was a lot of thingies rusted through and they had to replace them.

We’re now $600 dollars poorer. OUCH. However, there is a bright spot in this story – the mechanic said that after fixing this? It’s actually a pretty solid little car so hopefully we won’t have to pay for any more “fixes” for quite a while.

It’s STILL worth not having him learn to drive in my car.

We dropped Jazz’s saxophone off at the music store to have it cleaned the other day. They called to say that there was so much gunk built up that they were going to have to take it apart and soak it in a chemical bath before putting it back together again.

I braced myself to hear how much that was going to cost – but luckily, it was much cheaper than we thought it would be. I’m looking forward to getting it back – it’s going to look brand new. AND, we’ll make sure that Jazz keeps up with his maintenance duties in the future.

http://twitter.com/#!/writefromkaren/status/135459119250423809

Politics

An Outstanding Display of American Creativity and Pride

Karen

How freaking cool is this marching band?!?

Did you watch the formations? My favorite is the moving tank … though I don’t know, that sinking submarine was pretty impressive, too.

Don’t EVER be ashamed to be proud of our military men/women. And don’t EVER let anyone take away the rights our military have fought SO HARD to win for us.

Stop being a spineless jelly fish and stand up to these socialist movements.

NEVER BE ASHAMED TO DEFEND OUR COUNTRY OR OUR MILITARY PERSONNEL.

We are America and we are proud.

Get over it.

Home Movies, Life-condensed

We Have a Golfer in Our Family?

Karen

In an effort to get Dude out in public more (he’s an introverted sort of personality and though he’s getting better, we’re still pretty vigilant in making sure he doesn’t spend anymore time in his room than absolutely necessary), Kevin has been taking him various places on lunch break.

(Dude goes to Kevin’s office every day. He works on his programs up there, helps Kevin out with odd jobs and Kevin even has him doing janitorial work. BONUS).

One day, Kevin took Dude to the driving range. There’s one just down the street from Kevin’s office. He took a video of Dude on his phone hitting some balls.

He had nothing but good things to say about his efforts. Considering the boy has never hit golf balls outside of a putt-putt course, we thought he did pretty well.

We’re working really hard to help build Dude’s confidence. The kid has no confidence. ZERO. NONE. I blame myself. I think I “broke” his spirit by being too strict with him growing up, if you want the truth. Now, we’re trying to repair the damage by exposing him to all sorts of experiences to help him find his “niche.”

Life can’t happen unless we MAKE it happen, right?

Day-By-Day, Work Stuff

Work, Cookie Cake, More Work

Karen

I nearly walked out of my job today.

It’s not because I don’t like it, I actually DO like it.

It’s not because of the people I work with – I LIKE the people I work with.

But the job itself is SO FREAKING FRUSTRATING!!!! I’m getting used to not knowing what I’m doing. I just sort of float along all day hoping that whatever I’m doing is good enough, or at the very least, won’t inconvenience a patient or land me in hot water with my boss.

I find myself taking care of patients twice. TWICE. Because I have no recollection of ever helping them to begin with, let alone following up on their specific needs.

It’s insane how out-of-control I feel in this job.

I can’t even tell you how much time I WASTE following up on patient’s I’ve already taken care of. I called a patient twice today because I didn’t remember taking care of him in the first place. I faxed something over twice and a gal came up to my desk today to ask me about a note I put in a patient’s chart and I DON’T EVEN REMEMBER WRITING THAT NOTE.

It’s spooky. I know it’s because I have a million things going through my head and I’m trying to cover all of my bases, but still, it’s a little disconcerting how out-of-control I feel in this job.

Wait. Did I just say that?

At any rate, I’m going in early and working late because I’m desperately trying to stay no more than one day behind.

And according to the girls I work with? That’s totally normal!!

They told me to just accept the fact that I will never be caught up in this job – all I can do is put out the fires that spark up unexpectedly (and they do, boy howdy they do), and to try to take care of the oldest pending work first and go from there.

It’s an insane pace and there are times I have to walk away and just BREATHE. But at the same time, it’s a rush and I’m quite enjoying myself. It also really helps that I genuinely like the people I’m working with.

I bought a Halloween cookie cake for the boys.

Halloween Cookie Cake

Because they’re too old to go trick-or-treating and sometimes you just gotta stuff your face with fattening chocolate chips and gooey icing.

You know?

Guess who ate most of it.

No. Not me.

But I ate a(n) (un)healthy portion of it.

Shut up.

I’m totally taking a picture of my desk one night after everyone has left for the day (because I’m often one of the last people to leave at night – no kidding) so ya’ll can see where I’m working.

I know you’re curious.

Don’t even deny it.

Jazz’s car has a huge oil leak. Kevin said he drove it to work the other day and when he took off for lunch, there was a HUGE oil puddle underneath. He felt so bad about it that he poured kitty litter on it.

Looks like him and Dude will be making a trip to the garage tomorrow to get it fixed.

And no. I have totally dropped the ball on teaching Jazz how to drive. Why? Two reasons:

1. Jazz has been busy with band and hasn’t had time.

2. I haven’t had time to even THINK about it, let alone take him out.

And now? Daylight savings happens next week so we’ll have to drive in the dark.

Fun.

A dress code reminder went out to everyone today. Apparently, there are certain people at work who are stepping out of the professional-looking sphere and have dropped somewhere in the too-casual sphere.

Not ME of course. Even if I wasn’t new, I would never show up to work wearing scrubs and crocs. Or crazy-looking shirts w/ scrub pants.

It just doesn’t look professional. And apparently, my company doesn’t think so either. Because instead of talking to the individuals who are no longer following the dress code, my company opts to send out a friendly “reminder” to everyone.

Don’t you just love office politics?

I came home to 20 emails yesterday and 12 emails today.

Yes. I’m still maintaining websites.

No. I don’t plan on giving that up any time soon.

Although a certain someone *cough*Kevin*cough* thinks I should.

But at least I don’t have to cook dinners anymore. Kevin has taken over that chore. He cooks. I clean up. And it’s a good thing. Because if my guys waited on me to cook them dinner after getting home from work, we’d be eating at 10:00 p.m.

No. I’m not kidding.

I will be 46 next Wednesday. (???!!!)

But I only feel about 26.

I look about 26, too.

Shut up.

Day-By-Day

There’s Really Nothing to Report

Karen

Falling leaves
(NOT my picture. Puh-lease. I wish).

What a beautiful day! ………. To stay in and get some chores done.

*sigh*

I didn’t want to. I had to. Since we’ve been gone these past three weekends, my house was looking like something out of a horror movie – only with more color and fewer ghosts. But I prevailed, ladies and gentlemen, I got everything on my to-do list done this weekend.

Laundry
Bathrooms
Dry mopped the hardwood floor
Mopped the kitchen floor
Straightened up the bedroom (which really means I put MY laundry away. Kevin always puts his away).
Blogged

Wait. As I’m sitting here writing this I’ve noticed one thing I didn’t get done today – my desk. Is gross. And I WILL get MY corner cleaned up before the end of the day.

As God is my witness, I SHALL clean this corner up today! (Just channeling a little ‘Gone with the Wind’ there).

Anyway. I feel like I actually accomplished something today, which is more than I can say for MOST of my weekends, thank you very much.

We have one more band weekend coming up. We’ll be making a one-day trip to Columbia Missouri next weekend -that’s Jazz’s last band competition. It’s at Mizzou and hopefully our kids can take 1st place. We’ve done really well this season, but it would be the icing on the cake if we brought home a 1st place trophy.

I’m sort of glad the season is winding down (I bet you are too). Though I have SO MUCH FUN traveling around and cheering them on, it’s exhausting. Especially when you start a new job in an industry you know nothing about and are trying to focus and learn as much as you can in a short amount of time that your brain is mush by the time you come home and it’s all you can do to keep your eyes open to finish dinner with your family.

So. Yeah. The job is going well.

😀

No really. An email was sent out to the clinic on Thursday letting everyone know that I was “ready” to take charge of two doctors. This means I’m in charge of these doctors’ patients and anything schedule related comes to me. I’m getting all sorts of voicemails from patients wanting to either cancel appointments, reschedule appointments or, they want to make an appointment, which requires research on my part before I can make those appointments. For you see, I work for a group of neurosurgeons and they are not like primary care physicians – you can’t just make an appointment to see them for every little ache and pain, there are certain things that I have to look for in order to make that appointment. And if those things are not present, then I have to “flag” the nurse (which is like an instant message system) and ask them if it’s okay to schedule them.

Because I’m a peon and am only paid to do what I’m told. Which is FINE. I’m OKAY with that. I just have to be careful how much initiative I take on.

So I’m learning a lot about this medical field and picking up new terms and learning about new procedures and tests every day. I have to say, it’s damn interesting and no two patients are alike as far as what they need done. It’s challenging and completely absorbs my focus and attention and I really love it.

And I’m not just saying that – I really do LOVE my job.

I’m starting (and only JUST starting) to get a handle on my new routine. My energy level is starting to slowly catch up with my duties and I’ll be used to this new lifestyle in no time. The one thing that I have the hardest time with is the fact that I’m isolated from my family. It’s like I’ve been sequestered and I’m quite literally stepping into a whole new world, separate from them and definitely out of my comfort zone.

But it’s exactly what I needed. I felt like my brain was going soft and it feels SO GOOD to be using my brain again.

Or what little brain matter I have, that is.

Even though my shift starts at 8:30, I’m going in at 8:00 for the next three mornings to make up for the time I’ll have to take off Thursday morning to get my tooth fixed. (I broke it last weekend). I’m thinking I’m going to regret making my appointment for so early in the morning because this means I’ll have to go to work with a numb mouth and will likely be talking weird.

Oh well. I’m getting used to coping with obstacles, what’s one more, right?

Update on my guys:

Kevin has been on a mission to get Dude out in public more. Dude is still going to the office every day and they go out to lunch twice a week. They go shopping at various places whenever they go out – they even went out to the driving range and hit some golf balls. (I have a video of that coming soon). Dude is a very introverted individual and Kevin is hoping that by getting him out and around people more, he’ll loosen up a bit and not be so freaked out whenever he gets a job. He hasn’t had any more interviews but it hasn’t been for lack of trying – he’s been applying someplace nearly every day and Kevin keeps track of his spread sheet and makes him re-apply at places. It’s just a matter of time before the kid gets a job. But it might not be until this crappy economy turns around and I’m predicting that won’t happen until Obama is voted out of office.

*ahem*

In the meantime, Dude has been getting his documents ready to submit to a vocational college. He’s planning on taking two computer classes next semester, so that will be enough to keep him busy until he gets a job. It’ll be interesting to see how he juggles his schedule whenever he gets a job AND is going to college.

Kevin is pursuing some client leads and has been doing well. The word is getting out and he’s becoming more and more busy. It’s just a matter of time before his business really takes off the ground. If you know of anyone who needs a good accountant, give him a buzz! He specializes in elder care, so if you have an elderly person in your family that needs some accounting help (not just taxes, but paying bills, etc), he can help! (http://kkacct.com)

Jazz is finishing up the first quarter. He’ll be getting rid of the following classes: History of Baseball (which he actually enjoyed, believe it or not) and Math Functions, which is a pre-Calculus class. I’m not sure what classes are coming up, but the kids really seem to enjoy switching out classes every quarter and semester. Our school district is considering getting rid of the 4-block schedule set up and I think that would be a HUGE mistake! Having only four classes per quarter is a lot more manageable than having the same SEVEN classes all year long. We’re only one of two high schools in our district that is set up this way and everyone has really loved it. It would make a lot of parents and students upset if they eliminated it.

So. All of this to say, we’re doing well.