Of Course I Hear Voices: I Own Parrots

Its finals week (at work). I've been working long days all week...and I have another one tomorrow. I have a big paper due on Sunday Tomorrow is Relay for Life here, so I will be going from work to Relay Things are a bit crazy. By the time I'm home from work, I'm so tired I can barely keep my eyes open to do my homework. I'm still not sure how I will make it all work. Then why I am I taking the time to blog? Because even with the worst of things, there are bright spots worth sharing. First: Today one of the disability support advisors copied me on an email reply from a former student. I wasn't sure why she had at first (he was not asking a testing question), but then I saw the closing line from his email to her. He had sent "greetings" to her, my supervisor and...and well me. A few years ago, Mark and I were on our way to Gatlinburg. I had taken Friday off so we would have a long weekend. While we were on the road, I received an email from the same...

Being in grad school has been challenging. So far I've been been successful. It has been quite a bit of work.  It has meant late nights, a few all nighters, and giving up time with my family. Has it been worth it: Yes. This quarter is my first Community College intensive course. The instructor is tough but fair. That being said this quarter is a whole new ball game. How she grades is tougher than past instructors, but she gives good and honest feedback. Really that is what  I need. It is going to take a whole new level of dedication to get through this. I'm not exactly sure how I will make it work (just yet), but I know I will figure it out. This degree is a pretty big milestone for me. I want to go it right. I know it is going to get tough. I know I will have to put in the time and effort to make it all work. I made a choice to go after my goals and dreams, I can't get scared now. It is time to buckle down and get focused.

Last Tuesday when I went to bed, I had my Wednesday planned 1) I was going to get up early to ensure I would have time to look nice for my annual performance evaluation 2) I also needed to get in early to set up our overflow lab we had an Enrollment Event 3) I had everything I needed for the day lined up and ready to go. 4) It would be a busy day, but a pretty good one. After we went to bed, things went down hill quickly. Mark started having an asthma attack.  Lily tried to "heal him with her love" so I was trying to keep her out of his face...the last thing he needs is a shedding basset hound in his face Right after Mark finally falls asleep, Tank has one of his "sleeping accidents" I get that cleaned up, and then him back to bed...my alarm goes off shortly after this I don't get up right away, and when I do I have a killer headache I don't look a nice as I would like when I leave. I don't arrive at work early enough to get everything d...

Last weekend Mark and I took a quick trip up to Northern Indiana. We stayed at Oakwood Resort in Syracuse, IN. The resort is on Lake Wawasee, and it is exactly what we needed for a quick weekend away. The stay was actually my Valentine's Day gift, but this was the first weekend we could get away. I was pretty excited to get out of dodge for even just a night. The resort has spacious rooms, and even those with a courtyard view still had pretty amazing views.  Each room has a Keurig (seriously) and a mini fridge. The grounds were clean and beautiful. It was great to be able to walk around and enjoy the scenery. Okay...the on site chapel was a little creepy We enjoyed walking on some of the paths around the resort, and just sitting lakeside for the afternoon.  We opted to eat at the onsite restaurant, but there are other options in town.  That being said, we were not disappointed. The food was amazing. At check in the reccomended we call and reserve ...

Last night I submitted an application for a new job. Full Transparency Here: I meet the minimum requirements for the position, but I am missing some crucial parts of the desired skills. Also it would require me to relocate, so that's another strike against me. So why did I do it? 1) It is a job I would love to have. It doesn't hurt to try 2) It gave me a reason to work on my CV and brush the cobwebs off my cover letter writing skills 3) The application required me to answer some tough questions. When I do apply locally, I need to be ready to answer those. 4) If by some miracle I am selected for an interview, it will be much needed practice. I'm getting closer to knowing exactly what I want to do professionally, but I'm still not sure of when that will become a reality. I know that while I am certainly not unhappy with my job, I know what direction I want to go. Now it is just playing the waiting game. I know that I want something more than I have now. I k...

It has been a busy week. I didn't sleep well last night. I had to be in to work extra early. Although I was arriving early, I was likely be working from home this weekend. My early arrival really only meant I could get my regular morning tasks knocked out. I would be in a training all day, and I have projects that need done ASAP. I could have arrived earlier, but the building isn't unlocked until 7:00, and while security can let me in, I was lazy. Dinner didn't happen until 11:30 the night before, and bedtime was around 1:00 a.m. 7:00 was as early as I could muster. I could have just speed waddled in the door with my Starbucks (I never stop for coffee on my way in, but I really wanted one today). Instead I took a moment to look around, and I had to snap a picture if this: We may be a campus in an urban inner city neighborhood, but this morning, despite all the things that weren't exactly going my way, this caught my eye. It reminded me of how you can find beau...

It is easy to forget to take care of *you.* I take on too much at work, and sometimes that means others do not learn how to handle situations on their own. I need to step back and allow that learning to happen. It is okay for me to want to talk to the girls about this summer: - Yes Kidrite is mostly targeted for little kids, but you will have to go there two or three days a week. Going to the gym and taking care of my body is important to me. - Last summer we tried to enforce  chores. They didn't take it seriously. This summer they aren't getting a choice. I can't do it all on my own with their dad working second shift, and while going to school. They need to understand this. It isn't just me being mean or lazy. It is just how things work. It is okay for me to want a dedicated office space. When we moved into the house, Mark had a job that allowed him to work from home one day a week. I gave him free reign of the loft as an office. He no longer can work from ...

The girls are on Spring Break. They spent last week with their mom. They will spend the upcoming week with us. I was away Thursday and Friday (although we were back yesterday evening, but I was still playing catch up from chores I hadn't done), and now I feel like I'm trying to prep for that week in 2 days. It isn't that the girls are terrors, and I have to prepare for anything like that. We look forward to our time with them. It is still a change. We do not have physical custody of the girls. While we are active in their lives, they do not live with us the bulk of the time. The everyday things most parents have to think about and plan for isn't something we do except on the weeks like this (during school breaks and over the summer), and it just a change in planning and how we think. Mark working second shift puts another wrinkle in this. We've never had to experience this with his current work schedule. It is the normal parenting concerns that we just do not ...

I just returned from the very first Ivy Tech Student Success Summit. I had a really great time. It was a great opportunity to learn from others at the college (from all across the state). It comes at a very interesting time in my career path. I'm to the point where I want to narrow down exactly what I want to be doing in the future. I'm ready to start formulating next steps. This is hard for a few reasons. 1) I am starting to hone in on what I am passionate about, but those types of positions do not exist in the college as of right now. 2) The college doesn't have the money to create new positions. 2)The college is actually in a hiring chill. 3)As President Ellsperman mentioned today, there are some big changes coming to the college this summer. Up to this point, I was working on my professional development and building up my skills. I was thinking about the future, but I hadn't put a ton of time and resources into that particular piece. Now that I am, I ne...

This week hasn't been super great...and it is only Tuesday. So far 1) Our Crock Pot died 2) I ordered a pair of boots, and they sent the wrong size 3) I've been swamped at work. I'm not sure how I am going to get everything that needs done completed before I leave work tomorrow. 4) The second pair of boots I ordered (to replace the ones that were the wrong size) were adorable. Those were not the boots delivered to my house. I don't have time to order new ones 5) The crock pot I ordered to replace the dead one arrived damaged, and I needed to make tonight's dinner in it. I meal prep, so any deviation of the meal plan can be tricky. 6) Tank had surgery about a month ago. The mass was located in his ear and there was nothing to stitch up the wound. Every time the wound is almost healed up, he breaks it open again 7) An impromptu trip to the west side of town last night meant I missed Zumba FACT: At one point yesterday I may have wanted to sit in the dark, in...

I unintentionally stepped away from my blog three and a half years ago...and I am not sure why. I've missed it. My other half has started a blog and a You Tube channel for board game reviews, and I've enjoyed thinking of ways to grow his social media presence, but I hadn't really put much thought into my own. So what has happened in the past three and a half years? The highlights 1) We bought a house 2) We adopted a senior basset hound named Wallace 3) I was promoted to an Assistant Director level job 4) We hospice fostered a basset hound named Mo (cancer) 5) We had to put Mo down 6) We adopted  Basset hound named Lily 7) The step kids grew up: One is 13 an the other is 10 8) We had to put Wallace down (cancer) 9) Mark has been unemployed twice 10) We adopted a senior basset hound named Tank 11) Mark got way into boardgames 12) Mark developed an almost addictive relationship with Kickstarter (I joke..but seriously every time I turn around another game is b...

As many of you know, I have been sitting on the fence in regards to my photography and whether it is a hobby or a part time gig. I have been on the fence for so long because every time I have myself talked in to doing more, I get scared: 1) Getting a real site will cost money 2) I will eventually need to buy more (expensive) equipment 3) What if I suck This summer, I watched a photographer, using the same camera I have take pictures for the girls softball team and thought "hey I can do that." We had a professional development speaker who tasked us with reconnecting with our passion. Ivy Tech is having an exhibition for staff, and that has really kicked my passion back into gear. I am entering 3 pieces. Since then I have opened a store on Zazzle  http://www.zazzle.com/jennsstuff I have researched and picked a stock photo site I am going to work with. So what is next? Do I take the plunge, start a web site and see what happens?  If so, I want to do it before th...

Admittedly, Mom did get a shafted a bit as Mother's Day was the Sunday after finals AND the second day of Relay for Life (yes I slept like a baby that day).  It isn't that I don't love her, or anything like that...I was just being lazy Here is a little tribute to Norm:

There isn't a day that goes by that I don't miss her.  Today I miss her a little more.  Three years ago today, I went into work after a crazy night.  Dr. Narra had ordered that my dad be moved to Bay Park Hospital after two trips to the ER at Fulton County had lead to 2 misdiagnosis, frustration and a doctor giving my mom a print out of a effing Wikipedia page.  Yes...an effing Wikipedia page.  Super professional and classy there Fulton County. I received a text shortly after my Saturday shift start that said had a stroke.  Mom kept telling me to just wait until after she met with the neurologist. For some reason, I just couldn't accept it. I just had a feeling that I needed to get home...now.  I called my boss. She gave me permission to to leave early and then come in late on Monday. I ran home, haphazardly through some clothes together (I could always borrow clothes from Mom if I needed to), grabbed my cage of nesting cockatiels and h...

Dear Sprint, Less than a year ago, I bought a Galaxy S II. I do love the phone, but I am now on my third one because of a common issue with the phone. I reached out to you guys, and you sent me a different model to try this time (as each of the S IIs has had the same issue). The phone arrived today. It was late when I came home, but I still wanted to check it out (even if I didn't have time to do anything with it). I opened the phone box, and I was a bit disappointed by what I saw. Please, don't take this as me being ungrateful. I do appreciate the option to try a different phone. I have not even tried the phone yet. It could be amazing. When the rep explained the new model to me, he said it was about the same size as the S II. This phone is really more like half the size of my current phone. It is effing tiny. It also has significantly less memory...which is something I was not told, but a memory card can fix that. Here's the thing though, did the tech suppor...

I was going to write a different blog today...but some news changed that. I am doing Relay for Life again this year with Mark's family. Last year I bought Luminarias in memory of my Papaw and in Honor of my Uncle and Godmother. I was going to do it again, but I kept forgetting. Oh, I will do that tomorrow, and then the day would go by and they still were not purchased. Today, I promised myself it would get done. Today I found out I have one more to buy. Today I found out my friend Laura has breast cancer. Laura and I are unlikely friends. We grew up in the same town, but we were in very different social circles. She (and her friends) probably thought I was quiet and a bit strange. I thought she and her friends were loud and a bit stuck up (in retrospect some of that was jealousy on my part. They were skinny and popular, I was neither). Bottom line: we were both too busy being stupid teenagers to actually get to know each other. The Christmas after Mom died, Laura reached...

In a little over a week, we will be setting out on our next road trip.  It is a trip "home" to Toledo.  Mark and I have made this trip together many times, but this will be our first time taking the girls. I am very apprehensive about this trip. 1) The girls' behavior is hit or miss. Sometimes they are fine. Other times they break all the rules, lie, and get upset when they are punished. 2) On our last road trip they were little monsters: Waking up at 4:30 a.m. and then laughing at me when I told them to go back to bed. 3) I worry that this will be the time they ask questions I do not want to answer. Kids are kids, but these two seem to like to push our limits. They know the rules. They know how we expect them to behave. They know lying isn't acceptable.  Still they chose to break the rules, and then they are all upset when they are punished. They can be quite mean and rude at times. They will be on my home turf: my family, my friends, my hometown. I don'...

About 2 weeks ago I took Zelda to the vet for an annual check up.  A few things happened: 1) I found out Zelda's white cell count was way up = she was sick 2) The previous owners old us Zelda was a she, but just to verify I opted to get her DNA sexed 3) We ran some tests to see if she had a pretty serious disease. 4) I was given medicine to give her for the next 10 days. The good news: 1) It took some toweling and patience...and bribery, but we made it through the 10 days if medicine twice a day without injuries. 2) Her test results for the disease came back negative The eh news: She's a he. The previous owners said the people they got him from said he was a she.  So we gave her a girl name, and have been calling her a girl. Now we have to stop referring to her as a girl. He already responds to Zelda, so it is too late to change it to Link. Male and female red lored amazons look exactly alike. It isn't like it is with other birds where you can tell by the...

It is amazing how things seem to pop back into our lives when we think that that era is over. Mark has gone back to work part time with Order In. Between that and softball season (I can't get to the games after work), I will be home alone quite a bit...and there is only so much cooking and cleaning I can do. That means a few things: 1) I can get back to my DIY projects 2) This blog will get some much needed love 3) I will be linking this blog and posting photos on Redgage (redgage.com/jennlee) 4) I will be getting back into photography 5) I will be attempting to rejoin the freelance writing world: First step- The Examiner. I have been accepted as a frugal living writer. I budgeted for one, and then quickly learned how to budget for four. I upcycle and repurpose things. This should be something I can easily write about. I just was accepted today. I am not sure where I am going to start, but I will come up with a game plan. If I am going to revisit old hobbies, I might as...

The newest addition to our family is coming along quite well.  She really is a sweet and well behaved bird. The people at Bird Fever were amazed at how sweet she is. The two of us get along fine...well until Mark walks in the room. She was bonded with the guy at her last home and has bonded with Mark.  She literally swoons when he walks in the room.  Of course that means she is jealous of me.  Last Saturday she flipped out when I woke him up for breakfast. She will bite at me if he is near.  We will go from cuddles and head scratches to me being the source of all evil as soon as he enters the room. We are working on this, but it is a process. I am not sure of all of her past, but I think a female has hit her (not in her last home) and that is part of the issue. Last night, Mark worked his second job.  Monday I let her stay up until he got home (as I wasn't home until late too), but last night he was going to be a bit later.  After a great night (...