Good day everybody! I hope you all have been doing well. I am doing pretty well myself. It surprises me actually. Today I think I slept better than I have in months. I am not 100% sure as to why that was. I can only think of one thing that I have started doing differently in hopes to improve everything in life. What I did was, at 7:40 after Ally was on the bus and I was fully ready to go to bed, I knelt down beside the bed and prayed. Recently I was inspired by what Melissa had posted. It made me begin thinking. So I have been working to give all my cares, stresses, and worries to God. If we give everything over to him, and have faith that he will take care of it all, then we have nothing to stress over. Then I went to bed. The next thing I know, Zoe's voice was waking me up from down stairs hollering "DADDY!" as she came up the stairs. I knew I was sound asleep because it took a minute or two for me to un-blurr my vision. I looked hard and long at the clock, and realized "Holy shit! 3:30!" In a way, I could have stayed in bed if I allowed myself, but at the same time, I felt pretty good. So around 5:30, I went over to Jewel/Osco and used the atm, pulling out money that we owe Erin's coworker for a used pillow top king size bed, and then the grocery cash. While I was there, I thought fried chicken and potatos sounded like a good dinner on pay day, so I picked some up.
MMMMMM! You know? After I had my gall bladder taken out, my stomach would twist at any grease. It isn't as bad on grease now, but it does just twist randomly even if I haven't eaten anything. So, there are times, like today, when I tell myself "What the hell? Why not? have something you enjoy!" The thing I love most of all about fried chicken is the thing that is the worst for you. The skin. Yup, thats right! I love the fried chicken skin. It doesn't bother me about how unhealthy it is, mainly because we really don't eat fried chicken often. If anything we don't eat out a whole lot really. If we do, we most of the time eat at Pizza Ranch right as Erin gets off work. Good food, plus a discount for the family. ;)
So, yesterday I wrote both in the journal, and in my book, and also I read quite a bit in the book I'm reading. The thing I have not done hardly at all in about a week is exercising. I walk a lot, but I haven't actually gone to the Y, or gone outside with the soul purpose of exercising. I guess I'm still trying to find the right routine for me. Things that relieve stress for me are writing (of course), and playing World of Warcraft whenever I have time. Today I got on and played for about half an hour but that was it. Waking up at 3:30 or 5 has it's set backs, but thats ok. I really didn't mind not being able to play. Did I want to play? Sure? But it was alright that I didn't have time to do it.
It had been a few days since I had written in my book. Yesterday when I sat down to write, I only had about 40 minutes of free time before having to get to work. I ended up completing not quite 3 pages. It amazed me with how the events played out. I am starting to think that my book will probably fall somewhere within the horror category. The scene that the characters just experienced was a place that apparently was haunted and they witnessed someone being beaten and thrown around the room by some unseen force. When I sat down to write, I had no idea where the story was going to head. As I wrote, I got chills. It was playing out in my mind at the same time that my fingers were typing the words onto the page. Then when I came to a good stopping point, I went back and re-read it, and was like "wow!" There have been a hand full of these hair raising events that have already happenned in my book, and the funny thing is that it has not even gotten to the big beefy plot of the story. It will be quite interesting when it is done. It is almost like a doomed honeymoon, with lots of stuff happening. Only, the characters are engaged and not married just yet.
So tomorrow we will be getting the king size mattress and box spring from this guy Erin works with. I'm guessing he drives a truck too because he said he would be able to bring it over. Otherwise I was going to offer to come pick it up myself. That should be a blast getting that upstairs. There is a few other things that we need to get from the garage up to the 2nd floor of the house, and I'm really dreading that. Oh well. It will have to get done. This is why I hate moving. You have to relocate heavy ass pieces of furniture, including beds, dressers, etc, and you kill your joints in the process. The thing is, we still have so much stuff to do around the house. I think about 2 floors to stain, 1 floor to put tile or something else down. There is still stuff in the house that I need to load in the truck and get rid of it. I haven't gotten rid of everything yet either because not enough time during the day, or not enough energy to get myself to do it, or whatever.
Oh well. In closing, I'm just going to write about one more thing. Apparently a National Guard guy came into Pizza Ranch to eat lunch while Erin was working today. They got to talking and Erin mentioned my former service, and that I am currently a security guard. The guy told her that they were located here in clinton and that I should talk to them. That I would get more towards my GI bill than I'm already approved for, and can give them one weekend a month for good money. Erin got his card and brought it home for me. I do intend to call them, and who knows, maybe it will work out. Maybe I could get a sign on bonus. Who knows. My only concern is, if I 'can' join, the training involved. I can't afford to have to take a month off from work and go to army training for a month. The main reason is, yes I will get paid for being gone, but then when I'm back, I may or may not be employed with the security company. The big problem with that is this. If I was active duty, heck yeah! Lets do it! As guard though, I would be part time, and so I wouldn't have very good ways of being able to pay bills. So I will talk to them and see what happens, but I'm not going to get my hopes up. Who knows what opportunities God will send my way!
If I seemed like I was rambling on and on today, I appologize. Today is one of those days that although motivated to write, my mind is not 100% with the task at hand. I will write more for you tomorrow.
Thanks for being here.
CB
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Day 15
Good afternoon everybody. We are officially on Day # 15. I guess that means there is roughly about 350 blogging days left. Will I continue writing here after that point? It is very possible. I might recreate the blog with a regular name and post a link to it from this blog on the 365th post so that anyone keeping up with the blog can then change over to the new one.
So lately, it has been difficult for me to find the strength to go to class. Its not that I don't want to go. I do. But at the same time, I don't. It isn't the 'class' itself. It's more of the having to get myself out the door, to the college, and to class. I am really looking forward to the beginning of June. That is when I am resuming classes online with American Military University towards my bachelors degree in hospitality. I think the big plus I see in the classes I will be resuming online is that they are online. I enjoyed being at a physical campus for part of the semester, but after a little while it got really old. Being the shy type that I see myself as, I realized really quickly that I enjoyed being an online student much more because of a few reasons.
Reason number 1) With being an online student, you have more flexibility as far as when during the day you will do your homework or post comments and whatnot. Going to a physical class on a physical campus, you have to be 'able' to get to the school at the specific time frame. If you can't, sucks for you!
Reason number 2) When you're a student online, you don't have to be physically in a small class room with your class mates. Yes you have to deal with each other on the chat board, and have to respond to each other. Basically you deal with the other students as much as the teacher wants you to do, but other than that, no real direct involvement with the other students. After going to school at the community college here, I am really looking forward to that again because I like to be more solo when it comes to school. Can I work in groups? Sure! Do I like to? Not really. How often in school, be it high school or college (since I know not everyone has taken college classes yet) have you had a group of students that was pleasant with everyone in the group? I was recently in a group of students working on writing a 3 page narrative together. At first, I thought our group was great. We all made it to the study sessions and put ideas on paper and such. Then after the first 2 meetings, one of them stopped showing up.
We talked to the teacher and she said that me and the other gal should just do the paper between the two of us and the other gal would have to do her own version. Well, then I emailed my version to the gal still remaining with me in the group. She tried to open it, but couldn't. She emailed back saying she has had a rough weekend, that she couldn't open the document, and that she felt maybe we should just turn in our own versions. I said "sure, whatever, no problem." Point is, with that experience I don't perticularly care for being grouped up. What was the point of me getting together with them on my off time when I ended up turning in my own version anyway? Basically a waste of time I think. Oh well!
So today was a pretty good day. The worst part is always how tired I feel most of the time. I'm sure as things in life improve, and I give all my worries, cares, and stresses to God, that not only will life start to take a turn for the better, I'm certain I will have more strength all around. To show just how tired I felt, we were watching buffy through netflix live stream. I was laying on the couch and I noticed after a while of laying there that my eyes kept drooping. I know I dozed off a few times. I almost wished that I would crash entirely and not wake up for a few hours. But, my usual routine is to doze off slightly, but to keep fighting it, resulting in me never really falling asleep for long. Either I wake myself up, or Erin says something and I'm awake again.
Roughly around 5:30, Erin was on World of Warcraftand I decided to get on too. Currently my night elf priest is level 11. I had just hit level 11 yesterday before signing off for the night. It happened a lot quicker than I thought it would, but that was because I was working on a quest in this cave swarming with bad creatures. I spent probably about an hour, maybe slightly more, in the cave trying to find the last part of this quest. Everywhere I turned, there were more guys I had to fight my way through. So, my experience went up quickly, and ended up with me being right at the edge of becoming level 11. On Erin's advise, I bought some new clothing for my character increasing the stats. Then I sold my old clothes, and ran to the priest trainer. I had a few new spells and tricks I was able to learn, including the really awesome ability to resurect the dead. I love that ability. When you go into a huge fight with a group, with me as the priest healing and trying to keep people alive, occasionally someone will die. It could be that I couldn't heal them fast enough.
That could be because too many things were attacking them at once, and it takes a few seconds for my healing spells to cast. If it doesn't cast before they run out of health, unfortunately they die. The positive side of that is, now I have this spell and can bring someone back to life if they are killed. This mainly works if they have not left their body yet, I believe. If they have released their spirit then I don't think I can res them.
So, yes we have been playing World of Warcraft daily. The difference between playing today, and playing back in my last life (first marriage), you can't let world of warcraft become your life. It is an awesome game. I will give it that. Is it fun to play? Heck yeah! Is it addicting though? Yes. It can be very addicting if you let it. I think the way Erin and I are on it is very safe because yes we might be on it for an hour or 2, or whatever, through out the day. But after a little while, we each randomly will get off and focus on other things. Say we have a netflix movie on the tv, after we level up or whatever on wow, at least with me personally, I set a goal for myself. Like, last night I wanted to hit level 11. I hit level 10 quick because I was so close. Then once I hit 11 I was like "cool." And logged off. It takes a lot to level up the higher you go, so if you can go a single level then you are doing good. :)
So today Erin made chocolate chip cookies. If you are new here, and do not know me personally, please check out the blogs that I'm following. One is one of my best friends, Melissa from Florida. The other is my wife Erin. Erin is going to school to become a trained chef, and has done a lot towards it already. On her blog she has posted pictures of things that she has done, both unofficial stuff, as well as some that were paid jobs as well.
In closing, the lesson for today will be moderation. They say "Moderation is key." They aren't lying! This goes for everything. It could be eating very fattening, yummy treats. If you go hog wild with them, then you will feel the results of all that going through your body. Same goes for things like role playing computer games. World of Warcraft for instance. It is a great game, and should be a "part" of life. Not life it self. This goes for lots of games out there. Play them, enjoy them. It is important to enjoy the little things in life. Just don't let them become who you are! That is all I have for you today. I hope you enjoyed, and perhaps got something out of what I have written for you here. I will write more for you tomorrow.
Thanks for being here.
CB
So lately, it has been difficult for me to find the strength to go to class. Its not that I don't want to go. I do. But at the same time, I don't. It isn't the 'class' itself. It's more of the having to get myself out the door, to the college, and to class. I am really looking forward to the beginning of June. That is when I am resuming classes online with American Military University towards my bachelors degree in hospitality. I think the big plus I see in the classes I will be resuming online is that they are online. I enjoyed being at a physical campus for part of the semester, but after a little while it got really old. Being the shy type that I see myself as, I realized really quickly that I enjoyed being an online student much more because of a few reasons.
Reason number 1) With being an online student, you have more flexibility as far as when during the day you will do your homework or post comments and whatnot. Going to a physical class on a physical campus, you have to be 'able' to get to the school at the specific time frame. If you can't, sucks for you!
Reason number 2) When you're a student online, you don't have to be physically in a small class room with your class mates. Yes you have to deal with each other on the chat board, and have to respond to each other. Basically you deal with the other students as much as the teacher wants you to do, but other than that, no real direct involvement with the other students. After going to school at the community college here, I am really looking forward to that again because I like to be more solo when it comes to school. Can I work in groups? Sure! Do I like to? Not really. How often in school, be it high school or college (since I know not everyone has taken college classes yet) have you had a group of students that was pleasant with everyone in the group? I was recently in a group of students working on writing a 3 page narrative together. At first, I thought our group was great. We all made it to the study sessions and put ideas on paper and such. Then after the first 2 meetings, one of them stopped showing up.
We talked to the teacher and she said that me and the other gal should just do the paper between the two of us and the other gal would have to do her own version. Well, then I emailed my version to the gal still remaining with me in the group. She tried to open it, but couldn't. She emailed back saying she has had a rough weekend, that she couldn't open the document, and that she felt maybe we should just turn in our own versions. I said "sure, whatever, no problem." Point is, with that experience I don't perticularly care for being grouped up. What was the point of me getting together with them on my off time when I ended up turning in my own version anyway? Basically a waste of time I think. Oh well!
So today was a pretty good day. The worst part is always how tired I feel most of the time. I'm sure as things in life improve, and I give all my worries, cares, and stresses to God, that not only will life start to take a turn for the better, I'm certain I will have more strength all around. To show just how tired I felt, we were watching buffy through netflix live stream. I was laying on the couch and I noticed after a while of laying there that my eyes kept drooping. I know I dozed off a few times. I almost wished that I would crash entirely and not wake up for a few hours. But, my usual routine is to doze off slightly, but to keep fighting it, resulting in me never really falling asleep for long. Either I wake myself up, or Erin says something and I'm awake again.
Roughly around 5:30, Erin was on World of Warcraftand I decided to get on too. Currently my night elf priest is level 11. I had just hit level 11 yesterday before signing off for the night. It happened a lot quicker than I thought it would, but that was because I was working on a quest in this cave swarming with bad creatures. I spent probably about an hour, maybe slightly more, in the cave trying to find the last part of this quest. Everywhere I turned, there were more guys I had to fight my way through. So, my experience went up quickly, and ended up with me being right at the edge of becoming level 11. On Erin's advise, I bought some new clothing for my character increasing the stats. Then I sold my old clothes, and ran to the priest trainer. I had a few new spells and tricks I was able to learn, including the really awesome ability to resurect the dead. I love that ability. When you go into a huge fight with a group, with me as the priest healing and trying to keep people alive, occasionally someone will die. It could be that I couldn't heal them fast enough.
That could be because too many things were attacking them at once, and it takes a few seconds for my healing spells to cast. If it doesn't cast before they run out of health, unfortunately they die. The positive side of that is, now I have this spell and can bring someone back to life if they are killed. This mainly works if they have not left their body yet, I believe. If they have released their spirit then I don't think I can res them.
So, yes we have been playing World of Warcraft daily. The difference between playing today, and playing back in my last life (first marriage), you can't let world of warcraft become your life. It is an awesome game. I will give it that. Is it fun to play? Heck yeah! Is it addicting though? Yes. It can be very addicting if you let it. I think the way Erin and I are on it is very safe because yes we might be on it for an hour or 2, or whatever, through out the day. But after a little while, we each randomly will get off and focus on other things. Say we have a netflix movie on the tv, after we level up or whatever on wow, at least with me personally, I set a goal for myself. Like, last night I wanted to hit level 11. I hit level 10 quick because I was so close. Then once I hit 11 I was like "cool." And logged off. It takes a lot to level up the higher you go, so if you can go a single level then you are doing good. :)
So today Erin made chocolate chip cookies. If you are new here, and do not know me personally, please check out the blogs that I'm following. One is one of my best friends, Melissa from Florida. The other is my wife Erin. Erin is going to school to become a trained chef, and has done a lot towards it already. On her blog she has posted pictures of things that she has done, both unofficial stuff, as well as some that were paid jobs as well.
In closing, the lesson for today will be moderation. They say "Moderation is key." They aren't lying! This goes for everything. It could be eating very fattening, yummy treats. If you go hog wild with them, then you will feel the results of all that going through your body. Same goes for things like role playing computer games. World of Warcraft for instance. It is a great game, and should be a "part" of life. Not life it self. This goes for lots of games out there. Play them, enjoy them. It is important to enjoy the little things in life. Just don't let them become who you are! That is all I have for you today. I hope you enjoyed, and perhaps got something out of what I have written for you here. I will write more for you tomorrow.
Thanks for being here.
CB
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Day 14
Good evening, and welcome to day 14. I have officially completed two weeks of my 365 day quest. Today, Lex's soccer practice went pretty well. I didn't do the main coaching. I could tell that their coach was hesitant to say "Hey man! Their all yours!" I wish. I had a few exercises for them, but decided to just help along side of her. That worked out pretty well. With us both there, I do believe the girls learned something. First she had the girls partner up and pass the ball back and forth.
She kept telling the girls "Make sure you kick with the inside of your foot." After a little while of passing back and forth, I stood beside the coach and asked her why exactly they should only kick with the inside of their foot. She said "That's what we were told, to have them kick with the inside of their foot." I was like "ok, well that is still correct, there are actually two 'right' ways to kick. With the inside of your foot, and with your laces."
Ally kept doing hand stands while she waited a few seconds for her partner to pass back. I hollered out "Lex, what sport are we playing?" She was like "Soccer?" I was like "Yup! So why are we practicing our gymnastics here?" She was like "I was just practicing!" I was like "But this is SOCCER practice. Not gymnastics." To try to get the point across to Lex, I tried something. Lex's partner had to run to the restroom, so I filled in for her. Every time Lex tried to do a hand stand right after she kicked me the ball, I kicked it back at her pretty quickly. One time it hit her in the hand on the ground. The other time she couldn't stand up in time to stop it. It went right past her. When it went past her, one of her team mates that was on my side turned to me and laughed, saying "thats funny. She should stop doing those huh?" I was like "That's why I am trying to kick it back at her while she is doing a hand stand, teach her that she will not be able to see the ball."
So next came two lines, dribbling to the goal passing back and forth, and then one of them shooting it at the goal. At first, they kept passing it behind their team mate, and they would have to stop and come back to get it. The coach called the team back to the center line and talked to them for a second. Before she resumed the drill, I stepped in and used Lex as an example. I was like "ladies, when you pass to your team mate, pass ahead of them. That way they run to catch up to the ball. Lex run that way." As lex took off, I kicked the ball about ten feet ahead of her, and she sprinted to it, just like I was wanting her to do. Then the coach resumed the drill, and now the girls did a really good job at passing. Occasionally they passed behind them, but most of them passed ahead just like I had shown them.
Then, noticing that a lot of the girls kept trying to take the ball all the way into the goalie before shooting, I stood on the outer box and said "Ladies, by the time you get to the line I am standing on, shoot!" The coach looked at me and was like "They can take it in the box though." I was like "that's true, they can. The point is this. The closer they get to the goal, the more likely the goalie will stop them. If they prepare to shoot when they hit this line, it is harder for the goalie to stop it."
So, they started doing that. Not only that, they were kicking harder. The coach began randomly chatting with me about last year with the team and stuff like that. I think that was a good sign. I'm glad she seems open to letting me help her teach the girls. I'm hoping she will open up more and let me teach the girls some drills of my own that I learned as a player when I was younger. I'm sure she will. This is all new for me, as a coach I mean. I have never coached, but now I actually like the idea. Who knows? Maybe I will become a coach on a regular basis. The great thing is this. When Lex and I were driving back home, I commented to her that I think she and her team mates learned some good stuff today and made good progress. I felt really good about how it went with me assisting the regular coach.
So in closing, I will say this. I believe I might be tapping into yet another thing that can and probably will be a positive change in me. If you asked me a year ago I would have told you there would be no way that I would ever be a coach. Now, I have surprised even my self. So I think Erin and I will probably go to the YWCA and I will volunteer myself as a coach. At least for next season since this one has started. We will see what happens. I will keep you all updated. I will write more for you all tomorrow.
Thanks for being here.
CB
She kept telling the girls "Make sure you kick with the inside of your foot." After a little while of passing back and forth, I stood beside the coach and asked her why exactly they should only kick with the inside of their foot. She said "That's what we were told, to have them kick with the inside of their foot." I was like "ok, well that is still correct, there are actually two 'right' ways to kick. With the inside of your foot, and with your laces."
Ally kept doing hand stands while she waited a few seconds for her partner to pass back. I hollered out "Lex, what sport are we playing?" She was like "Soccer?" I was like "Yup! So why are we practicing our gymnastics here?" She was like "I was just practicing!" I was like "But this is SOCCER practice. Not gymnastics." To try to get the point across to Lex, I tried something. Lex's partner had to run to the restroom, so I filled in for her. Every time Lex tried to do a hand stand right after she kicked me the ball, I kicked it back at her pretty quickly. One time it hit her in the hand on the ground. The other time she couldn't stand up in time to stop it. It went right past her. When it went past her, one of her team mates that was on my side turned to me and laughed, saying "thats funny. She should stop doing those huh?" I was like "That's why I am trying to kick it back at her while she is doing a hand stand, teach her that she will not be able to see the ball."
So next came two lines, dribbling to the goal passing back and forth, and then one of them shooting it at the goal. At first, they kept passing it behind their team mate, and they would have to stop and come back to get it. The coach called the team back to the center line and talked to them for a second. Before she resumed the drill, I stepped in and used Lex as an example. I was like "ladies, when you pass to your team mate, pass ahead of them. That way they run to catch up to the ball. Lex run that way." As lex took off, I kicked the ball about ten feet ahead of her, and she sprinted to it, just like I was wanting her to do. Then the coach resumed the drill, and now the girls did a really good job at passing. Occasionally they passed behind them, but most of them passed ahead just like I had shown them.
Then, noticing that a lot of the girls kept trying to take the ball all the way into the goalie before shooting, I stood on the outer box and said "Ladies, by the time you get to the line I am standing on, shoot!" The coach looked at me and was like "They can take it in the box though." I was like "that's true, they can. The point is this. The closer they get to the goal, the more likely the goalie will stop them. If they prepare to shoot when they hit this line, it is harder for the goalie to stop it."
So, they started doing that. Not only that, they were kicking harder. The coach began randomly chatting with me about last year with the team and stuff like that. I think that was a good sign. I'm glad she seems open to letting me help her teach the girls. I'm hoping she will open up more and let me teach the girls some drills of my own that I learned as a player when I was younger. I'm sure she will. This is all new for me, as a coach I mean. I have never coached, but now I actually like the idea. Who knows? Maybe I will become a coach on a regular basis. The great thing is this. When Lex and I were driving back home, I commented to her that I think she and her team mates learned some good stuff today and made good progress. I felt really good about how it went with me assisting the regular coach.
So in closing, I will say this. I believe I might be tapping into yet another thing that can and probably will be a positive change in me. If you asked me a year ago I would have told you there would be no way that I would ever be a coach. Now, I have surprised even my self. So I think Erin and I will probably go to the YWCA and I will volunteer myself as a coach. At least for next season since this one has started. We will see what happens. I will keep you all updated. I will write more for you all tomorrow.
Thanks for being here.
CB
Monday, April 19, 2010
Day 13
Good evening everybody. Today went pretty well. It was interesting, as most days are though. This morning I had my alarm set so that I could get Lex up and get her to the bus stop. I remember it going off, and I remember just laying my head down for another minute. I think what happenned was I was sure I set the snooze to go off in 15 more minutes and then next thing I knew it was 8:25 and Erin was asking me if I got Lex up. So I jumped up, turned Lex's light on. It was already light by that point and she looked up at me like "huh? what's going on?" I was like "Lex get up and get dressed quick. I will get your breakfast on the table. I overslept, so when you're ready to go I will drop you off.
So by the time I got back from dropping Lex off at school, when I got home Erin had gotten Zoe up and was getting ready for work. Zoe was scheduled to go to the new baby sitter we have for her. That is going well. The new sitter, being very much like a grandma, loves having Zoe there. She told Erin that Zoe is the most well behaved, sweetest girl that she has. I think she said a few other complimenting words but I don't remember exactly what Erin told me. After the melt down with the original baby sitter, it is nice to hear good things. We knew that Zoe was not a problem child, but it is still nice to hear the care giver tell you how much they really like having them there.
So tonight for dinner I made stew and 5 cheese bread. It was good. I am definitely a meat and vegi's guy. Can't get any more meat and vegi's than beef stew loaded with carrots, corn, cellery and potatos.
This afternoon, Lex had a good swim lesson. She is definitely one of, if not THE best swimmer in the class. The funny thing is, she's the most wild of the group as well. The instructor would splash the kids randomly during the lesson, and Lex would keep splashing back over and over until the instructor would say "alright lets go back to the wall and do the next exercise." I didn't say anything to her during the lesson, but mentioned to Erin through a text what she was doing. When we left, I talked to her a little bit and Erin talked to her when we got home. Basically what we told her was that although it is fun to splash, that when she is at a lesson, she needs to pay attention 100%. I know she is young and it is so hard to stay focused and so easy to play around.
So to close this out, last topic of discussion is health care. Are you a supporter of there being a universal health care program? Do you have health care currently? I have been a supporter of Obama since day 1. I know there are people out there, some of them are friends of ours, whom think Obama is the worst. Oh well. I will not argue with you if you are one of the people who believes that. We are all entitled to our oppinion. The reason I wanted to talk about health care today is mainly because of my own health. Erin and I were insured by the state of Iowa through medicaid when I was no longer employed by schwans. We were still employed with them up until after I was with my current employer for a few months. Then we received a letter from DHS saying that Lex and Zoe are still insured, but Erin and I are not anymore because we make too much money. Too much money? I wish I felt that way too! Wouldn't we all like to feel and believe that we make too much money? Some day! Some day!
So, the important thing is that the girls are still insured. That's very important and very good. So, with Erin and I not having health care currently, that is a little stresser at least on my end. I'm sure Erin feels it too, but I don't know what she thinks about it. I had the option when I first started with my employer, to get health benefits through them but I decided not to for 2 reasons. Reason number 1: We had health insurance through the state. Reason number 2: We have enough trouble trying to pay all the bills with both our paychecks combined, and then take away a decent chunk per month to pay the premiums from my employer? So those are the reasons why I didn't go for it. So, health wise, I have been slightly concerned and wanting "to" go and get checked out extensively. When I first had my gall bladder taken out, I had the worst stomach issues. After eating, my stomach would randomly twist and turn and I would end up in the bathroom (no details needed there). Well, lately the past week or so, I am a lot more tired. I'm sure that could be nothing, but still. Lately even if I hadn't eaten anything yet, I some time feel like crap. My stomach twists and of course, back in the rest room again. It has made me wonder if maybe there isn't an underlying issue. Hopefully I am fine, and just over doing it in my head. All the same, plese keep us in your prayers just to be on the safe side. :)
It's stressful enough not being about to cover all the bills. I like to be able to pay whatever we can, even if it is not that much. As far as bills go, take the energy bill for instance. I don't know why, but that bill is our worst one. It is the bill that is so far out of control, it is not even funny. It is reassuring for us to hear that all across Iowa, there are many thousands, I don't know the exact number, but there are like 85,000 people having trouble paying their electric bill. What can we do? I have no idea.
My goal at least by the time I reach my one year mark here on this blog, I want to go completely off the grid. What I mean by "off the grid," is I want to have solar and wind power be our only source of electricity for our house. I want to get away from the electric company, who is the only one in this area I believe. It will happen. I have faith that it will. It's just like my dream of being a full time author, I know that will happen as long as I keep working on it and never give up. Hense, I am here on the blog writing every day no matter how much or how little I feel like writing. I try to write as much as I possibly can, but some days I am happy to just have a page written.
So in closing, today's lesson is this. If you think you feel like something might be wrong with you, try your hardest to get checked out by your doctor. I know it might be difficult, such as with Erin and I not having health care currently, but if you are able to then get looked at. It could be something serious and it is best to catch things near the early stages rather than when it is too late. I hope that I will not be eating my own words in the near future! Again, please pray for us as far as that goes. So there you have it. I will write more for you tomorrow.
Thanks for being here.
CB
So by the time I got back from dropping Lex off at school, when I got home Erin had gotten Zoe up and was getting ready for work. Zoe was scheduled to go to the new baby sitter we have for her. That is going well. The new sitter, being very much like a grandma, loves having Zoe there. She told Erin that Zoe is the most well behaved, sweetest girl that she has. I think she said a few other complimenting words but I don't remember exactly what Erin told me. After the melt down with the original baby sitter, it is nice to hear good things. We knew that Zoe was not a problem child, but it is still nice to hear the care giver tell you how much they really like having them there.
So tonight for dinner I made stew and 5 cheese bread. It was good. I am definitely a meat and vegi's guy. Can't get any more meat and vegi's than beef stew loaded with carrots, corn, cellery and potatos.
This afternoon, Lex had a good swim lesson. She is definitely one of, if not THE best swimmer in the class. The funny thing is, she's the most wild of the group as well. The instructor would splash the kids randomly during the lesson, and Lex would keep splashing back over and over until the instructor would say "alright lets go back to the wall and do the next exercise." I didn't say anything to her during the lesson, but mentioned to Erin through a text what she was doing. When we left, I talked to her a little bit and Erin talked to her when we got home. Basically what we told her was that although it is fun to splash, that when she is at a lesson, she needs to pay attention 100%. I know she is young and it is so hard to stay focused and so easy to play around.
So to close this out, last topic of discussion is health care. Are you a supporter of there being a universal health care program? Do you have health care currently? I have been a supporter of Obama since day 1. I know there are people out there, some of them are friends of ours, whom think Obama is the worst. Oh well. I will not argue with you if you are one of the people who believes that. We are all entitled to our oppinion. The reason I wanted to talk about health care today is mainly because of my own health. Erin and I were insured by the state of Iowa through medicaid when I was no longer employed by schwans. We were still employed with them up until after I was with my current employer for a few months. Then we received a letter from DHS saying that Lex and Zoe are still insured, but Erin and I are not anymore because we make too much money. Too much money? I wish I felt that way too! Wouldn't we all like to feel and believe that we make too much money? Some day! Some day!
So, the important thing is that the girls are still insured. That's very important and very good. So, with Erin and I not having health care currently, that is a little stresser at least on my end. I'm sure Erin feels it too, but I don't know what she thinks about it. I had the option when I first started with my employer, to get health benefits through them but I decided not to for 2 reasons. Reason number 1: We had health insurance through the state. Reason number 2: We have enough trouble trying to pay all the bills with both our paychecks combined, and then take away a decent chunk per month to pay the premiums from my employer? So those are the reasons why I didn't go for it. So, health wise, I have been slightly concerned and wanting "to" go and get checked out extensively. When I first had my gall bladder taken out, I had the worst stomach issues. After eating, my stomach would randomly twist and turn and I would end up in the bathroom (no details needed there). Well, lately the past week or so, I am a lot more tired. I'm sure that could be nothing, but still. Lately even if I hadn't eaten anything yet, I some time feel like crap. My stomach twists and of course, back in the rest room again. It has made me wonder if maybe there isn't an underlying issue. Hopefully I am fine, and just over doing it in my head. All the same, plese keep us in your prayers just to be on the safe side. :)
It's stressful enough not being about to cover all the bills. I like to be able to pay whatever we can, even if it is not that much. As far as bills go, take the energy bill for instance. I don't know why, but that bill is our worst one. It is the bill that is so far out of control, it is not even funny. It is reassuring for us to hear that all across Iowa, there are many thousands, I don't know the exact number, but there are like 85,000 people having trouble paying their electric bill. What can we do? I have no idea.
My goal at least by the time I reach my one year mark here on this blog, I want to go completely off the grid. What I mean by "off the grid," is I want to have solar and wind power be our only source of electricity for our house. I want to get away from the electric company, who is the only one in this area I believe. It will happen. I have faith that it will. It's just like my dream of being a full time author, I know that will happen as long as I keep working on it and never give up. Hense, I am here on the blog writing every day no matter how much or how little I feel like writing. I try to write as much as I possibly can, but some days I am happy to just have a page written.
So in closing, today's lesson is this. If you think you feel like something might be wrong with you, try your hardest to get checked out by your doctor. I know it might be difficult, such as with Erin and I not having health care currently, but if you are able to then get looked at. It could be something serious and it is best to catch things near the early stages rather than when it is too late. I hope that I will not be eating my own words in the near future! Again, please pray for us as far as that goes. So there you have it. I will write more for you tomorrow.
Thanks for being here.
CB
Sunday, April 18, 2010
Day 12
What a day. I think it went pretty well. The funny thing is, today I was on wow a ton. I must have spent 3 hours of it trying to figure out how to come back to life though. I fell off of a cliff and apparently my body was somewhere half way down. Every time I tried to go back to my body and res back to life, I would fall off the cliff in spirit form. For a second or two as my spirit fell past my body I would get the "Come back to life?" prompt, but before I could press yes the prompt would go away. I can't count the number of times I was like "Damnit!" LOL!
So, today I did wow quite a bit. When Erin got home from work, I logged off, and got the lawn mowed. I would have done it earlier but didn't want to be out there with the girls inside. After I had mowed the lawn and was laying down on the couch cooling off, my dad called. He asked if I was still in school and how many classes I was in. I told him I was only in one now, and that it was just way too much to handle trying to get to classes on campus when I have such a weird schedule some days. He asked what my plans were and I told hima bout me resuming my online school with the hospitality management bachelors degree starting in June. To my surprise he didn't seem shocked or upset. I guess he was just happy to know what was going on. What can I say? Honesty has always worked best. Sometimes it is the most difficult to do, but it is always the best bet.
So about wow. I've got mixed feelings about it. I restarted the character I had when I went through my divorce, only this time I made a male night elf priest instead of a female. My previous character that was stolen apparently is long gone, because I was able to use the same name for him that I had used previously. Well through the time that I have played, I actually enjoy it a lot! The mixed feeling part is last night when I was trying to go to sleep, I was reliving parts of when the ex and I were working in Cut Bank, Montana. That was fun. *Rolls Eyes* The job was good starting out, but after a while things became all WoW all the time. So, I guess I have a negative past tied to the game. But now Erin and I are both on there and I know that things will be better. She enjoys the game, and so do I. Plus, since I'm a healer, I enjoy helping other players during battles and will be doing that for Erin some time as we level our characters up.
So when my dad called, we talked about soccer, the house, etc. I mentioned that I just did the lawn. He asked if we were keeping the house up and I told him yup we were. Then we talked about Ally being in soccer and how I will probably be jumping in and starting to coach them. The thing is, the people coaching the team apparently don't know too much about the sport. They do their best, but the main coach mentioned to Erin that Soccer is the sport she knows the least about over all and to tell me if I wanted to help coach that I'd be more than welcome. I have never coached soccer before. I have played for most my life minus the last few years, and I have ref'd. I know all the things about soccer, lots of different tricks and exercises you can do to get better. I don't think it'd be as big a deal if I was the main and only coach. I'm not sure I want to work "with" someone. XD I guess I probably will though, and maybe for next year I will volunteer to have my own team. We'll see what happens. I got lots of pointers from dad about how to work with the girls on different things. I know they are young, so they wont get as much as older players, but this is the stage in life when learning how to play is a good thing mainly because it will help them when they get older. I guess I have to admit that a big part of me is pretty nervous. I know I have nothing to be nervous about, but I still am. I can't explain it.
So, I appologize. Tonight I really do not know what to write about. It's weird, when I'm at home on my days off, I have mentioned that it is hard for me to be open minded on my days off for some reason. That's why when I sit down and try to write a completely off the wall entry, I go out on the porch or go somewhere where I can just let go. So, I will write more for you tomorrow. With any luck, there will be more going on and I will be able to let it all out.
Thanks for being here.
CB
So, today I did wow quite a bit. When Erin got home from work, I logged off, and got the lawn mowed. I would have done it earlier but didn't want to be out there with the girls inside. After I had mowed the lawn and was laying down on the couch cooling off, my dad called. He asked if I was still in school and how many classes I was in. I told him I was only in one now, and that it was just way too much to handle trying to get to classes on campus when I have such a weird schedule some days. He asked what my plans were and I told hima bout me resuming my online school with the hospitality management bachelors degree starting in June. To my surprise he didn't seem shocked or upset. I guess he was just happy to know what was going on. What can I say? Honesty has always worked best. Sometimes it is the most difficult to do, but it is always the best bet.
So about wow. I've got mixed feelings about it. I restarted the character I had when I went through my divorce, only this time I made a male night elf priest instead of a female. My previous character that was stolen apparently is long gone, because I was able to use the same name for him that I had used previously. Well through the time that I have played, I actually enjoy it a lot! The mixed feeling part is last night when I was trying to go to sleep, I was reliving parts of when the ex and I were working in Cut Bank, Montana. That was fun. *Rolls Eyes* The job was good starting out, but after a while things became all WoW all the time. So, I guess I have a negative past tied to the game. But now Erin and I are both on there and I know that things will be better. She enjoys the game, and so do I. Plus, since I'm a healer, I enjoy helping other players during battles and will be doing that for Erin some time as we level our characters up.
So when my dad called, we talked about soccer, the house, etc. I mentioned that I just did the lawn. He asked if we were keeping the house up and I told him yup we were. Then we talked about Ally being in soccer and how I will probably be jumping in and starting to coach them. The thing is, the people coaching the team apparently don't know too much about the sport. They do their best, but the main coach mentioned to Erin that Soccer is the sport she knows the least about over all and to tell me if I wanted to help coach that I'd be more than welcome. I have never coached soccer before. I have played for most my life minus the last few years, and I have ref'd. I know all the things about soccer, lots of different tricks and exercises you can do to get better. I don't think it'd be as big a deal if I was the main and only coach. I'm not sure I want to work "with" someone. XD I guess I probably will though, and maybe for next year I will volunteer to have my own team. We'll see what happens. I got lots of pointers from dad about how to work with the girls on different things. I know they are young, so they wont get as much as older players, but this is the stage in life when learning how to play is a good thing mainly because it will help them when they get older. I guess I have to admit that a big part of me is pretty nervous. I know I have nothing to be nervous about, but I still am. I can't explain it.
So, I appologize. Tonight I really do not know what to write about. It's weird, when I'm at home on my days off, I have mentioned that it is hard for me to be open minded on my days off for some reason. That's why when I sit down and try to write a completely off the wall entry, I go out on the porch or go somewhere where I can just let go. So, I will write more for you tomorrow. With any luck, there will be more going on and I will be able to let it all out.
Thanks for being here.
CB
Saturday, April 17, 2010
April 17th, 2010 Day 11
Good evening. What an interesting day today turned out to be. After not getting up until 5PM yesterday, I was much more awake and energized at work. I actually enjoyed that quite a bit. Usually as the night goes on, I slowly get more and more tired, all the while drinking more water and walking around to keep myself alert and focused. Well this morning when I got off, because Ally had had her soccer game starting at 9AM, and Erin had to work shortly after that, I knew I had a choice to make. I could A) go to sleep for 2 or 3 hours, get up and go to her game, then come home and crash again. B) stay awake and wait to go to sleep until after the game. I decided I wanted to go with option B, because I do not personally enjoy the way I feel after only sleeping 2 hours. I know that feeling well. It was what I felt every day each week during the first part of college classes while I was taking pretty much a full load on campus. Can you say UGH! I sure can!
So first when I got off, I went and put a $20.00 into the gas tank of my truck. I was on the red line and having to drive to south clinton for the soccer game would easily dent the gas level. After leaving the gas station, I parked in my driveway but left the keys in the truck. I ran over to the house and began grabbing trash bags. I threw the trash bags we had accumulated, which wasn't too many, but it was enough, into the bed of the truck. That's the great thing about owning a truck is it makes getting rid of junk much easier. So after coming home from getting rid of the trash, I went to work in the kitchen. It was just barely 20 minutes after 6 by this point. It only took me a minute or 2 to decide what I wanted to make for breakfast. I knew Erin was getting up just after 7 so she could get Ally up. Ally had soccer pictures at 8AM. I grabbed 2 eggs per person, some hash brown patties (Yup, at ALDI's, they have hashbrown patties that in a way are actually better than mcdonalds! Its a pack of like 15 or something that you bake for less than ten minutes and wahlah! Perfecto!)
So anyway, I grabbed the eggs and the hashbrowns, set the oven to preheat, put the hashbrowns on a baking sheet, put a pot of water on to bowl the eggs, and grabbed a frying pan. Then I grabbed the box of sausage patties out of the freezer. There was only 3 left, but that was ok. When I was done, I had a plate for me, Ally, and Erin with a sausage pattie, 2 hard boiled eggs, and at least one or two hashbrown patties. For Zoe I gave her a single hard boiled egg and a cut up hashbrown pattie. She tried to eat the egg, but I think the texture of the yoke was too much for her because she gagged on it. She never really cared for the hashbrown. So we gave her one of Erin's home made cereal bars and she plowed right through that. I was like "At least I tried I guess." "I'm not blaming you," Erin said. "I know, I'm just saying I tried to include her with what the rest of the family was eating. Oh well!"
So, this may sound strange, but where I'm writing from right now is the kitchen. I'm leaning in the corner of the counter about a foot from the stove top. I have stuffed chicken breasts cooking in the oven with about 14 minutes to go as of this point in this entry, and water coming to a boil on top of the stove for mac and cheese. Now the noodles are in and I officially have twelve minutes till everything will be ready. So I guess I have to write fast! My intent is to be done with today's entry by the time I am plating everything.
So just after breakfast, it was 7:45. Erin commented about needing to leave so Ally would be on time for her pictures. I think she meant for all of us to leave together, but I commented that she should head out with Ally, and that Zoe and I would head out in about 40 minutes. The reason was because I was going to have to drive seperately anyway, and also I wanted to charge the video camera a little bit so I could get video of Ally playing in her first soccer game. At 8 am, yes I was tired, but not really to the point where I felt like I was going to collapse due to having been able to get lots of sleep and sleep late yesterday.
So after the game, Ally, Zoe and I drove home in my truck, unloaded the folding chairs and stroller and came inside. I put the wiggles back on for them, figuring that I wanted to stay up for a little bit before I put Zoe down for a nap and crashed myself as well. By 11:30, Zoe had been awake since 7 and I could tell she was tired and cranky. So I performed the good ol amazing diaper change, and layed her down for a nap with her wooby. I turned off the TV and asked Ally to play quietly or take a nap in her room. Then I changed into my sleep pants, and with our husky up on the bed with me, went to sleep myself. I only figured maybe at least a few hours but I didn't wake up till after 5:30. In a way I didn't like that, but at the same time I didn't mind. Two days in a row of waking up feeling rested. I guess you could say it feels wierd because I'm too used to feeling "slightly rested" but with slightly rested I also feel slightly tired. So it is nice to feel like I actually got decent sleep for a change. When I feel like this, it is much easier for me to feel motivated to do extra stuff like I did this morning when I loaded up the trash bags and got rid of them, and then got breakfast ready.
So when I got up, I realized Erin was playing World of Warcraft. I was surprised. I haven't been on World of Warcraft, otherwise known as WOW, basically since Lori and I divorced. I had a different character back then that was worked up a lot, but it was stolen by a friend of Lori. Having to start over, and all alone, I started WOW again but just didn't like the idea of going through all that work again. My computer is redownloading and installing the game though right now since Erin is on there. I figure, I might as well too. I can restart my priest(healer) and as we level our characters up we can travel together and a warrior (Her character) with a healer (my character) can do really well. One does the major fighting while I tag along and keep her from dying. ;) My brother and sister in law are on wow apparently but I'm sure they are already high level characters and such.
When I started going through the download and install process, I realized I had forgotten just how long the process takes. Oh my gosh! After an hour, the progress was only 5% completed. Part of me felt like after it gets past a certain percentage, that it goes faster and I was right. After about 15 or 20% it got to 60% in about twenty more minutes. While that was downloading and installing I decided what better time to multi task and get my writing done than when I'm waiting on wow to install? So here I am.
So one other thing before I close out this entry for today. Melissa called me. Yup, I'm shocked too. The funny thing was, when her name came up on my phone, I had a feeling she pocket dialed me, and I believe I was right! On the other end, I could hear her talking to someone, and at one point I thought she answered me becaues when I said "Hello?" I heard her say "Hello?" but it was distant and I don't know if she was talking to me. Eventually I hung up and then texted her but have not gotten a response yet. Poor girl. She's busy busy busy. She's a busy little bee. Thankfully she has been blessed with a good job, although it sounds pretty hectic at times. However, thankfully she has also been blessed with the strength to handle everything they throw at her.
So on that note, I'm going to bring this entry to a close. Currently I can't think of a lesson for today. I guess, me being the smart #@# that I am, I am going to be bold and say the lesson for today is to try to stick around with this blog for the entire year that I'm doing it. I dare ya! ;) Think you can do it? I hope so!
O:-) I'm just giving you a hard time. I will write more for you tomorrow. Talk to you then!
Thanks for being here!
CB
So first when I got off, I went and put a $20.00 into the gas tank of my truck. I was on the red line and having to drive to south clinton for the soccer game would easily dent the gas level. After leaving the gas station, I parked in my driveway but left the keys in the truck. I ran over to the house and began grabbing trash bags. I threw the trash bags we had accumulated, which wasn't too many, but it was enough, into the bed of the truck. That's the great thing about owning a truck is it makes getting rid of junk much easier. So after coming home from getting rid of the trash, I went to work in the kitchen. It was just barely 20 minutes after 6 by this point. It only took me a minute or 2 to decide what I wanted to make for breakfast. I knew Erin was getting up just after 7 so she could get Ally up. Ally had soccer pictures at 8AM. I grabbed 2 eggs per person, some hash brown patties (Yup, at ALDI's, they have hashbrown patties that in a way are actually better than mcdonalds! Its a pack of like 15 or something that you bake for less than ten minutes and wahlah! Perfecto!)
So anyway, I grabbed the eggs and the hashbrowns, set the oven to preheat, put the hashbrowns on a baking sheet, put a pot of water on to bowl the eggs, and grabbed a frying pan. Then I grabbed the box of sausage patties out of the freezer. There was only 3 left, but that was ok. When I was done, I had a plate for me, Ally, and Erin with a sausage pattie, 2 hard boiled eggs, and at least one or two hashbrown patties. For Zoe I gave her a single hard boiled egg and a cut up hashbrown pattie. She tried to eat the egg, but I think the texture of the yoke was too much for her because she gagged on it. She never really cared for the hashbrown. So we gave her one of Erin's home made cereal bars and she plowed right through that. I was like "At least I tried I guess." "I'm not blaming you," Erin said. "I know, I'm just saying I tried to include her with what the rest of the family was eating. Oh well!"
So, this may sound strange, but where I'm writing from right now is the kitchen. I'm leaning in the corner of the counter about a foot from the stove top. I have stuffed chicken breasts cooking in the oven with about 14 minutes to go as of this point in this entry, and water coming to a boil on top of the stove for mac and cheese. Now the noodles are in and I officially have twelve minutes till everything will be ready. So I guess I have to write fast! My intent is to be done with today's entry by the time I am plating everything.
So just after breakfast, it was 7:45. Erin commented about needing to leave so Ally would be on time for her pictures. I think she meant for all of us to leave together, but I commented that she should head out with Ally, and that Zoe and I would head out in about 40 minutes. The reason was because I was going to have to drive seperately anyway, and also I wanted to charge the video camera a little bit so I could get video of Ally playing in her first soccer game. At 8 am, yes I was tired, but not really to the point where I felt like I was going to collapse due to having been able to get lots of sleep and sleep late yesterday.
So after the game, Ally, Zoe and I drove home in my truck, unloaded the folding chairs and stroller and came inside. I put the wiggles back on for them, figuring that I wanted to stay up for a little bit before I put Zoe down for a nap and crashed myself as well. By 11:30, Zoe had been awake since 7 and I could tell she was tired and cranky. So I performed the good ol amazing diaper change, and layed her down for a nap with her wooby. I turned off the TV and asked Ally to play quietly or take a nap in her room. Then I changed into my sleep pants, and with our husky up on the bed with me, went to sleep myself. I only figured maybe at least a few hours but I didn't wake up till after 5:30. In a way I didn't like that, but at the same time I didn't mind. Two days in a row of waking up feeling rested. I guess you could say it feels wierd because I'm too used to feeling "slightly rested" but with slightly rested I also feel slightly tired. So it is nice to feel like I actually got decent sleep for a change. When I feel like this, it is much easier for me to feel motivated to do extra stuff like I did this morning when I loaded up the trash bags and got rid of them, and then got breakfast ready.
So when I got up, I realized Erin was playing World of Warcraft. I was surprised. I haven't been on World of Warcraft, otherwise known as WOW, basically since Lori and I divorced. I had a different character back then that was worked up a lot, but it was stolen by a friend of Lori. Having to start over, and all alone, I started WOW again but just didn't like the idea of going through all that work again. My computer is redownloading and installing the game though right now since Erin is on there. I figure, I might as well too. I can restart my priest(healer) and as we level our characters up we can travel together and a warrior (Her character) with a healer (my character) can do really well. One does the major fighting while I tag along and keep her from dying. ;) My brother and sister in law are on wow apparently but I'm sure they are already high level characters and such.
When I started going through the download and install process, I realized I had forgotten just how long the process takes. Oh my gosh! After an hour, the progress was only 5% completed. Part of me felt like after it gets past a certain percentage, that it goes faster and I was right. After about 15 or 20% it got to 60% in about twenty more minutes. While that was downloading and installing I decided what better time to multi task and get my writing done than when I'm waiting on wow to install? So here I am.
So one other thing before I close out this entry for today. Melissa called me. Yup, I'm shocked too. The funny thing was, when her name came up on my phone, I had a feeling she pocket dialed me, and I believe I was right! On the other end, I could hear her talking to someone, and at one point I thought she answered me becaues when I said "Hello?" I heard her say "Hello?" but it was distant and I don't know if she was talking to me. Eventually I hung up and then texted her but have not gotten a response yet. Poor girl. She's busy busy busy. She's a busy little bee. Thankfully she has been blessed with a good job, although it sounds pretty hectic at times. However, thankfully she has also been blessed with the strength to handle everything they throw at her.
So on that note, I'm going to bring this entry to a close. Currently I can't think of a lesson for today. I guess, me being the smart #@# that I am, I am going to be bold and say the lesson for today is to try to stick around with this blog for the entire year that I'm doing it. I dare ya! ;) Think you can do it? I hope so!
O:-) I'm just giving you a hard time. I will write more for you tomorrow. Talk to you then!
Thanks for being here!
CB
Friday, April 16, 2010
April 16th, 2010 Day 10
Good evening everyone. Today is Friday, and we are now on day 10. Last night while I was at work, I grabbed a blank card, and folded it up in my pocket. What I do with the card is I use it to write down thoughts and ideas I have throughout the night that I want to write about here. Last night I really did not have anything all night that jumped out and said "Write about me!" I thought about one thing, and we will cover that now.
Topic of discussion, staying up all night. Have you stayed up all night? Why? Was it because you were simply up watching tv, or watching movies or whatever? Or, were you at work? I have stayed up all night before just because, but now I do it because I work 3rd shift. At first, it was pretty hard to get used to. I would bring Mt Dew, some tea, and a thermas of coffee with me each shift. I would almost always go through the entire thermas of coffee just to keep myself awake and alert through out the night.
Usually I can get to 2 or 3 in the morning, and then my last couple hours were the hardest. At the time I was saying "Thank God for Coffee!" Now though? Not so much. About a month ago, I came home from work, went to sleep, and woke up feeling extremely sick to my stomach. On top of that, I felt really weak. The only way I kept from throwing up was to remain laying down. I could not bring myself to eat anything. I tried munching on crackers but could not even do that. When I finally got over it, I tried to drink a cup of coffee at work the next day. That did not go over well. One sip quite literally felt like a ton of bricks landing in my stomach with tremendous force. I tried to make coffee much sweeter and tastier and it still hit me the same. I was having the hardest time staying awake without being able to handle coffee. So I got online and researched "Staying awake."
The results I got basically said that if you are well hydrated it is easier to keep yourself awake. So, since then I drink lots of water throughout my shift. I do try to take one mountain dew with me if we have any left at home. So the thing that I decided I would write about this morning is this. Even with staying well hydrated throughout the night, when I do get tired, it is usually between 5 and 6. I get off at 6, and my last 30-40 minutes after I have faxed the paperwork over to my employer, I pull out whatever book I'm working on and read. The last few days I have experienced moments in the last hour and a half that literally I found myself swaying to the side while standing stationary. I was talking to a house keeper at south campus for about five minutes or so and I kept feeling like I was going to fall over. I think the phrase for that is "Dead on my feet."
So this morning, around 5:30, I had faxed the documentation over, and turned them in to the client, and I found myself holding firmly on the railing as I went back down stairs. It's an interesting feeling. To write about it in detail for you, I would almost say it's very much as though you are looking through a layer of fog. You can see everything around you, but it is slightly hazy, and because of this I sometimes feel like my balance is off. Then a thought crossed my mind. "Is this pretty much like being drunk in a way?" In a way Yes, and also No. Yes because when you are tired to the point of fog, at least for me, maybe not for you, my reaction time feels slower. I've even noticed memory issues when I'm tired. I will have to double check something I just did minutes earlier because I can't recall if I locked that door or not. I'm the kind of employee that I want to know for sure that I have done everything right, and so if there is even a small shred of doubt then I go back and double check. Better to be certain than to wonder.
The reason why I say "No," is because even when you are tired there are fairly simple things you can do to wake yourself up and be more alert. It is not so easy to do when you are drunk. There is always the option to drink coffee to fight the effects, and eventually it will help, but that also is partly because of the amount of time that has passed since the last drink. As it makes it's way through your body, the drunkeness slowly passes. So, the answer to that is maybe ci maybe no.
I mentioned earlier about reading for the last portion of my shift before I leave. I want to go into that a little bit as far as the book goes. Recently I had been reading a book called Duma Key by Stephen King. I really loved it. It was a great story. Yesterday morning around 7:15 AM while waiting to take Ally down to the bus stop, I finished it. In the story, a couple of the main characters died in various ways, and that truly sucked! It is one of those books for me that I actually began to care about what happened to the characters. So many things happened, such as the deaths of his friends and loved ones, that I did not expect. It caught me completely off guard. It was definitely an emotional roller coaster! If you feel brave enough and think you could handle it, I recommend it!
Daily update. Today I set my alarm for 1PM since my class goes on at 2. I hit the snooze a few times, and then next thing you know it is 1:55PM. I jumped up, thinking "Shit!" I started to get dressed thinking "Great, I'm going to be about ten minutes late!" Then something occured to me. 1) no assignments were due today. We just had to read 2 chapters and I had done that. 2) As far as I knew, we were going to be given a chance to research on the newest paper we are starting. I already know the topic I'm going to be doing and so I can do research myself. No big deal. I glanced back to the bed, and another thought crossed my mind. "I have really not slept a whole lot this week. I have been a perfect class attendant the past two months. I have not missed a single class in a while. Granted, I have been a few minutes late, but thats not so bad. Better a few minutes late than the whole class missed I say. So I decided I would email my instructor that I was sorry I couldn't make it to class, and then I went back to bed. I realized that it was 5PM when Ally came in and asked me a question. So yes, I slept really late for a change but it was very much needed. Plus tomorrow morning I will not sleep a whole lot because I will be at Ally's first soccer game! That should be lots of fun.
So, the lesson for today readers is this. 1) Drink lots of water. Water may not taste as good as soda, but it is extremely good for you. Drinking water instead of soda, or at least less soda, can be helpful if you are trying to lose weight. 2) Give yourself a break from time to time. If you are go, go, go all the time without stopping, eventually you will crash and hit rock bottom. Trust me, I have been there and know the feeling well, as I'm sure a lot of you do too. Stop, breathe, sleep a little extra whenever you get the chance, and just enjoy life. Life is too short. Enjoy the little things while you can! Thats all for today. I hope today's entry was enjoyable and that you possibly got something useful out of it. I will write again for you tomorrow.
Thanks for being here.
CB
Topic of discussion, staying up all night. Have you stayed up all night? Why? Was it because you were simply up watching tv, or watching movies or whatever? Or, were you at work? I have stayed up all night before just because, but now I do it because I work 3rd shift. At first, it was pretty hard to get used to. I would bring Mt Dew, some tea, and a thermas of coffee with me each shift. I would almost always go through the entire thermas of coffee just to keep myself awake and alert through out the night.
Usually I can get to 2 or 3 in the morning, and then my last couple hours were the hardest. At the time I was saying "Thank God for Coffee!" Now though? Not so much. About a month ago, I came home from work, went to sleep, and woke up feeling extremely sick to my stomach. On top of that, I felt really weak. The only way I kept from throwing up was to remain laying down. I could not bring myself to eat anything. I tried munching on crackers but could not even do that. When I finally got over it, I tried to drink a cup of coffee at work the next day. That did not go over well. One sip quite literally felt like a ton of bricks landing in my stomach with tremendous force. I tried to make coffee much sweeter and tastier and it still hit me the same. I was having the hardest time staying awake without being able to handle coffee. So I got online and researched "Staying awake."
The results I got basically said that if you are well hydrated it is easier to keep yourself awake. So, since then I drink lots of water throughout my shift. I do try to take one mountain dew with me if we have any left at home. So the thing that I decided I would write about this morning is this. Even with staying well hydrated throughout the night, when I do get tired, it is usually between 5 and 6. I get off at 6, and my last 30-40 minutes after I have faxed the paperwork over to my employer, I pull out whatever book I'm working on and read. The last few days I have experienced moments in the last hour and a half that literally I found myself swaying to the side while standing stationary. I was talking to a house keeper at south campus for about five minutes or so and I kept feeling like I was going to fall over. I think the phrase for that is "Dead on my feet."
So this morning, around 5:30, I had faxed the documentation over, and turned them in to the client, and I found myself holding firmly on the railing as I went back down stairs. It's an interesting feeling. To write about it in detail for you, I would almost say it's very much as though you are looking through a layer of fog. You can see everything around you, but it is slightly hazy, and because of this I sometimes feel like my balance is off. Then a thought crossed my mind. "Is this pretty much like being drunk in a way?" In a way Yes, and also No. Yes because when you are tired to the point of fog, at least for me, maybe not for you, my reaction time feels slower. I've even noticed memory issues when I'm tired. I will have to double check something I just did minutes earlier because I can't recall if I locked that door or not. I'm the kind of employee that I want to know for sure that I have done everything right, and so if there is even a small shred of doubt then I go back and double check. Better to be certain than to wonder.
The reason why I say "No," is because even when you are tired there are fairly simple things you can do to wake yourself up and be more alert. It is not so easy to do when you are drunk. There is always the option to drink coffee to fight the effects, and eventually it will help, but that also is partly because of the amount of time that has passed since the last drink. As it makes it's way through your body, the drunkeness slowly passes. So, the answer to that is maybe ci maybe no.
I mentioned earlier about reading for the last portion of my shift before I leave. I want to go into that a little bit as far as the book goes. Recently I had been reading a book called Duma Key by Stephen King. I really loved it. It was a great story. Yesterday morning around 7:15 AM while waiting to take Ally down to the bus stop, I finished it. In the story, a couple of the main characters died in various ways, and that truly sucked! It is one of those books for me that I actually began to care about what happened to the characters. So many things happened, such as the deaths of his friends and loved ones, that I did not expect. It caught me completely off guard. It was definitely an emotional roller coaster! If you feel brave enough and think you could handle it, I recommend it!
Daily update. Today I set my alarm for 1PM since my class goes on at 2. I hit the snooze a few times, and then next thing you know it is 1:55PM. I jumped up, thinking "Shit!" I started to get dressed thinking "Great, I'm going to be about ten minutes late!" Then something occured to me. 1) no assignments were due today. We just had to read 2 chapters and I had done that. 2) As far as I knew, we were going to be given a chance to research on the newest paper we are starting. I already know the topic I'm going to be doing and so I can do research myself. No big deal. I glanced back to the bed, and another thought crossed my mind. "I have really not slept a whole lot this week. I have been a perfect class attendant the past two months. I have not missed a single class in a while. Granted, I have been a few minutes late, but thats not so bad. Better a few minutes late than the whole class missed I say. So I decided I would email my instructor that I was sorry I couldn't make it to class, and then I went back to bed. I realized that it was 5PM when Ally came in and asked me a question. So yes, I slept really late for a change but it was very much needed. Plus tomorrow morning I will not sleep a whole lot because I will be at Ally's first soccer game! That should be lots of fun.
So, the lesson for today readers is this. 1) Drink lots of water. Water may not taste as good as soda, but it is extremely good for you. Drinking water instead of soda, or at least less soda, can be helpful if you are trying to lose weight. 2) Give yourself a break from time to time. If you are go, go, go all the time without stopping, eventually you will crash and hit rock bottom. Trust me, I have been there and know the feeling well, as I'm sure a lot of you do too. Stop, breathe, sleep a little extra whenever you get the chance, and just enjoy life. Life is too short. Enjoy the little things while you can! Thats all for today. I hope today's entry was enjoyable and that you possibly got something useful out of it. I will write again for you tomorrow.
Thanks for being here.
CB
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