Eli’s 5 month photos
Eli’s 6 month photos (and update)
Right now I’m off to bed. I can’t stay up any longer! Eli goes to the doctor in the morning and we have a lunch date with the Adam’s crew at Concord Mills. I hope to have some computer time. I so wish I could do all this blogging from WORK! Oh well. I will try my best to get it done before I go back to work on Thursday!
Tonight I was looking online at some information about employment screenings and I started thinking about all the many jobs I've had since I was able to work. I thought it would be fun to post all the different jobs that I've had and how long I worked there. We've been working at the local Children's home now for over a year and so it's time to update our physicals, close out our annual review and look at our goals for the upcoming months. I enjoy this time of year, but I also have a hard time taking in all the information. It takes me a few weeks to really process everything. I'm hard on myself about the feedback and I know that it will make me better at my job, so I accept it, I still just don't have to like it! One of my favorite things about my job is the off time we have each month! It's nice to have week days off and time off to travel! I love going to see my friends and family in other states! Or having them come see us! My friend Sheryl is coming next week for an entire week! I'm so excited!
We have been at the bank working on the details for our home! I'm excited and frustrated. If we were buying a house that was ready to move into things would be faster. We have a lot of work to be done and they are asking for quotes for everything! They want to know how much we will spend on paint, ceiling fans, sinks, even down to the light switches covers! I know its so that the value of the home will be noted at a higher price, but we aren't needing money for those things! We are needing the money for the heat pump and plumbing work. We've got the rest covered! So it's been a challenge. We are looking up things online to see what we like the best. I have no idea what kind of lighting we will want. I want to move in and then change things as we go. I looked at Golden lighting at lightingshowplace.com to see what they had to get some ideas, but nothing is certain yet. I am just ready to move in and get things put into their place. I'm thankful we've been able to live at mom's for over 2 years, but I'm tired of seeing all my things in boxes in the garage! Our poor boxes are giving out and a lot of that stuff will be sold in a yard sale. We never dreamed we would be at mom's for 2 years. My idea was 6-12 months max. God had different plans! So maybe in the next 6 months we will be in our home!!! That is the goal if the bank will work with us!
So there is a saying that diamonds are a girls best friend, as well as diamonds are forever. I am not sure that I believe either of these! I do love my diamond that my sweet husband picked out for me almost 10 years ago, but I can't say that it's my best friend! Its the only ring I wear. I feel naked without it! I never take it off, except when I'm pregnant and my fingers are too fat for it! I've had it sized twice in my 9 years of owning it. I am very thankful for such a beautiful ring! I do have a pair of diamond earrings too. He gave them to me for our 9th Anniversary. I haven't taken them out either. He bought me a pair years ago and I took them out and they never made it back to my ears. So I learned my lesson!
We are finally off from our ten day shift, but it's only for two days. We are scheduled to go back to work Wednesday morning. It's been snowing all day, so I'm not sure if we will have staff meeting or school, but I know we have to be at work from Wednesday until Monday. I was not able to get much accomplished over the past 36 hours, but I'm trying not to stress about it! I had a list but I've not even looked at it! I did go to the bank and get the paperwork started to buy our home and then today I had some girl time with Tiffany and now I'm home. I need to get some Mary Kay done and I need to call my insurance man about an insurance quote for our life policy, but i've put it off this long, I suppose I will just update it next year. It's been snowing since noon and I love it! Thankfully the roads aren't bad, so we were able to drive and get some things accomplished, but not everything! Next week we are off from Monday until Wednesday- a whole three days! So that will be nice. Maybe I will get my computer up to date and see about getting this virus removed! Yuck. I hope you all have a great week and weekend!!!
Last week at work, we were watching untold stories of the ER. Have you ever watched that show? I couldn't watch it for long. I let the girls watch and tell me how it came out! There was a story of two teenage girls that were in a car wreck and they had a pole that connected them. One girl had the pole through her chest and the other through her thigh! It was insane! They had to cut the pole and then see what damage was done. Both girls survived and came out with little damage to their bodies! I'm thankful that I've never had any serious trauma to my body that required repair surgery. I'm also thankful that I can breath without the help of oxygen and can live with out the use of insulin shots. I pray I never need those things! I remember seeing them use a monitor on one of the girls fingers that kept up with her pulse and oxygen levels. I remember using one of those in the hospital when I was pregnant. I did some research and realized that you can buy one for personal use! I think it would be fun to have a finger pulse oximeter when you work out, but I wouldn't want to be required to have one! I am terrible at calculating my pulse. I know where to locate it, but I can't keep count and watch the clock. So I would need a portable finger pulse oximeter to get a good reading. I know when you work out its important to keep up with your pulse so that you know you are hitting the mark for calories burned. If your heart rate isn't increasing then you aren't burning to many calories. So I guess a finger pulse monitor would have many uses! We have a portable blood pressure monitor, but it needs batteries! Like many of the items in our house!
The other girl was a 4 year old who had been stung by the African killer bee, over 200 times! She almost died, but thankfully pulled through. I just pictured that being my 4 year old and I couldn't watch it! I know it was a reenactment, but still. Do you like watching shows like that? Or do they bother you too?
These are the final hours before returning to work. There is so much to do today, and so I think I may not have time to blog before returning. I have spent the last few days reviewing my evaluation and it's caused much grief! I know that they have to do an annual evaluation, it's part of the agency's requirements. I know that they score you lower then reality, so that you will work toward getting better. I still can't comprehend where the information was gathered from. My supervisor said it was from his observations, but he had never observed me in the entire year I worked there! I suppose that he asked around and got the info he needed. I did receive a 4 out of 5 for neatness in appearance. That made me feel better! I know that I don't always wear the best of the best while at work, but I do try to look presentable when in public representing the agency.
I've really been at a place in my life where I want everything to run like an oiled machine. I want things to be smooth in all areas of my life. I know there will always be a place that needs work, but I am an overachiever in the mind, just not in the body. I can't always get my body to do what my mind says! I know that there are times when I can't even get out of bed because I'm exhausted from working or being up with the baby. I have other times where I don't want to do anything but veg out in front of the TV, but those days are far from normal. I do good to catch up on blogs when we are off. I do enjoy it though.
Our shift is for 10 days straight, then we are off for two and back on for five. So really we will have seventeen days of being away from our norm. I hope that this will be our last 10 day shift for a while! I don't mind seven, even eight but 10 is a little much! Unless its followed by 10 days off!!!! I just know its easy to burn out!
Okay I hope each of you have a wonderful weekend! I am off to conquer the to-do list!
I know that stainless steel drums have many uses, such as storage for food and beverage, or on the other extreme, waste! I will say that my favorite use of a steel drum would be when they are played! I remember going to the parades as young child and waiting for the Shriner's to come floating by. They would always have a steel drum band that made a beautiful sound in my ears! I suppose people all over the world take items and create instruments. My uncle has a bass made out of a washtub! Have you ever seen or heard a washtub bass? They sound great and they look fun! I also remember playing a comb as a child. You take a comb and put wax paper on it and play it like a harmonica. Too fun. Being creative has it's perks, but you have to admit the more creative you are the more funny looks you will receive!
We went up to the house again today to take some pictures. Mom & Lynn installed our windows while we were gone. I am not sure if we will use shades or blinds for the kids rooms. I really love the way the faux wood blinds look in my mom's house, but the windows in our house are huge! They are also very low. Not sure if I will like the blinds on them or not. Too bad we have neighbors! If we didn't I wouldn't worry with blinds! Of course they are upstairs, but I don't want to take a chance of people seeing in! Do you have blinds or shades in your kids rooms? Blinds can be so dangerous, because of strangulation. Even the blinds that are made to collapse if they are pulled on can still cause death in toddlers. It's a scary thought. Maybe I will do the faux wood blinds in my room and downstairs. Time will tell! I have some pictures to post. I want your opinion on Chloe's room. I am not sure how to paint it. I will post pictures tonight once I get mom's camera!
What weight loss programs have you tried? I think that officially I've only tried one and it worked for me as long as I was sticking with it. Once I became pregnant with my sweet Chloe I put on the weight from being pregnant and never lost it. Then came the next baby and then another. Needless to say after being pregnant at some point of every year from 2004 until 2009 I haven't had many pounds lost, mostly just added. I had my doctor check my thyroid to make sure that there was nothing medically causing the excessive gain, and everything came back normal. That was the testing I had back in 2008 when we first moved here. I didn't get tested again, but if I can't drop the weight then I will seek more test.
There are so many warnings out there for diet pills and products that are used to help you shed those unwanted pounds. I haven't heard anything about ephedra weight loss products in a while. It seems like the hottest products hit the market and then not long after there are warnings out there about using the products. I suppose that is why I'm afraid of using anything that is not a natural product. I get nervous taking too much of anything! I recently considered talking with my doctor about weight loss, but I already know what she will say. So I just kept it to myself, and I am working on a plan. I need to set my small goals and reach them. A year from now I hope to be thinner!
Taking vitamins for acne could benefit you. Of course washing your face daily with the right cleanser helps too! I am not good at keeping a routine, but I am getting better! I have been trying hard for the past two years to make sure I use my cleanser every day twice a day. I can tell a major difference when I use it in a routine. I have tons of products in my bathroom that are there to do all kinds of thing to help prevent the aging process. I've actually used anti aging products since I was 20 years old! I wanted to get a jump start! What do you use to help with your acne?
We've started giving the kids multivitamins and they love them! I tell them everyday that we need to take our vitamins so we don't get sick. My daughter is so cute about it, she always repeats me. She will say "me no sick" then they each get two and gobble them up. I am so proud of them for taking them. I always forget to take my own vitamin, but now that I am making sure the kids take theirs, I end up taking mine too! What is your favorite vitamin?
When I was little we didn't office supplies stores, like we do now. Nor did we have the amazing world wide web, aka the Internet. The only exposure I would have to office supplies would be at the local stores. Anytime my mom would lose track of me in the store, she always knew where to find me. In the school supplies. Some of my favorites were the Lisa Frank collections. All the beautiful butterflies and puppies. Anyone else remember those? Good times. The other favorite of mine was the beautiful pink and blue paper. It was the loose leaf colored paper. I had a few teachers that let us use the colorful paper from time to time. Most of the time we used the paper too pass notes to our friends. I still love to shop for office supplies. I can spend hours in a store checking out all the pens, papers, tech supplies, software, etc. I suppose I'm an office supply geek. Are you?
I would have to seek a doctors advice before taking any kind of diet pill like phentermine. I would be afraid to be on something without doctors supervision. I am really paranoid about what I take in pill form. I am thankful for the pills out there that help you. I have a hard time with staying disciplined. I need a pill for that! I've considered talking to my doctor about something for ADD, something to help me concentrate. I think if I can get my thoughts in order I might could actually be disciplined enough to lose the weight on my on!
My first experience with data systems was in 2001. I started working at a company where we had a network and I learned a lot about computers. I remember taking typing classes to help me with my data entry obligations at work. I wanted to do my job well. I was not very qualified, but I was teachable. I spent some time working with a guy who knew so much about computers. He was prideful about his knowledge, but I wanted to learn. We didn't have the KVM switches brand of systems, but it was similar. I know that if I had to learn some of those systems all over again I could. I do know that its important to have a server that is dependable and a system that can handle the load.
Let's hope that I am never in need of an motorcycle accident lawyer, or anyone else in my family. I know a lot of people that ride, but I am not one of them. I don't mind a joy ride from time to time, but overall I stay away from motorcycles and other dangerous vehicles! First of all, I look terrible in black leather- lol- and helmet hair does not do anything for me either. So I will stick to the mini van. I know that my husband wants a motorcycle one day- but he knows that right now it would not be practical, for our family of five! Can't fit a car seat on the motorcycle, and so I don't have to worry about it now. I do see him eyeball the Harley's around town that are for sale. Both my dad & step dad have a Harley- so maybe one day. Just not today!
What are you thoughts on term life insurance? We are about to meet with our life insurance guy and add some features to our current policy. Do you have term life or whole life? Or none? We have added two more children since our last policy change, and in fact I have not changed mine since I opened it in 2001. I hope that we don't have too much of an increase in our annual premium. I just know that its important to have it. Please share your thoughts on life insurance. I'd like to have a better understanding before we resign in March.
We are back in Mississippi and the last time we were here it was December! It was strange because normally we are her in November and celebrate Thanksgiving with the Cooks and I always do my Black Friday shopping here. But this year we were in North Carolina and then came here before Christmas, yet after Turkey Day. Now we are back for a wedding. Chris is in the wedding and will be gone from around noon on Saturday until midnight. I was going to go with him, but I didn't want to be a third wheel. He will be with all his buddies from High School and none of them know me, and none of them are married- except the one who is getting married. So it's not like all the wives of the groomsmen can hang out and go shopping in New Orleans and enjoy a nice afternoon while our guys are getting ready for their buddies wedding. So I decided to stay home with the kids and spend time around a less crowded Gulfport! The Saints are playing in the Super Bowl on Sunday and Mardi Gras is the 16th, so New Orleans this time of year is crazy, but adding the Saints at the bowl, and that makes it even more crowded and crazy. My nephew invited me to go with his girlfriend to a Brad Paisley concert, but I turned that down too. I'd rather go with my husband. I hope that my friend Ayrika and I will be selected for a painting class at the local Canvas and Cocktails place. We picked Monday night, I hope they aren't all booked up. I haven't heard back from the yet. So there is much to do around here, even if I don't make it to the Wedding. Shopping here is always good. I find amazing deals- from thrift stores, to yard sales to the outlet malls. Good times. We are only here until Wednesday and then we have to head back to work for 2 days and then off several more. Life is life. Not sure what else I'd like to say right now, so we will wrap this bad boy up, like a gift.
Thank you for reading my blog! Please leave comments when you have time, this encourages me to keep writing! It is more fun to write when you know others are reading.
