Me and Mine

Hmmm, where have I been?!?

2008-04-15T19:05:00.006-04:00

Hmmm, yeah, I know, I promised to blog more, but life keeps getting in the way. I am here now and will try to explain where I have been and what exactly I have been doing, besides blogging.

Ok, to start with, I was told by the ol' Doc that I need to lose 90lbs ASAP or face diabetic consequences. SO he puts me on this diet, it is 800-1000 calories per day and most of it is liquid. He tells me, "It works and many people have kept their weight off for many years." Yeah, sure that is what all those diets say. Anyway, I purchase all the stuff, little white packets of powder and freeze dried veggies and a few meal replacement bars, which are yummy, but I can only have ONE per day. Okay, 5 packets and 1 regular(yeah right) meal per day. I can have a normal portion of meat and 3 portions of veggies, once a day or what they call the Lean and Green! Ok, so I started this adventure 8 weeks ago. I thought, "I am going to starve to death, I know I can't do this." But I have lost a whopping 32.5 pounds and have lost a total of 22 3/4 inches. I am so pumped about this. I have a personal health coach that calls me once per week to check and see how I am doing and I am actually exercising. I am now walking 3 miles every morning before work, yeah I work at like 8 am so I am up at the mmmm of dawn walking. I LOVE IT!! I feel so good, I cannot tell you how good I feel. I am totally NOT hungry, this is the BEST "diet" I have ever been on. It better be for what I have to pay for it, but it is totally worth every penny.

Ok, enough about me, my airman and her wonderful hubby are preparing for training to deploy to the sandbox in either, early July or early August. They don't know the date, yet! Jamie just finished ALS and it was a bear. She is not very studious and it was very tought for her. It was alot of puplic speaking and she is just a bit shy when it comes to that, so it was not good for her, but she passed with a 97%, so I am very proud of her. She now sews on her Ssgt stripe on May 1st, woohoo, it has been a long time coming. She tested for this stripe before she left Italy well over a year ago and is just getting to her number to sew it on. We(hubby and I) are going to visit Jamie and Alex in Virginia from June 29 throught July 6th(if they don't deploy the 2nd) I am so looking forward to that. I posted a couple new pics of the "kids" at the beginning of this blog. Jamie looks totally different in civies, than she does in uniform. Of course, she hates her blues!! Would much rather wear her ABUs.

Well, that is where I am right now. I am not going to promise to keep up with this blog, cause until I get through the rest of my schooling and am able to quit my stinkin' job and until my daughters' MIL gets better so that I don't have to watch my grandkids everyday I am off, I will still be very, very busy. So for now I may TTYL!!

Sue

Sorry :(

2008-02-25T20:42:00.002-05:00

I am truly sorry I have not been blogging lately, but I to have caught the creeping crud that has everyone down in the dumps. I have had it now for 10 days and went to the doc only to be told, "This too shall pass." Doctors what do they know, doesn't he know I am dying. Ok so maybe not, but it sure as hell feels like it.
I have to go to work tomorrow, it is mandatory that everyone be there from 6am until who knows when for the dreaded yearly event, "INVENTORY", arghhhhhhhh!!
So I am getting ready to watch my only son play a game of broomball(for the chance to get into the championship game) via the MTU webcams. Then I am taking my Mucinex D and heading off to slumber land. I hope to be able to get a few hours sleep tonight. Last night and a few nights before that have been spent sleeping(or trying to) sitting up in the recliner, yuck! So gonna try one more time tonight and see what happens. Well all, I will talk at you soon, I hope!

I'm updating, happy :)

2008-02-09T18:56:00.000-05:00

Ok I am updating now, LOL!! I am really terrible about this blogging thing so please don't give me a tongue lashing.
Ok, so I went to the doc on Thursday and guess what? WOOHOOOOOO, I got a clean bill of health, no infections, no cancer, nothing but a noncooperative uterus, LOL! Doc said from all the tests and stuff they did that the only thing he can figure out is that I wasn't really completely done with this process in my life. Evidently there was a partial build up of endometrium and because of the meds I take for my high blood pressure, one of which contains a blood thinner, all hell broke loose and as a result I thought I was going to die. He said that everything looks postmenopausal, YEAH and that it may or may not happen again. But if it does I will truly know what is going on and to give him a call and he has meds to speed up the process. Or he can go in and cauterize everything. He said he does not like to do a hysterectomy this late in the game unless it is really, really necessary. So there ya' go I am aokay, well at least that part of me is, LOL!
As far as my children, they are all getting over all their crud. Well, Jamie ended up in ER the other day, but she will survive. I tell ya' the military is not so good at keeping their people healthy. Jamie went to ER with 103 degree temperature, headache so bad that she couldn't keep her head up and a very bad pain in her neck and chest. The doc walked in and said there is nothing wrong with you go back to work. Everyone has this and it will be gone in a day or two. No tests, nothing. Gave her Motrin, the military cure all and started to send her on her way. She was so upset she stood up and demanded that they at least give her something for the cough and asked if they would sign her waiver for that evening for work. She said she told the doc, ok, I work outside and it is cold, and I carry a gun. I am not even comfortable doing that tonight. She said the doc told her she was sick of all you people coming in here looking for an excuse to not go to work. Jamie about lost it. She said, Look I have NEVER in my life called in or not gone in to work and I am really sick and do not think it is in the best interest of my fellow airman to be on duty tonight. The doc finally relented and gave her the night off, ugh! She tried earlier in the day to get into the clinic to see someone and they told her that she wasn't sick enough to be seen in the clinic that if she really thought it was necessary she may have to go to the ER, WHAT!!!!!! I swear with all the things that I have heard and witnessed first hand with this stuff I am fit to be tied. It just makes my blood boil. ok, off the soapbox, now.
On another note, Jamie and Alex will definately be deploying in August, I am so not a happy camper about that, but there is nothing that I can do. At least they know now that they will be deployed to the same place, where they don't know yet, but at least they will be together.
She really wants us to come in June to see her and I already told her we have vacation planned for then and that we will most definately be there. I don't care if they are living on the street, I will be there before they deploy.
Ok, one more military rant and I am done. Jamie went to the dentist for her 6 month check up. She has a small cavity that needs to be filled, no biggie, right, WRONG!! She cannot get it done at her base. She has to go to one of two other bases, nearby to get it done. Now I think that is just ridiculous!! Why can she not get it done on her base, you ask! Cause they only have dental assistants at her base and the "real" dentists are at the other bases, That is our military for ya'.
Enough ranting, time to get back to the studies and keep moving on. I think this is getting harder for me, my transcriptions are getting worse as far as format and stuff, I do not know what I am doing, maybe I am not really cut out to be a medical transcriptionist, I don't know but I really need to get this. I love doing the transcription, too. I don't know, I keep getting stupid things wrong, doing stupid things, too. Well, time to study so that I can do better, well my friends, I will TTYL! :)

Another update

2008-02-05T10:19:00.000-05:00

Ok, ok, I know I haven't been real good about keeping this updated so here goes.
I don't know anything knew about my medical problems, I do have an appointment on Thursday morning and will update as soon as I know anything new. I do know that I am not going to just keep trying things to keep this organ in this old body. It is not good for anything anymore. I mean I am almost 52 years old and DO NOT plan on having any more kids, God Forbid!!! My baby will be 22 in March so no plans for another, LOL!!
Speaking of my baby, I feel so helpless. My son very rarely gets sick, I mean, like almost never. So when he does he does it up real good. I talked to him this weekend. He called to check on Mom and see how I was doing(how sweet). He sounded like crap. I asked him if he was ok. He said he just had a bad cold and that he was planning on sitting around and doing nothing. A bit more prodding and he admitted to running a fever, chills, body aches, coughing, stuffy head and tightness in his chest. Poor baby. I suggested some soup and warm liquids, perhaps some mint tea and lots and lots of fluids. James, go to the store and get some Tylenol, gatorade and some soup, NOW!! I know mom, I know, but I just feel so awful. Now the truth comes out. I hung up from talking to him and called his roommate, who by the way is feeling just about as bad as he is, so I called their RA and asked him to check on the boys and get back to me. About an hour later Chad called and let me know that the boys were sleeping and that he had made a run to the local market for them and stocked up on Tylenol, chicken soup, mint tea and gatorade for them, thanks Chad. How cool is that!
I talked to James again later that night and he and Alex had slept all day. He was feeling a bit better, the tea and gatorade gave them both renewed strength. I am happy! Yesterday when I called him he sounded stuffy but oh so much better. I hate having my kids so very far away from me. James is 10 hours north, Jamie and her hubby are 10 hours southeast, boo hoo! At least the other two are in town, even though I barely see them, hehe! That is a good thing, means they are busy with their lives.
Our oldest is doing very well. She has just been promoted and has been seeing her new beau for a few months now. I really like her new guy. He is perfect for her and she for him. I have a funny feeling that maybe in the next year there may be another Turley wedding, :) Jodi bought a new car, all by herself. I am so proud. She got herself a 2007 G6 and picks it up on Wednesday. She is excited. This will be her very first new car. She has always had to settle for junk because she couldn't afford anything else. You go, Jo!!!
Jen, my #2 is doing the best that she can with the job she has. She has had numerous interviews with the company for Asst. Manager positions and nothing has come of it. She is a Key manager right now and is at top pay so their is no where else to go. On a good note she has been going through the interview process to become a 911 dispatcher. More money, steady schedule, better benefits. I am keeping my fingers crossed for her. She has been going through this process for the past 3 month, all the testing, the interview and the psych stuff. She is not telling her boss that this is going on because she wants to keep all her options open. Jobs are scarce in Michigan and any time you have one you don't want to lose it just to pursue other avenues. There are over 100 people trying to get this dispatcher job(actually 4 openings). Her hubby is also trying to get hired in at the factory that my husband works at. He has a fairly decent job but it involves very long hours and not a lot of compensation for it. So we will keep our fingers crossed that the two of them can move on to bigger and better things.
Just made reservations at the casino up by our son. We have to pick him up from school on the 2nd of May and move him back home for the summer. I searched every hotel within a 50 mile radius and could not find one room available. I was beginning to get a bit discouraged. Well, about an hour from our son is a casino. Just a small place, but really nice and not that expensive. I called them today and got a room. One more thing off my mind for now. YEAH! So the plan will be to head out of here real early in the morning(5am) and head to Houghton(10 hours away). Stop at the casino and get our room. Head up to school and load up James and then back down to spend the night at the casino. Do a bit of gambling, have a relaxing night and then head on home. The casino is very small and I love going there. They even have penny slots. We always have a good time when we stop there. So I am happy.
Jen just called and told me they are cutting hours at work, again. In case you forgot, I work with my daughter. I did have 3 days this week, 18 hours. Now I am down to 2 days 12 hours. Oh well, just gives me more time for studying.
Speaking of which, I was not a happy camper when I received my last transcription grade. I got my worst grade ever. Granted it was a 96.45% but it is not good enough for me. I want all 98% or better. I am so hard on myself when it comes to this. Somedays I just don't think I am ever gonna get it and others I fly through the material. My GPA is still pretty good and Cheryl(my instructor) is very encouraging, she even telephoned me and went through my exam with me and gave me a pep talk. So it is onward. I guess that is all for now, I need to get to studying if I am ever going to finish this course. So my dear friends, I will TTYL! :)

UPDATE

2008-02-01T19:01:00.001-05:00

Ok, so I don't really know anymore than I did before the surgery. I know now that my uterus is full of holes, looks like swiss cheese. that one of my ovaries is dead, the other is enlarged and looks active but had fibroids, which doc removed. The edometrium was thick on one side and not existant on the other. Doc is not sure what to think. He said he thinks from everything he knows and from all his experiences that it is not cancer. But now we need to figure out what it is. It could be hormone imbalance, infection of some sort, or many other things that he will go over with me on Thursday. He wants to get all the test results back before he heads into a diagnosis. I do feel pretty good today after all that yesterday. I am just a bit crampy, but not bad at all.
Hubby and I went out for a very good fish and chips dinner and then came right back home. I am suppose to stay off my feet as much as possible for the next 3 days. That is alright though I have lots to do with my schooling. I did five transcriptions this morning and need to study for an exam and finish the rest of the transcriptions in this section. I think I am doing ok on this. I am still waiting for my grade on my last transcriotion, it should be pretty good. I hope anyway.
On another note, I missed Hallie and her blog today. She had to have a colonoscopy today and haven't heard how that went, I hope she is ok. I really do miss not reading her blog. She is so witty and funny sometimes. Thank goodness CJ is almost done with his training. He should be at Hulburt Field real soon. What a trooper he is.
Jamie called me the other day and told me her and her husband are now in the deployment bucket together, they don't know if they will be going to the same place or not, but they will be going at the same time. Probably sometime in August. Jamie will have a busy spring and summer. We may have to put off going to see them and that saddens me cause I definately want to see them before they deploy.
Well, need to stretch out on the couch for a bit, been sitting in this chair for over 2 hours now. I had to watch my son play broomball up at school. It is so cool to be able to click on the webcams up there and watch him play. For those of you that love to look at snow check out this site. www.mtu.edu and on the left hand side click on webcams. then when the webcams pop up choose one and click on it. You can take a look around campus and see a couple of the snow sculptures they are working on for winter carnival next week, they are awesome. You can see some of the kids playing broomball, you can see all the snow, it is really cool, check it out.
Well, I will TTYL! See ya soon.

Long Night

2008-01-31T08:03:00.000-05:00

It has been an awfully long night. I probably should have gotten up and written in this cause I did not sleep very well. I am having surgery today at 2 pm. These docs don't mess around. I am having a hysteroscopy and a fractional D&C for diagnosis. Doc said he doesn't like what he sees and we need to get an accurate diagnosis before proceeding. He doesn't want to wait 2 weeks for a pap to come back so in for the surgery this afternoon. I hate anesthesia, but I do not want to be awake, LOL! I know everything will be ok, it is just that the last time I had to be put under I was under for 11 hours and it took me days to wake up fully from that. I know that I will not be under that long this time but I still don't like it.
Doc said I have 4 of the 5 criteria for uterine cancer but that only 1-2% of women who have post-menopausal bleeding have uterine cancer so who knows. If it is I will have a hysterectomy next week sometime. He said if it is it has been caught early and everything should be ok. Should be? It WILL BE OK! I already know it will be ok, cause I said so, LOL!
The worst part of this whole thing, I cannot have my COFFEE this morning or anything else for that matter. Mind you my surgery isn't until 2pm, but I could not eat or drink anything after midnight last night. I can have very small sips of water and that is it. I am gonna go nuts without my coffee this morning. I almost got up and made a pot just out of habit, LOL. Oh well, I guess I can survive not having my coffee, but I am gonna be one hungry lady by the time I get out of the OR tomorrow.
Well, gotta go take a antibacterial shower with this special soap they gave me, must be something new cause I never had to do this before. This soap doesn't smell bad, it will most likely dry my skin out and then I will complain about itchy skin, haha, never satisfied. Oh well, I guess, my firends I will try and update here tonight, maybe tomorrow depending on how things go, so I will TTYL!

Appointment on Wednesday, meanwhile....

2008-01-28T21:16:00.000-05:00

Ok, I went to work today, I was feeling alright until about 1/2 way through the day, then I started getting lightheaded and dizzy. I sat for a bit then felt better, managed to make it through. I do not work for the next 2 days so that is good, as long as I stay off my feet I am doing ok.
I have an appt. with the gyn specialist on Wednesday Morning, at 8:45 am. I am looking forward to seeing them. They have already warned me they will be doing a biopsy when I get there. The one doc said that she has my ultrasound and has taken a look and is not happy with what she sees. I guess my white count was up just a bit, my iron was very low. She wants me to start on iron supplements. So I went and got them today. Horsepills, they are sooo big. I will try and take it easy for the next few days. I called my sis who has gone through something similar and talked to her. She had uterine cancer and everything she is telling me is the same so it may be, but I am not going to get worked up. My sis came through with flying colors and it has been over 3 years since her hysterectomy, so I can do the same. I am sure this was caught in good time so it is not like it is advanced. I will be fine.
Speaking of fine. I got my last transcription exam, the first submission back. I am extremely pleased I only had 3 errors. I think I got the ones fixed I needed to and sent it back tonight. I cannot believe out of 4 pages of transcription I only missed 4 things. I don't think any of them were major errors(I could be wrong) but they were fairly simple to fix.
I hope I get the exam back soon I am so curious to see what my grade will be on this one.
I am doing the exercises for the Urinary System, tonight and tomorrow and will take that quiz some time this week. I will most likely start the transcription practice for this section this weekend, I hope. I do not want my illness to put me behind, I am going to keep plugging away. When I get tired I will rest. I am at least not on my feet.
Hey, BTW Hallie from Wonderful World of Weiners is having a contest and giving away a beautiful necklace(hand made) The woman that makes the necklaces site is http://www.vlajoiejewelry.com/bracelets.htm go on over and check it out. Her stuff is awesome and very inexpensive for handmade jewelry. Thanks Hallie for sending this site my way, my girls love jewelry and my granddaughter just may need a little bit of bling to adorn her wrist, LOL! Anyway do go and check out the site it is so cool.

Well, time to take a break, grab a cup of tea and head on into the books, so my friends, say a little pray that all will be fine with my plumbing(LOL) and I will TTYL!

Not doin' so hot

2008-01-26T20:44:00.000-05:00

Ok, I am not doing so hot. I spent 4 hours in the emergency room yesterday and I am really not doing so great today. Right now I am no closer to answers for my problem than I was before I went to the ER. They gave me Vicoden, whoopee, I took that for so long with my back(yeah, I told them) that it doesn't even phase me. Heck when I was down for my back I was taking percocet and vicoden and still had pain. So a little vicoden is not gonna help this new and truly horrendous pain. The only thing I can share here is is that it is a female problem. I went through menopause and that part of me has been done for over 2 years, that is until the other day. Now I can barely leave the house. They did an internal ultrasound, that was not fun. and the ER doc thinks there is a mass in utero, that is what is causing the problems. I feel like I am in labor, yuck! I have to make an appointment with a gyno specialist on Monday, it just so happens to be the doc that delivered my last three kids and now they(husband and wife team) only do specialty stuff. Infertility, cancer, endometriosis, etc. The ER doc told me he didn't want to frighten me but that I had all the signs and symptoms of uterine cancer, but if that is what I have, it was caught early and should not be a problem(at least for him, LOL) No sense in getting worked up until I found out for sure and even if it is, cure rate is extremely high, so I am not real worried. They did alot of tests last night and seemed very, very concerned so we shall see what we shall see. I just know I cannot keep living like this, this is horrible. Well, need to go get back to my heating pad, maybe watch some tv then off to try and sleep for a couple hours. So my friends, keep me in your prayers and I will update as I find out anything.
ps. I have never had an ER doc call me at home, but he did, I was so shocked. I answered the phone this afternoon and it was the doc that I had seen last night. He said he was concerned and wanted to check on me to see if anything had changed, I told him it had not and that the vicoden was barely cutting the pain. He reminded me to make an appt as soon as possible and that if I needed anything he was there all weekend and don't hesitate to come back in. I told him thanks and he hung up, wow! That was a first and it was very nice to see that he actually "saw" me.
Well, heating pad is calling so my friends, I will TTYL!

It's me again :)

2008-01-22T21:34:00.000-05:00

Hey look I am posting again, woohoo!!
Well, I submitted my Digestion exam. I took another quick look at it tonight and closed my eyes and submitted it. It is now out of my hands and into the caring hands of my wonderful instructor, ;), Cheryl!! I know she will provide me with gentle feedback to help me achieve the highest grade possible on this exam. I always shoot for the moon, don't always get it, but can't fault me for trying. I really don't think I am doing to awful bad on the transcribing part. I can usually figure out all the words. Even when it sounds like the dictator is saying "hair in his nose", I figured out, with not alot of effort that he was saying "Heberden nodes". Sometimes, I amaze myself, LOL! I started these classes not fully understanding the whole concept of Medical Transcription. I do not have a medical background(unless being a "candy striper" in my much younger year, counts). I just needed a job where I could get off my feet and either sit in an office or work from home, preferably work from home. Cheryl(from the AF moms and dads site) gave me info about this wonderful company that she has worked for for years and she helped me get the ball rolling. I do not for one minute regret my decision. I cannot wait to start this as a career. I see myself being an instructor someday. I would love to help others learn this career and be able to have the freedom to work from home. I just cannot say enough about TRS Institute, their instructors, the curriculum and their family atmosphere, they are wonderful. Woa! Sorry bought the commercial there, LOL!! I really didn't start out that way, but hey it is the truth.
On another note, Jamie called again last night. She said she is in the next bucket to be deployed, now before you get all sentimental on me she said their next deployment will be to Moreno, Spain. I said, "WHAT!" She said isn't that cool! She would be deployed to Spain for 6 months. Now how bad is that. Better than some of the other places they could be. Right now all of them out of her base are being deployed to Bucca as convoy security, so I am counting my blessings she is not in any of those buckets. Her hubby said if they were to try and send her to Bucca, she wouldn't be going, she would be pregnant first and he is really not ready to be a daddy yet, but if it came down to her going or him being a daddy, he would rather be a daddy. Whoa, he really doesn't want her to go to Iraq, at least not without him. I am so happy he looks out for her.
Jamie starts ALS on Monday and will be sewing on Ssgt very soon. I am so proud of her. They even had a little ceremony in her squadron to present her with her AF achievement medal she received from Aviano, Italy. How cool! I want pics, but noone took any, :( I am sad. Oh well, I guess I will get over it.
Well, time to hit the books again for another hour or so, then off to bed. My mommy has to have some minor surgery tomorrow and I am going to go sit and wait for her so that I can take her home. I can read a bit while I am waiting.
So my friends, I guess I will TTYL

HOWDY!!

2008-01-21T22:13:00.000-05:00

I know, wow, I am posting to my blog 2 days in a row, it is a miracle, LOL! No I just have some things to say and thought I would jot them down here.
FIrst, I did my transcription exam for the digestion section today. I am holding off on submitting it though. I want to take another look at it to see if there is anything I can change or need to fix, before submitting it. I know this is my rough draft but I like it to be as accurate as possible, too. I am a bit anal that way. Oh well, when you need to strive to get 98% on everything it is hard. Anyway, while I am holding off on submitting this transcription exam, I started the next section, it is the Urinary System, yeah! I though I had enought of bodily fluids with the Degestive system, noooo now it is the Urinary system. Actually this is more about the kidneys and their function, shoudl be interesting, I think.
Jamie called tonight and said that even though she has been in touch with the woman that wants to rent them her house for over a month and they have talked at length about them renting, etc. She called jamie and told her their is another couple in the mix and she has to decide who is more qualified. Jamie was upset. The other couple are Officers in the USAF, so they not only outrank Jamie and Alex, but they also make more money. Jamie is hoping that maybe their credit report is bad or something, cause Jamie and Alex's is very, very good. She really wants this place. I want it for her. She really loves it, already. I hope they get it, but if they don't there are alot of other places around that are(maybe not right on the bay)for rent and some are just as cute as this one. So it is not like she won't be near the water at all. She loved the other because they are on the water. Fingers crossed for them.
Hubby and I both had the day off today. He asked me to take today off cause he had it off. I figured he had something planned or maybe we would be going somewhere or something, NOT!! I could have worked, we sat around all day, never once left the house. I could have worked, he never even got out of his sweats today. I was so bored!! Next time he can sit at home by himself and stare at the walls, LOL!!
Anyway, I was really bored and when I get bored I cook, I made enough food today to feed an army, LOL!! I made a homemade tomato-basil-sweet italian sausage sauce, cooked up some angel hair pasta, and made some homemade breadsticks. I also made cherry turnovers. This morning I made him some yummy cinnamon rolls, too! I have a ton of food left over that I packed away in the fridge and told hubby he better take to work to feed his crew. They love it when I overcook, hehe.
Yesterday I tried a new recipe, I made Mushroom and potato stew. It was really yummy and very warming. It has been so cold here. Yesterday was -20 windchill. Today I think it actually got to 10 degrees so the soup has been really good. Tomorrow night I am making broccoli cheddar soup. I love soup, I am sure I have mentioned this before, hehe.
Well, I have to work tomorrow, so my friends, I will TTYL :)

MOVING ON

2008-01-20T18:36:00.000-05:00

Ok I am moving right along with my school work, I kicked some butt in the digestion system, I received 100% on all of the exercises and the quiz. I finished the practice transcriptions tonight and will start the digestion transcription exam tomorrow, then it is on to the Urinary System, oh yeah!! Not much longer and I will be studying for the final exam and then be in the professional development stage, then internship and working MT, have I told you before how excited I am about this career! hehe
Well, I talked to Jamie the other day. Her and her hubby are looking for a new place. They want to move closer to the base and they want to live on Chesepeake Bay. Jamie found an absolutely awesome condo for rent(actually the lady was trying to sell it, but hasn't had a bite, so now has decided to rent). It is so beautiful. It is right on the Bay with a shared private beach, close to the boardwalk and all kinds of cute little shops. It has a completely remodeled loft kitchen, that overlooks the living room and the gas fireplace. All new stainless appliances, including built in microwave and washer and dryer in the fully finished basement. It has beautiful hard wood floors, ceramic tile in the kitchen and baths. It has 4 bedrooms, 2 1/2 bathrooms and is just so pretty and cute. It has a huge deck off the living room that overlooks the water and a 1 car garage and she said they have just enough grass for Roxi(their rat terrier to turn around on, hehe!! This condo was being sold for 490,000 dollars, but their rent is only (I say only but for around there it is cheap) 1700.00 per month, utilities run about 150.00. They are paying far more than that for the place in town they have now and have to drive alot farther to get to work. The Bay is only 20 minutes from the base. I hope they get it. Hubby and I are planning a trip to see them in July, I am excited to see the sites around DC, we have never been there.
My oldest must still be hanging out with the new beau, cause I haven't seen her since they got back from Florida. I guess that is a good thing, I would kinda like for her to drop by once in a while and let me know she is alive, LOL! Oh well, not gonna push the issue, kept teasing her about spending all her free time with her parents, so can't tell her she needs to see us more, huh?
Son is freezing in the great white north, not really, though he loves it. It is freezing here though, today was -12 windchill, brrrrrrrr!
Well, need to go take a listen to my transcription exam, I like to listen to them first before I start typing, kinda get a feel for what I am in for before putting on the puter.
So my friends TTYL :)

HELLO :)

2008-01-14T21:38:00.000-05:00

Hey, I know I have been sherking my duties to my blog, but I am going to update now, k.
Okay, the son left on Saturday to go back to the great white north. He is happy, he loves it up there and they are getting even more snow, which makes him even happier.
Really haven't been to exciting around here. Hubby and I went to the party on Saturday night and we actually stayed out until 3:30 in the morning. I could not believe it. After going to the bar to celebrate our friends 40th birthday we were all invited over to another friends house for a wine tasting, yum. They have the best wines, they even have a wine cellar. How cool is that? My fav wine that we drank was called Red Cat, it is from New York, Hazlitt Winery. It is sooooo good, it is sweet, very mellow and just plain yummy!I told Georgie and her hubby John they need to do this tasting thing right and have it at a descent hour so that us old people don't get so pooped, hehe. We also listend to some of Georgies' fav records, yes I said records. My hubby spun the old vinyl and we did the sing-along-thing. It was way too much fun. We listened to some old Monkees, Jimmy Dean, The Platters, AC/DC, Three Dog Night, quite a collection of old albums.
Sunday, hubby and I just basically jelled in front of the tv, I am really not sure what we even watched, I think our eyes were closed most of the day. I did get up long enough to put a pot roast, potatoes and carrots in the oven and set out some rolls to rise. I even made a not-from-scratch cherry pie, had to cheat, hubby wanted pie but I didn't have the ambition.
Well, we ate a late dinner and then I think both of us ended up falling asleep until it was time to go to bed, LOL!! We old farts just can't handle those late-late nights. Usually when we go out we are home by 11, that was reminiscent of our much younger days(before birthing babies, lol)
Well, the AF girl is on line and wanting to chat so my fiends TTYL

Weird Day

2008-01-11T22:18:00.000-05:00

This is my son with his long hair, he grows it long every time he goes to school, he says it helps keep him warm. What a character!

Today has been the weirdest day. I usually work on Fridays and I had today off. It was really strange, I felt like it was a Thursday or Saturday, all day. It was a good day though I got alot accomplished. I did alot of reading and 3 exercise and got all 100%, go me!! :) I got some housecleaning done, well dusted and vacuumed and ran the dishwasher, saving the bathroom for tomorrow. Had a really nice conversation with my son, he is so smart sometimes, he just scares me. His antisocial behavior is a bit worrisome but he has always been a loner and absolutely cannot tolerate crowds of people. No patience!We, hubby, son and I, along with #2 daughter Jen, her hubby Justin and my 2 adorable grandchildren, went to Applebee's for dinner. The kids wanted to see "Duncle Dim" again before he left, they just adore him. Ethan worships his "Duncle Dim". So we went to dinner. Hubby and son were having a fit cause they were taking forever to seat us. Hello, it is Friday night and it is 6pm. Finally we were seated and Ethan wanted to sit by grandma, so we snuggled together in a seat and he told me all about school and what Santa gave him for Christmas and how he likes fries and maybe he would eat some chicken. He wanted the little sword in Grandmas' drink, cause it looked like Jack Sparrows sword. So I gave it to him and he ate all his dinner with that little sword, too funny. His dad was totally mortified, but hey at least he ate, something he rarely does. It was alot of fun. After dinner we took the kids to the play area of the mall and let them run and play with the other kids, of course, as usual it was darn near impossible to get them to leave, but we finally managed with 2 sobbing children to leave the mall and plant them safely with their parents into their car for the quiet ride home. Those 2 were probably asleep before they hit the main drag in front of the mall, lol!
Tomorrow we are getting groceries as usual, except for one thing, it will be much later cause we will be hanging here until Jim leaves. He is suppose to leave around 11, that is when his ride will be here to pick him up. So hubby will make omelets in the am and feed our son before he heads off on his long trip back to school. Then we will get groceries, then home to put them away. Curt will get ready for his band rehearsal in the afternoon and I will return here to my office to hit the books once again. Tomorrow night we are suppose to go to a friends' birthday party, he will be 40 tomorrow, LOL!! 40 wow I wish I was 40! Well maybe not, I kinda like my age. 52 is no longer old to me, lol, maybe cause I am that, it is just that I don't feel like I thought I would at 52. I am really not sure what 52 is suppose to feel like but I was absolutely sure it wasn't how I feel now. Ok, ok I know todays' blog has been one long rambling session, lol. Must be the Perfect Margarita I had with dinner tonight! teehee. Oh well, time to go read for a bit then on to bed to start another day so my dear friends I will keep you and yours in my prayers and I will TTYL!! :)

Plugging along

2008-01-09T22:47:00.000-05:00

Here I am plugging along. Today was sooooo boring at work. We were so darn slow. I just wanted to curl up and take a nap, LOL!! I didn't but I could have very easily. I mean you can only sweep and dust and sweep and dust so many times, right. Oh well, I made soup again tonight for dinner, yum. This time I made chicken and rice soup with homemade biscuits. It tasted so good. It has gotten cold here again. It was 33 today, such a drastic change from yesterdays 68 degrees. We are suppose to start getting some snow tonight and could see significant amounts by the weekend. I just hope it either moves through quickly or holds off until after my son gets back to school. He has a 10 hour drive ahead of him and it is straight north. Sometimes the roads can be really treacherous, especially the ones along Lake Michigan and Lake Superior. James leaves Saturday morning to head on back. I am glad, but sad. I am glad hubby and I can get back to our routine, but sad for hubby, cause his best bud is leaving again. They really enjoy each others company and have a miriad of things to talk about. They have so much in common and our son is actually living a dream his father had. So that makes them that much closer.

Jamie called tonight, she was attempting to cook again and needed some motherly advice. She was making Chicken Parmesan, yum! I hope it truned out well for her. She really wants to be a good cook and I keep telling her practice makes perfect, just keep trying. Her hubby is a very picky eater(well, so is she) So they pretty much eat alot of pasta and chicken. I am happy she is trying to cook now that she is married. She definately didn't have any interest in it when she was younger. Her older sisters did and they are both decent cooks. Jodi rarely cooks, cause she lives alone. But Jen cooks all the time for her little family, her hubby cooks too which is great, cause my hubby also is a decent cook.

Well, I got my cardio transcription exam back and I only had 8 points to ponder. LOL!! I was really surprised. I took sometime and changed the things I think needed to be changed then resubmitted it. I decided if I looked at it too much longer it would all be changed and I would end up doing an injustice to an otherwise good transcription. So I will now wait until it is graded and see how I do. My last one was a 99.3, so maybe I can do better? Who knows. I am hoping.

I started the digestive system and am about half-way through the reading and will most likely be doing the exercises and quiz this weekend. I am really whizzing through this. Not much longer, YEAH!!

I just want to mention a blogger friend, Hallie of Wonderful World of Weiners, her son CJ is in SERE training right now, it is very intense and he could use all the prayers he can get, so if you read this, send up a little prayer for CJ. Also, another AF mom who has been through it, Tonjia from One Step Forward, her daughter Bre is home right now after an ungodly amount of time at AF BMT, she is on Conleave and will be headed back to BMT to finish and move on with her AF career, this young lady has alot going for her and will do the AF proud(if they ever let her)so say a prayer for her continued success also.

Well, that is about it my friends, so I will TTYL!

Day off

2008-01-08T20:46:00.000-05:00

Teri's "LuLu" saying Happy Birthday to her momma!

What a weird night it was around here. We had torrential rains and lightening and thunder and tornado warnings, with sirens going off and everything. We had high winds, no winds, hale, temps in the 60s. Way to weird, even for Michigan, LOL! Today was a bit quieter though. We had some pretty hard rain this morning, then it just sprinkled the rest of the day. I really want the snow to come back. We are suppose to start getting more snow tomorrow, right on through the weekend, YEAH!

Today was a day off and I spent the majority of it studying the digestive system. I turned in my first submission of the cardio transcription exam yesterday, so while I am waiting for feedback from that I will stay busy and try and get a jump on the next chapter. I read all of Chapter 14 in the Medical Terminology, Chapter 11 in Human Disease, and have started on Chapter 8 of the Laboratory Tests book. FIrst I had to do some coloring in my Anatomy coloring book, I don't always do this but it gives me a chance for some down time in my studies, while still learning something. A couple weeks ago, Briget, the president of our chaper of the AHDI, gave me another study buddy, I sent her an email right away and have not heard anything from her. I wonder why? My other study buddy is doing real well and I enjoy helping her out whenever I can. I figure for every question she asks that helps me to learn and gives me reinforcement in my knowledge. I love helping the other students.

I made some soup for dinner, actually is was corn chowder with zucchini and potatoes and corn and spices and it was yummy. I also made some corn bread to go with it. It was a very good dinner, even the son enjoyed it. Of course he is a soup fanatic, he could eat soup every meal and not tire of it.

Oh, I almost forgot, I got my new keyboard, TODAY!! That was really fast. I ordered it on Saturday and got it today. I absolutely love this keyboard. It is easy to type on and it is quiet. My hands and wrists haven't even protested at all today. I am really pleased with this keyboard. I wish I would have gotten this one first. Oh well, live and learn. The other one was a Microsoft so I figured it was a good one, well I figured wrong. I had never heard of this brand, Adesso, but I read alot of good reviews about it. We will see how it stands up to all the typing that I do on a daily basis. It was really inexpensive for a split ergo keyboard. Some of them can run into the hundreds of dollars. This one was only $30. I am happy now.

I have to work for the next 2 days, in a row, wow, that is gonna be weird. I haven't worked 2 days in a row in a few weeks. I actually have 18 hours this week instead of 12. One of our key managers had to go in to have her gallbladder removed so she will be off work for a few weeks, which means that is 40 more hours for my manager to add to the rest of the schedule and divide amongst the rest of us. I figured that the returns would have died down by now, but no they haven't. It is like people just bought stuff for show and now they are returning everything. It is so weird. If it wasn't for the gift cards we sold over the holidays being redeemed we would be in a world of hurt right now. There are some days that the refunds are almost as much as the amount we sold that day, that is so sad. People just don't take the time to really know what they are buying, they just buy. Then return. Our return policies are getting stricter and stricter because of this trend. People seem to borrow stuff from the store and then when they are done return it for no reason. That will not happen anymore. Things are changing as far as what and when things can be returned and you absolutely MUST have your receipt!!

Well, time to go read a bit more before bedtime, so my friends I will TTYL!

ps. today was a good friends b-day, so I just wanna say HAPPY BIRTHDAY, TERI, Love ya'

Movie Date

2008-01-05T23:05:00.000-05:00

Kimberly with her new doll baby!!

Today was a pretty good day. Started out as usual. Breakfast at hubby and my fav restaurant. Then on to the grocery store to stock up for the week. Back home, put groceries away. I studied for a bit and was in the process of doing some transcriptions when my keyboard DIED. I loved that keyboard and have not had it that long. I was pretty upset. Well anyway, I took to the internet to search out a new keyboard, decided that I didn't want to get the same one if it only lasts a few months. Do you know how hard it is to find an ergonomic split keyboard. No one in our town sells them. I finally found one with good reviews on the internet and it is really not that expensive. It is an Adesso, I hope it is a good one. The place I ordered it from has a 90 day return policy so if it doesn't work out I can return it, no questions asked. They will even pay return postage and send you a new box to put it in. That was a big plus in buying form this place. So now I am relegated to using a flat small keyboard, the one that came with my computer. I can already tell it is going to bother my hands typing on this keyboard. I really liked the split keyboard, my hand seemed so much more relaxed and I could type for hours. Yeah, my butt ached but my hands were good, LOL! For now my transcriptions are going just a bit slow. I should have my new keyboard by the end of the week. I will let you know how it goes.

My #2 daughter, her hubby and my grandkids will be here tomorrow, YEAH! I look forward to seeing the kids. They are coming for dinner. I am making lasagne and some homemade garlic breadsticks. Jen is bringing a big salad. I may make some broccoli for my granddaughter, she LOVES it. Should be a good time. If there is still some snow left, after all the rain we had today, then grandpa is taking the kids outside to play, I will try to get some pics. Well, time to start the last practice transcription in this section, then on to the transcription exam. WOOHOO, I am back on track and need to keep moving forward so that I can graduate from this course and start my new career!! I am getting more and more excited about this.

Well, my friends, TTYL! :)

ps. forgot, hubby and I went to a movie tonight. We went and saw I am Legend, it was really good, love Will Smith. It was nice to get out with just my man, no son tagging along, hehe! The kid didn't want to go cause we told him he would have to pay his own way, LOL! We knew if we told him that he would stay home and it worked, smart parents, we are ;)

Tagged

2008-01-04T20:05:00.000-05:00

Ok, my friend Deb has tagged me for 7 random things, I will try and come up with 7 things.

1. I was once in the Air Force, ok, maybe not actually, but I did make it most of the way through BMT, before they booted me out.( There was only 1 female flight back then and we NEVER saw a male the entire time we were there).
2. I spent 4 weeks in Medhold at Lackland, YUCK!!
3. I am the oldest of 6 children.
4. I am an Air Force brat, my dad was career Air Force(25 years). I miss him terribly, he passed away, 4 years ago on Halloween. He was too sick to go see Jamie graduate from BMT, but she called him and he was sooooo happy. I believe he watches out for her now.
He was so very proud of her, he had 2 grandsons that were in and dishonorably discharged for drugs, so he was happy with her career choice.
5. I am a born again YOOPER!!!! For those of you that don't know, I live in MI, lower MI. I spent many years at an AFB in the upper peninsula(LOVED IT!!) Those that live above the bridge(Mackinaw Bridge) are called yoopers, those that live below the bridge are called Trolls. I should be considered a Trooper, transplanted yooper, but I wasn't born up there. So, because I want to move up there, I consider myself a born again YOOPER!! Yeah, I love the winter weather and the peace and solitude of the Great White North!
6. I can sew, made a suit for my daughters boyfriend once.
7. I consider myself a gourmet cook, even though I don't cook real exotic stuff, but I love to cook and have been told I am a good one. I would love to be a personal chef. That would be too cool, but I live in the wrong part of the country for that, LOL!

Well, there you have my 7 things, random, weird, interesting, I don't know you be the judge. Like I told Deb, I am not tagging anyone cause I do not have 7 people to tag, she took everyone I know that has a blog, LOL!
So until tomorrow, TTYL :)

COLD, Brrrrrr!

2008-01-03T22:05:00.000-05:00

Because it is so cold and snowy, I decided to show all of you another of the son's pictures. This is a snow sculpture from last years Winter Carnival at my son's college. It was done by a fraternity and is the "Hanging Gardens of Babylon" It took 1st place last year. It was absolutely breathtaking. Each section was over 7 feet tall. The fountain in the front is about 8 foot tall. Cool, huh! The carnival starts in February. They actually start building the statues when they return to school, next week. My son has decided to help out this year, so I may have lots more pics to share.

Baby it is cold outside! I cannot get warm today. It feels as if this house is an icebox. I had to go out this evening and I nearly froze to death, LOL!
I went tonight and had my grandma hair colored and cut and I feel soooooo much better. I had not had anything done with it since before Thanksgiving andmy hair grows so darn fast. I know it looks bad when hubby asks, "When do you get your hair done again?" HAHA!!
I mostly studied today, did some transcriptions, bothered my instructor quite a bit and studied some more. Right now I am taking a break from my studies to do this then I am back at it for another hour or so, then on to dreamland, cause I gotta go to the "ugly" place tomorrow. I know I shouldn't complain about my job but I don't complain about too awful many things so I guess I just need to do that, LOL!
Spoke with my long lost Airman today. She was out running around on base with her hubby, picking up dry cleaning, taking her new blues to the tailor, getting groceries at the commissary and alot of other down day stuff. I asked her why she had to get new blues. She said she has to wear them to her ALS training and when she tried on her old blues they just about fell off her, LOL. She has not worn her blues since I made her put them on 2 years ago to get pro pictures taken. Now she has to wear them every day for 2 weeks, hehe. I told her I wanted a pic of her and hubby in their new BDUs so she said she would send one soon, YEAH!! I will share when she does. She just hates spending money on her blues, new stripes, nametag, etc. Tailor fees on and on. She said at least when she sews on Ssgt in February, her hubby can use the stripes, etc. for his new uniforms. She got in a bit of trouble, not bad but called out. She has been letting her hair grow(cause she can't find anyone she trusts to cut it, she is soooooo picky)and she has been wearing it in a pony tail, cause it is still too short and layered to wear in a bun, well one of her commanders stopped her the other day and told her she needs to do something different with her hair, it was touching her collar. So now she has to find someway to keep it in her ponytail, but shorter and still be able to put her beret on. Oh well, she will figure it out.
Tonight for dinner I made 1of hubby and sons fav fast meals. I made them a Taco Bake, it is like tacos ina casserole, or a glorified mac-n-cheese, it was yummy. They ate it all and hubby now has to have a pb & j for lunch tomorrow. He usually takes whatever is left over from dinner, but not tomorrow.
Son is still here on Christmas break, sometimes he is so much fun and other times he is so yuck. Today was one of his yuck days and I do not like him very much on those days, thank goodness they are very few and far between. I love having him here, but love it when he leaves, LOL!! I know that sounds bad but it is true. Hubby and I have a nice routine and we kinda enjoy being by ourselves, most of the time. That and the grocery bill skyrockets when he is home, LOL!! Still love him though!
Well, it is time for me to do a couple more transcriptions and then head off to bed. I also need my nightly, cup of tea! So my friends, I will TTYL :)

Feeling Lots Better

2008-01-02T23:11:00.000-05:00

This is where my son goes to school, this is what it looked like before he left on the 21st. This is also real close to where I grew up. They now have about four times this much snow.

I have spent the last 4 days off work(scheduled days off) sick. This sinus stuff kicked my butt. I am feeling lots better today, of course I had to go back to work, too. They have cut our hours down to next to nothing for the next few weeks. I get to work a whopping 12 hours this week, yeah. I really don't care though cause that just gives me more time to study. I took an exam, tonight, on the respiratory section and aced it I was so happy. I also did 5 transcriptions, tonight. I was flying through my homework, tonight. I have tomorrow off and plan on spending the whole day studying.
Well, New Years Eve hubby and I went to dinner with his brother and his wife. I just love them dearly. We had a wonderful dinner. Lots and Lots of laughs. A couple drinks and then headed home. Hubby fell asleep on the sofa and I fell asleep in the recliner and about 11:55 we woke up watched the ball drop in Times Square and headed off to bed, HAPPY NEW YEAR to us, LOL!!
I haven't been up to cooking lately and my son is really disappointed. I promised him I would make my Swedish meatball soup for him this weekend and some home made bread, so he is happy. He will be here for another week, then it is back to school(10 hours away).
Hubby was off work for the holidays, he had 11 days off and had to return today, he wasn't happy about it either. He was enjoying spending time with our son and just being lazy, playing Guitar Hero and his other games on his Wii.
We are planning on taking the grandkids sledding this weekend, if the snow stays. It is suppose to get up into the 50s and rain this weekend, yuck. I would rather have the snow. I love the snow. I grew up where 250 inches per winter season was nothing and every house had a door on the second floor that had no stairs to it. Didn't need stairs, cause the snow was high enough and that was your only door in the winter. We plugged in our car so that it wouldn't freeze. We wore snowmobile suits and boots, etc. to school, everybody did. I loved it.
Well, enough rambling, LOL!! Need to get back to the studies. FIrst I think a nice hot cup of tea is in order then back to the books for a couple hours, then off to bed. So my friends I will TTYL!

SICK :(

2007-12-29T19:11:00.000-05:00

Today has not been a very good day. It was an even worse night. I went to bed last night with the sniffles and about half way through the night ended up with a full blown sinus stuff headcold, whatever, body aches, fever, coughing, thingy. I am feeling just a bit better, but not real great.
Our eldest daughter came over today. She had a wonderful trip to the Florida Keys and back with her boyfriend. She got presents for everyone. It was nice of her to think of us while she was gone. They had a great time. She snorkeled for the first time and saw things she has never seen before. I am glad their trip went so well. Now they are planning a trip to the Upper Peninsula in February to visit her brother at school. It is during Winter Carnival week at Michigan Tech. Their snow sculptures are absolutely awesome and they both are looking forward to seeing them.
I have not done any school work today. I am just not up to it. Hubby and son got groceries, then hubby made dinner. I laid around and slept most of the day. I think I will read over some of my notes then head to bed, maybe I will sleep better today.
I am enjoying reading everyones' blogs, they are all so good. It makes me feel closer to everyone, cause I get a bit of insight into their world.
Well, my friends till tomorrow or until I get another chance I will TTYL

Two days after Christmas....

2007-12-27T18:46:00.000-05:00

Okay, it is 2 days after Christmas, doesn't anyone have to work anymore. At work, we finally went back to our before the holidays schedule, YEAH!! We had people lining up outside our gate this morning before we opened. Go home, people, we really don't have that good of sales going on. It was chaos all day. I am so happy this is my last Christmas season in retail. I cannot wait to be done with school!
Eldest daughter called her dad today(yeah, he is off work til the new year, the bum)she and Joel are headed home from Florida. They were headed for Nashville, TN to stay the night and possibly check out the sites tomorrow and then were headed home. I know she had a grand time. She has barely ever been out of Battle Creek and she is almost 30 years old, WOW! she is almost 30, how can that be, I am not that old, where has time gone. She will always be my little girl, even thought she is all grown up now, LOL! She still calls me mommy and I love it.
Well, our New Years' Eve plans have fallen through. I guess the VFW doesn't want us there because we are not members, so hubbys' band will not be playing there this year. Although they have played there in past years. They have new blood at this VFW and they are so anti-anybody not in there clique. Oh well, we made plans to go to dinner with my brother- and sisiter-in-law. I guess we are going to go to Red Lobster, have a nice dinner and drinks and head on back home before the crazies come out.
My hours for next week, at work, have been cut drastically. This company thinks you can run a huge store with 3 people. So all of us have our hours cut to the bare bone. Only the managers will get hours and most of the rest of us get about 10 hours next week. Oh well, I guess it will just give me more time to work on school work. I could have used the money to build my savings back up after the holiday, but we will be ok.
Hubby made beef stew tonight, it was yummy. It made the whole house smell good. I am in my office(downstairs) and I can still smell it.
James, our college son, is out with friends, this evening. He has 2 really close female friends that he really enjoys hanging out with and he made them some awesome pictures for Christmas. He actually matted and framed them all by himself. They turned out really well. They are pics of his that he has taken. One is a waterfall and the other is beautiful pink flowers. He has quite the eye for photography. Maybe that could be his hobby after college and after he gets a real job as a full fledged electrical engineer, LOL!!
A bunch of friends have started blogs and it is so much fun reading them. Hallie is a pusher of blog writing and is encouraging more and more people to take it up! You go Hallie!!!
Anyway, I need to go study some more so I will TTYL!!

Here I am!!

2007-12-26T16:39:00.000-05:00

Hey all, I have been neglecting my blog, again. I am so very sorry. I have been so busy with work and the holidays and all.
Today was the day from H... at work. So many people with so may returns and complaints, I just wanted to crawl under the counter and hide. I hope that everyone got all that out of their systems today and tomorrow will return to some semblace of normalcy. I could oly hope.
We had a very nice Christmas. Went to the in-laws on Saturday. It was a bit weird, cause alot of the grandkids were not there, so it was real quiet. Except whe my grandkids(the only great-grandkids) showed up, LOL! We sat around and chatted and drank white russians, yum and chatted and drank white russians.......you get the drift.
Sunday I had my daughter, son-i-law, Justin and the 2 grandkids, my mom, my brother and my son, here for brunch. It was so yummy and everyone ate, alot! The little ones opened their gifts and had a real good time playing and being goofy all afteroon. Hubby had to leave around 3 and go to bad rehearsal. So everyone decided it was time to go too. I sat around the rest of the day doing homework and some transcriptions. Then headed off to slumberland.
Monday, my daughter came over to wrap presents for her kids. We hide the gifts here, cause even thought hers are only 2 ad 4, there is no safe spot in their house to hide them. We got everythig all wrapped up and made a plan for me to bring them to their house after the kids went off to sleep.
My eldest is having a great time on her trip to Florida. She called us several times and let us know where they were. They have visited the Tampa Aquarium and the made their way to the Florida Keys and have gone snorkeling and just had a general great time.
Jamie and Alex had to work Christmas day so they opened their gifts on the 23rd and they called to say thanks. Jamie is starting her ALS right after the new year and the is headed to Lackland in June for her level 7 training. Hopefully she will sew on her new stripe in February. She only has 20 months left to serve and she is going to get out. Her hubby is staying in and making the AF a career, so she will transition from being a soldier to being a soldiers' wife.
I forgot to tell you that my eldest just got a big promotion at her job. She was so excited, it is another 600.00 per month and it comes with some supervisory perks. I am so happy for her. She has been at this job for 7 years, now.
Hubby surprised me with some perfume for CHristmas. It is not just your ordinary kind. It is something I use to wear when we were dating(over 30 years ago) and no one sells it anymore. He found it online and bought me 2 bottles of it. I was so surprised, that was so sweet of him.
Well, time to get back to my studies. I need to take a test and get on with the rest of the respiratory transcriptions. Oh by the way, I received my HOI exam back and I got a 99.3 percent I am so excited. That is my best transcription score yet and the end is now in sight, I am getting more and more excited.
So until I write again, TTYL

Christmas Joy

2007-12-20T19:57:00.000-05:00

Well, I know I have not been keeping up with this like I probably should, but I have been so very busy with work, getting things together for Christmas and for my son to come home from college and with school work. But no more excuses, I am here now and am updating my blog.
I really don't have alot happening right now,just studying real hard and trying to get through these last few chapters of my coursework. I am getting very excited about entering the MT world. At the same time, I am very apprehensive about it. Will I be good enough to make a living at this. Even before the making a living part, I am gonna pass my final, I am not a good test taker and am really worried about that one. What about the RMT test will I remember everything well enough to take that when I am done? I truly hope so. I want this so very bad and have worked very hard to get this far and will continue to work hard to get to the end of this road, come to think of it, I don't think there is a end of the road. This will be an ongoing process.
Oh I just thought of something that I need to share. I work in a store in our local mall. We are a sporting goods store. I am near the front of the store(cashier) and there are lots of windows that look out into the mall. I am always people watching, when I get the chance anyway. Today these young, very fresh from boot, marines came into the store. They were so cute in their freshly ironed, perfect uniforms. They even still walked with their hands cupped by their sides. They came into the store to buy some toys for the Christmas Angel tree that has been set up outside our store front in the mall. They were all chit chatting and I congratulated them on their graduation and becoming marines. They asked about my Parent pin,which I wear everyday and have for 4 years. They thought it was cool I had a daughter in the AF. Anyway, after all their snappy yes ma'am's and their wonderful, refreshing politeness, they took their bounty out to the Angel tree. Every morning our mall is filled with dozens and dozens of seinor citizens, who come to the mall for their daily walk. This morning was no exception. Except among them were these 3 fresh recruits. I counted at least 40 people who came up to them to shake their hands and thank them for their service. I was so moved, of course being an AF mom and missing my girl, I cried. Tears were just flowing, customers were giving me funny looks. Well, one of the recruits must have seen me crying cause he came back in the store and asked me if he could give me a hug. I cried even harder and thanked him. He said to me, " No ma'am thank you, cause I won't get to see my momma this year for Christmas and you made my day." Oh my goodness, every one thought I was loosing it, I cried so hard and thanked him for making my day. So how cool is that. Oh darn, I am crying again! I invited him to our house for Christmas, but he will not be here in town. So I got his name and made him promise to email me when he gets where he is going and to keep in touch. He promised, so I will keep you updated. Meanwhile, please keep this wonderful young man in your prayers. *I had to come back and add my marine friends name is Shawn.
So 1 more day of work, then I am off for 4 days, YIPPEE!! We are having in-laws Christmas on Saturday, my kids(the ones that will be here), my mom and brother are all going to be here Sunday morning for brunch and present time. I am really excited about that. I am making biscuits and sausage gravy, pancakes, homemade cinnamon rolls, bacon, hashbrowns, some hot cocoa and tea and a fav of mine Mimosas, yum. We will also have some fresh fruit and whatever else I think of between now and then, LOL! Should be fun and who knows this may become a tradition.
Well, time for more studying, so my friends until tomorrow, TTYL :)

Productive day

2007-12-15T21:34:00.000-05:00

Today was fairly productive. Hubby and I headed out early to get groceries and go to our fav breakfast spot. It has become a ritual of sorts for us on Saturday mornings. It gives us time to talk about things, like the state of the world and our kids and work and whatever comes to mind. I really enjoy our Saturday mornings together.

Well, went and picked up all our groceries and then headed home. It started snowing and hasn't stopped yet. They are predicting 6-15 inches tonight and into tomorrow. WOW! May be another good day to do nothing again.

I wrapped up all of the presents I have and stuck them under the tree. Dusty, our cat, thinks they are hers and has laid claim to one package by laying on it and taking a nap.

I read all the required reading for the respiratory chapter and am now taking notes on the power point presentation, then on to the exercises, tomorrow. I haven't gotten my transcription exam back yet, but I really didn't expect too until maybe Monday or so. Until then I will continue to work on the respiratory section.

I also made hubby and I a pretty good dinner. I tried a new recipe. I made a mexican lasagne, it was really quite good. Hubby said he thinks this is a keeper recipe. It had burger, salsa, sourcream, black beans, onions, tortillas, lots of sharp cheddar cheese and it was really simple to make.

We are suppose to go to dinner tomorrow night with our eldest and her boyfriend, but with the weather the way it is we may just have to stay home and make pizza or something, it is getting pretty deep out there right now and it is not suppose to stop until late tomorrow, so instead of taking the chance and driving to Kalamazoo(a 20 minute ride) I may try and convince them to stay here and I will find something to make.

My other daughter has tomorrow off, so just maybe she will bring the kids over to see us. I am not holding my breath on that one, but maybe we will get to see them. :)

Well, I am really not thinking straight right now, must be all the studying I did today, so I am cutting this one short. So my friends, TTYL! I <3>

Holidays :)

2007-12-14T21:28:00.000-05:00

This pic was taken when Jamie was home on leave, at Halloween time, this is her and my grandbabies on our front steps. Jamie and Alex will not be home for Christmas, either, she hasn't been here for 3 years for Christmas, her and Alex have to work 12 hours that day, boohoo!

Ok, I thought as my kids got older the holidays would be easier, but ya know, they just keep getting more and more complicated. I won't be spending Christmas with any of my kids, they all have other plans, even my mother has dumped me in favor of my sister, who by the way did not invite me over. We are having a Christmas dinner with our oldest daughter, Jodi, and her new beau, Joel, on Sunday. They are going to be in Florida for Christmas. Then the following Saturday, my in-laws are having their big Christmas fiasco at their house. Fun, NOT!! My SIL, Teresa and I usually bring a couple bottles of wine and drink and make fun of everyone, behind their backs. Hey, gotta do something to relieve the awful tesion when everyone gets together. Not a real close family, my in-laws. Then the next morning, around 11-ish I am having my next oldest and her wonderful family over for brunch, yum, my fav meal to make and eat. Oh I guess my son will be here so one of my kids will be spending Christmas with us, maybe, if he doesn't have other plans. Christmas day will most likely be spent studying, cause I won't have much else to do. Kinda good, I guess, cause it is the only day off I will have that week.

I submitted my HOI transcription exam tonight, wish me luck. I really have a good feeling about this one though. It just seems to be getting easier. I guess it should, I don't have very much longer until I am done with the course and then on to my internship. WOOHOO!!! Did I tell ya that I am excited about this new career path. Cause if I didn't I would be happy to tell ya now. Cause I am sooooooo excited, I already am in love with the reference material and the transcription and I could go on and on. TRSi is the best on-line learning environment out there and I will be so proud to display my diploma from them and to work for them. YEAH!!

Well, it is getting late, no work tomorrow, but need to get groceries, so I need to go work up menus and lists for the store. Yeah, I actually do menus, saves me tons of time and money on groceries. I really like to do it too. My family has gotten use to seeing my menu on the fridge every week. When they come over, even now, they look to see what I am making for dinner. I so love to cook. So it is off with me for now, so my friends I will TTYL

Warning bad rant!

2007-12-13T21:55:00.000-05:00

I have been home from work for 7 1/2 hours, wow! I made hubby a nice quick dinner, we had homemade coleslaw, yummy salmon burgers on english muffins with a nice fresh cucumber sauce and some garlic and parmesan fries. It was very nice, quick and so summer like. I needed to put a bit more warmth in this house. Baby its cold outside, brrrrrr! WInd chill is a numbing 19 degrees. The wind is howling tonight and all I wanna do is curl up with a blanket and watch a bit of TV. But instead I did about 3 hours worth of studying. I am waiting for my practice transcription to be checked before submitting the 1st draft of my exam. In the meantime I have started reading the section on Respiratory. I am almost done with the reading and will continue on with the exercises and transcriptions for this section while waiting for the others to be graded.
I have to go to the ugly place again tomorrow, ugh! I really envy those of you who can work retail and enjoy it, cause I really truly DO NOT!! Had a older lady in today that just about caused me to commit a crime. Oh she was rotten and mean and she just made me so mad(she also made my boss mad and he asked her to leave the store). I also had a real weirdo in the store today who thought he was pretty cool. He wouldn't stop talking and my line kept getting longer and longer. I finally asked him to step aside. I didn't need to listen to him talk about himself anymore. My boss got a chuckle out of that. He said he couldn't believe I asked him to get out of the way. I said I didn't say it like that, he said yeah I know but it was funny, when he realized that you really weren't interested in listening to him talk about himself.
What is up with people thinking because I happen to be the one that answers the phone at work that I know everything. A lady called today to ask me to look in the phone book for the phone number to our competitor. I hung up. Sheeesh! A few days ago a lady called and wanted to know what the phone number to the store across from us in the mall was. Hell, I don't know, do I look like the yellow pages, Look it up!! I work at a sporting goods store, ok! I get paid minimum wage to take abuse from some pretty awful people. But I have to smile the entire time. Ok not everyone is a moron that comes in the store, but quite a few are and I try very, very hard to be nice to almost all of them, hehe! Some of them I just can't be nice to, cause they just tick me off. Okay that is my rant for the day, I am done. But now you can see how much I donot like my job and how much I cannot wait to be done with my studies and working in a totally different environment(home, yeah). I cannot wait for the holiday season to be over, then we have about a week of solid rotten return people who argue about everything and won't take no for an answer or no matter how many times you tell them that they have to have a receipt to return an item and bathing suits and jock straps are NOT returnable, that one always amazes me.
Ok I need to calm down, I am going to go drink me some green tea and possibly have a 1/2 an english muffin, curl up in my fleece blanket and maybe watch some tv(maybe with my eyes closed, hehe) So my friends I will TTYL!!

Getting on with it

2007-12-12T20:08:00.000-05:00

Today was a very fun day, I didn't have to work today and it seemed a bit weird, but GREAT weird. Is this what it will be like when I am working from home, if so I cannot wait for that day to come.
I woke up around 6am, made coffee, watched the first 30 minutes or so of the news, and headed to my office. I finished my Lymphatic transcription exam last night and wanted to check it over again before submitting it. I am actually waiting until my practice transcriptions are graded before I actually submit the exam for the first submission. I want to make sure I don't have any major mistakes on them before committing this exam. Everyday that I get to spend the majority of it working on my studies makes me extremely happy, but nothin' makes me happier that my grandkids.
Went and picked up my daughter(Jen) and granddaughter(Kimberly) around 11 am, we drove over to pick up my grandson(Ethan) from preschool. He came running out to my van, calling my name. He was happy to see me. We then went to Jens' best friend's(Mindy) house. Today is Mindy's b-day and we were taking her with us to see Santa and then out for lunch. Mindy recently lost her job of 10 years, due to downsizing, so she really needs us now. She is married, no kids, thank goodness. We drove to the mall and went in to see Santa. Kimberly went running to him calling out Santa, love you, Santa love you, it was too cute. Of course Ethan just sort of sauntered up to Santa and proceeded to tell him what he wanted for Christmas. After giving Santa a big hug we left to walk to the other end of the mall for lunch at Applebee's. It is quite a long walk for a 2 and 4 year old but we finally made it. Kimberly had to try and stop everyone we saw and talk to them, she is quite the social butterfly, LOL! Ethan just kept saying, Come on Kimmy, I am hungry! It was so funny. We had a nice lunch and the kids sang Happy BIrthday to Mindy(which she loved). Then they went to the play area and played for a bit. Ethan is just so cute, he had all the little girls following him around in the play area, LOL! Took everyone home and came home to get back to my studies.
I made a wonderful Swedish Meatball Soup for dinner with Alexia Fresh French Rolls, yum! Perfect dinner for a cold night.
Hubby and his brother had rehearsal tonight, so while I was studying I was serenaded, well not exactly serenaded, but I did listen to them while they were rehearsing, "Oh Suzy Q, Oh Suzy Q, baby I love you, my Suzy Q.....love that song and Mustang Sally, they sing and play so well together. They are actually in a "real" band and will be playing together for the very first time(in public) on New Years' Eve at one of the local VFW halls. The name of the band is Split Image and I and my sister-in-law(Theresa) are really looking forward to this. Hubby and I have not done anything on New Years for many years and this should prove to be fun.
Well need to get back to hypernea, eupnea, asphyxia, Kussmaul respirations, etc. yeah I am moving on to the respiratory section of my studies. YEAH!! progressing nicely, but cannot wait to be done!
Well, my friends another day is done, TTYL

Getting back at it

2007-12-11T13:41:00.000-05:00

Ok, Ok, I was reminded today that some people actually read my blog, so I am going to try my best to come here every day and post something, LOL! I do have some good things to post, though.
First, my Airman daughter, Jamie, passed her PT eval, this was so important because it was either pass or be discharged. She has done so well in the Air Force and to just be tossed aside because of a run time or a few pushups or situps was very upsetting. But they have done this to others and will continue to do this(at least at her current base). She also received
another(her 3rd) AF Achievement medal. This is given for outstanding performance in duties and is a very prestigious award. She received this from the command at Aviano AB, Italy, where she was last stationed. I am so very proud of her. They (her present command)nows realizes how valuable she is and they will be looking at moving her from guard duty(which she hates) to that of controller, which she did in Italy, and loves. She takes her ALS(airman leadership training) in January, sews on her newest stripe (Ssgt) in March or early April, then she has to head out to some training she has to take. She will be going back to the place this entire journey started, the home of AF BMT, San Antonio, Texas. She is not looking forward to this but it is a necessity. She has also been informed that her bucket will most likely be deploying in August. She wasn't too upset about this until she found out that her hubby is in a totally different bucket and they will not be deployed together. More than likely, she will deploy(unless he can volunteer to go at the same time as her), then she will return and he will deploy. That will be about 1 year that they will not be together. I am sure all of this will work out and things will be fine. They have a very strong relationship and they will survive.
Anywhoo, my son will be home shortly for his Christmas break from college. I am looking forward to that, love his visits, and also, LOL, love it when he returns to school. Hubby and I are loving being empty-nesters. James is in his fourth year at Michigan Tech and loving every second of it. He is getting his Engineering degree. He informed me a few weeks ago that he most likely will have to go for another entire year to complete his degree. That's ok, though, he is learning and doing so much. His education will be priceless when he graduates, I have faith that(although not in the state of MI) he will be able to get a very good paying job.
My eldest is still seeing the love of her life, they have been dating now for 2 months and they are just so cute together. I am so happy for her. She has dated alot of jerks to get this wonderful man. It is hard to believe she actually found a guy, her age(30), that hasn't been married, has no kids and is so suited for her. They will not be here for Christmas, they are taking off to go to Florida, no plans, just driving to Florida. I am excited for them. Jodi has not been much of a traveller and is looking very forward to this trip with Joel.
My other daughter, Jen, has had another disappointment and I wish there was something I could do to help her. She is a key manager at the same place I work. She has been there since before she graduated from high school(1998). She applied for an asst. manager position and it was given to a outsider. She is so devastated. She really deserved this position and has worked hard to someday do that. Now she just wants to find another job(there aren't any in MI) and move on. Her hubby is doing okay at his job, but wishes he could do better, also. Their babies(my grandkids) are the most precious kids on earth, yea I am prejudice. I cannot wait until Christmas and to have them here to open their presents that Santa forgot to leave at their house, hehe.
Well, school is going great. I got a bit sidetracked whe Jamie and Alex were here, but I am back on track. I just finished the practice transcriptions for the Lymphatic section and will be starting the transcription exam for this section tonight. I cannot wait to be an MT. I ca work from home and never have to set foot in the "ugly" place again.
Well, that is about all for now. I promise to try and write everyday, even if I have nothing to say, hehe! For now my friends take care and TTYL

Slipping

2007-11-15T18:39:00.000-05:00

I am so sorry, I have been letting my blog slip right by me. There really isn't anything new or exciting going on right now, except that my son will be home tonight from college. He will be here until the Saturday after Thanksgiving. That is pretty cool and I look forward to seeing him, :).
Well, I finally finished the Blood section and am moseying on over to the cardiovascular section. This is truly fascinating.
I think instead of studying right now, I feel like making cookies. Hmmmm, maybe some oatmeal scotchies, yea that sounds real good, so I am off. TTYL

I'm back

2007-11-07T21:47:00.000-05:00

Well, things are starting to get back to "normal". The kids have gone home, hubby and I are back to work, although he has the next 4 days off. Today is hubby's 52nd birthday. Nothing special, I made him a sundried tomato, mushroom risotto and a nice juicy sirloin and some crecent rolls for dinner and put a candle in a vanilla oreo(his fav cookie) for his dessert. He loved it. He is now upstairs watching his hockey game and relaxing in his recliner.
I have spent the entire day studying and trying to catch up on my school work. I did most of the Blood chapter today. I did 3 exercises. This blood section is really difficult, there is sooooo very much info to absorb. I will most likely take the exam for this section on Saturday. I started the BOS workbook chapter 15 tonight and will continue with that until Saturday, then the exam and just a few transcriptions. I should be right back on track by Monday.
I found out that I have to work a 10 hour day on the day after Thanksgiving. We have to be at work by 4:30am and will be working until 3pm. That is such a long, long day on my feet. I am really not looking forward to this. I truly hope I do not have to work for a couple days after that, I know I will be sore and will need a couple extra days to recuperate.
Well, it is almost 10pm and I have to work in the am so until tomorrow TTYL

Short Time

2007-11-03T19:30:00.000-04:00

Well, time is getting short, Jamie and Alex will be returning to Alexandria on Monday morning. We will get to see them tomorrow, probably for dinner and then it is back to normal. I love having them here. Alex has really opened up and we have had some really good talks, he is such a great young man and he loves my daughter with all of his heart. I am extremely pleased to have him in out family.
I really haven't gotten too much done in the way of school work, but will get back at it with gusto as soon as the kids are gone.
Today I spent the day with my oldest, Jodi, at a crafts fair. She does scrapbooking and sells Mary Kay cosmetics. She had a booth to try and drum up some more clients for her MK sales. She does such a good job with this, I am so proud of her. She was telling me all about her new beau. She is extremely happy. It sounds as though she may have met her soulmate. They have alot in common. He is actually a few months older than her and never married, nor does he have any children. He will be 30 in January and Jo will be 30 in May. She usually dates guys alot older, but I am very happy she is seeing Joel. We have not met him yet but hope to soon. I truly hope she has found "the" guy for her. She so wants to get married and have a family, like her younger sisters.
I came home from the craft fair and took a short nap, made a soup and sandwich dinner, by then it was time for hubby to leave and go to his band practice. His brother is joining him with this. His brother has an awesome voice, so it should work out just great.
Well, think I will study a bit and then off to an early bed. I am a bit tired tonight, so TTYL!

HELLO!

2007-10-30T13:57:00.000-04:00

This is another picture taken by my son.

Hello it's me. Today has been a good day so far. I went and picked Jamie up so that she could go and get a pedicure and a manicure in preparation for the wedding this weekend. We spent some good quality time together. Today is Jamie and Alex's 1 year anniversary. I am so happy for them. They are so cute together. I am very pleased to have Alex in our family. Tonight I have to go to the "ugly" place and work from 4-10, yuck, but I guess I will survive. The only bad thing is I close tonight and open tomorrow. I am working 5 days this week and I am going to be one tired mama by the end of the week.

I got my HEENT exam back and received a 97.1% on it. I was hoping for better but made a few mistakes that I shouldn't have. I really need to get this. My grade point is still good but I don't want it to drop any farther. Here's hoping the next exam will be better. Sometimes I feel as though I am in way over my head, then other times every thing is good. I guess that is why not everyone is cut out for this job. People seem to think it is soooo easy and it is not, but I do love it and will love it even more when I am getting paid to do it, LOL!

I think I need to go back and reread some sections in the BOS so that I get a better grasp of some of the concepts in that. I am making dumb mistakes that I shouldn't be making and it frustrates me. I know what I am doing just sometimes my brain and my fingers don't communicate real well together, LOL!

Well, time to have a bite to eat and then get ready for the "ugly" place. Until tomorrow, TTYL!

YEAH

2007-10-28T21:06:00.000-04:00

This picture is of Alex, Jamie and Jamies' best friend, Kara and her fiance Mike, taken on Friday when we all went out for dinner and drinks. It was a good time.

Hmmm, I have been kinda lazy and not posting to my blog but now I have a few minutes to catch up and can do just that, so here goes.

Wednesday night I was making dinner. I was chopping up onions, carrots and cerlery for a swedish meatball stew that my hubby loves and I kinda caught a glimpse of a car driving in our diriveway. I thought who in the heck is here. I went to the back door and there stands my AF daughter and her hubby. They came early to surprise us!! How cool is that. We have spent a bit of time with them. They are so busy with Kara's wedding and everything that involves. I was so happy to see them. My school work has been getting shifted to the side a bit and I feel real quilty about that. I did submit my final submission for the HEENT transcription exam. I am really not sure about this one. I didn't have any major medical mistakes, but I did have some format and punctuation mistakes. Sometimes I get it and other times I don't. I just don't understand. I am hoping I did well, but time will tell.

Today I made lasagne, breadsticks(homemade), chocolate cream pie and a pumpkin spice dreamwhip pie and took it all over to my mom's house. Jamie and Alex are staying with her, she is the only one without cats(Jamie and Alex are allergic), she also has the most room. My sister and her daughter, my other two daughters and my grandkids were all there. We had a great dinner and lots of fun and laughter. Hubby took his Wii game console over and they all had a good time playing games. I haven't laughed that much in quite some time. It felt really good.

Jamie and Alex will be over for dinner again tomorrow. I am making both of their favorites. Grilled loin chops, mashed potatoes and gravy, green beans and some flaky biscuits. They are loving all the good homemade food. With the way they work they barely are able to eat at home and Jamie is still learning to cook. I am trying my best to spoil them rotten while they are here.

Well, it is still early enough to get a bit of studying in so I am going to go for now but will TTYL.

Bummer day

2007-10-23T23:31:00.000-04:00

Woke up this morning with a killer headache. I have not had one of those in ions. I cannot take anything for it so I suffered most of the day. It finally started to subside after I got out of work at 10 pm tonight, argh!! I am most definately not going to enjoy working Tuesday nights. I did get to train a new cashier tonight and that was good, means I didn't have to do it all. I had help for a change.
Despite my headache I was able to finish a few more transcriptions. I think I am really getting this. I love the transcribing part, the testing part is still not up to what I think it should be. I mean, I get it, I just for the life of me cannot test. I just forget whatever I have already learned. I know that I know it but my mind tends to blank out. I do not know what I need to do to be able to test better. I really need to figure this out before the final exam and definately need to figure it out before the RMT exam or I am screwed!!
Talked to Jamie today. Her and Alex will be home Friday for a week. I am so excited. I just wish we had room here for them to stay instead of across town at my moms. Oh well, she will take great care of them and it is only a 10 minute drive.
Went to our local zoo's Halloween thing last night. We got wet, it rained. But it was fun watching my beautiful grandchildren trick or treat. What a joy they are and their favorite place on earth is the zoo. Ethan knows where everything in the zoo is. He has been there dozens and dozens of times. We rode the new carousel, it is an oldtime one with the original animals on it. It is soooo cool. It is also Kimberly's fav thing to do at the zoo.
Well, I have a couple more HEENT transcriptions to do then the exam for this section, then on to BLOOD. Getting closer and closer to the end of this course and the demise of my job, YEAH!!!
Well, tired and sore tonight(my back has been acting up since it got cold here) So I will say goodnight my friends, til tomorrow or whenever I write once again. TTYL

Another productive day

2007-10-21T20:33:00.000-04:00

Today was a very, very productive day. I finally took my midterm exam. I am not entirely happy with my test score, but I am surprised I actually knew alot of the information. I received an 83%, I missed 17 questions. I would have done better except for the fact that even though I try not to I changed 3 answers. I know I am suppose to go with my first instinct, but for some reason I just cannot do that. Ugh!! Oh well, that is done and behind me now I can move on and get some more of this course out of the way.
I transcribed 8 transcriptions today for the HEENT section and started on the Blood section (chapter 10 in the Med term book). So I guess I am advancing quite well. I am really done for the day. My brain is fried and my fingers do not want to work on the keyboard anymore.
Tomorrow I have to work 6 hours, then home for dinner with hubby and then we are going to the zoo for their annual event the Zoo Boo. We are going with our grandkids and their mom and dad. It should be a good time, it usually is. The kids will get to wear their costumes for the first time tomorrow night. Ethan is really excited to put his Darth Vader costume on.
Well, I think I will actually watch a bit of TV and then head off to bed, I am really tired after all the work I did today. It is a good tired, though. So many accomplishments today. YEAH!! Well, til tomorrow TTYL :)

Study, study and more study

2007-10-20T23:24:00.000-04:00

Well, that about sums up my day today. Hubby and I went out for our usual Saturday morning breakfast and grocery trip, we came home put the groceries away and then I retired to my "office". I spent the better part of the day studying for this midterm exam. I may be close to being ready to take it. I may have to just jump in with both feet and go for it. I have been redoing all the quizzes and exams and have done alright on them. A few things I needed to look up again to remember what they were, but all in all, I think I will do ok. I am just dreading that awful clock in the corner. I really do not like that thing. It makes me rush and sometimes I panic that it is taking me too long on a question and I just pick an answer. I am very nervous for some reason about this exam. Maybe it is because I am not sure about all the information that is on it. Maybe it is because of the abundance of info I have learned so far and am afraid it is going to be just too overwhelming. I do not know. I really need to get past this, so that I may move on with my studies.
Hubby helped me build a couple macros today and I added some more expansions to my autocorrect. I was playing with all the ones I have made so far and it is so cool and will save me a ton of time. Hubby helped me build macros for -year-old and -month-old, I am so excited to be able to just type a few keystrokes and be done with it. I have all the common things in my autocorrect right now. For example: tpi for The patient is, ti for This is, all the headings, subjective, impression, objective, physical examination, etc. are in there, too. All the capital letters will not slow me down now and I will be able to whiz right throught this, WOOHOO! My list is ever expanding(no pun intended) and as I learn all of the ones I have now I will add new ones. My rule will be: If I hear a word or phrase more than twice it will be put in my expander!
Well, it is after 11:30 qnd I have a few more exercises and exams to look over before going to bed, soooooo TTYL

Productive Evening

2007-10-19T22:19:00.000-04:00

Well, today I had to go to the "ugly" place for 6 hours. I worked very hard. Customers were real grumpy today, I do not know what it was but I had alot of angry people in the store today and you know who they take all their anger out on. You guessed it, ME. That in turn makes me grumpy. Oh well, all that is over until Monday. I start my 1 night per week next week and am not a happy camper. The boss is making me work Tuesday nights and I am going to miss webinars. He will not budge on the time I am working. He is such a tyrant. So now I have to make myself listen to the webinars. I think I have said this before, but, "I cannot wait to be done with this course so that I can leave that place." I have never hated a job more than I do this one.
On another note, I spent 2 hours studying yesterday and I was really surprised that I actually retained alot of the stuff I have been learning, LOL. I am making myself a little test so I can actually find out the stuff I know. I am going through the exercises and quizzes from Medical Terminology to Endocrine and am writing down every question that I do not get right as I read through all these exercises, etc. Example: I cover up the answers and try and do the exercises again, if I miss one, I write it down and this then becomes my test. It really helps to reinforce my knowledge. I am hoping to feel confident enought to take the midterm on Sunday, maybe. I am not going to rush this, I need to feel confident I can pass before putting myself through this test and that is what I am going to do.
I spent 2 more hours today putting together an expander list. I am impressed with myself, LOL! I have three pages of words that I have put into this list and I can actually remember all of them. I typed up an old trascription using the expander and it saved soooooo much time. I cannot wait to use it for real. I have made a promise to myself to spend at least an hour to maybe 2 hours a week, expanding my list and studying it so that I can remember all of it.
I also sat down at the computer tonight and made out a list of reference books and materials that I would like. Hubby is going to give it to the kids for Christmas, YEAH!!
Oh, it is my Air Force daughters birthday today. She is 24 years old. She said her hubby got her a beautiful diamond aniversary ring, wow! Her hubby will be 21 tomorrow and they will celebrate their 1 year aniversary on the 30th of this month. She and Alex will be home on the 26th of this month, next Friday. I am excited, even though I probably won't see much of them. They are coming home to attend and be a part of Jamie's best friends wedding. She has alot to do between now and the 3rd, when Kara gets married. She is the matron-of-honor and has planned a bachelorette party, manicures and pedicures for her and the bride, and several other things too. I am hoping I can steal them away for an anniversary/birthday celebration one night, we shall see. Well, it is getting late and I am getting pretty tired so I guess that is it for now. TTYL

YEAH ME!!!!

2007-10-18T08:25:00.000-04:00

YEAH ME!! I am so excited about this new career path I have chosen and all the doors it could possibly open. I am right on track to finish this course and the internship in 12 months and am so very excited. I was going to post this last night but got sidetracked.
I just got my transcription exam back for the neuro-psych section and am very proud to announce that I received a 99.1%. WOOHOO! If I wouldn't have changed a couple things I would have done better. I actually think I am getting commas, hyphens, etc., haha. I didn't think I would ever get that good of a grade this early in the transcription. I really, really enjoyed the neuro section. It was fascinating and it was by far the best grades(all 100%) I have gotten on any section so far. I guess this section is my calling. I would love to transcribe for a neuro-psych doctor or facility. That would be way too cool.
On another note, I am taking my endocrine exam today and then I am going to knuckle down and study real hard for my midterm. I am oh so very nervous about this exam. There is so much info that needs to be gone over and refreshed. I hope I do well on this, then it is on to more studies in the rest of the disciplines. I received my note from Cheryl and she says I am right on track to finish this program in 12 months and then on to actually working in this profession. Well, I believe her, she is the GREATEST and without all her knowledge and kudos, I could not have done this well. Thanks Cheryl!
I love attending the prospective student webinars, I love telling these prospects about TRS and what it has done for me. I want to shout it from the rooftops. I am trying very hard to get my 2nd oldest and my youngest daughters involved. I think my AF daughter is going to try and get it together real soon and start her program. She only has 2 years(of her 6 year enlistment) left and really wants something she can do from home. She is thinking of this for when she and her AF hubby decide to have kids or if he gets transferrred somewhere else. We shall see. She worries about not being able to complete the course in a year because of her AF obligations and the hours she works. I am trying to get her to talk to an admissions counselor, we shall see.
Well, time to look over my notes and exercises and take my endocrine exam, then more study time. Of course, it is obvious, I am not at the "ugly" place today, it is my day off, YEAH!
Well, time to study, TTYL

Wow

2007-10-14T16:53:00.000-04:00

Wow! I didn't realize how much work I can accomplish in one day, ok so maybe 1 and 1/2 days. It started late last night. I submitted the last of the Neurology/Psychiatric Transcription Practices and decided to go ahead and start the Exam. I whizzed through the exam. I hope I did well on it. I only had to look up one drug name and maybe 2 words total, other than that it was really good. I hope I did well on it. I took me about 45 minutes to do 6 and 1/2 minutes of transcription. I really do not think that is too awful bad. It was really really late when I finally got done looking it over and proofreading it(around midnight). But I was pumped and decided to start on the next section, Endocrine. Went to bed around 2am. I have not stayed up that late in forever, LOL! This a.m. I started back on the rest of this section and now I will study for the exam on this section, then, DRUMROLL, PLEASE!! I am officially half-way through this course. Next week will be a study week and then at the end of the week I will take the dreaded midterm exam. Wow, time has flown by. I hope I am on track to finish this course, including the internship in my allotted year. I do not want to pay extra for this course, I cannot afford to pay extra, so the next few months I will be pushing myself to get through this, no slacking off. Every free minute will be consumed with studies!
The closer this gets to being a reality the more excited I get. I cannot wait to be in the position of working from home! Not having to go to the "ugly" place anymore just makes me so happy! YEAH ME!!
Something else from work, my boss kept cutting my hours, which I didn't mind, but hubby said I needed to get at least 24-30 hours a week, yuck! Well, I have only been scheduled for 18 the past two weeks(before that I was getting 24 or more). I asked my boss why, apparently our newest employee needs more hours and whatever she wants she gets. She is a 21-year-old snot faced brat that for some reason my bosses just love her. She is lazy, disrespectful and just generally not nice to be around. So now because she wants to work during the day on Tuesdays, instead of nights, if I want more hours I have to take the night shift Tuesday nights. I have been there for just over a year and am older, smarter and a much better employee than this brat and because she wants my shift I get docked hours unless I want to take over one of her shifts. Not fair! So now I have to work Tuesday nights and I am not happy about it either. I cannot wait to get out of that place!!
Well, I am going to go back to my studies, so till tomorrow TTYL

Much Accomplished

2007-10-10T23:28:00.000-04:00

Today was a very good day, not only did I not have to go to the "ugly" place, but I also accomplished alot of transcribing. I transcribed 11 reports today and I feel very fulfilled. Not only did I transcribe those reports, I actually understood most of what was being said, it was so cool!! I really only had to look up a few words and those were easy to find. The only problem I am having is that I keep thumbing through the TRSI Formatting Guidelines, hoping I am doing everything right. I may have to laminate those pages so that I don't wear them out, LOL! I am really loving the Neurology and Special Senses section, it is soooooo fascinating, I love the cosultations, the discharge summaries, the office note, etc. I think I have found my calling. I totally get this section, all of it. Some of the other sections, I learned, but didn't feel like I really understood them, this one was different. I truly enjoyed it. I learned soooo much in this section. I scored higher on the exercises and the exam and it looks like I am doing better on the transcribing. I don't know it is just a feeling I have right now. I am almost done with this section. I have a couple more transcriptions, then the transcription exam and then on to Endocrine. I am dreading this next section, not because of what it is, but because before I do the transcription for this section, I have to take the midterm and that TERRIFIES me. I know I will study hard for this, but I really don't know if I have really reatained alot of it, oh well, I guess time will tell.
On a different note, I am going to lunch with a friend I have not seen in over a year. We live in the same town, but rarely ever get to see each other. I am pretty excited. I have known Laura for over 18 years and miss her. We have alot to catch up on and I know lunch will be fun.
My AF daughter and her hubby will be home in 15 days, I am very excited about this. They will be staying with my mom. We don't have any beds for them to sleep in, except Jamies' brothers twin bed and I know they wouldn't be comfy in that. Mom has a big condo with lots of room and her basement is like a small apartment with bedroom, bathroom, and living room, so they should be good there. While they are home we will be celebrating Jamies' 24th birthday(October 19th), Alex's 21st birthday(October 20th) and their 1st anniversary. They were married almost 1 year ago in a tiny village of Italy. They were married by that towns Mayor. How cool is that? Unfortunately, I could not attend, but I do have lot of pics and am so happy for them.
Well, I am getting very sleepy, no "ugly" place again tomorrow, YEAH!! Plan to study, organize my notebooks a bit better, go to lunch with Laura and relax in the evening with hubby, so till tomorrow, TTYL

Busy day

2007-10-08T21:27:00.000-04:00

It is truly Monday and I am just about ready to hit the sack, but thought that since I had not written in a few days, that maybe I should.
I woke up this moring really not wanting to go to the "ugly" place. I am gettig to dread it more and more. The more I progress in my transcription course, the more I dread that place. It is really hard to be cheery with the customers when you know that it doesn't matter what you do it is never right. Oh well, enough about that.
I took the nervous system and special senses exam tonight and scored a 100%, wow, I could not believe that. I really enjoyed this section, so much to learn, but it was fascinating. Of course every chapter has been, LOL! I also typed 3 practice transcriptions. So I am doing pretty good, still on track, for me, anyway. I need to finish the transcriptions for this chapter and then do the final and then on to the endocrine system and after that the dreaded mid-term exam. I am still nervous about this. I have tried to take very good notes so that I shouldn't have too much of a problem, it is that I just want to do so well. I do not like getting lower tha a 90% on anything. I guess I will just take my time studying for the mid-term and we shall see how I do. But first I need to get through the rest of the nervous system ad then the endocrine system. I guess I am stressing before I even need too, LOL!
Well, early day tomorrow, then 2 days off, yeah!! So till next time. TTYL :)

Gettin' Lazy

2007-10-05T21:44:00.000-04:00

Ok, where have I been? I have been here everyday, but I have been very lazy lately and not keeping up with my blogging. Actually, there isn't anything really exciting happening in my life so I decided to not bore anyone that really reads this. I do have some exciting news, at least to me it is. I just got my Ortho Transcription Exam back and I got a 98.6 percent on it. I am sooooo thrilled and surprised. I thought I did ok on this one, but I never dreamed I would get that high of a grade, GO ME!! My mistakes were once again the dreaded comma and hyphen. I don't think I will ever get those two punctuation marks, ugh!! I am making good progress in the course. I am setting all my goals I have for myself and then some. I am sooooooo excited about this career.
Tomorrow I am going to attend the prospective new student webinar and try and pump up some other person and get them really interested in TRSI and the medical transcription career. Then I will glance through my notes once again and take the Nervous System and Special Senses exam and then it is on to the transcriptions for this section. I love it when I get to the transcriptions, it means I am accomplishing another milestone and moving on with the course.
This Sunday my daughter has the day off, I am so hoping she brings the grandkids over. I miss them so very much. I get a bit jealous, because my SIL mom sees the kids everyday and gets all that intereaction with them. She babysits for them on a daily basis and takes Ethan to school his three days a week he goes. She sees so much more than I do, but truthfully I think I treasure the time with them more. If I were to babysit them everyday it would be like they were my children, not my grandchildren. I guess hubby and I are going to have the kids for a couple nights the end of the month. Their mom and dad are going to Kentucky to visit a friend and leaving the kids here. I can not wait to spoil them rotten!!
Well, I am getting very tired and time for bed, I guess. So I will TTYL!!

Busy day

2007-09-29T22:21:00.000-04:00

Today was a busy day. I woke at 6am and had to get ready for a meeeting at the ugly place. The meeting was from 8 a.m. until 9:30 a.m. It was very boring and uneventful. Came home picked up hubby and went to breakfast. Left the restaurant, headed to the grocery store, I decided I needed something new to wear to a function this evening so went to Fashion Bug, UCK!! I hate clothes shopping. Nothing ever fits right or looks the way I want it to look. I did find a nice pair of pants and a nice shirt for not too much money. Went from there to the grocery store, picked up all kinds of fresh veggies. I am going to make soup a couple times this week. It is starting to get a bit cool and nothing warms you up better than a nice hot bowl of homemade soup and I LOVE to cook. Got the groceries and went home. The day is almost shot by this time. CHecked my email, read a bit on thre nervous system and took a 20 minute nap. Woke feeling refreshed, took a nice long hot shower and prepared for the evening out. Hubby is celebrating being at the same job for 20 years and his company puts on a really nice dinner and invites the honorees (5. 10 and 15 years) and a guest to attend. It was really yummy and I was able to see people I hadn't seen for a long time. We don't socialize with too many people hubby works with, they all live in different towns and hubby is not real crazy about most of them anyway, LOL! All in all I think the night went very well, came home and back to my studies. I know I lead such an eventful life, LOL! Hubby and are very settled and staying home is one of our favorite pasttimes,LOL! Usually he is in his office on his computer and I am in mine on my computer or with my nose stuck in a book.
I submitted my final draft of the orthopedic exam. I was pleasantly surprised at how well I really did on this exam, I am really loving this field and cannot wait to actually be doing this. I started the nervous system and special senses the other day and am hoping to make real good progress on this this week. I want to try and stay on track and keep reaching my goals. I know I have a way to go but I can actually see the light at the end of the tunnel and maybe a rainbow or two to go along with that light, :) Well, guess I need to read some more. I want to get all my reading done tomorrow(on this chapter) and start on the exercises. There is alot to absorb in this chapter and I need to really take the time to make sure I learn it all. Well until tomorrow, TTYL

Nothing Day

2007-09-26T22:16:00.000-04:00

Well, today was another of those, I got nothin' accomplished days. I woke up this morning and just couldn't get motivated. I went to the ugly place and did my time(6 hours). Came home made enchiladas for hubby and I. Checked and responded to a couple emails and then headed off to watch my daughter and son-in-law play softball and of course visit with my adorable grandbabies. Then came home and have been sitting at this darn computer just really doing nothing. I have read all my emails, checked out the TRSI site for the student forum, read all the stuff there and still, no motivation. My med term book is sitting here open and I have read the same paragraph a hundred times and I still don't know what I read. Maybe I should just call it a day and head to bed, but I am not really tired, ok so maybe I will try to read some more in my med term book, oh I don't know. Hmmmm, I really need a good swift kick in the rear and maybe it will start my motor running, LOL!! Oh well, nothing ventured, nothing gained, today absolutely nothing gained. So decision made, I am off to try and sleep, so I will visit with you again tomorrow evening and hopefully will be out of these doldrums and back to gungho, again. Goodnight, TTYL

Happy Anniversary to US

2007-09-25T12:48:00.000-04:00

Today is mine and hubby's 31st wedding anniversary. Wow! Thirty-one years is an awful long time in a very short time span, if you get my drift. I cannot believe that we have been married that long. People tell us all the time what an accomplishment this is. We don't see it that way, we love each other and have worked very hard to provide a safe, productive, loving home for our family. It hasn't always been easy, but it definately has been worth every second.
I guess we are going out to eat tonight. Hubby called at noon and wanted to know where I wanted to go for dinner. I told him we already did the anniversary dinner thing and it really wasn't necessary. He told me it was necessary and for me to decide where we were going. So I haven't decided yet, but I have a couple hours left before he will be home so time to decide that. Hmmm seafood, steak, burgers at our fav grill, I don't know.
Well, as far as school is concered, I just sent in my Musculoskeletal transcription exam and am anxiouly waiting for it to be graded. I thought I had it done and come to find out there are 4 transcriptions on this exam, LOL! Janet sent it back to me to finish. I had some trouble on this one and actually had to laeave a blank. I didn't want to leave a blank, but I could not figure out what the doctor was saying. I tried everything, slowing it down, speeding it up, looking up different words and phrases in all my references, my word list, walking away, I even gave up last night and tried again this morning, still no comprehension of what he is saying, so I blanked it and sent the first draft on to be critiqued. While I am waiting it is on to Nervous systems ad special senses.
Enough for now, I may write more later, so for now Bye TTYL

My poor daughter

2007-09-22T22:00:00.000-04:00

Today was not a good day for my eldest daughter. She called her dad about noon, crying her eyes out. Her car had died on the highway and she needed him to come get her. We jumped in the car and proceeded to go to the highway. On the way there, dad called for a tow truck and we both got there about the same time. We had the car towed to our house so dad and my brother(a master mechanic) could take a look at it. The car is a 97 Dodge Neon with over 200,000 miles on it and a piece of doo-doo. Well, it is finally dead. Not a good time for this to happen to her. She has missed a bit of work due to a shoulder injury and has not had a full paycheck the last couple of weeks. Her credit is horrible, due to some very bad investments when she was younger, so not an option to purchase a new one. She makes really good money and could afford a new car, just no one will extend her any credit. And as much as I love her, I will not co-sign for a new car for her. Uncle Steve to the rescue. My brother has all kinds of connections in the new and used car world in and around our area. He found her a car, a 97 Park Avenue. Not in the greatest of shape, body wise, but it is reliable and cheap. He is taking her dead car as down payment and charging her 400.00 for the car. Good deal, maybe not the one she wanted, but she now has more reliable wheels. My brother would never let his niece get behind the wheel of a car he didn't personnally check out(especially if he was selling it to her). The car has newer tires, new brakes, new power steering motor and belts. It just doesn't look the greatest, but hey, beggars cannot be choosers. This will due her until she can save up eough money to get a newer car. So all in all it turned out ok for her.

My day was totally shot, I did get quite a few transcriptions done and am happy about that. I also got groceries and I think that is all that was accomplished today.

Oh, we had a wonderful time last night with my BIL and SIL. I just love the two of them. We all needed a night out and a good time and I cannot think of better people to do it with.

Well, it may be Saturday night but I think my pillow is calling me already. So off to dreamland with me. TTYL

New Day

2007-09-20T22:01:00.000-04:00

Today has been a much better day, as far as school is concerned. I transcribed 4 notes tonight, could have done more, but am getting tired and did not want to push it. I have tomorrow off and plan on sticking my rearend in my office and staying there the entire day. Of course I will take an occasional break, but my office will be my home for most of the day.
I think I have come to the conclusion that my "n" sticking problem is operator error. I am not hitting the "n" properly and therefore it is not registering. I am still have some trouble getting use to this keyboard, but I am getting better. It is so new to me, but my hands and wrists are already thanking me. I just wish it was quieter. I know I can't have it all, but I do try. LOL!!
This next week is mine and hubby's anniversary, yeah, 31 years of marriage, wow! That is a long time. We are going out tomorrow night with his brother and his wonderful wife. We are going to a nice Italian restaurant and then slipping over to the attached club and listening to some old time rock and blues. It should be a wonderful night. I am excited, we don't go out very often.
I am so happy to have the next three days off. My back has been protesting working 4 days in a row. I am going to do some stretches before bed tonight to see if they help. I feel as if my spine is compressing. I know it is not but it just feels that way, so time to stretch it back out. This usually helps relieve some of the pain. I am NEVER totally pain free, but it is bearable most days.
Well, eyes are getting heavy need to stretch and then head to bed, busy day tomorrow. TTYL

Blah Day

2007-09-19T22:12:00.000-04:00

Today was a very unproductive day. I have not accomplished one thing, well maybe one. I did get out of bed this morning, LOL! I have not done anything pertaining to school and I really need to do something. I worked today and it was so boring, we were so awfully slow. I made a wonderful chicken and rice soup for dinner and then went and watched my #2 daughter and her hubby play softball. Now I am here yawning my fool head off, so I decided I would blog and then it is off to bed. I have to go to the ugly place again in the morning, yuck. But then I have 3 days off and plan on spending most of those days studying. I need to get remotivated and get going again.

I am having a bit of an issue with my new keyboard. I am not sure if it is because it is new and will take some getting use to or if I am really having a problem with it. The "n" key is sticking, I think. I am not sure if it isn't working properly or if it is because I am not hitting it right to make it work. I have found that I really need to cut my fingernails, though. I keep hitting the wrong keys. My nails keep going in between the keys and that is really not good. I guess I will keep trying with the keyboard for a few more days and if this issue persists it is going back. Too bad, cause it is so comfortable to use. My hands and wrists do not get tired at all. We shall see how it goes.

Well, tired so it is off to dreamland. TTYL

New toys :)

2007-09-18T20:43:00.000-04:00

Today is a good day. I finally received my new keyboard. I am not really sure about this yet, it is definately going to take some getting use to. It is very ergonomic, with the split keyboard and it is slightly reverse elevated. It has a very nice wrist rest and is very comfortable to use. I just keep hitting the wrong keys, LOL! I am sure I will get the hang of it soon, it is just so new right now.

I started my transcriptions last night and am planning on doing a few more tonight. They shouldn't take too long to complete, they are mostly short and sweet and don't take alot of effort, yet anyway.

I took someones advice and bought some of the 3x5 cards that are attached together with a ring and am attempting to put all the suffixes ad prefixes and word parts on them so that I can take them with me everywhere and study them. I know I have a midterm exam coming up and I am just a bit worried about that so the more study materials I have, the better.
I love this profession and I haven't even started yet, LOL!! I am getting the biggest kick out of all the knowledge that I am gaining and actually remembering. Cheryl and TRSi are my ticket out of the boring world of retail.

Speaking of boring, I had a very boring day at work today, we were so darn slow and the time just didn't move fast enough. I didn't want to be there and then being slow didn't help. Thank goodess I am only working 24 hours right now. I honestly don't think I could stand being there any longer than that each week. Usually the big boss schedules me for 2 days on, 1 day off, then 2 days on, then 2 days off and it works out great, but......We have a dumb assistant manager and she has to do things different. I am working 4 days in a row this week with 3 days off. Oh well, the boss will be back next week, thank goodness, cause our assistant is a real ditz!
Well, time for more transcribing and then off to dreamland. TTYL

WOOHOO!

2007-09-17T22:01:00.000-04:00

I am pretty darn proud of myself, LOL! I just took my musculoskeletal exam and I was pleasantly surprised to recieve a 92%. I missed 8 questions and when I went back over them, they really were dumb mistakes on my part. I am happy with a 92%, though. That was alot of material to cover and I wasn't sure if any of it really sank in, but I guess it did. Happy, Happy, Joy, Joy.
I started some of the orthopedics dictation and they are so short. I think I like longer dictations better. I just get started with these office notes and they are done. I mean they are easy, but wow, way to0 short.
The rest of my day was pretty good, except the having to go to work part, LOL! I really don't like my job at all. It is soooooo boring and the bosses are all (except one) self-centered a**holes. I don't have alot of respect for them, They treat all of us employees like we are really dumb and most of us have been around longer than they have and know more about the store and our loyal customers than they do. I just keep telling myself not much longer, not much longer.......
Well, gotta go to that ugly place again in the AM so I am off to slumberland and sweet dreams. TTYL

Sunday(lazy day)

2007-09-16T21:01:00.000-04:00

Sundays are usually my lazy days. I love to just lounge around the house and not do anything special. Today was no exception. I had a wonderful pancake breakfast with my darling husband(he cooked). We sat around and read the paper and drank coffee all morning. We took a little morning nap and then he went out and mowed the lawn. My kids called and said they would be over this afternoon so I decided to make a big pot of beef stew for them. I cooked all afternoon. The smells in the house were wonderful. I made beef stew, cornbread and a jello cake. My daughters (#1 and #2) came over along with my grand kids and their daddy. It was so cool seeing them and playing with the kids. All in all it was a very unproductive, relaxing day. I truly enjoyed it.
I thought about coming into my office and studying for a bit, but I need a day away so I will resume my studies tomorrow. For now it is off to the shower and then an early bed. Have to work tomorrow. TTYL

Amish breakfast

2007-09-15T20:07:00.000-04:00

Today was an awesome day. I woke up around 6am and knew today was going to be grand. My best friend Sherry invited myself and 10 other friends to join her in an Amish breakfast. We all met at Sherry's house and drove about 20 minutes south into Amish country. It was a beautiful, sunny, picture perfect day. Mrs. Wickey's house is absoutely gorgeous. She has a phenomenal yard with gorgeous flowers and pottery everywhere. Their horses were just standing by the back door, greeting us as we walked up to the old farmhouse. The interior of Mrs. Wickey's house is just as fabulous as the outside. She has beautiful oak cabinetry everywhere and the floors were so shiney and spotless you could practically see yourself in them. The smell as you walked up to their house was wonderful. We were escorted into the large kitchen and there was a buffet table set up with the most delicious selection of breaksfast foods I have ever seen. We had homemade, warm, fresh from the oven, cinnamon rolls and pecan rolls. We sampled fresh bacon and smoked ham. Fresh fruit of every kind was served on beautiful heirloom platters. Fried potatoes and eggs and pancakes and waffles and on and on.....The fellowship and friendship continued for almost 3 hours. What a wonderful way to start a gorgeous day. We eventually made our way back to Sherry's house for more coffee and girl talk. It was just so much fun. It is something I donot get to do very often. Sherry and I have been friends for almost 35 years and we rarely see or talk to each other, but whenever we reconnect it is like we never left each others side. I love her like a sister and can do or say anything in front of her and never have a fear of it ever being repeated or of me being made fun of. She has a heart of gold!
Well, came hme from girls day out and got groceries and spent the remainder of the day with hubby, chatting, watching tv and just hanging out together.
Now it is almost 8:30 pm and I really need to study. I want to take my musculoskeletal exam on Monday so that I may start the transcription. I guess enough blogging, time to study for a bit. TTYL

Hmmmm.....

2007-09-14T21:47:00.000-04:00

Well, another day is almost done. I worked 6 hours today and then came home and left with hubby to have dinner with our daughter and son-in-law and grandbabies. What great fun. My grandson wanted to go the place with the fish on the walls, LOL! It is a great fish and seafood place here in town. So off we went, had a great dinner and wonderful conversation. It was very relaxing.
As soon as we got home, I went to my "office" to start my studying for the Musculoskeletal Exam. While I was studying I decided to find a new keyboard, one that is a bit more ergonomical. I found a good price on a Microsoft Natural 4000 and purchased it. It should be here in 5-7 days. Now maybe I can prevent some problems before they start. I have already purchased the soft-flex gloves and love them. They are very comfortable. I really don't want to suffer from carpal tunel so I am taking the advice of my instructor and getting this stuff now.
After ordering the keyboard, I decided to try and study some more, just not into it tonight, I guess. Will study after I get home tomorrow morning. I am going to breakfast with my best friend, Sherry. We and several other ladies will be going to the home of an Amish women who cooks breakfast as a living and has people into her house. Like a restaurant, but family style. The price is very reasonable. I am very excited, this women is a fabulous cook. I have sampled some of her bakery goods that she sells to the mom and pop grocery stores on the outskirts of our town. All I can say is YUMMY! So I am really looking forward to tomorrow morning.
Work is work, and I do not have to return until Monday morning. I am pleased about that. I just dread heading into that store every day and really cannot wait until I am established in my new chosen career!
Well, getting late here and I am very tired, so TTYL!

Good day today

2007-09-13T21:42:00.000-04:00

Ok, today was a good day. I worked 6 hours, came home cooked dinner for hubby and myself and relaxed for a bit. I had a hair appointment and went and got rid of all my grandma hair and came out looking lots younger(no more gray, hehe). While at the salon I read another chapter in the BOS workbook and did the exercise in it. Wow, so much to learn. Now it is time to study for another exam. I am not a very good test taker and they tend to frighten me a bit, but this too shall pass. I just do the very best that I can and move on.
I saw my grandkids last night, they are growing so awful fast. Ethan, age 4, is now enrolled in preschool part time and loving every second of it. Kimberly, age 2, is so jealous, she thinks she has to do everything Etink(her word for Ethan) does. My daughter is having a real hard time with potty training her, she insists on standing up, LOL! Well, that is what brother does and she HAS to be like brother. My daughter and her hubby were playing softball last night so I got to chase the kids around. I was so tired by the time I got back home, but it is so very worth every second I can spend with my angels.
Today was also a good day because I talked to all four of my kids today. My son is freezing up in the upper peninsula, it is only in the 30's right now. But other than that he is doing well. He is taking a tae-kwon-do class and is quite sore from it. I told him maybe it would help him lose his freshman 15, that he put on in his junior year, LOL! My daughter Jamie called tonight also, from work, she was bored and just wanted to talk to her mom, awwww. She is having some problems with her PT and is very frustrated by that, but I know, with her hubby's help she will get through this and everything will be fine again. My eldest called and just wanted to chit-chat, too. Nothing new in her life either. Anyone have a nice late 20's early 30's friend they wanna set her up with, LOL!! Of course, I can't help but talk to my 2nd oldest daughter, she is my boss, LOL!! So I was fortunate and chatted with all of them today, that doesn't happen very often.
Well, time to hit the books for a bit more before bed time. All of you have a wonderful night and an even better tomorrow. TTYL

Another day

2007-09-12T18:07:00.000-04:00

Another day is just about done and I feel as though I actually accomplished something.
I didn't work today, but I worked hard at home. I cleaned the house this morning and took my walk. After lunch, I sat down at the computer and worked all day on my studies. I finished several exercises, did some coloring in my anatomy coloring book and read a bit out of the BOS workbook. Job well done, for me anyway. Just finished dinner with my wonderful husband and decided I would write a little before heading out to my #2 daughter's softball game.
I love to watch her play. She comes alive on the softball field. It is her passion(besides her children). She absolutely would rather play softball than anything else. That is the biggest reason I love to watch her, her passion. The second reason I love to go to her games is my grandbabies are usually there and I can watch them while they play and intereact with the other kids that come with their mommies and daddies. They are such a joy!! I tell people, jokingly, that I wish I could have had my grandchildren first, LOL!! I really don't know how I could have accomplished that but, Hey! Whatever.
My oldest daughter called this afternoon, she wants her dad to help her mow her lawn. She has been having some pretty bad issues with her shoulder and arm. She is experiencing tingling, numbness and alot of shoulder and elbow joint pain. She is now off work for 2 weeks while they send her for even more physical therapy and injections. None of which has helped. She is getting pretty frustrated with the docs at her place of employment(they have their own docs on site, as well as physical therapists, a pharmacy, gym and alot of other emenities) and the physical therapist. They just won't listen to her and keep doing things that are actually(in her opinion) making this worse. I hope she gets some resolution soon. Anyway, dad is going over tomorrow to mow her lawn for her. He would have done it tonight, but Wednesday nights are reserved for his brother. They get together and jam for a couple hours. Hubby plays the guitar, drums and dabbles in the harmonica. His brother plays the guitar and has a truly wonderful voice. I love it when they get together the whole house is filled with beautiful old time rock and roll and a bit of country. When our son is home he usually joins in and plays the bass guitar. He is equally talented. He plays bass guitar, trumpet, tuba, keyboard, drums, and dabbles on moms mandolin. Oh yeah, I forgot, I am teaching myself to play the mandolin, it is sooooo cool. I am not very good but I am learning. I have only had it for about 1 year and I don't get alot of chances to practice but I still love it.
Well, time to dress warm(it is 45 degrees here, tonight) and get on out to the ballpark. So my friends, TTYL

9/11

2007-09-11T22:20:00.000-04:00

Today has been bittersweet for me! You see I am an Air Force brat and an Air Force mom and I was a wanna be Airman(long story on that one). Today is the anniversary of the day the USA was attacked and many people lost their lives. Today is also my mothers 75th birthday. I feel as though I am betraying our military by celebrating, but my mom's 75th is something that needs to be celebrated. I grieve for all those lost and for their families, but I rejoice in the knowledge that my mother has been alive for 75 years and she is extrmemly healthy. Dad passed away several years ago and mom has been by herself since then, which is just too weird to her. I have 3 brothers and 3 sisters, so alone is a new word for my mom. She use to be an exceptional cook, but she doesn't do that anymore, she dines out with friends most nights or just eats cereal and toast. My mom is so active that we(her children) bought her a cell phone so that we could keep up with her. The dumb part is she always forgets to turn it on, LOL! So we still can't get ahold of her.
Tonight before my head hits the pillow, I will say a prayer for all those that lost loved ones and I will thank God that he has given me another year with my mom. TTYL

Me, again

2007-09-10T21:17:00.000-04:00

Ok, I may have a renewed interest in blogging. I have so many things going on right now and the best one is I am going to school(yeah, school) and loving every minute of it. This is by far the best thing I have ever done for ME. I am going to school to become a medical transcriptionist. How cool is that?? Pretty darn cool, if you ask me. I am truly amazed at myself, that I am able to actually comprehend this material. I LOVE it. The knowledge I am gaining is so tremendous. I cannot wait to become an MT, then RMT, then CMT and really have a real career for the first time in my life.
TRS Institute is a wonderful place, it is an online school, but I feel as though I know my fellow students, instructors and all the other wonderful people I have come in contact with from the institute.
On the other hand, work sucks!!!!!!! I really, really, really do not like retail!!!!!!! I work with a bunch of self-centered little babies, who are so worried about the most petty things, like "Oh my, so and so took 1 minute too long for her break, I get an extra minute, too!" It is just ridiculous and I cannot wait to be done with that place and be employed with TRS and working from home. Making better money than I have ever made in my life!!! I am tired of minimum wage nothing jobs and TRSI is giving me the opportunity to stretch my wings and fly.
On another note, I have been having a few issues with my back again. I am sure it is because I stand for 6 to 8 hours a day on cement and do not get the chance to walk around or sit down. When I work 6 hours, I do not get a break and I just hate those days. Which that is most of my days. I usually work 10-4 and occasionally 8-4. Some of my pain has returned and I am experiencing a bit of new pain. I have called to set up an appt. with my doc and maybe we can figure out what to do about this. (I know quit the other job, hehe)
Well, till tomorrow, tata and have a great night. :)

My son, James

2007-09-10T20:56:00.000-04:00

Ok, My son is James Michael Turley, he is 21 years old and inhis fourth year at Michigan Technological University. He is studying to become an electrical engineer. He has done
well, so far. But he has struggled a bit, that is why he is in his fourth year and he is not a senior. James is my quiet, stand-offish child. He prefers to be by himself and do his thing. He works hard, plays hard(when he does) and takes life waaaaaay to seriously. He needs to lighten up and not let things get him so badly. He is very opinionated and isn't afraid to share his opinion with everyone. Get him in trouble sometimes, but to him it doesn't matter.
He has taken up the hobby of photography and has an excellent eye for the artistic photos. He doesn't take people shots, but loves bugs, trees, flowers and all things inanimate.
He is also a Lego addict. He can build anything out of Lego. He has a ton of these little bricks and pieces in his room here at home. He can sit for hours with an idea in his head and go to town building. SOmetimes he will be holed up in his room for days building.
James graduated salutitorian from high school and could never understand why that was a great accomplishment. His HS studies came very easy for him, college on the other hand is kicking his butt. He never learned how to study in HS and now it is hurting his college career. He does have a 2.5 GPA, but he wishes it was better.
I am not sure what pic of James I will put up, maybe a recent one of some waterfalls we saw on vacation. They were so tranquil and beautiful.
James, I am ever so proud of you and all you have accomplished, keep it up and someday you may graduated college, LOL!! Love ya, Son!!

My youngest daughter #3

2006-07-18T14:03:00.000-04:00

This is Jamie Michelle, she is my youngest daughter and my number three child. She is 22, and lives in Italy. Jamie has always been my shy child, she was so very shy she would barely speak to family. She was also very ill growing up and spent alot of time in the hospital. From the time she was born until about 3 years old she was in the hospital at least once a month, every month. It was very difficult to wean her from her bottle and also to potty train her. We would be doing really well and then she had to take another trip to the hospital. The docs always said she would outgrow her illness and she has, thank goodness. Jamie has also always been very independent and when first meeting her people think she is stand-offish and snobby, but she is just cautious around new people. Those who take the time to know her know she is loving and caring. Jamie moved out of our house shortly after truning 18 and lived with a group of girls in a house not far away. She loved being on her own, but felt she was in a nowhere job and needed a change. She came to visit us one day and announced that she had joined the Air Force. Her father and i were blown away, it was so very out of character for her, but we applauded her decision and have stood behind her all the way. She left for basic training on September 7, 2003. Graduated basic on October 24, 2003. When we went to her graduation, I have never been so proud of her as I was then. What a beautiful, confident, young woman she had become. She went to tech school in Texas and then her first assignment was to South Korea, her and I cried alot about that. It wasn't as bad as she figured it would be but, she was very happy when her year tour was up and she headed to Italy. She has seen more and done more than anyone she knows and the memories she is making will be talked about for a long time. She is three years into a six year tour and is hoping that next May she will be reasigned to the states, she is ready to be in the good 'ol US of A. She says you don't appreciate all you have until you have spent a good deal of time overseas. Jamie has met a wonderful young man in Italy, also Air Force. She and Alex were just home for a 2 week visit. I really like this young man and do believe he is most likely her soulmate. They are talking about going guard once he has his 3 years in the service, moving here near us and going to school. Jamie to be a dental hygienist and Alex to be a pilot. They have said if they do this the guard will become a career. I am excited for them and hope all their dreams come true. Well, there is a bit about my baby girl, will post more about this daredevil later.

Jen- My No#2

2006-07-12T22:19:00.000-04:00

This is my second daughter, Jennifer Marie, she is 26 years old and the married mother of my beautiful grandbabies. Jen has been married to her hubby, Justin for 5 years. They have a nice house, not too far from us. We see them all the time. i feel very lucky to have them so close.
Jen was my preemie baby she was born 6 weeks early, but she has been my healthiest child. She spent 16 days in the NICU and then one night they called me at 11:00 pm and begged me to take her home, she wasn't up to weight yet, but they had 9 babies born that night and really needed the space, lol. It was really quite comical.
Jen was not my most studious child, but she did alright in school. She lived for her sports, especially softball. She played varsity all four years and was quite good. She was a utility player, she could play every position and play them well. Her main position was catcher. She earned a full ride scholarship to Hope College, here in Michigan and was very excited. She worked very hard to impress the coach and when it came time for the season to start the coach pulled her into the office and said, "You know I have recruited some girls for the season that are a lot better then you so I don't need you anymore."
She was devastated, she called home in tears. She came home after her freshmen year and attended our community college here and played ball for them. Then she got married and didn't go back until recently, now she takes a class every now and then. hoping someday to become a radiologist. She also still plays softball. She plays twice a week. On a coed team and on an all girls team. She works at a sporting goods store as an assistant manager, she has been there since 1999. She knows her stuff when it comes to sporting goods. She is a wonderful mother, a great daughter and a loving wife and I am very proud of who she has become. I know one day she will finish her schooling and do what she has always wanted to do, but for now that is on hold while she molds and shapes the future of her two adorable children.

Jodi

2006-07-10T21:19:00.000-04:00

Jodi is the oldest of my four children, she is on the far left, this picture does not do her justice. She has lost weight and her hair is longer. I guess I am going to have to take a good pic of her to add to her portion of my blog.

Jodi just turned 28 in May. She has never been married, has no children. She is currently dating a very nice guy, 10 years older than herself. She always goes for the older guys, lol!

My eldest daughter graduated high school with a 3.88 grade point average and very high hopes of becoming a teacher. She went a couple hours away to college and hated it. She does not like being far from her family. She dropped out of college and worked at different jobs here in town, until landing a good paying job at one of the major factories here in town. Jodi now has her own house that she shares with 3 huge 20lb. long hair cats and a goofy chow, lab mix dog named Brody.

Jodi is a giver and this usually gets her in trouble. She just gives so much that she has nothing left for herself. She would give anyone the shirt off her back. I am so very proud of her, she has had a rough few years and is finally starting to get her head above water.

She is my first born and is always the first one jumping in to help out in anyway.

I love you, Jodi and want you to know you are very special and I am proud of the woman you have become.

I am me

2006-07-10T20:54:00.000-04:00

Welcome to my blog.
Just a bit about myself; I am a 50 year old mother of four wonderful young adults and the grandmother to two very beautiful grand children and mother-in-law to their wonderful daddy, Justin. I have been married to the same man for almost(Sept. 25, 2006) 30 years. We have a very close knit family and spend alot of time together. My kids are everything to me as well as are my grandchildren. I am so very proud of each and everyone of them. During my writings, I will take the time to introduce you to each one of them and try to give a bit of insight into my wonderful life.