Which time? oh let me see....
Taxes (which means I have to scrounge up all the receipts and stuff and put them in Quickbooks before I can even start to do my taxes)
Garden planting
Girl scout cookies
The start of birthday season
JM's Bday was yesterday. I hold a pretty firm stance that until you're in school I'm not throwing a big party. We went to Chuck e cheese on Friday night and then had cake/ice cream/presents yesterday on the actual birthday. To be specific, the kids had ice cream and frosting from the cake. I don't know why I bother with the cake itself. Next year I'll stick candles in a tub of icing and skip the cake part.
A big part of me is in disbelief that my baby is 5. My brain's realized that he's not been a baby for a long time now, but the realization that he's 5 and starting kindergarten is sinking in that perhaps I'm not a young as I might want to believe. The game that I'm 29 isn't fooling 1/4 of the kids so far I think it won't be long before the rest of them figure it out. Nevermind I was 30 the year I had the twins.. nope. I tell them I'm 29. Larry hasn't played along with this game so it really doesn't take a rocket scientist to do the math that says "if daddy is one year older than mommy and daddy is 39... mommy is 39 minus 1... hummmm.. that's not 29!?!!!" Only 1 has bothered with that detail. And it's not my math wiz.
In other news: I am "cookie mom" for our girl scout troop. Out of default. And no, I am not happy about this. Mostly because it's a headache and I really don't have a whole lot of time or interest to devote to this. AND I'm annoyed about the whole girl scouts letting a cross dressing boy into the girl scouts because he "identifies as a girl." Seriously. Google it. It happened in Colorado. (not California. I know my parents think CA is pretty much the far left of Sodom and Gomorrah but seriously not all things perverse originate out of here.)
Anyway. Larry wanted me to resign that week on account of that nonsense, but I felt bad that I made a commitment to the girls to do this troop this year. It's not their fault that the GS big-wigs are hard core left wing feminists. BUT I'm not looking forward to selling cookies which essentially promotes and funds this sort of insanity. My girls/troop gets about .$65/box, the "council" (bureaucrats) of the GS get about $2/box per box sold. And that irritates me, too. Before I was Cookie mom, I didn't have access to the numbers. Now that I have access I see that these girls get very little for each box sold and the lions share goes to fund the Girl scouts in general. If you're a huge supporter of GS, that's fine. Since I'm kinda peeved that their political and social policies go against my beliefs I'm not really looking to support them financially.
So against my better judgement and beliefs I'm here organizing said financial support.
Also, unique to here they have "operation thin mint" which people can buy a box of cookies which are sent directly overseas to our troops. Great, huh? But the profits are still sent to the troop and GS same as if you bought the box and ate it yourself, so it's not as altruistic as it might seem. But here in military land, there is some patriotism that buys these boxes. And part of me chafes at the thought that they are exploiting conservative support of the military for their financial gain. I might be over-thinking things. I am kinda cynical some days, but there you have it. My honest thoughts.
Dear GS organization, please feel free to relieve me of my positions for having views not in line with Girl scout values. But seeing as said positions are unpaid, unappreciated and without other volunteers to replace me....
The garden: Larry's been FarmerCowles these days, building and setting up lattice for my peas, sunflowers, cucumbers, and pole beans to grow up. He's staked and put up string to plan out the garden and built raised beds for us to move our strawberry messes to. Last year we tried a more square foot garden approach, but the end result was a mess. The carrots didn't grow much and didn't appear to love the tomatoes at all. The tomatoes became a vine-y mess and took over everything nearby and made harvesting difficult. This year we're skipping the tomato cages which didn't contain or support them at all and going with old fashioned stakes.
The chicks from last spring are now laying so we have 3 layers again, and 3 young chicks still 4 or months out from laying. Larry has thoughts and plans to add quail to our poultry. For eating, apparently. I'll let you know if this actually happens. *I* have no plans on butchering anything. Sure I can cut and sew up a human, but to kill a bird and get it ready to eat? welll... I'd have to be really really hungry. I'm not there. Not even close.
And now back to the tax time. I guess it's time to actually load up quickbooks here. *sigh* it's going to be a long day already.
Monday, January 30, 2012
Friday, January 27, 2012
Since I'm not working for the indefinate future...
I guess I can blog more.
Yesterday we had a dentist appointment. The 2nd of 4 scheduled thus far. And everytime we go I say to myself "we really need to find a better dentist" but then I go and because of our insurance only covering 2 visits a year... rather than schedule a visit with a different office and thus ending up with 3 visits a year I say "ok, in 6 months when we're due, I'd schedule it with a different dentist"
So remind me in 6 months from now, call for a new dentist. One that is good with kids.
Because our "Family" dentist really don't employ dental assistants that enjoy being near kids. A few do. Most don't. And secondly, if I bring my kid in for their teeth to be cleaned and you say you can't clean them and you need to make another appointment with the hygienist, I wonder.. who the heck was the appointment with in the first place???
So.. yesterday was Kayla and my turn. She was supposed to be 30 minutes after me, apparently, but since the different hygienist and non-hygienist were on different time frames, they essentially TRIED to see Kayla at the same time. TRIED. because A.) she's got an amazing gag reflex. B.) has the odd need-my-mommy thing that happens when she's nervous C.) hates the taste of whatever it is they put in her mouth D.) because of the above often manages to vomit everywhere.
However, for the first time, ever in dental-visit history she didn't vomit, she just cried and carried on until the non-hygienist said she couldn't deal with her and brought her back to me.Of course there were fingers in my mouth, but had there not been I could have told them it would have been a better idea for me to BE there WITH her to calm her down. But.. no.
Anyway... her next cleaning appointment is with an actual dentist. Again... what is the logic there exactly? They tell me to have her see a hygienist and then they make an apt with a dentist? Is this the best use of his time? But I talked to the front desk and this guy is supposed to be the best in the building. If I remember we've seen him before and he really was good. Hopefully he will redeem this place.
And we have 3 more visits (JM's cavity- another story for another day, S + J "cleaning" and Kayla "cleaning") however based on past practice, I suspect that Joey will also be told to come back to see the hygienist. Sonia's the only one that doesn't make tarter. Which is kinda funny since she's the one who is least likely to actually brush her teeth much less use tooth paste when reminded to. Completely illogical.
But the funniest part of the visit was JM's insistence that he come with me and hold my hand so I wasn't scared. It was really cute. The hygienist, of course didn't find it particularly cute to have a 4 year old in the room, but he just stood there watching the goings on in my mouth and held my hand and when bored went and sat on the seat against the wall. For my child that I honestly thought was possessed when he was a baby and toddler, he's turning out to be a very sweet young boy.
Yesterday we had a dentist appointment. The 2nd of 4 scheduled thus far. And everytime we go I say to myself "we really need to find a better dentist" but then I go and because of our insurance only covering 2 visits a year... rather than schedule a visit with a different office and thus ending up with 3 visits a year I say "ok, in 6 months when we're due, I'd schedule it with a different dentist"
So remind me in 6 months from now, call for a new dentist. One that is good with kids.
Because our "Family" dentist really don't employ dental assistants that enjoy being near kids. A few do. Most don't. And secondly, if I bring my kid in for their teeth to be cleaned and you say you can't clean them and you need to make another appointment with the hygienist, I wonder.. who the heck was the appointment with in the first place???
So.. yesterday was Kayla and my turn. She was supposed to be 30 minutes after me, apparently, but since the different hygienist and non-hygienist were on different time frames, they essentially TRIED to see Kayla at the same time. TRIED. because A.) she's got an amazing gag reflex. B.) has the odd need-my-mommy thing that happens when she's nervous C.) hates the taste of whatever it is they put in her mouth D.) because of the above often manages to vomit everywhere.
However, for the first time, ever in dental-visit history she didn't vomit, she just cried and carried on until the non-hygienist said she couldn't deal with her and brought her back to me.Of course there were fingers in my mouth, but had there not been I could have told them it would have been a better idea for me to BE there WITH her to calm her down. But.. no.
Anyway... her next cleaning appointment is with an actual dentist. Again... what is the logic there exactly? They tell me to have her see a hygienist and then they make an apt with a dentist? Is this the best use of his time? But I talked to the front desk and this guy is supposed to be the best in the building. If I remember we've seen him before and he really was good. Hopefully he will redeem this place.
And we have 3 more visits (JM's cavity- another story for another day, S + J "cleaning" and Kayla "cleaning") however based on past practice, I suspect that Joey will also be told to come back to see the hygienist. Sonia's the only one that doesn't make tarter. Which is kinda funny since she's the one who is least likely to actually brush her teeth much less use tooth paste when reminded to. Completely illogical.
But the funniest part of the visit was JM's insistence that he come with me and hold my hand so I wasn't scared. It was really cute. The hygienist, of course didn't find it particularly cute to have a 4 year old in the room, but he just stood there watching the goings on in my mouth and held my hand and when bored went and sat on the seat against the wall. For my child that I honestly thought was possessed when he was a baby and toddler, he's turning out to be a very sweet young boy.
Thursday, January 26, 2012
Once again a day late and a dollar short
Or rather... 3 weeks late.
I'm so mad at myself once again for not noticing expiration dates. Of important things. LIKE MY LICENSE!
Not my drivers one. Although I probably should check that while I'm at it.
No. My nursing license.
Which I kinda need for the job I just started. So I was in clinic on Monday and needed my nursing license number and pulled out the card and noticed it expired Dec 31.
Ran online and renewed.
And now I wait. The website says it can take 6-8 weeks for it to actually renew. Apparently it isn't an automated process.
Meanwhile, HR has told me that I can't work until my license is active again.
ARGH ARGH ARGH.
Getting off to a terrific start. This is only the frosting on the cake here.
Because I've been in orientation for the better part of the month. Nice that my parents were here to watch the kids so that I didn't have to find a babysitter for most of it. BUT starting day 1 the schedules didn't match up. As in MY schedule said to be at a certain place at a certain time with a certain person, however the person who I was supposed to be training with was somewhere else.
That was for the EHR learning in the classroom. Then in the clinic work, I showed up to be with a particular dr who had no idea I was supposed to be there and 30 minutes into the day get a call from a different clinic wondering why I didn't show up when they expected me. Or the other new NP, they weren't sure who they were supposed to have, exactly. The next day I show up at my assigned clinic and *surprise* that person isn't there and not even working that day. The following morning we were scheduled at one clinic although that person was at a different clinic... you get the picture. After day 2's clinic fiasco I started calling the clinic locations and confirming the location and that I was supposed to be there, so while I was scheduled at clinic a on my schedule I actually did show up at clinic b where the meeting was taking place only to find a sign there that the meeting was moved at the last minute to clinic c.
Did I mention there are 8 clinics here? There's alot of room for confusion.
Also short on my Spanish language ability. Because about 50% of the visits are conducted in spanish. Once person I was training with said even if they speak english they don't speak it in clinic and want the providers to speak spanish. So much so that I notice she went in and out of spanish for even the people that spoke english. I have a lot to learn. Particularly medical terminology. I mean knowing basic words for food, color and direction isn't really going to help me tell the patients they have a cold or how to care for stitches.
Not that I will be speaking it anytime soon, apparently, since I need a license to be working.
I've been joking that I think it's a sign from above that I really shouldn't be working. Maybe it is. Or maybe this falls under "work hard for good things" category. Not sure which at this point.
I'm so mad at myself once again for not noticing expiration dates. Of important things. LIKE MY LICENSE!
Not my drivers one. Although I probably should check that while I'm at it.
No. My nursing license.
Which I kinda need for the job I just started. So I was in clinic on Monday and needed my nursing license number and pulled out the card and noticed it expired Dec 31.
Ran online and renewed.
And now I wait. The website says it can take 6-8 weeks for it to actually renew. Apparently it isn't an automated process.
Meanwhile, HR has told me that I can't work until my license is active again.
ARGH ARGH ARGH.
Getting off to a terrific start. This is only the frosting on the cake here.
Because I've been in orientation for the better part of the month. Nice that my parents were here to watch the kids so that I didn't have to find a babysitter for most of it. BUT starting day 1 the schedules didn't match up. As in MY schedule said to be at a certain place at a certain time with a certain person, however the person who I was supposed to be training with was somewhere else.
That was for the EHR learning in the classroom. Then in the clinic work, I showed up to be with a particular dr who had no idea I was supposed to be there and 30 minutes into the day get a call from a different clinic wondering why I didn't show up when they expected me. Or the other new NP, they weren't sure who they were supposed to have, exactly. The next day I show up at my assigned clinic and *surprise* that person isn't there and not even working that day. The following morning we were scheduled at one clinic although that person was at a different clinic... you get the picture. After day 2's clinic fiasco I started calling the clinic locations and confirming the location and that I was supposed to be there, so while I was scheduled at clinic a on my schedule I actually did show up at clinic b where the meeting was taking place only to find a sign there that the meeting was moved at the last minute to clinic c.
Did I mention there are 8 clinics here? There's alot of room for confusion.
Also short on my Spanish language ability. Because about 50% of the visits are conducted in spanish. Once person I was training with said even if they speak english they don't speak it in clinic and want the providers to speak spanish. So much so that I notice she went in and out of spanish for even the people that spoke english. I have a lot to learn. Particularly medical terminology. I mean knowing basic words for food, color and direction isn't really going to help me tell the patients they have a cold or how to care for stitches.
Not that I will be speaking it anytime soon, apparently, since I need a license to be working.
I've been joking that I think it's a sign from above that I really shouldn't be working. Maybe it is. Or maybe this falls under "work hard for good things" category. Not sure which at this point.
Saturday, January 21, 2012
yeah yeah yeah I know
I should blog more so there's something here for you to read if you happen to come by.
Would you believe that life just goes smoother if I stay off the computer? I know. Hard to believe that this thing that offers so much time saving features actually is a major time suck.
So since this blog doesn't have an app that I can upload to my phone while I'm waiting some where, it just sits on my back burner. Well, maybe blogger has an app and I don't know about it. Even if it did, typing on the phone is too tortuous for my stream of conscious form of writing to work. Now if the dictation app on here worked.... then we're talking.
But since I had told my parents about this and it took me a while to find it again, I'm linking to a video clip. It's 10 minutes and definitely worth watching.
Would you believe that life just goes smoother if I stay off the computer? I know. Hard to believe that this thing that offers so much time saving features actually is a major time suck.
So since this blog doesn't have an app that I can upload to my phone while I'm waiting some where, it just sits on my back burner. Well, maybe blogger has an app and I don't know about it. Even if it did, typing on the phone is too tortuous for my stream of conscious form of writing to work. Now if the dictation app on here worked.... then we're talking.
But since I had told my parents about this and it took me a while to find it again, I'm linking to a video clip. It's 10 minutes and definitely worth watching.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)