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Musings from my mind |
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** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** I'd kept a paper journal for years, so I thought I'd try this out and see how it works. I must say, I'm rather liking it!! Here's some background stuff. I'm in my 40's, doing the single mom thing with a 10 yo son. My son has ADHD, ODD and was also diagnosed with high functioning autism. He can be a challenge, but he can also be pure joy. This is my safe place. I come here to vent my frustrations, celebrate my victories, share a recipe or two and make new friends. I like it here. I hope you do too. Thanks for stopping by, Curls |
| Joe woke up with more mouth pain, so I gave him some more motrin. The agreement is I'll keep him home from school for now, and if he gets feeling better, I'll take him in. If not, I'll be home with him for the day. I'm not sure if he's playing me a little to get out of going to school, but I'd rather err on the side of caution. I'm a little leery sending him to school anyway, due to the fact that his mouth could get bumped accidentally by other kids not paying attention, causing further pain. I'd like to be able to to send him to school and go into work, but my concern for him is greater. Work will be there on Monday anyway, so it's not going anywhere. That's about it for today. My quote today is: Love is saying "I disagree or I see things differently" instead of saying "you're wrong." Thanks for stopping by, Curls |
| Today was Joseph's dental procedure. He had the Frenulectomy and the gum graft. He's pretty miserable right now. He's numbed up right now, but feels the discomfort of being numb and is frustrated because he can't control his drool. Once the numbness wears off, he'll be in pain. I've already given him motrin, as the numbness should be wearing off just as the motrin kicks in. He may have pain for a couple of days, so I'll need to be sure I have motrin on hand for him. He's on soft food diet, nothing too hot or too cold. We go back next Thursday after OT to have them remove the sutures and check the site. It sucks to see him suffer like this, but I know that it's necessary. He's playing his PS2 now, so maybe that will distract him from what he's feeling. Hey! Did you realize, I've managed to blog for 3 days straight! It's nice to be back in the blogging habit again. I've missed it. My quote for today is: You can't buy love, but you can pay dearly for it. Thanks for stopping by, Curls |
| Today got off to a rough start. Had to spank Joseph. I just hate having to start my day like that. But, when he answers me with disrespect, and words filled with hatred, I must take action and get the message across that this behavior is not acceptable. I started by deleting his DVR's, tv shows he's recorded to watch later. Deleted them all. Disrespect continued. So I deleted the timers that record the shows he likes. Disrespect continued. So I informed him, he will be in bed at 8pm tonite, disrespect continued. So, I spanked him. One swat on the behind. The way he squalled, you'da thought I'd killed him. Then, I let him know some of the sacrifices I make for him. I didn't pay the satellite bill so he could have a birthday party. I didn't pay the phone bill, so he could get a bike for his birthday. Last night, we had two hamburgers left over from the night before for dinner. He wanted both of them, so I ate something else. Then I asked him, if after doing all that for him, didn't he think he could speak to me with more respect than what he was showing me. He immediately apologized. Sooner or later, hopefully sooner, he'll learn that you just don't "dis" momma. Went to work, got settled in, got a lot done. It was a productive day, even tho it got off to a rough start. My quote for today is: People don't care how much you know, until they know how much you care. Thanks for stopping by, Curls |
| Well, today was the big presentation day. In my final days of preparation "Sally" has avoided me like the plague. She didn't even bother coming to me and apologizing for leaving me holding the bag on this, the heifer. Instead, she decided to take the weasel way out and avoid me instead. She was conveniently out of the office this morning, and finally came strolling in around lunchtime, after the class was over. I did well. I was prepared, and was able to answer the questions that were asked. One individual attending the class was a real source of my anxiety, because this person has the tendency to want to try and teach every class herself, wanting to jump two or three steps ahead of the talking points in an effort to "help". I was able to politely redirect her to the talking point we were on at the moment and was also able to obtain good class participation and good discussion on various items. I was real proud of myself. After the class, I emailed the participants the short exam they were required to take and pass. On my way back to my desk from a trip to the ladies room, I see 4 of the class participants gathered around a computer, taking the test with the assistance of, guess who, SALLY!!! This really pissed me off. I went to my supervisor, and stated to her what I saw and asked her if she felt that this was appropriate, and that if there was a question they needed to come to me as the instructor, rather than going to someone who hasn't put a thought into this class or lifted a finger to help teach it. She wholeheartedly agreed, and appeared quite unhappy that this was happening. She quickly disbanded the little group, and that did make me happy. I'm also upset that none of the 4 participants came to me for help. I don't know if they approached Sally or if Sally approached them, but it reeks of disrespect, something I have no tolerance for. Sure, it was handled promptly, but the hurt remains. I know that in training, ego needs to be shoved aside, and I need to learn how to do that and not take these things personally. This time hurt. I hope it doesn't hurt like this all the time. The fact is, I'm learning how to be a good trainer, and I'm going to make mistakes along the way. The most I can hope for is to learn through these experiences, and become the best trainer I can be. I think this is a good starting point, and I look forward to see what's on the horizon. My supervisor was impressed with the way I kept the class interested and involved, and she told me that she sees a lot of future training opportunities ahead for me. Makes me want to sleep fast to see what tomorrow will bring!! My quote for today is "borrowed" from someone else. I read it and it spoke volumes to me: Never make someone a priority when they only make you an option. Thanks for stopping by, Curls |
| Well, it's easter. I'm not going to church today. I haven't been in a while. I don't really feel the need to go at this time. I was a faithful attendee for many years, but I think I've just burnt out. I still believe, I still pray. I'm glad that I live in a country where I'm free to decide if I want to go or not. That's about it for today. I've got a lot of other thoughts going around in my head, but I think I'll just keep them private. I hope all who reads this enjoys the day. Thanks for coming by, Curls |
| A while back, couple of months ago now I guess, I went on a business trip to Orlando. It was a “train the trainer” meeting, where they give a presentation on the subject matter, answer questions, and give us the materials, then we go back to our individual offices and give that same presentation to our local staff. Two people from my office were sent, myself, and another person, we’ll call Sally. I like Sally as a person, but as a co-worker, I’m not too impressed with her work ethic. In my opinion, she sees work as a glorified high school. It’s a place where she can make friends, socialize and gossip and get a paycheck. I didn’t take this job to make friends. If I want friends that badly, I’ll join a support group. I like to work when I’m at work. Imagine that! Sally is in tight with the big boss, so she thinks she’s “safe”. She has ridden the coat tails of her other coworkers and has slid by with little effort of her own. We all know or have known someone like Sally. She likes to be the center of attention, and tries to show leadership, but only to get noticed. Not to actually do any work, God forbid! We were informed Monday that we need to give this presentation next Tuesday, so I asked Sally when we could get together to practice and decide who is going to cover which sections of the presentation. She then has this bright idea that we work with another office’s representative, and as a team, give the presentation at their office, then at our office. Her intention here is to once again ride coat tails, so she doesn’t have to be held responsible for what she didn’t learn and should have. I’m not real keen on the idea, but in the spirit of teamwork, I suggested she check and see if it would be ok with everyone’s schedules. Sally checks, and the ONLY day the other office could POSSIBLY have their presentation, is when I have to be out for a medical appointment. So she suggests that we go ahead with the plan without me, and I can join them when I can. I was not pleased with this idea. I clearly saw this as her attempt to upstage me and give her an opportunity to hen party with the other office and talk smack about me behind my back. I explained to her that the only reason I was interested in sharing the load was so I could observe the other person’s training skills and learn her techniques and methods. Since our schedules weren’t conducive to doing it together, I suggested that we don’t tag-team it after all. She was obviously miffed at me about this, but eventually sent me an email that she conceded and her and I would give the class on our own to our office. I responded to her email that we needed to decide who would cover which part, and as a courtesy to her, I would let her have first pick of which she wants and I would do the rest. That was three days ago. Today, I get a response to her email, telling me that it didn’t matter to her and I could choose what I wanted. So I did, and sent her an email stating so. This infuriated me. She could have said that 3 days ago and gave me that much more time to prepare, but she didn’t. I saw that as vindictive. I met with our supervisor today and told her so. I also showed my supervisor what I had done already to prepare, and that my preparations were continuing. I shared with her my concern that I hadn’t seen her preparing and didn’t want to knowingly watch a team member fail. My supervisor stated that she appreciated my concern for Sally, and she also appreciated how seriously I was taking this presentation, and my responsibility in being rehearsed, prepared and practiced for this class. She stated that when presentation time comes, it will be very apparent who is prepared and who isn’t, and to let the chips fall where they may. So, I went back to preparing my part of the presentation. I fully understood the confidence my supervisor had in me when she selected me to attend the training. I also understood that if I blew this presentation I would not be given any further opportunities to be a trainer. At 4pm today, my supervisor comes to me and asked me how I felt about teaching the entire class myself. I realized that this was a golden opportunity for me and I was not going to let it slip away. Opportunities like this do not come along very often. I told her that I could teach the entire class, and also asked her if it would be appropriate to ask why Sally wasn’t going to do her part. She stated that there was several reasons that she didn’t wish to share, but that she knew that I would do a good job and she was proud of me being so willing to do it all by myself. I see my supervisor’s opinion of Sally changing. The realization is dawning now of what a coat tail rider Sally really is. I also see that in the future, Sally may not be chosen to attend any more train the trainer classes. I’m really looking forward to this. It’s a neat challenge, and exciting. I know I will do well, because I will be ready. I will show my office that I have the potential to be an excellent trainer, and the more I do it, the better I will get at it. This opportunity may very well open up future doors of opportunity for me too. I don’t take this lightly. Did I mention that I was excited? My quote today is: No amount of planning can ever replace dumb luck! Thanks for stopping by, Curls |
| Wow! I've had a real busy weekend. My parents are here for spring break and are going a great job of wearing both my son and I out! I'm working this week and they're taking care of him. I came home from work with a nasty headache, tired and cranky. I sure hope it's not gonna be like this all week. I've got way too much work to do and by evening I'm just wrung out. I'm gonna do my best to not be too tired tomorrow, as we're supposed to go out to dinner. Depending on how tired I am, it may be next week before I get back into blogging regularly. This merry go round of life is going way to fast for me right now, and I'd love for it to slow down some, but the universe isn't really interested in what I think. Took me a few years to figure that out, but I got it now. Thanks for coming by, Curls |
| I hope that anyone who reads this doesn’t work for Allstate, because I’m fixen to go off about them bigtime. This is one of those deals that I just couldn’t let go of. Any other day, it probably wouldn’t have mattered, but today, I dug my heels in and was ready to fight. I come home from work and check my mailbox. Inside is a letter to my 9-year-old son from Allstate. The letter included a “free quote card” and had a “safe driver code number” assigned to him, stating that “As a safe driver, blah blah blah, you can get quality insurance coverage for less.” All he had to do was call this toll free number. So I call the number. This pubescent sounding male gets on the phone, and I ask him if he could look up and account by the “safe driver code number.” He asked me what the number was, and I told him. He then said, no, there was no such thing as a safe driver code number. I stated that he was, in fact, wrong, because he was assigned a safe driver code number and I wanted to know why. He said he didn’t know. I mentioned that him not knowing this detail does not provide a credible image of Allstate. So, with an evil smile, I then asked him how a 9 year old boy in the FOURTH GRADE can have a safe driving record on their system, and if he understood that this made him look like an idiot. I further stated that my son was sent this advertisement that said he was a safe driver. He stated that it was “just a marketing campaign, and he had nothing to do with that. I stated that once again, he was wrong, because the advertisement has HIS phone number on it, so obviously, he DID have something to do with it. Then I said that since it’s quite clear that he doesn’t really care, that I’d like my son’s information removed from the system because with this kind of error neither my son nor I would ever want to do business with Allstate. He said he’d take care of it and ended the call. Now, you might think that would have been enough for me, but no, I still wasn’t satisfied. So, I go to Allstate.com, and found an “alert us” phone number. I call that number. They stated that I needed to call another number. So I called the number that they gave me. It was a fricken BILLING number. They give me a number for the corporate executive offices. I’m thinking, “ok! Now we’re getting somewhere!” I call that number. I relate the entire story, and stated that I wanted to know how they got my son’s information, as I was concerned that someone may be trying to steal my son’s identity. I mentioned that the advertisement letter is signed by a vice president of marketing, and I gave her that person’s name and asked if that individual and title was fictitious, as part of their “advertising campaign,” or if that person actually existed. Once again, I reiterated that this misinformation on their system makes them look very stupid. She stated that she understood completely and took my contact information, and said she’d research it and let me know. I’m not going to hold my breath waiting for a return call, but I do feel a little bit better. I have no idea what got over me to cause such a stink about something so minor, but it really had me spun me up. I think I need some chocolate now. |
| Well, I was working on my budget today, trying to decide what NOT to pay. I only get paid once a month. With all the leave without pay I've had to take because of my surgery and Joseph's illness, my monthly paycheck is gonna be about $900 short. Ouch! I think I've pretty much got my budget worked out, and I'll be hoping for a huge miracle or for several little ones. I'll take my blessings where I can get them. I had to explain to Joe today about how I'm not gonna have any extra funds for a while. He was so sweet. I asked him tonite if he wanted one hot dog or two, and he said he'd like two, but he'll start with just one because we don't have much money. I made him two. It makes me sad that I have to involve him with my finances. I don't want him to worry about that, but on the other hand, I think it's good for kids to experience times when life is less plentiful so they are grateful for when times are more abundant. My quote for today is: The most important work we will ever do is within the walls of our own homes. Thanks for coming by, Curls |
| Yay! I'm back! it's been a heck of a week...actually couple of months. Let's recap, I had surgery, had my mother here to help me, guilt trips and all, I get an ear infection, my son gets the flu, and now...if that ain't quite enough yet, I had car trouble this am. ARRGH I was very upset and panic stricken. I was shaking like a leaf. The car had power, but the motor wouldn't turn over. it just make this whirring sound. So, I call my friend, who comes and helps me get Joe to school. I call the 800 # on my service agreement, they send a tow truck, take my car and I to the dealership. The mechanic said "the motor's shot." I about passed out. He said that it's either a blown head gasket or timing chain, but he thinks its the timing chain. It's a 2003 Suzuki!!! I would have thought the timing chain would last longer than that. Either way, it's covered under my service agreement. But...it will be next week before they can work on it. So I have a nice loaner car to drive. I was at work by 10 am, but quite rattled. I was very afraid they'd tell me that the problem wasn't covered under the service agreement. All the people at the dealership were very kind and comforting to me. I'll be writing them a nice thank you letter. So, it's 7:30 pm and I'm ready for bed. I'm just wrung out. Nothing left. But, on the bright side, I have a car to drive, and my car will be repaired. All in all, it's not so bad. There are those who have it much worser than I do. I can't really bellyache too much. My quote for today is : you can't help someone up a hill without getting closer to the top yourself. Thanks for stopping by, Curls |
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