A Big Difference

As my house gets cleaner, I have noticed a big difference in my moods. I am not a slob by nature, but my house has getting worse and worse since I started working. It has been mostly the kids stuff, and I just had given up on trying to get them (especially Noel) to pick up after themselves.

Last week my good friend, Melissa, introduced me to Chore Wars. At first, I thought it would just be a fun way for her and I to compete. As I looked at it more, I found it would be great to motivate my kids help out around the house. My boys spent a lot of the morning running around cleaning today. I woke up to a clean dining room (they even cleared my decorations off the table to make sure it was clean), the back door was free of dog prints, the front of the oven was clean, and the entertainment center dusted. The best part is, the boys are cleaning up the dog poo in the back yard (YAY)!

I don't know if my better mood is because my body is starting to get used to my meds or the house being cleaner or just the fact that they kids are letting me sleep (they are just too busy cleaning to bug me). No matter what it is, I am glad that I am feeling better the last few days.

A Decision Made

Eric has had a big decision to make the last few months. He had to choose who would be baptizing him. This was not a decision that he took lightly. At first, he was afraid that if he picked one person over another it would hurt someone's feelings. After all, only one person could be picked. Then, he took inventory on how many people the candidates had baptized. Finally, a few weeks ago, he had narrowed it down to two of his favorites, Grandpa and Uncle Asher. Today, while leaving church, I let him know that the decision needed to be made soon. He will be baptized in about a month and a half. That means not much more time. Also, I will be meeting with the bishop next week to talk about the event to make sure that everything can be taken care of properly and at a time when I can attend without having to run off at the end. Again, he considered the number of people that I knew the candidates had baptized (not counting in the temple). In the end he chose Uncle Asher because Grandpa had plenty of chances already. I am so proud of him for making such a big decision on his own!

Chore Wars

Want experience points for doing house work?  Join me:


http://www.chorewars.com/invite.php?id=ec2ab374ef21

Struggles

I have been having a hard time metally lately.  I was put on some new medications about a month and a half ago that totally screw with my hormones.  The wacky hormones have put me into a depression most days.  According to the doctor everything should even out after being on these meds for about three months (only a month and a half to go).  I honestly have days where I just don't think I can live like this for that long.  Luckily, John and I are in a good spot in our relationship and I am able to just tell him that I am having a bad day and he will let me just snuggle up to him for a little while.  Sometimes it is just good to know someone cares. I hope to be back to normal soon.  Until then, I will try to do my best at blogging at least once a week, but I won't be doing any kind of exercise challenges (in case you hadn't guessed that already).

Awards

Ok.  I honestly have to give John credit for both awards.  He takes Eric to school every morning and gets me out the door at night.  It is cool that we both got an award for the same thing though...right?

Lochbuie Snowplow

The town of Lochbuie has waited for days without plowing the streets.  Today, they sent out the...um...plow? (Sorry about the quality of the pictures.  I took them from my back door and cropped out the swing set the best I could.)

A Bit of Catching Up

I know it has been a long time since I have written, but I have had a busy couple of weeks.  There have been things here and there that I have thought would make good blog enties, but time escaped me, so am going to do my best at condensing them into one post.  Please bear with me.

First off, Tanksgiving week was pure torture for the mom who works all night.  The boys were out of school all week, and Eric is not used to the rules of the morning since he really only has to deal with them on Satudays when John is home to help keep them quiet and busy so that I can sleep.  That means that the mornings were loud.  The afternoon was filled with friends because that is what the did all summer and expected to be able to do again.  The good news is that the kids rooms got cleaner.  The bad news is that I got in trouble at work for sounding tired on the phone.  I will have to figure out something else for Christmas break.

The next thing I wanted to write about was something I saw that was actually quite sweet.  A few days  ago, I had been having a difficult day with the kids.  The last thing I wanted to do was go to the school to bring my almost 8 year old clean pants.  I was at the end of my rope.  Then I witnessed a simple sweet act of kindness:  a little girl in Eric's was given a hand made hat with mittens to match.  She was so excited.  After she left the office and went back to class, I heard the explainations.  The little girl lives in a home with a large family and all of the kids come to school in handed down coats with no hats of gloves every winter. There were bags of hats and mittens donated by a local grandma for the kids at the school who needed them.  Just seeing the look on that little girl's face made me have to hold back my tears.  Hearing about the generousity of the annonymous grandma made it even sweeter.

I had other things, but I will leave it on a sweet note.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Noel Is 4

Noel turned 4 yesterday!  Is it really fair for my baby to be 4 already?

Cold Medicine?

I have a cold.  It is something that is going around at work.  I knew that I would get it because all he germs at the call center seem to get to me since I have been home sheltered from such germs for so long.  This particular cold is the kind where my head feels like it is going to explode.  Last night it felt even worse while I was at work because I had a headache from my lack of sleep from yesterday.  I didn't have any cold medicine, but I usually carry some Advil in my backpack to work for the days when I get these headaches.  I reached in my backpack to find there was nothing in that pill bottle.  There was, however, one more pill bottle in there.  It had been in there since I started work basically.  I had some Pamprin.  Yes, I know what it is supposed to be used for, but since I couldn't ask around to see if anyone else had something I could take because we were all on the phone (I know...strange in a call center).  Desperate, I took two of the pink pills from my bag.  The amazing thing was, IT WORKED!  Who knew that a medicine meant to calm those female problems would work so well for a congested head?

Glow-In-The-Dark

Last night, I sat down with the kids to help them make their wish lists for Christmas (I know it is not Thanksgiving yet, but we have to start now).  They had no problems coming up with ideas.  At one point, Sean said, "I want a glow-in-the-dark fishing pole.  Then I actually want to go fishing someday." Ok.  A bit random, but Sean is my most random child.  I wrote it down.  Then, Noel had a turn to name something.  "A swimming pool that is Sleeping Beauty and glows in the dark."  I write down her made up item calmly while trying not to laugh.  She then turns to Sean and says, in a way only a little girl can, "You're not the only one getting something glow-in-the-dark."  I had to laugh at that one.

Exercise...Really?

It is that time.  Time for everyone to check in.  I am going to have to admit that I didn't do so good.  I got the jumping jacks done 3 times and the push ups twice.  I guess I should go hide in a corner now... How did you do?  If you don't want to admit it on here, just say so in your comment and I won't publish it.

Now for the new challenge...50 jumping jacks (because lets face it, I was winded after that) and 20 squats.  If you do some other kind of exercise, I may give you extra credit... Who's in with me for this week?

Bragging Moment

I know I am usually bragging about Eric's writing, but today it is about my own. I wrote an essay for school about my mom's and brother's death and how it affected my life. The assignment was to write a narrative essay about a significant even that change me in some way. I turned it in November 7, and just hoped that it was good enough (I have never seen myself as a good writer). This is the comment that I saw from my teacher when I went to check my grade today:

"Your paper is the only one in our class that earned a perfect score. Your essay is just wonderful, Rosa. The writing is clear, precise, and well-constructed. The paragraphs are focused. And the paper as whole is seriously deep and engaging. I'm sorry for your loss; your brother and mom would be proud of how well you write, I guarantee. Take care, and keep up the great work."

So, I guess I need to share my essay to really finish my bragging. Before you read it I want to warn you that it is a bit sad. I didn't write it to get sympathy. It is the easiest topic for me to talk about considering the assignment.

"I had always identified myself as the second child in my family. I had a mom and a dad like most kids. My brother, my sister, and I often talked about what we wanted to be when we grew up. We laughed together. We fought with each other. We protected each other. One day my happy bubble burst. My mom and brother were suddenly gone. I could no longer call my mom to ask her to call me in for this class or that class at school. I could no longer joke with my brother about my boyfriend being better than his girlfriend. That was all taken away from me the day my mom’s roommate fell asleep at the wheel.

I had said upon starting my senior year of high school that it was going to be a year I would never forget. That became true only a week later. August 30, 1996, was the day half of my family was killed in a tragic car accident. I will never forget that day or the impact it has had on my life. I have lived my life doing normal things that most women look forward to sharing with their mom alone or with my sister. I have given birth, gotten married, and celebrated 13 birthdays since then.

August 30 started off as a typical school day with one exception; my brother’s obnoxious dog was at our house until my brother and my mom were to return from their fateful trip to Arizona. I went to school complaining about how loud that dog was and how I didn’t get any sleep. I proceeded with the mundane task of going to my first three classes of the day. Then, I was called down to the office to see my dad. I could never have even imagined what happened next. I walked in and saw the heavyhearted look on my dad’s face. He took me into a small room with my sister and told us the news. “Mom and Anthony have been killed in a car accident.” My heart fell into my stomach. I was beyond feeling. Wasn’t I just talking to my mom the night before?

My mom had looked forward to many things about the future. The December before she died, she had come to a choir concert for my sister and me. Since it was a December concert, naturally it was very Christmas oriented. At the end the highest choir in the school invited all alumni and parents of the students in that choir to come on stage and join them in the Hallelujah Chorus. My mom loved that song. It may have been her favorite, but she wasn’t able to go up that year because I wasn’t a good enough singer to be in that choir. The good news was that my sister, who was a sophomore at the time, was on track to be in that choir when she was a senior. My mom was so excited that in two years she would be able to not only go up and sing that song with my sister, she would be able to sing alto with her. When my sister was a senior and they invited the alumni and parents up, I went in my mom’s place and we stood there and tried to sing, but mostly cried, as we remembered my mom’s simple dream of singing this special song with her youngest daughter.

My brother and I were friends growing up. Even as teenagers, we had some of the same friends and enjoyed being around each other. My junior year of high school he was in the group that I went to prom with. We had planned for three or couples to get a limo together and go to a nice restaurant together and then head over to prom. The limo reservations didn’t work out, so we all showed up separately in the nicest cars that our parents’ had; me in my dad’s, him in my mom’s. We had fun laughing and joking with each other. We had planned that the next year we would get a limo with another company and go together again. The next year, I still went in a group with my best friend. We both had different dates. There was still no limo. There was also no Anthony.

I grew up expecting that my mom and brother would be a part of my life for a long time including my wedding, the births of my children, my milestone birthdays, my joys and my sorrows. They died when I was the tender age of 18. They didn’t get to share these things with me. It is amazing how one day can change so much."

Good for Something

I have a really good friend who is posting something she is thankful for every day this month on her blog. For those of you who remember, I followed her in doing so last year (not this year do to time constraints).

Yesterday, I was so honored when I read her blog. Her entry was titled, "You've got a friend...well, I do, anyway." I was totally expecting another post about how her husband had done something wonderful for her (admit it, Jami, you do that quite often). Instead, it was an entry about ME. Yes, you read that right. I have a friend! lol She even gave me an award.

I am not writing about this to brag, but because it made me feel so special!

Exercise Challenge

Ok. Here it goes. My first challenge. I am going to start of easy because I am so out of shape again, and I know that so are the people that may join me. (hint, hint)

Let me start with the rules. Since some of you live in another state, you can check in with me through my email or the comments on my blog. I need you to check in by noon every Thursday. I get to decide on the challenges and prizes (it won't be anything big because of things hopefully needing to go through the mail). If you want to sign up, you can do so on a weekly basis. If you sign up one week, you do not have to sign up the next. If you didn't sign up one week you can sign up for the next. Once you say you are in for the week, you have to do the challenge. The person who complete the challenge the most is the winner. The person who does the least is the loser (we are all old enough to handle that word...right).

Now for the challenge:

50 Jumping Jacks

10 Push-ups

REMEMBER: These are to be done daily (between 12am and 11:59pm). Try to get them done more days than anyone else that would sign up.

Fundraisers

I HATE school fundraisers with a passion! Basically what they do is bring all the kids into a room, show them all the cool prises they can get, and send them home with stuff to sell. In all reality, it is the parents that have to sell the stuff. It is the parents that have to feel like crap when the kid comes home upset that they didn't get the prizes that they expected.

Offering kids a pig race is a cool idea, if they were the ones that actually earned it. I forked out a lot of money this year so that Sean could get the opportunity to be in the pig race since Eric was able to do it when he was in Kindergarten. I couldn't bring the fundraiser to work like a "good" parent because there are rules about such things. John only works with a few people, so bringing fundraisers stuff for two kids and expecting people to buy isn't all that fair either. My parents live in Indiana and John's parents were in Oklahoma for a funeral when the fundraiser was going on. My sister bought some stuff from Sean feeling the same as I did, Eric already got his chance for very similar prizes. I had to buy the rest of the crap to qualify Sean to get a pig for the race (a pig they got to bring home after the race was done).

Again, Eric got his chance two years ago when he was in kindergarten. Now, Sean has a better pig than the one that Eric got, and Eric's doesn't work due to a bath it was given before Eric had had it for even a year. Now I get to feel like the worthless parent that doesn't care about her kids because of one stupid little pig that wouldn't even be an issue in the first place if our schools were funded properly (don't even get me started on my feelings about the fact that the state keeps cutting the K-12 budget while it seems that their salaries aren't even changing).

Thundercats?

As a kid I loved watching Thundercats, but I haven't thought about the show for years. That is until today. I went to pay my water bill, and when I got out of the car I saw this on the hubcaps of the car next to me.

I know. I looks a lot like the Thundercats symbol.

Being a Thundercats fan in my younger years, immediately I figured that the driver of that car must share my love. Upon further inspection of the car, I realized that it was a Mercury Cougar. That really has nothing to do with the beloved show of my youth.

Dr. Visit

Yesterday, I went to the doctor's office for an over due visit. (Yeah! I have insurance again!) I was given some not so great news and some good,but expected, news.

First off the good news. I am not pregnant despite not having a period since July. It turns out the cross-your-fingers method does work in some cases. (Don't worry. I will be getting a more reliable method today.)

Now for the not so good news. OK. Two pieces of not so good news. What is the first thing that they do when at a doctor appointment? Take your weight. Well, I found out that I have gained 20 pounds since John and I were separated. I knew I had gained. I haven't been taking my meds because of not having insurance, and I haven't been exercising much or eating very well since I started working. I know these are my fault, and only I can change them. I will be getting back on my meds today. I am also thinking about trying to start some kind of friendly contest. I haven't decided if it should just be something between John and me, or if I should do it with a friend or two. This is the heaviest I have been not pregnant, and I don't want to see the numbers higher!

The other piece of news that I got is that I may have PCOS along with my thyroid problem. I guess for me this isn't quite as bad as it would be for those of you who are trying to have a baby because I am done having babies. I just don't like that my stupid genetics have possibly caused me to have yet one more problem.

Writing

I have a hard time writing for a grade. Writing for a blog isn't as hard because no on is judging me on my punctuation or how descriptive my words are.

I am taking a composition class right now. It is HARD! The last few weeks my teacher has complimented me on how well I have been writing. This week, however, I am not so sure I will get such compliments. I had to write a descriptive paragraph for my essay. I was very hard. I can vividly picture the day I want to describe in my head, but getting it down on paper is another thing. Hopefully, the paragraph I wrote for his week's assignment is what he is looking for...

August 30 started of as a typical day with one exception; my brother's fluffy, cute, obnoxious dog was at our house until my brother and my mom came home from their fateful trip to Arizona. I went to school complaining about how loud that dog was and how I didn't get any sleep. I proceeded with the mundane task of going to my first three classes of the day. Then, I was called down to the office to see my dad. I could never have even imagined what happened next. I walked in and saw the heavy hearted look on my dad's face. He took me into a small room with my sister and told us the news. "Mom and Anthony have been killed in a car accident." My heart fell into my stomach. I was beyond feeling. Wasn't I just talking to my mom the night before?

What do you think? Does it describe the day or just give a general idea what it may have been like? I already turned it in, but your feed back would be helpful for my revisions for next week.

A Present for Me

Upon arrival of my home this morning, everything seemed nice and peaceful. The dog was in her kennel sleeping. The house was quiet. The lights were off (other than the porch light that John leaves on for me so that I still feel welcome when I get home). The kids were all in their own rooms...sleeping? Maybe not.

I went to my bathroom and got ready for bed. Something seemed off (you know that mom feeling that you get sometimes). I looked around the room before climbing into bed. I looked down the hall to Noel's room. Her door was open. That is not a normal thing because we always close the kids' bedroom doors when they go to bed even if they get up for some reason and have to go back to bed. The kids' bedroom doors are always shut.

I decided to investigate. Who knew, maybe she had gotten up to go to the bathroom or climbed into my bed late at night with out John knowing and didn't close her door. I looked into my bed. No Noel. I went into her room and looked in her bed. No Noel. I was about to go look on the couch when a startled Noel looked up from the floor in front of her dresser...NAKED.

I asked her what was going on. She said that she threw up on my pillow and needed clean jammies. After asking her some questions, I found out that she had only thrown up that one time all night and only on my side of the bed. I felt...loved? Hmmm...I'm not sure how to feel about that.

I can laugh about it now, but I had to sleep on the couch this morning because I was just too tired to deal with it. (I know that is gross, but that is just me.)

A Night/Morning From H###

Last week I went through tech training (meaning if you were to call in with a remote or receiver or wiring problem, you could be transferred to me). Last night was my first night on the phones taking these calls. First of all, they suck!

I am used to having an average call time of about 5 or 6 minutes. I think most of the calls I took last night were more than 20 minutes. That totally raises my average. UGH!

Most of the people that call in either don't understand simple instructions like, "Press the TV mode button until all of the mode buttons light up," or they are just too lazy to even try something like unplugging the receiver to reset it. Then there are the people that have just enough information to make them dangerous. They call in already having done a lot of things that sometimes are not even necessary and could even prolong the process. When one problem is fixed they seem to somehow cause another problem. (Like I said, it sucks!)

My problem last night wasn't just the tech calls that I barely understand myself. I also had regular customer service calls that were just plain ridiculous. A pay-per-view call that I ended up having to transfer to my coach because of his "stories." A billing call where she was actually calling to accuse us of setting her up for failure. A man from Puerto Rico that had talk to rep after rep trying to get programming that is just not offered there (he kept me a half hour late after I had already stayed for an hour of overtime). The list goes on.

Sure there were the easy calls that were straight forward for regular customer service and tech calls that didn't last long and were solved quickly. I did have a call that took a while, but I felt good about it in the end. It is just that those were few and far between. We had back to back calls all night.

***Now the disclaimer that I have to add.***

My view do not reflect the opinion of Dish Network or its employees.

***Wasn't that fun?***

Grocery Shopping

Thursday is my errand day since I get to sleep at night on Wednesday nights and Thursday nights which make the need for sleeping in the afternoon a lot less essential. I have learned something in the last few weeks. Grocery shopping with just one child isn't that bad. Yes, Noel does get squirrelly after a while, but when it is just one kids jumping on and off the cart (or climbing in and out of the "car"), it isn't as stressful. It is also a lot easier to say, " I can just come back another time." When I know that I only have to deal with one kid rather than three. I do still love my boys, but I am SO glad that I don't have to bring them to the grocery store anymore!

My Schedule

OK. First off, I would like to say I am only pointing this out because there are people out there that think that just because I am home during the day, I can do all of the stuff that I was doing before I started working. That is not so. I am home during the day, but I am asleep a lot of the time. Since I work the graveyard shift, I am WORKING while most normal people sleep.

I work from 8:30pm to 5am Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. On most Fridays and Saturdays I work 6:30pm to 2am. (I say most because this week I have been in tech training, so I work the 8:30 to 5 shift all the days that I work.) Yes, that means that my "weekend" is Wednesday and Thursday. That part sucks a bit but isn't too bad because I do get to go to bed a few hours earlier Saturday and Sunday mornings, so I can still spend the days with my family on the real weekends.

So you may be asking when do I sleep. Well, the answer is I sleep in shifts (in a way). I get home from work about a half hour after getting off of work. On the week days, I sleep until about 7:30 at first. I make Eric's lunch, say prayer with my family, and put a movie on for Sean and Noel as John and Eric head out the door for school and work (John drops Eric off at school and goes to work). Then, I head back to bed until 10:45ish. I get up, take a shower, make lunch for Sean and Noel, read them a book, do some homework, and take Sean to school. Then, Noel and I sleep until about 3ish. We then pick up the boys from school, and I try to fit in all the "good mom" stuff (homework, snack, etc.). Then, I try to fit in all I can as far as family time, hubby time, cleaning, and cooking before I leave for work again. Since the kids go to bed around 7:30, they are in bed when I leave most nights. They only have to go to bed without me being here 2 nights a week.

I know some of you are cringing knowing that my kids are here in the morning awake while I am sleeping. First of all, let me say that a few years ago I would have been right there with you. Second of all, they can come get me if they need. I don't sleep very soundly, and haven't since Eric was born. Noel comes in and gives me pictures that she has colored and just comes to talk to me a lot in the morning when she is bored. For a few weeks, she got into EVERYTHING (lets just say we have no more Vic's, and that was in the medicine cabinet). I did check into daycare for her, but daycare just for Noel would be a third of my paycheck. (Tara, I don't know how you do it.)

I am tired some days, but I figure I am getting more sleep than I did when the kids were newborns. I can handle it.

1978

I always wondered what I would have looked like if I were in high school the year that I was born...OK, maybe not.

The Gambler a la Noel

Yes, Noel is indulging in my song as well.

Ignore the strange lady in the background.

While in the Shower

When I got out of the shower, I found Sean and Noel playing in Noel's room with her kitchen set...jut not in the usual way.

Bees

Yesterday, when I picked up the boys from school, Sean asked me a bit frustrated, "Why do the bees keep following me?"
I told him, "Because you smell so sweet."
His response, "Mom...I don't smell good. I look good."

Camera Catch Up

Eric started 2nd grade, August 19.

Sean started Kindergarten, August 24.

Sean turned 6. His birthday was September 25, but we had to wait a few days to celebrate. Yes, that is a Sham Wow behind the Legos. He was just as excited about getting that as he was the Legos.

Finally!

Eric finally lost his first tooth yeasterday!

Cough Medicine

Sean informed me today that cough medicine tastes like a dead spider.

A Story By Eric

Eric wrote this story a few weeks ago as part of a homework assignment. I just didn't get around to posting it until now.

"Once upon a time there was a jedi knight named Eric Crumpley. One day he had to face the evil Darth Mola Ram. Darth Mola Ram made Eric do his math homework. Eric just said "No!" and light saber dueled him. Eric choped Darth Mola Ram's arms off. Then, Eric made Darth Mola Ram do Eric's math homework for him! The End."

Again, I spelled everything the way he did and gave it the same punctuation (other than the quotes I put around the story itself).

"I Don't Like Recess"

I know. No one has ever heard a kid actually say that they don't like recess. Well, almost no one that is...

Sean doesn't like recess. He would rather just stay in the classroom and do work. I know that this is his first experience with school, but Eric liked recess from day one. Most kids do.

Yesterday, at parent-teacher conferences, the teacher told us that Sean is doing very well in school and is one of the few kindergartners that can read. She went through all of his scores from before school started and told us the things that he has already improved on. She then went on to her only concern with our sweet boy. He doesn't like recess. Most days he just sits next to the door and waits for her to come get them. One day she felt so sorry for him that she went out and asked him to help her make copies (he told me all about that the same day).

Yesterday, knowing that kids who don't finish their work have to stay in until it is done, Sean raised his hand when she told the class it was time for recess and informed her that he wasn't going to be able to go to recess because he hadn't finished the last line on his paper yet. She informed him that he would go to recess anyway. He was greatly disappointed. Who knows what he will try next to get away from the dreaded recess...

A Banana For The Teacher

A few weeks ago, Sean decided that he needed to bring his teacher a banana. It seemed to be a bit random, but I went ahead and put a banana in his backpack before he went to school. The next day he had this note from his teacher in his folder.

The True Downside Of School

"I like legos. My favorite pearson is my bro. I like playing pro street. I can't get better at vidio games when I'm stuck at school. I am a great runner."

Seriously?

The question has been asked, "Why would they need a graveyard shift at Dish Network?" All I could think of was all the lonely men out there ordering pay per views in the middle of the night. First off, I have to say, I have had as many calls from women as I have from men over the last two nights in regards to that. The thing that has surprised me though is the number of calls I have been getting about bills. I mean seriously, it seems like the perfect time to call and complain that a person can't pay their bill and it is totally unfair to have services suspending for not paying said bill (or should I say bills since they are usually about 2 months past due or have never completely paid their bill in full) is at about 3 am. OK, so you may be saying, "It isn't 3 am all over the country when it is 3 am here in Denver." I know that, but seriously last night we had call after call with little or no down time from about midnight until we got of at 5 am. To me it seemed like the majority of the people calling in were mad that their services had been interrupted sometime in the middle of the night.

One exceptionally crazy lady had already received so many credits on her account in the last few months that she was paying very little for her bills. She had made a payment on Saturday and was absolutely appalled that her cash payment that she had paid at Walmart had not posted to her account. I told her that it could take a few more days, and she insisted that I look up her payment by receipt number. (There is actually not a way for me to do that.) She barely let me talk enough to get her name out of her and eventually asked to talk to my supervisor so she could report me for not doing my job. My joy came when I heard him say, "You know Charlie (speaking of the founder and C.E.O. of the company)?" It seems as though she told him that she had spoken to the highest up person in the company and was supposed to get things a certain way. I don't know what all happened after that, but it made me giggle to myself.

The thing is, yes, Dish Network is open 24 hours a day, but who in their right mind is more concerned about weather or not they can watch TV than sleeping at those hours?

Like Father, Like Daughter

If anyone knows my dad, they know that he is quiet and shy. This is the award I got yesterday when I graduated training. Now I have proof (like I really needed it) that I am Bob Mitchell's daughter...and proud of it!

Group Projects

I HATE GROUP PROJECTS!

These group projects for school are getting to me. I hate them. I think it is dumb to make grown ups learn to work with others, especially since I am going to school only online. Doesn't that make it clear that I don't work well with others?

I would rather just be given the assignment a sweat over getting the work done myself without all of the aggravation of working with people who depend on others to do the assignment for them. When there are five people in the group, why should there only be three people working on the project? Oh, wait...maybe adding a comment here and there that really has nothing to do with the project (like, I am really not good at putting this stuff together) counts. Don't say that you will be the leader for that project or document writer and then flake out. Really, all the researchers are assigned to to is the research and proofreading. They shouldn't have to put everything together as well, and if they do offer to help, don't' say that you don't need help because you are getting it done and will have the rough draft posted soon. When the project is due on Saturday, the team should not be asking where the rough draft is on Friday. (Yes, I know today is Thursday. This happened a few weeks ago.)

I also hate that people can't tell the difference between being mean and constructive criticism. If you don't want the paper that you just worked on to be proofread and corrected, then don't offer to be the draft writer. I personally think that by telling someone that the fist sentence in a paragraph doesn't go with the rest of what is being said and suggesting that the sentence be switched with the first sentence in the next paragraph is not mean. I could have said that the paper just sucked and didn't flow well at all. Instead I made suggestions for improvement. I am not saying that it would have been written well if I had written it, but I would have taken the suggestions into consideration instead of writing back that the other person is wrong.

I know this is a minor problem compared to how hectic things could be right now, but I really needed to get it all out.

The True Master of...

Yesterday, in church, Sean gave a talk. I had just gone into a Primary (kind of like Jr. Sunday School) manual online and copy and pasted it for the most part. Sean was a bit nervous. I told him that he could do it, and he was smart enough to read it on his own. I had him read it to me right before I took him to Primary. He read it all by him self. I told him he did a great job and that I knew he could do it. When it came to be time for him to give his talk, I stood in the back of the room as he told Sister Kidd that he didn't need help. She very happily let him go ahead. My smarty-pants, kindergarten boy then read his talk all by himself. The only time he needed help was when he lost his place. I thought this was very impressive because I didn't even know he could read some of the words in there (throughout, for example). Then, after church, his primary teacher told me that he read a scripture in class all by himself that had some hard words in it too. How did this boy learn these words? Who said he cold get this big so fast?

The Good Call From the School

This morning I checked my messages to find a great message from Sean's teacher, Mrs. Badgett. She was calling to let us know how much she has been enjoying having him in her class so far. She complimented him on how smart he is, and even said that he has his hand up for every question and always has the right answer. It is so wonderful to get this kind of message from the school as opposed to the one I got last February about Eric.

Love Letters From My Boys

Eric made me that on in school last week. What mom wouldn't be happy to be loved so much?

That is Sean's handy work. He said that instead of drawing a picture of the temple in Primary, he wanted to write a letter to Mom and Dad. I am so proud that my almost 6 year old thinks I am pretty good... :-)

At 8?!

In my medical terminology class we have discussions that tie into the parts of the body we are learning. This unit we are studying the male and female reproductive systems and obstetrics and neonatology. Our discussion is about HIV/AIDS. The topic is listed like this: "HIV/AIDS has become epidemic in the world. Discuss some of the medical terms that have become part of our general vocabulary related to this disease. Does the age or gender of the person you are talking with affect what words you use to explain or discuss HIV/AIDS?" We are to post our opinion on the subject, then respond to at least 3 of our class mates. I seem to agree with most of their points. I agree that education is key, and that it needs to be done early. I, however, don't agree on the age that some of them have decided is best to start.

Here is the main discussion that I had a hard time reading.

Unit 3 Discussion
I believe the age of a child or young adult, when discussing the disease and the prevention of the HIV/AIDS problems is everything. Using some of the words such as:Viral load white cell count T-4 cells Window period HIV AIDSWestern blot trachea lungs candidiasis PneumoniaDidn’t mean much to me I had to look every term up.According to a paper from the CDC HIV/AIDS fact sheet educating our young, needs to begin as early as 8 years old.The http://www.globalchange.com/truth-about-aids states that worldwide, pneumonia or pneumocystis carinii are factors of HIV but many of these deaths go unreported, in some rare cases a bronchoscope is used to locate germs hiding in the lung if the Doctor suspects the person to have died of HIV/AIDS.

Dawn Strauss-Berta
11 Aug 09 11:47 AM MST

Hi Jacqueline,I agree with you. Education children as young as 8 years old is a good idea. Do you have any suggestions on how we would do this?Thank you for the link, but when I click on it, the information was not there. Does it work for you?Dr. Dawn

Jacqueline Otero
12 Aug 09 1:48 PM MST

Sorry about the link:http://www.globalchange.com/truth-about-aids-chapter-3.htmis the correct link.another link for children ishttp://kidshealth.org/parent/infections/std/hiv.html#Has some great info on HIV/AIDSI would create a story book with pictures and pronunciations on the big words that go hand in hand with HIV/AIDSthe kidshealth web site above has a picture of a T-cells and how to pronounce immune (ih-myoon), and several other giant words in such a way that children can understand, and pronounce.

Dawn Strauss-Berta
13 Aug 09 2:54 PM MST

Thanks for the links. Great idea with the storybook suggestion!Dr. Dawn

Michelle Giroux
13 Aug 09 1:28 PM MST

There are plenty of ways that we can educate young kids like 8 year olds about this. Like in health class they should discuss it and also do research on it. Maybe if they see pictures and hear that people die from theses diseases they might think twice about having unprotected sex.I know 8 year old is a young age but you never know kids be having sex at like 13. So it's good to educate them young

Dawn Strauss-Berta
13 Aug 09 2:55 PM MST

Hi Michelle,I agree, it is a good idea to education them young. How would you go about explaining it to an 8 year old? Would you teach them any of the terminology?Thanks,Dr. Dawn

Michelle Giroux
14 Aug 09 7:15 AM MST

You can teach the 8 year olds the terminology. And you could also have them do research projects, and some activities that can teach them about the diseases.

Dawn Strauss-Berta
15 Aug 09 8:14 PM MST

Hi Michelle,I really like the idea of having them do activities to help them learn about the diseases.Dr. Dawn

Rosa Crumpley
18 Aug 09 8:56 AM MST

I think 8 is a bit young. At that age, they are just starting to learn the technical terms about their body parts. I agree with educating them, but I think it needs to be age appropriate and tailored to the specific child. I have a seven and a half year old. I teach him what I can. He is a smart kids, but still very young and innocent. I think that telling him all the facts at this age would be information overload.I do agree that kids need to be educated at a young age though.

Danielle Jones
15 Aug 09 5:34 PM MST

I agree we should start teaching them at a young age. i think they should have it in school too.

LATASHA SEWELL
11 Aug 09 6:29 PM MST

Jacqueline, I agree that discussing HIV/AIDS to try to prevent people from getting it should start at a young age. If people educate their children at the age of eight it would help stop the spread of the disease.

Jacqueline Otero
13 Aug 09 1:53 PM MST

How do we get the message to our young people, to stop look and listen?That cool is not being the first one to act on a dare, and that it is ok to say oooo I don't want to get that disease! It looks ucky!

Am I just living in a sheltered world. I think that it sounds crazy to not only have the birds and the bees conversation with an eight year old, but give them all the details of STDs at that age as well? Also, would a second grader really have the know how and motivation to do some big research project on the subject?

Yay!

While going through the training schedule last night I realized that I get to have my anniversary off! Yay! That was the main day that I was bummed about having to work since I started. I hadn't really sat down and looked at it, but I was sure I would have to work that day. As it turns out, since that is the last week of training the schedule will be Sunday through Thursday with Friday off, and then I will start my regular shift (the graveyard shift) on Saturday. That Friday is my anniversary.

Now for an interesting (to me anyway) fact about my anniversary. We got married on Friday, September 4, 1998. This year our anniversary will be on a Friday. Kind of interesting and fun...I think.

So Tired

I am so tired lately! I am probably not getting enough sleep. I don't get home from work until midnight, and then I just want to spend time with John. I get up aroud six (most mornings) so that I can spend time with my husband before he goes to work since I am not home when he gets home.

Homework is kicking my butt. I do still like the learning part, but it seems like most of my free time is taken by doing school work. I guess I shouldn't complain. I could be doing this much work and attending classes. Instead, I am doing this much work and turning it in online. Not so bad I guess.

My kids would be the other reason I am so tired. I love them. They really are good kids. The thing is, these boys need to get into school. They are driving me crazy. They need some structure. I am not a hugely structured person (I guess I could list that as reason number 4). I am sure that once they are in school, things will calm down at least a little bit around here. Only one week for Eric and a week and a half for Sean. Then, they will be in school. Not that I am counting or anything...

General Update

As Jami was so nice to remind me, it has been a while since I updated my blog. This is not because I don't want people to know what is going on with me. I just plain haven't had the time. It is hard to juggle kids and school and work. A lot harder than I thought it would be. I am hoping that once I get into the groove it will be a bit easier for me to find time for my hobbies like blogging and sewing and knitting.

School is going pretty good right now. I have a 99% in both classes. That is great. I had a hard time trying to find time to fit in my school work, but I did eventually get my assignments and quizzes done. By eventually, I mean I just got finished. It's OK. I had five and a half more hours to get the stuff in. It is not completely last minute.

Work is, well, interesting. I am in a class of 12 new hires. We get to sit and learn all about Dish Network most of the time. Sometimes we get to sit for an hour or two and listen to live calls. As boring as that sounds, I actually am having fun most of the time. I like most of the people in the class. I find it interesting that adults are just as clicky in that kind of situation as high school kids. There seems to be 2 obvious groups with a few of us that are, for the most part, accepted by both groups.

The kids went camping with John's family the last few days. It sounds like they had a lot of fun. John and I didn't go, so the kids went up with Rachel. I'm glad that she was willing to do that. The kids looked forward to going on vacation without Mom and Dad. We are lucky to have someone who was willing to aid in that effort.

I think that is all that needs to be updated right now. I'm sure if I left anything out, someone will ask questions....right?

I Know What ____ Is Made Out Of

This is Noel's favorite saying lately. Just about every time I give her food or drink she says, "Mommy, I know what (fill in the blank) is made out of." Sometimes she gets it right. Sometimes it is just so cute or funny that I have to laugh.

Here are some of the things she has said lately:

"Mommy, I know what milk is made out of. Cows"
"Mommy, I know what crackers are made out of. Crack." (My personal favorite.)
"Mommy, I know what corn dogs are made out of. Bread and hot dogs."

Messy Dog

I washed my dog yesterday. She was really dirty! I was so proud of myself for actually remembering to not only wash her, but brush her as well. She was so pretty.

Well, that was last night. This morning she came in from...well, you know...covered in MUD! I was so upset. It was way worse that what the kids would have done. It was almost the same feeling I get when I finally get "all" of the laundry done just to have a child pee in their pants as I fold the last towel. UGH! I would share picture of her, but I was so frustrated I didn't thing about it until after I sent her back out and went to take a shower.

Legos: The Best Invention Ever

I Got The Job!

After playing phone tag with the HR department at Dish Network, I finally talked to Brandy yesterday. I will start my training as a CSR2 (customer service representative, level 2) on Monday. I am so excited and nervous at the same time!

I get to start as a level 2 because I already had 2 years in a call center (it was over 8 years go, but it counts). All that I can tell that means is that I get paid more than the people who have no call center experience. That works for me.

My training sift is going to be 3:00pm to 11:30pm. That means that I can at very least drop my kids off at school, and I don't have to completely miss Sean's first day ever of school or Eric's first day of second grade. That makes me happy.

I am a bit nervous about the fact that while our relationship is so fragile, John and I will only see each other about 2 hours a day on the week days while I am training. It is only for 5 weeks, but it is going to be really hard.

As far as getting the children cared for, my wonderful sister-in-law,, Rachel, will be watching them for a few hours a day. There are still some things that have to be decided on when school starts, but I will have a few weeks to figure that out. I thought that the kids may not like having to go somewhere else to be watched so much, but they are really excited to be going to Aunt Rachel's on Monday.

When I am done with training I will be on graveyards for at least 8 weeks with Tuesday and Wednesday off. That will be hard as far as finding time to sleep, but I will get that figured out. I'm just happy that I will be still able to to be with my kids.

Week Two at Everest

The second week of school is over for me. I can tell that I am already leaning a lot.

The good news is that I still have A's in both classes. I have 100% in Strategies for Success and 98% in Medical Terminology. I took my first Medical Terminology quiz on Wednesday and got a 93%. I was excited! I could have had 100%, but there was one trick question, and I got it wrong. I am hoping to continue to get 100% on all of my other work so that the grade will get even better . (Does that make me a nerd? Oh, well. I'll take that as a compliment if it does.)

I made the mistake a few days ago of actually looking though the syllabuses to get an idea of what my assignments will be for the next few months. It overwhelmed me so much. I had to remind myself that I just need to take this one week or unit at at time. I may even go as far as saying one assignment at time.

The only thing that is really irritating me is the group work. I don't want to have to work as a group to complete any assignments. I guess I will just have to suck it up and do it for the next few months though. I am sure that I will have to do group work in other classes, too. Hopefully, I will be put into a better group though.

A Common Goal

Our marriage counselor suggested that John and I have a common goal to work on since we had been running almost separate lives for so long. It took us a while, but we finally have one. We have started working out together in the morning. For the last three days, we have been trying to get up at 6am and turning on an exercise video and exercising. OK. The videos that we have been doing have only been about 10 minute workouts, but we have got to start some where right?

Dear George

I thank you for buying the tile that I posted on craigslist. I thank you for not only paying my asking price, but doubling it. I am, however, irritated at the way this transaction has been conducted. On Saturday, you said that you would be sending me a check overnight. I expected the check to be in my hand Tuesday at the latest. When you sent me an email stating that your secretary had sent me the wrong check by mistake, and you would like for me to transfer the difference of the funds to your mover, I was understanding. I understand that you are nervous about sending me so much more money than we agreed, but you really need to stop sending me you emails with the subject in all caps. I don't like being yelled at in person or virtually. I have been conducting myself in a professional manner, and I expect the same out of you. I sent you an email stating that my bank would not give me the cash I needed to take to Walmart to do the Moneygram transfer until tomorrow to make sure that the check cleared. Why did you send me an email back telling me to send you the info from the Moneygram receipt today? That would take some kind of miracle. Really, Dude, calm down! I am not the one that made the mistake. maybe you should have a serious talk with the secretary that sent me the amount she was supposed to send the mover. I am an honest person (at least when it comes to stuff like this). I want to get rid of the tile as much as you want to get the tile (maybe even more so).

Thank you,
Rosa

***I feel so much better now!

Torn

I'm torn. I have pretty much been hired on a Dish Network. (I just have to pass the background check and drug screen.) I know I need to work. That part is obvious. The thing is, now that it is becoming more of a reality, I am freeking out.

I was told that I can't miss any days in the first 5 weeks. Sean's first day of school ever (we did preschool at home) will be within that time. John assured me that he can get the day off of work. I am greatful for that, but it is just not the same. I want to be there when he goes into the school for the first time, and I want to be there to pick him up and get his reaction first had as he comes out of school. I am his mommy. It is breaking my heart.

Noel came to me Monday talking about the boys not going to school yet. I told her that they would be in about a month. Her little face lit up, and she said, "Then it will be just me and you til Sean-Sean has a school trip. Then I can go to Melissa's house." That broke my heart too. I had to tell her that it probably wouldn't be that way. She was probably going to have to go to day care. He little face dropped. I told her that we would try to find one that was like going to school (a day care center). She seemed a bit happier, but not as happy as when she thought that her days would be filled with being alone with just Mommy. It broke my heart.

I love my kids. I would do anything for them. I need to get a job so that they can be provided for now and in the future. With the uncertainty in this world, we never know how stable any job is. I hope that in the future that my kids will understand that me getting a job now was for them. In the meantime, I hope the transition is smooth and doesn't upset them too much.