Oblahdee, oblahda, life goes on

La la la life goes on.  This is actually a better title than my original one of 10 little itty bitty minutes. Why? Mostly because it’s just an update about life and how it goes on.  I know I’ve been MIA, and I haven’t meant to be. We had the bike MS Citrus Tour in May, Grandpa got sick, Mom got sick, Mom got sick again and house hunting has continued.

This year for the Citrus Tour J and I were SAG drivers and next year I’ll be riding again. My friend Super K’s daughter decided she would rather ride than volunteer. As she’s only going to be 16 she needs to have someone 21 or older with her at all times. So I’m all registered for next year and even have my team set up, Cruisin’ For a Cure. I have a brand new to me road bike that will hopefully make the hills easier for me to manage. I found it on Craig’s List for $175, considering that these are usually at least $600+, I’m happy with the price. I’ve even started riding, although given the weather lately I haven’t been riding as much as I want to be/should be. Interested in a challenge? Come join my team!

Grandpa ended up having to have a pacemaker put in earlier this summer. He wasn’t out of the hospital and in rehab a week when Mom’s Crohn’s flared up landing her in the hospital. She wasn’t out a week and landed back in. Poor Mom has been through the ringer this summer. But they did manage a trip out west to visit my brother and some friends in California. Mom said it was nice being able to drink water directly from the tap. Our water here in FL has a seriously funky taste to it, so everything we drink has to be filtered.

The house hunting continues. In March J put in an offer on one that we really liked. It’s a short sale and was perfect, it only needed cosmetic work and a few minor repairs/updates. Sadly Chase was being stupid and decided they didn’t want to order a new BPO (the stuff they do to determine the price/value of the short sale home) to meet J’s asking price. So back to the drawing board we go. In the meantime, I’m still living at my 2 steps above ghetto apartment. And I currently have only 1 neighbor out of 3! The pain in the butt one moved several months ago and the one I liked just moved the past weekend Thankfully she’s not going far.

On the exercise front I’ve been trying to get more of that in. There’s been the bike rides, which I really need to improve on.  I also did something I’ve never done before today. I ran on the treadmill in the gym for 10 minutes straight! It was at a slower speed, 4.5 and 4.4, but there was no walking until the cooldown period. I was pretty proud of myself for that. My goal for that is to keep running that 10 minutes but increase my speed. I think I can manage that.

Crisis of Career

I’ve been having a crisis of career lately.  Or maybe that should be lack of one.  I have a lot of different skills, I’m highly trainable, but I feel like I don’t have what’s needed for a specific career.  Not that I know what I want that specific career to be.  That’s part of the problem.  I’m a little tired of having a job where I just sit all day long.  And I think I want something that would restore my faith in humanity.  I’m too young to be this jaded and get this irritated at people.

I’ve looked at openings at my company, but since I work for a big bank, most of the jobs are financial in nature.  I don’t want a financial job.  Trust me.  I barely passed Calculus in college (might have had a lot to do with skipping over Trig though).  I also barely passed Statistics.  So complex numbers are obviously NOT my forte.  So that doesn’t leave a whole lot of choice where I’m at.  I could go into the credit cards area.  But then I would be in the call center.  And that won’t help to restore my faith in anything!  Or there’s administration or management.  Admin is basically what I’m doing now, but with a fancier title and possibly more pay.  And management, heck no!  I don’t want that headache.  Especially in my department.

My friend Courtenay recently did a major overhaul of her life and went back to school to be a HUC (Health Unit Coordinator).  Part of her clinical assignment was to keep a journal about her experience.  I’ve loved reading about the joys, sorrows and challenges she’s faced on this new journey.  At the same time I was a little jealous.  I don’t begrudge her this at all.  I’m very happy for her, and I’m happy that she’s found something she loves.  But that’s where the jealousy comes in.  I want to find something I love.  I want to find something where I’m excited to go to work, if not every day, then at least most of the time. 

I’ve been researching the different options at my local colleges.  Each time I seem to be drawn back to the health care field.  I know I don’t want to be a nurse.  There’s no way I could handle that job.  I’m pretty sure I don’t want to be in administration.  Being a HUC, while a great fit for Courtenay, wouldn’t be a great fit for me.  Part of that has to do with a weak stomach for some things.  And, while this isn’t a huge factor in all this, the pay really isn’t that great. 

One of the things I’ve been looking at and researching is Physical Therapist Assistant.  Would I like it?  I have no clue.  Would I be good at it?  Yeah, most likely.  I tend to learn new things pretty quickly and usually what I do, I do well.  Would this be something I look forward to waking up and doing each day?  I really truly don’t know.  Or would I go through the program and then decide at some point (either during or after) that I really want this to be my career? 

If I do this, it’s going to mean a major, majorchange in my life right now.  I would have to find a new job, not exactly the best thing to do in today’s economy.  I NEED to have insurance.  I can’t go without health insurance.  And I can’t afford to get my own policy through an insurance company.  I also need to make enough to pay my rent, my car payment, my car insurance, utilities and food.  And let’s not forget my existing student loan or my almost gone (another year or so of working 2 jobs) credit card debt.  So essentially I would need to have pretty close to a full time job that I can work at night.  Or win the lottery, not much, just enough to pay off my debt. 

I really wish I had a fairy Godmother who could come wave a wand over my head and *Poof* I suddenly know what it is I want to be when I grow up and what I’m going to love doing.  I actually do know what I would love to do – I would love to write.  I would love to be an author and write fiction.  Sadly, that is something I don’t have a talent for.  And thankfully that is something I recognize and I don’t subject people to the drivel I would be producing.  So I guess it’s back to the drawing board for me.  As much as I wish I could change things, I guess I just need to suck it up and continue to deal with my life as it currently is.

Time has flown by

It’s hard to believe tomorrow is my last day of vacation.  It’s been a wonderful week and a half of sleeping in.  Not too many naps though I was hoping for more.  But between sleeping in and cleaning, I didn’t get many of those.  And I still had to work my part time job.

It’s been a pretty quiet week, for the most part.  I didn’t quite get done all the cleaning I’d planned; life threw a monkey wrench at me.  I woke up Wednesday with a very crimped neck and shoulder.  I’m still not sure what I did while sleeping.  But today is the first day I’ve really been pain free.  Thursday Mom ended up having a surprise surgery.  She’s doing well and they even sent her home Friday.  The rest of the weekend has been a lot of running around, but it’s been productive!

I’m close to being done with the pink ribbon afghan.  I was hoping to be a lot closer after my week off.  But I’d estimate I’m at around 80% finished.  I also finally decided on a headboard for my bed too; J and I are going to make it based off a memory board we saw at Big Lots.  The fabric is picked out.  We just need to get the wood and some buttons.  He keeps saying I don’t need them, it’ll look fine without them.  And yes, it will.  But dang it.  I like how they looked on the board we saw at Big Lots.  I want them on my head board. 

So, what’s been up with all of you?

In the paraphrased words of Hamlet… Sleep, Sleep…Sleep

No, that’s not the answer to what I’m reading (which is one of Nora Robert’s latests that I borrowed from Dad), it’s the answer to what I’m doing this next week.  I, dear and wonderful people, am on vacation, not to return to my full time job until next Wednesday.  That’s 11 glorious days of sleeping in! And napping whenever I feel like it!  Can you tell I’m starting to feel a little sleep deprived and burned out?  That’d be the reason for taking vacation now, rather than waiting until my birthday. 

It’s not all going to be sleep and lazy though   There’ll be activity in there too.  Mom and I are going to a craft show today, provided her arthritis is being nice to her today.  It’s one of the Buckler’s Promotions things.  Neither of us has ever been and we usually like wandering around and seeing the items people have made.  Hopefully it’ll be heavy on the homemade and very light on the imported, which I’ve seen at shows before.  Maybe I’ll even pick up a few gifts, if I see something that strikes me as a good gift for X for X holiday

Monday I’m going to Busch Gardens with a friend.  I’ve only been there once.  Once folks!  And that was free!  I didn’t get to do much, went on only a couple of rides.  But given the reason I was there free, I didn’t feel right taking off to go on more rides.  One of J’s childhood friends, Kevin, moved to Nashville years ago to try his hand as a musician.  He’s a bass player and has played as part of the band for John Couger, Big and Rich (if I remember right) and is currently part of the band for Lonestar!  The one and only time I went to Busch Garden’s it was on the Kevin’s friends and family pass when Lonestar was playing there.  It was actually a pretty amazing day!  We hung out with Kevin and his family, then when Kevin had to get ready for the show, we were set up in the VIP seating area.  You know, it was one of those events where people can get into the concert for free, it’s part of the park admission.  But if you want to be able to sit down, you gotta pay.  But I think the best part was actually getting to meet the band (and this was before Richie went solo). 

Ok, slightly off topic there Sorry! Anyway a friend and I are going to Busch Gardens Monday and this time, I’m hitting the rides! I’m hoping it’ll be somewhat quiet since school started back up this week here.  It started Monday and was closed Tuesday as a precaution thanks to Tropical Storm Fay.  J might be taking next Friday off, so we’ll hang out and maybe do something during the day, since I have to work Friday night And on my last day of vacation, I have my six month appointment with my neurologist.  That visit will probably go something like this:

Him: How are you doing?
Me: Pretty good
Him: Any new symptoms?
Me: (ok, this part is new, I’ll be talking to him about the slight occasional pain I feel on my spinal cord) Nope.
Him: Any depression?
Me: Nope, things are bright and sunny!
Him: Ok, see you in another 6 months.

No joke, that’s actually how my past visits have gone.  He’ll renew my stay awake meds which I hate the idea of.  But, they help so I’ll keep taking them.  Then I’ll be on my merry way.  All in all, it sounds like a wonderful vacation to me.  I should feel nice and rested when I go back to work.  Hopefully I’ll have a few things straightened up around here.  And hopefully Ciera and I will be going for a few walks.  I don’t think I’ll be able to successfully bring the kits though.  I’d tried the leash thing with Tasha before, when she was a kitten.  She doesn’t like it.  So no walking the cats.  Oh, and of course, lots of crocheting.  I’m still working on the pink ribbon afghan, won by DSM of the Weight Watchers message boards. I have 11 1/2 rows containing ribbon done, I have 12 1/2 left!  Woohoo!  See y’all on the flip side.