Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Have you ever...
...had one of those days where you feel so incredibly lucky to have the life that you do? Sometimes it takes nothing to remind me of this. Other times, something happens that puts my life so clearly in to perspective, that it is almost impossible to see it in any other way but blessed. In either instance, there is no denying how very fortunate and lucky I am.
Monday, July 26, 2010
Would You Ever/Would You Rather/If
This was a silly email survey thingy. Something is better than nothing!
Would you ever...
...skydive? No freakin' way. I don't even like flying in a plane, never mind jumping from one.
...consider becoming a criminal? If it was necessary to protect my children, yes.
...donate a kidney or other vital organ? Absolutely without question.
...go skinny dipping? Been there, done that.
...eat a live bug for money? It would have to be some serious cash flow and by serious I mean like billions of dollars.
Would you rather...
...have xray vision or bionic hearing? Bionic hearing. I have pretty good hearing any way, but bionic hearing would be cool.
...always have to say whatever is on your mind or never speak again? I could really go either way on this one...both options sound appealing but if forced to choose? Probably never speak again.
...live without music or live without tv? TV. I would probably *die* without music.
...spend the day surfing the internet or the ocean? The internet. Dude, there are sharks in the ocean.
...not able to use your phone or your email? Phone. Hardly use the damn thing anyway.
...go to an amusement park or a family reunion? Family reunion.
If...
...you could suddenly possess an extraordinary talent in one of the arts, which would it be? I love to be able to sing well.
....you were to complete the phrase, "A life without love..." how would you finish it? ..."is not a life at all."
...you decided today to do some serious soul searching, what is the first question you would ask yourself? Oooohhh...there are so many but first, "What is your true calling/purpose in this life?"
...you could pick one household chore that you would never have to do again which would you pick? Laundry...without question.
...you could pump enormous amounts of money in to one area of scientific research which would you pick? Probably stem cell research.
Would you ever...
...skydive? No freakin' way. I don't even like flying in a plane, never mind jumping from one.
...consider becoming a criminal? If it was necessary to protect my children, yes.
...donate a kidney or other vital organ? Absolutely without question.
...go skinny dipping? Been there, done that.
...eat a live bug for money? It would have to be some serious cash flow and by serious I mean like billions of dollars.
Would you rather...
...have xray vision or bionic hearing? Bionic hearing. I have pretty good hearing any way, but bionic hearing would be cool.
...always have to say whatever is on your mind or never speak again? I could really go either way on this one...both options sound appealing but if forced to choose? Probably never speak again.
...live without music or live without tv? TV. I would probably *die* without music.
...spend the day surfing the internet or the ocean? The internet. Dude, there are sharks in the ocean.
...not able to use your phone or your email? Phone. Hardly use the damn thing anyway.
...go to an amusement park or a family reunion? Family reunion.
If...
...you could suddenly possess an extraordinary talent in one of the arts, which would it be? I love to be able to sing well.
....you were to complete the phrase, "A life without love..." how would you finish it? ..."is not a life at all."
...you decided today to do some serious soul searching, what is the first question you would ask yourself? Oooohhh...there are so many but first, "What is your true calling/purpose in this life?"
...you could pick one household chore that you would never have to do again which would you pick? Laundry...without question.
...you could pump enormous amounts of money in to one area of scientific research which would you pick? Probably stem cell research.
This Week's Schedule
Monday: Massive house cleaning and laundry
Tuesday: Massive shopping for food and random vacation needs (like loads and loads of suscreen)
Wednesday: relax at the pool
Thursday: packing, packing, packing.
Friday: Dennis, MA and Chapin Beach...watch out! Here we come!
Tuesday: Massive shopping for food and random vacation needs (like loads and loads of suscreen)
Wednesday: relax at the pool
Thursday: packing, packing, packing.
Friday: Dennis, MA and Chapin Beach...watch out! Here we come!
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Happy Birthday...
...to my youngest daughter Julia, who is six years old today!
In keeping with tradition, we started the morning with presents and cup cakes for breakfast. I have done this for everyone's birthday, since Emily was a year old. I could be wrong about this but I think the kids may be more excited about eating cupcakes for breakfast than anything else on the day of someone's birthday...maybe even there own. You have to admit, a cupcake sounds better than a boring old bowl of say, Cheerios.
We will celebrate with my family later today poolside. Pizza is on the menu for dinner, followed by the finishing off the cupcakes I made for this morning's festivities. My sisters are taking Julia for a couple of days as a special treat so she will be spending the first few days of being six with her aunts and cousin in North Andover.
As for the rest of the day, I am off to get ready to sit in as the parent representative for interviews being conducted at HBB for an adjustment counselor.
In keeping with tradition, we started the morning with presents and cup cakes for breakfast. I have done this for everyone's birthday, since Emily was a year old. I could be wrong about this but I think the kids may be more excited about eating cupcakes for breakfast than anything else on the day of someone's birthday...maybe even there own. You have to admit, a cupcake sounds better than a boring old bowl of say, Cheerios.
We will celebrate with my family later today poolside. Pizza is on the menu for dinner, followed by the finishing off the cupcakes I made for this morning's festivities. My sisters are taking Julia for a couple of days as a special treat so she will be spending the first few days of being six with her aunts and cousin in North Andover.
As for the rest of the day, I am off to get ready to sit in as the parent representative for interviews being conducted at HBB for an adjustment counselor.
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Today
I decided against going to the pool today. Assuming the weather peeps are right, there is a 60% chance of showers and storms this afternoon. It is not worth packing everything up, getting everyone dressed, sunscreened and ready, only to have it rain. If I am being honest, the whole prospect of going made me tired just thinking about it. I am still not feeling quite right anyway, so another day of chilling at home seems smart.
This sickness is weird, whatever it is. All of the symptoms mentioned in my last post are fleeting...here in some moments, gone the next, and not all together at once. I have no idea what is going on, but, since I don't feel like death, I am probably going to skip the doctors and just wait it out for a while.
So my new plans for the day involve updating the calendar, responding to phone calls and emails I have let pile up, working on some PTA things (including deciding which Summer Leadership Meetings I will be attending), and general office work. The kids are happily entertained with a giant canister of play dough and toys downstairs, which they used for upwards of 2 hours yesterday afternoon as well.
This sickness is weird, whatever it is. All of the symptoms mentioned in my last post are fleeting...here in some moments, gone the next, and not all together at once. I have no idea what is going on, but, since I don't feel like death, I am probably going to skip the doctors and just wait it out for a while.
So my new plans for the day involve updating the calendar, responding to phone calls and emails I have let pile up, working on some PTA things (including deciding which Summer Leadership Meetings I will be attending), and general office work. The kids are happily entertained with a giant canister of play dough and toys downstairs, which they used for upwards of 2 hours yesterday afternoon as well.
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Ugh
-Voice in and out= check.
-Cough=check.
-Serious headache off and on=check.
-Unusually tired after food shopping and errands=check.
-Occasional nausea=check.
-Tightness in chest=check.
Ugh. Thinking that if I am not somewhat better by tomorrow a trip to the doctor may be in order. And if I am saying that, you know it must be bad.
-Cough=check.
-Serious headache off and on=check.
-Unusually tired after food shopping and errands=check.
-Occasional nausea=check.
-Tightness in chest=check.
Ugh. Thinking that if I am not somewhat better by tomorrow a trip to the doctor may be in order. And if I am saying that, you know it must be bad.
Monday, July 19, 2010
Milestone!
Julia lost her first tooth tonight! She was scared at first, despite my having told her that this would happen, but after she settled, she told Emily that she could, "help wiggle her loose teeth anytime she wanted." It was cute to see how excited Emily and Katherine were for Julia. Here is a picture of her, showing off the spot where the tooth was!
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Literal Julia At Her Best
My sister to Julia: "I have a cookie here with your name on it."
Cue Julia, who immediately burst in to tears after looking at the cookie and discovering, that it did not actually have her name written on it.
Seriously, that happened.
Cue Julia, who immediately burst in to tears after looking at the cookie and discovering, that it did not actually have her name written on it.
Seriously, that happened.
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Parent and Community Involvement In Education
Here is an interesting article about how crucial parent involvement in education is, and how powerful the PTA can and should be in the movement to increase parent involvement and effectiveness in school.
I found this piece very interesting: "Parental effort is consistently associated with higher levels of achievement, and the magnitude of the effect of parental effort is substantial," University of New Hampshire economist Karen Conway recently reported. "We found that schools would need to increase per-pupil spending by more than $1,000 in order to achieve the same results that are gained with parental involvement." Could parent involvement be the key to reigning in the budget a bit requiring fewer layoffs and other budget cuts? It certainly is something to think about.
At a recent PTA training, I took part in a workshop that focused heavily on touting a PTA as a community rather than school based organization. This article touches on that a bit and I couldn't agree more. One of the reasons I signed on and was elected as my local unit President for an additional two year term was so that I could help reshape and rework the image of PTA on a local, state, and national level. It is becoming increasingly clear that our work needs to extend beyond the bake sale and in to the community. With parent involvement, community support and the continued work of our teachers and administrators, our students are sure to succeed!
I found this piece very interesting: "Parental effort is consistently associated with higher levels of achievement, and the magnitude of the effect of parental effort is substantial," University of New Hampshire economist Karen Conway recently reported. "We found that schools would need to increase per-pupil spending by more than $1,000 in order to achieve the same results that are gained with parental involvement." Could parent involvement be the key to reigning in the budget a bit requiring fewer layoffs and other budget cuts? It certainly is something to think about.
At a recent PTA training, I took part in a workshop that focused heavily on touting a PTA as a community rather than school based organization. This article touches on that a bit and I couldn't agree more. One of the reasons I signed on and was elected as my local unit President for an additional two year term was so that I could help reshape and rework the image of PTA on a local, state, and national level. It is becoming increasingly clear that our work needs to extend beyond the bake sale and in to the community. With parent involvement, community support and the continued work of our teachers and administrators, our students are sure to succeed!
Monday, July 5, 2010
Summertime And The Living Is Easy
Katherine at Salisbury Beach.
Em...chillin' at the pool.
One of my favorite pics of Ryun and I...taken this weekend at a 4th of July Party.
Gorgeous sunset over Plymouth Harbor just before the fireworks.
Julia, all decked out for the 4th, at a party over the weekend.
Sunday, July 4, 2010
Happy Independence Day
Two hundred and thirty four years ago today, this great nation, in a struggle for what was right, was born. On this Independence Day may we celebrate the freedom for which our forefathers fought and we are still defending today.
To our service men and women past, present and future: Saying thank you hardly seems like enough.
To our service men and women past, present and future: Saying thank you hardly seems like enough.
Saturday, July 3, 2010
June 29th...
...marked the 6 year anniversary of when Emily was diagnosed with Epilepsy. Below is the entry I wrote after her first seizure:
On Sunday afternoon/evening, Ryun cleared Emily's room and painted it to match their new furniture/bedding sets that we will be setting up soon. Because the paint was still wet( and the fumes still strong) we set Emily's bed up in Katherine's room for her to sleep in there. They were so excited to have a "slumber party"...it was so cute.
Twice during the night Emily came down to our room...once to go to the bathroom(there is one in the hallway upstairs I think she just wanted to come down and say hi) and once just because. When she asked if she could stay down with us, the first time I said, "No, go ahead back upstairs...Katherine might be sad if she wakes up and doesn't see you there for your slumber party." She was fine with that and went back up. A few hours later( around 5:00 am or so) she came back and asked if she could stay again. I said the same thing about Katherine being sad but at the end I said, "It's your choice though...you can stay if you want to."
Thank God she did.
When Emily came down the last time, Ryun was just getting up to leave for work. She jumped in to his spot in bed and started asking me all kinds of questions...What time is it? How many minutes until we get up? Do I start swimming lessons today? I answered her and finally said, "Ok Em, it is time to go to sleep."
At about 8:00(Katherine had come down about 1/2 hour earlier when she woke up) she and I were lying down in bed talking quietly when Emily made this noise that kind of sounded like she was clearing her throat, but sort of sounded like she was gurgling water too...hard to explain really. Katherine asked me what that noise was and I said, "that was just Em."
Seconds later, my bed started to shake. I immediately jumped out of bed and went to Emily was was shaking rather violently and, for all intents and purposes, unconscious. Her eyes were open but mostly rolling back in to her head and she was drooling. I rolled her onto her side thinking she might be going to vomit. I called her name(yelled it actually) a couple of times with no response and immediately called 911. I kept trying to call Emily and when the shaking finally subsided(seemed like forever but it really only lasted for maybe 1 to 2 minutes) she was just staring in to nothing. Her eyes were on me but it was like she was looking right through me. I kept calling her, saying her name asking who I was, and at the same time running around my bedroom getting myself and Katherine dressed, calling my mother to come take Katherine for me, and calling Ryun to tell him what was going on and to meet us at the hospital. At one point, just before the ambulance arrived, I managed to get her to mumble "mama" but it was incomprehensible and if I hadn't been asking her to say it, I wouldn't have even known what she was trying to convey.
The medic came in and by this time, she was starting to come back around a little, but still not quite back to reality. He gave her a quick once over in the bedroom(checking her pupils which were completely blown, having her stick her tongue out and checking to see if she wet herself, which she had not). The EMT came in with a stretcher and took her outside.
When we got outside, the police officer that came with them asked me a few questions(her name date of birth etc) and when I turned back around to the stretcher, Emily was fully awake and crying. I don't think I have ever seen her so scared in my life...and I can't explain in words how that made me feel. I of course went right over to her and told her she was okay and that we were going to go (together) in the ambulance to the doctor. My neighbor took Katherine for me until my mother arrived(about five minutes later or so). While in the ambulance, before we left, the medic started an iv(just in case she had another episode on the way...with the iv in place they could medicate her immediately). She was still pretty upset but I kept rubbing her head and telling her she was ok and that "Mama was right here and not going to go anywhere."
She started to calm down about 5 minutes into the ride and was definitely coming back to reality.
After she was settled and the iv was all set, the medic asked me a few questions(name, birthday, insurance etc) and she was trying to answer every question. I knew for sure when she started talking she was back to being my Emily.
And I was never, ever so thankful in my entire life.
When we got to the ER, they drew blood, took x-rays, gave her a CT, and a quick once over to see if she had any obvious signs of illness(rash, bug bite etc). When checking her ears, the doctor was beyond shocked that she had not been complaining of ear pain. In a nutshell, her ear had just about the worst infection the doctor had ever seen. She had a slight fever.
The blood work and CT came back fine but her chest X-ray showed a small case of pneumonia. She had been coughing for a few days with no other cold symptoms at all...not even a runny nose so the pneumonia diagnosis was rather shocking as well.
Because they still could not identify any real cause for her having a seizure, they wanted to consult with her pediatrician. He wasn't on, so they talked to another pediatrician in the practice, who recommended that she go home, be seen in the office tomorrow(which is now today) and at that time be scheduled for an outpatient EEG.
Before they had consulted with him, they started her on an iv with a medicine called "Rocephin" to help clear up the ear infection/pneumonia). About ten minutes after they started it, Emily started to complain that she was itchy. I lifted her shirt and the poor kid had hives all over her back and chest. She was allergic to the medication. The doctor/nurse came in and gave her Benedryl and a steroid to stop the reaction and it worked almost immediately. The hives were gone with in minutes. We of course had to stay around for awhile to make sure she was alright and they sent us home with a prescription for a steroid and told us to give her Benedryl every four hours.
We blew up the air mattress and set her up in our room to sleep.
It is now almost four o'clock in the morning and I can't sleep, despite being exhausted after our long day at the hospital. I crashed on the mattress with her and have been waking up every time she moves at all...even just the slightest movement.
I hope that her EEG comes back normal and that the seizure was just a "freak, one-time thing" for her sake of course, and I have to say for mine as well.
I can't explain the fear that was running through my veins when I watched her go through that. She had no idea who I was. She was not responding to me at all. She was shaking so violently that my entire bed was moving.
If I never, ever have to witness that again, I can honestly say I will die a happy woman.
Regular readers know that this was the beginning of what would turn out to be a long process that ended, after EEG's, EKG's, MRI's, blood work, and genetic testing with a diagnosis of a "Tuberous Sclerosis-like" condition. What the above entry does not mention was that at the time all of this was going on, I was just over 8 months pregnant with Julia, and maybe the only pregnant woman in the history of the world who prayed that the baby didn't come early, at least not until things had been figured out with Emily. I had no idea at the time that things really wouldn't ever be figured out. It's an anniversary no doubt, not exactly a happy one to recall but worth mentioning just the same.
On Sunday afternoon/evening, Ryun cleared Emily's room and painted it to match their new furniture/bedding sets that we will be setting up soon. Because the paint was still wet( and the fumes still strong) we set Emily's bed up in Katherine's room for her to sleep in there. They were so excited to have a "slumber party"...it was so cute.
Twice during the night Emily came down to our room...once to go to the bathroom(there is one in the hallway upstairs I think she just wanted to come down and say hi) and once just because. When she asked if she could stay down with us, the first time I said, "No, go ahead back upstairs...Katherine might be sad if she wakes up and doesn't see you there for your slumber party." She was fine with that and went back up. A few hours later( around 5:00 am or so) she came back and asked if she could stay again. I said the same thing about Katherine being sad but at the end I said, "It's your choice though...you can stay if you want to."
Thank God she did.
When Emily came down the last time, Ryun was just getting up to leave for work. She jumped in to his spot in bed and started asking me all kinds of questions...What time is it? How many minutes until we get up? Do I start swimming lessons today? I answered her and finally said, "Ok Em, it is time to go to sleep."
At about 8:00(Katherine had come down about 1/2 hour earlier when she woke up) she and I were lying down in bed talking quietly when Emily made this noise that kind of sounded like she was clearing her throat, but sort of sounded like she was gurgling water too...hard to explain really. Katherine asked me what that noise was and I said, "that was just Em."
Seconds later, my bed started to shake. I immediately jumped out of bed and went to Emily was was shaking rather violently and, for all intents and purposes, unconscious. Her eyes were open but mostly rolling back in to her head and she was drooling. I rolled her onto her side thinking she might be going to vomit. I called her name(yelled it actually) a couple of times with no response and immediately called 911. I kept trying to call Emily and when the shaking finally subsided(seemed like forever but it really only lasted for maybe 1 to 2 minutes) she was just staring in to nothing. Her eyes were on me but it was like she was looking right through me. I kept calling her, saying her name asking who I was, and at the same time running around my bedroom getting myself and Katherine dressed, calling my mother to come take Katherine for me, and calling Ryun to tell him what was going on and to meet us at the hospital. At one point, just before the ambulance arrived, I managed to get her to mumble "mama" but it was incomprehensible and if I hadn't been asking her to say it, I wouldn't have even known what she was trying to convey.
The medic came in and by this time, she was starting to come back around a little, but still not quite back to reality. He gave her a quick once over in the bedroom(checking her pupils which were completely blown, having her stick her tongue out and checking to see if she wet herself, which she had not). The EMT came in with a stretcher and took her outside.
When we got outside, the police officer that came with them asked me a few questions(her name date of birth etc) and when I turned back around to the stretcher, Emily was fully awake and crying. I don't think I have ever seen her so scared in my life...and I can't explain in words how that made me feel. I of course went right over to her and told her she was okay and that we were going to go (together) in the ambulance to the doctor. My neighbor took Katherine for me until my mother arrived(about five minutes later or so). While in the ambulance, before we left, the medic started an iv(just in case she had another episode on the way...with the iv in place they could medicate her immediately). She was still pretty upset but I kept rubbing her head and telling her she was ok and that "Mama was right here and not going to go anywhere."
She started to calm down about 5 minutes into the ride and was definitely coming back to reality.
After she was settled and the iv was all set, the medic asked me a few questions(name, birthday, insurance etc) and she was trying to answer every question. I knew for sure when she started talking she was back to being my Emily.
And I was never, ever so thankful in my entire life.
When we got to the ER, they drew blood, took x-rays, gave her a CT, and a quick once over to see if she had any obvious signs of illness(rash, bug bite etc). When checking her ears, the doctor was beyond shocked that she had not been complaining of ear pain. In a nutshell, her ear had just about the worst infection the doctor had ever seen. She had a slight fever.
The blood work and CT came back fine but her chest X-ray showed a small case of pneumonia. She had been coughing for a few days with no other cold symptoms at all...not even a runny nose so the pneumonia diagnosis was rather shocking as well.
Because they still could not identify any real cause for her having a seizure, they wanted to consult with her pediatrician. He wasn't on, so they talked to another pediatrician in the practice, who recommended that she go home, be seen in the office tomorrow(which is now today) and at that time be scheduled for an outpatient EEG.
Before they had consulted with him, they started her on an iv with a medicine called "Rocephin" to help clear up the ear infection/pneumonia). About ten minutes after they started it, Emily started to complain that she was itchy. I lifted her shirt and the poor kid had hives all over her back and chest. She was allergic to the medication. The doctor/nurse came in and gave her Benedryl and a steroid to stop the reaction and it worked almost immediately. The hives were gone with in minutes. We of course had to stay around for awhile to make sure she was alright and they sent us home with a prescription for a steroid and told us to give her Benedryl every four hours.
We blew up the air mattress and set her up in our room to sleep.
It is now almost four o'clock in the morning and I can't sleep, despite being exhausted after our long day at the hospital. I crashed on the mattress with her and have been waking up every time she moves at all...even just the slightest movement.
I hope that her EEG comes back normal and that the seizure was just a "freak, one-time thing" for her sake of course, and I have to say for mine as well.
I can't explain the fear that was running through my veins when I watched her go through that. She had no idea who I was. She was not responding to me at all. She was shaking so violently that my entire bed was moving.
If I never, ever have to witness that again, I can honestly say I will die a happy woman.
Regular readers know that this was the beginning of what would turn out to be a long process that ended, after EEG's, EKG's, MRI's, blood work, and genetic testing with a diagnosis of a "Tuberous Sclerosis-like" condition. What the above entry does not mention was that at the time all of this was going on, I was just over 8 months pregnant with Julia, and maybe the only pregnant woman in the history of the world who prayed that the baby didn't come early, at least not until things had been figured out with Emily. I had no idea at the time that things really wouldn't ever be figured out. It's an anniversary no doubt, not exactly a happy one to recall but worth mentioning just the same.
Friday, July 2, 2010
Working...
...for the cable company was probably one of the most stressful jobs...ever. You'd be surprised at how angry and threatening people can get when there tv isn't working. Some people even got...stupid. I can remember a few people calling to report their tv was not working...when there was a wide spread power outage in their area (yes, really). I also remember a phone call or two in which I was actually threatened(one customer threatened to come throw his (EXPLICATIVE)cable box right threw the office window at me). So yes, I am questioning my sanity slightly when I am thinking of applying for a job, part time nights, working for, yup, the cable company.
The hours would be 5 nights a week (one of which would be a weekend night) from 5-9. This would mean making many sacrifices on my part. My time as a volunteer would have to be cut, my committee memberships and whatnot would have to be looked at, and Ryun and I would be ships passing in the night. It would leave Ryun in charge of "overseeing" dinner, homework and bed most nights. It would also mean my giving up "control" of these things which, really could be a whole other blog entry (about how sometimes I complain about doing it "all" but really the thought of someone else doing it makes my skin crawl because no one else will do it right and yeah, OCD much?). No matter that it is Ryun who is not only more than capable but should be taking an active roll in these things because hello, this is his family too.
Financially speaking, this makes total sense. Assuming Ryun gets the job I mentioned in the last entry, his income will be slashed in half, which undoubtedly will require a major overhaul of how we spend our money and how we live. Extra money coming in never hurts. It's perfect for the kids too (I can still be home with them during the summers and vacations, will still be able to volunteer during the day and can still bring Emily's entire life to the school when she forgets it at home (yeah, another blog entry).
I think I would have a good shot at getting the job considering my experience and the fact that there are still people working for the company that were there when I was. I'd be lying if I didn't mention how scary the idea of jumping back in to the "working out of the house" game is to me. I'd also be lying if I didn't acknowledge that there is some part of me that thinks this going back to work could actually be a good thing for me mentally. Being a stay at home Mom has really been a blessing. I know how fortunate I have been to not have to work out of the house. It has also been, to some degree, kind of lonely, especially now that the kids are all in school.
All in all, I think it makes sense to at least apply and see where it goes.
The hours would be 5 nights a week (one of which would be a weekend night) from 5-9. This would mean making many sacrifices on my part. My time as a volunteer would have to be cut, my committee memberships and whatnot would have to be looked at, and Ryun and I would be ships passing in the night. It would leave Ryun in charge of "overseeing" dinner, homework and bed most nights. It would also mean my giving up "control" of these things which, really could be a whole other blog entry (about how sometimes I complain about doing it "all" but really the thought of someone else doing it makes my skin crawl because no one else will do it right and yeah, OCD much?). No matter that it is Ryun who is not only more than capable but should be taking an active roll in these things because hello, this is his family too.
Financially speaking, this makes total sense. Assuming Ryun gets the job I mentioned in the last entry, his income will be slashed in half, which undoubtedly will require a major overhaul of how we spend our money and how we live. Extra money coming in never hurts. It's perfect for the kids too (I can still be home with them during the summers and vacations, will still be able to volunteer during the day and can still bring Emily's entire life to the school when she forgets it at home (yeah, another blog entry).
I think I would have a good shot at getting the job considering my experience and the fact that there are still people working for the company that were there when I was. I'd be lying if I didn't mention how scary the idea of jumping back in to the "working out of the house" game is to me. I'd also be lying if I didn't acknowledge that there is some part of me that thinks this going back to work could actually be a good thing for me mentally. Being a stay at home Mom has really been a blessing. I know how fortunate I have been to not have to work out of the house. It has also been, to some degree, kind of lonely, especially now that the kids are all in school.
All in all, I think it makes sense to at least apply and see where it goes.
Thursday, July 1, 2010
Love This
This was a quote, in part, from the character of Mary Shannon on In Plain Sight. I love it!
"I am what many would call, often as accusation, a non believer. It's a charge I consider unfair because all of us, no matter what the connection we feel or don't, when sitting under the stars, or feeling the world closing in, doing what comes naturally, or re-arranging the furniture, all of us believe something. I believe in many things. I believe in first impressions and second chances. I believe in telling the truth to the people you love at every possible turn, and lying, just a little at what seems the appropriate time. I believe in finding people you'd run through a brick wall for and making sure they know it if in not so many words."
"I am what many would call, often as accusation, a non believer. It's a charge I consider unfair because all of us, no matter what the connection we feel or don't, when sitting under the stars, or feeling the world closing in, doing what comes naturally, or re-arranging the furniture, all of us believe something. I believe in many things. I believe in first impressions and second chances. I believe in telling the truth to the people you love at every possible turn, and lying, just a little at what seems the appropriate time. I believe in finding people you'd run through a brick wall for and making sure they know it if in not so many words."
On The Job Front
Ryun is applying for a job that will be two things:
-Not in the same union he is in now (he will be going from the IUEC to the SEIU)
-About 1/2 the income he made as an Elevator Mechanic, which was, well, a lot.
Assuming he gets the job, he will not be making much more money than he is making on unemployment (he is getting the absolute max that unemployment allows right now). The obvious benefits are that unemployment will eventually run out and there is no chance that he will ever get a "raise" on unemployment. It also guarantees insurance coverage which will not be as good as the insurance with the IUEC but will be better than The Medical Security Plan or MASS HEALTH. Other benefits include free use of the MBTA, a job that is way less physically demanding(not that this is a concern really), personal/sick time (which he does not have now) and way less work related stress.
All in all it seems like a good move, even if it may mean pinching pennies a little.
-Not in the same union he is in now (he will be going from the IUEC to the SEIU)
-About 1/2 the income he made as an Elevator Mechanic, which was, well, a lot.
Assuming he gets the job, he will not be making much more money than he is making on unemployment (he is getting the absolute max that unemployment allows right now). The obvious benefits are that unemployment will eventually run out and there is no chance that he will ever get a "raise" on unemployment. It also guarantees insurance coverage which will not be as good as the insurance with the IUEC but will be better than The Medical Security Plan or MASS HEALTH. Other benefits include free use of the MBTA, a job that is way less physically demanding(not that this is a concern really), personal/sick time (which he does not have now) and way less work related stress.
All in all it seems like a good move, even if it may mean pinching pennies a little.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)