Yesterday I woke up and couldn't believe how sore I was after a little bit of Yoga!! Bob and I took the dogs for a walk but this morning I woke up as stiff as ever. Tomorrow I'm going to start cycling and swimming classes.
But today I have to get through work first. I'm irritated already and I'm not even there yet. Send calming vibes.
10 January, 2010
08 January, 2010
Friday
The party last night was great. I had an AWESOME bbq chicken salad and a small piece of cake for desert. I haven't come right out and said that I'm trying to lose weight because I always jinx myself. But I can dance around it a bit, I think.
I learned yesterday that MCCS is no longer charging fees to military dependents for the aerobic classes they offer. That was my last excuse not to go (darn it). This morning I'm going to try Yoga. It's offered two days a week but I work the other day it's offered. Same with their swimming classes. So I figured I'd sample 'a la carte' style until I can get myself on schedule.
Yesterday was the first day of Spring semester and it's already crazy. I found a way to get my books $300 cheaper, but when I went to return the ones I bought at the bookstore they told me it's their policy I wait 10 days before returning them. That's..ridiculous, because now I've paid for 2 sets of books..................Out of my bank account, remember. Hopefully when we have a baby we'll qualify for a Pell Grant because I don't know if we can both keep going to school full time on our own dime.
Today is my last day off work and then it's back to crazy-town. Say a prayer.
I'm going to leave you with a short blog today...
Thanks, as always, for reading :)
I learned yesterday that MCCS is no longer charging fees to military dependents for the aerobic classes they offer. That was my last excuse not to go (darn it). This morning I'm going to try Yoga. It's offered two days a week but I work the other day it's offered. Same with their swimming classes. So I figured I'd sample 'a la carte' style until I can get myself on schedule.
Yesterday was the first day of Spring semester and it's already crazy. I found a way to get my books $300 cheaper, but when I went to return the ones I bought at the bookstore they told me it's their policy I wait 10 days before returning them. That's..ridiculous, because now I've paid for 2 sets of books..................Out of my bank account, remember. Hopefully when we have a baby we'll qualify for a Pell Grant because I don't know if we can both keep going to school full time on our own dime.
Today is my last day off work and then it's back to crazy-town. Say a prayer.
I'm going to leave you with a short blog today...
Thanks, as always, for reading :)
07 January, 2010
Thursday
Last night was finally a night with no stress/drama (at work anyway). I like the rare occasions when I get to work with people who treat me decently.
I started a new Intermediate class with 5 dogs last night. They're some of my best/favorite students so I'm really excited to see how that progresses. As much as I don't want to leave my students and have to start over building my reputation, I cannot WAIT until the New Bern store opens. I'm truly truly hoping they'll allow me to transfer there. It would be great to build a new training program there. Coming into this store I think the people I work with highly undervalue my position. Half of the time it seems like people go out of their way to make my job more difficult.
Should I just title my blog 'Ashley bitches about her job every day'??
Spring semester started today. I'm taking an Expository Writing class, Abnormal Psychology, a math class, and World Religions. English & Religion are both online. My Expository Writing & Psych classes are Mon, Tues, Wed from 8-12 and then Tues & Wed I work 2-9. Plenty of time to get my homework done, I suppose.
I bought my books for class yesterday before I went to work and became physically ill at the staggering cost. And the fact that the check was written from my own bank account. I came home and the amaaazing Amelia had told me about chegg.com where you can RENT your textbooks for a semester. That saved me $300!! I'm returning the books today and the rented books should be here by Saturday. Hopefully before Monday anyway LOL!
Tonight I'm going to Rucker Johns on Emerald Isle to celebrate dinner with a friend's daughter (teenage daughter).
Maybe I'll get to see Bob sometime this week...?
I started a new Intermediate class with 5 dogs last night. They're some of my best/favorite students so I'm really excited to see how that progresses. As much as I don't want to leave my students and have to start over building my reputation, I cannot WAIT until the New Bern store opens. I'm truly truly hoping they'll allow me to transfer there. It would be great to build a new training program there. Coming into this store I think the people I work with highly undervalue my position. Half of the time it seems like people go out of their way to make my job more difficult.
Should I just title my blog 'Ashley bitches about her job every day'??
Spring semester started today. I'm taking an Expository Writing class, Abnormal Psychology, a math class, and World Religions. English & Religion are both online. My Expository Writing & Psych classes are Mon, Tues, Wed from 8-12 and then Tues & Wed I work 2-9. Plenty of time to get my homework done, I suppose.
I bought my books for class yesterday before I went to work and became physically ill at the staggering cost. And the fact that the check was written from my own bank account. I came home and the amaaazing Amelia had told me about chegg.com where you can RENT your textbooks for a semester. That saved me $300!! I'm returning the books today and the rented books should be here by Saturday. Hopefully before Monday anyway LOL!
Tonight I'm going to Rucker Johns on Emerald Isle to celebrate dinner with a friend's daughter (teenage daughter).
Maybe I'll get to see Bob sometime this week...?
06 January, 2010
Wednesday
What is the definition of professionalism? How do you know when a person has crossed the line between professionalism and ..'not?' professional?
I'm also curious: what is your opinion on going to your superiors with complaints/issues about those you work with? What if the issue is with your superior, what's your opinion about going over THEIR head (say to an HR department)?
I'm sure it's obvious why I'm asking these questions: yesterday was another terrible day at work. Even though I work for a corporation (where everything is supposed to be as in line and uniform as in the military) it seems like so many of the people that I work with think that they're the exception to the rule. When you walk up to somebody who is supposed to be 'in charge' and ask them a work related question is it too much to expect them to drop their feelings (good or bad) towards you and give you a straightforward answer? If I could roll my eyes any harder they'd be stuck in the back of my head (thanks, Mom).
So I came home last night, determined not to take out my bad day on Robert, only to end up ticking him off ANYWAY.
This morning I woke up and decided to tackle some of my phone errands. This was my list:
Call the bookstore and ask if they accept checks (I misplaced my debit card).
Call the Financial Aid office and make sure my FA came through and that my classes were paid for (tomorrow is the purge date).
Call Tricare and see about having my last trip to Duke reembursed.
Call PCM and ask for a retro referral for my date of service (it had expired).
Call EFMP office.
One person answered their phone. Out of that entire list. And it WASNT the damn bookstore!
Why did I have to (once again) call the EFMP office? This is something I posted on one of the forums I'm on explaining what happened:
----------------
So that's my NEW dilemma in life. Figure out how to not DIE when they PCS us to the middle of BFE (which any of you associated with the military KNOWS will happen a.k.a Murphy's Law).
Spring semester starts tomorrow which I am SO happy about.
Before work today I have to go to the bookstore at the college (20 minutes past where I work which is 30 minutes from my house) and then stop by Walgreens to pick up Tucker's medication before work. I'm taking Tucker with me to work today. He hasn't gone with me in a few weeks and I kind of miss hanging out with him while I'm there. Today should be a much better day.
I'll leave you with an awesome story from Spark People about getting your priorities straight. It really touched me last night when I read it:
http://www.sparkpeople.com/resource/motivation_articles.asp?id=264
I'm also curious: what is your opinion on going to your superiors with complaints/issues about those you work with? What if the issue is with your superior, what's your opinion about going over THEIR head (say to an HR department)?
I'm sure it's obvious why I'm asking these questions: yesterday was another terrible day at work. Even though I work for a corporation (where everything is supposed to be as in line and uniform as in the military) it seems like so many of the people that I work with think that they're the exception to the rule. When you walk up to somebody who is supposed to be 'in charge' and ask them a work related question is it too much to expect them to drop their feelings (good or bad) towards you and give you a straightforward answer? If I could roll my eyes any harder they'd be stuck in the back of my head (thanks, Mom).
So I came home last night, determined not to take out my bad day on Robert, only to end up ticking him off ANYWAY.
This morning I woke up and decided to tackle some of my phone errands. This was my list:
Call the bookstore and ask if they accept checks (I misplaced my debit card).
Call the Financial Aid office and make sure my FA came through and that my classes were paid for (tomorrow is the purge date).
Call Tricare and see about having my last trip to Duke reembursed.
Call PCM and ask for a retro referral for my date of service (it had expired).
Call EFMP office.
One person answered their phone. Out of that entire list. And it WASNT the damn bookstore!
Why did I have to (once again) call the EFMP office? This is something I posted on one of the forums I'm on explaining what happened:
I wonder - any of you who are members or have members of the EFMP in your house - do you ever feel like you want to tear your hair out of your head???
I do.
For those of you who don't know: I have Marfan Syndrome. It's a rare(ish), life threatening connective tissue disorder that dramatically increases my risk for aortic dissection (and death as a result). I need close monitoring and special medication to keep my blood pressure low, I'm unable to lift, unable to physically exert myself, etc. Marfan Syndrome results in scoliosis, dural ectasia, stretch marks, migraines, general pain, dislocated lens, fibromyalgia, weak discs, irregular heart beat, racing heart beat, heart murmur, collapsed lung............the list goes on and on and on and on and ON.
The doctors I've encountered here (on base) have all treated me more of a 'holy grail' than a patient. They want to inspect my hands and feet, measure my wingspan vs my height, see how double jointed I am - more than treat my problems. None of them have SEEN a patient with Marfan Syndrome before, let alone treated one.
So I go to Duke and see a Marfan specialist.
Now to the vent::
My doctor at Duke was great about providing the EFMP with documentation regarding the severity of MY particular case of Marfan Syndrome, informing them of the importance of me being near a doctor who specializes in Marfan Syndrome.
Since this is a rare disorder there are very few of these doctors in the country. Hawaii and Okinawa are out, of course. If you take the rest of the Marfan doctors in the country and line them up with Marine Corps bases....there are maybe two or three. Lejeune and CP (obviously), and then some of the California bases would allow me to go to UCLA. Quantico would allow Johns Hopkins.
We knew orders were due soon so we made sure the monitor had this info, that EFMP was properly documented, etc......
B got orders for recruiting.
So now, in attempt to get his orders changed, EFMP wants more documentation. They want, from my doctor, WHY I can't be seen by a 'normal' healthcare provider.
Are you KIDDING me!?
----------------
So that's my NEW dilemma in life. Figure out how to not DIE when they PCS us to the middle of BFE (which any of you associated with the military KNOWS will happen a.k.a Murphy's Law).
Spring semester starts tomorrow which I am SO happy about.
Before work today I have to go to the bookstore at the college (20 minutes past where I work which is 30 minutes from my house) and then stop by Walgreens to pick up Tucker's medication before work. I'm taking Tucker with me to work today. He hasn't gone with me in a few weeks and I kind of miss hanging out with him while I'm there. Today should be a much better day.
I'll leave you with an awesome story from Spark People about getting your priorities straight. It really touched me last night when I read it:
http://www.sparkpeople.com/resource/motivation_articles.asp?id=264
05 January, 2010
Tuesday (again)
Apparently I don't know how Blogger works. It seems like the older I get the harder technology is for me to grasp.
Somehow I'm following people under this account 'ashley' and another account 'karnagia'....wtf!?
And how do you get the cute layouts!? Mine is a template from Blogger and it's kind of boring.
:(
Update: nevermind, I'm not dumb afterall! :)
Somehow I'm following people under this account 'ashley' and another account 'karnagia'....wtf!?
And how do you get the cute layouts!? Mine is a template from Blogger and it's kind of boring.
:(
Update: nevermind, I'm not dumb afterall! :)
Tuesday
How far do you have to fall down the mountain before you finally dig your heels in and start working your way back up again? I'm at a point right now where I can't pinpoint the poison in my life and as a result I'm lashing out in every area. I'm so desperate not to allow myself to be a doormat that I've started shutting the door all together. I feel like the more I pile on to my busy schedule the less time I'll have to sit and think about how miserable I am.
Work is the main source of stress. I love my students - they're the ONLY reason I go to work every day. I get most of my encouragement from them. Being able to help people communicate better with their pets and knowing that my advice and recommendations are trusted and wanted is a great feeling. One that I'm not used to. But as soon as my classes are over I find myself back out in the store trying to avoid most, if not all, of the people I work with. I tried to come into this job with a positive attitude and a smile on my face but deep down I have an aggressive desire to succeed and make this more than just a job. It would be easier if I didn't have to fight at every turn to actually DO my job. I came in, like I said, with a smile on my face - eager to get to know (on a professional level) the people I work with. I was eager to be a part of the 'family' I saw that they all had there - I honestly thought that this job was God's way of giving me a foothold into the career I'm pursuing.
Instead of becoming 'family', I quickly became the most talked about and least liked. Part of me thinks that some people are intimidated by ME and part of me thinks that some are intimidated by that aggressive desire for success that I was talking about earlier. To some it's 'just a job' and the fact that I take it so seriously gets me laughed at. No, really.
After 21 years of being talked on you KNOW when people are talking about you. One of the things I'm great at is picking up on body language. I'm tired of being whispered at, stared at, laughed at, talked about. The people I work with call me names, roll their eyes as soon as I turn my back...it's NOT paranoia and response from the management has been every thing from: 'just give it time', to 'I don't hear about it so I can't do anything about it', to 'why are you so damn sensitive'. Is it REALLY too much to ask to not be made FUN OF at my place of employment? Why does that seem like a very basic concept to me?
Maybe it IS me.
The bottom line is that I'm a good person. I have the best of intentions at all times. But for some reason there's something about me that just makes people HATE me.
Take Emily, for example. Emily was like a second spouse to me. I can't put into words the bond I had with her. After we 'broke up' (haha) I grieved. Part of me grieves every time I think about her. She would get angry any time somebody would talk, stare, or laugh....and now that we're not friends...she refers to me as 'the giant'.
So back to my original question...how far do you have to fall down the mountain before you finally dig your heels in and start working your way back up again?
Work is the main source of stress. I love my students - they're the ONLY reason I go to work every day. I get most of my encouragement from them. Being able to help people communicate better with their pets and knowing that my advice and recommendations are trusted and wanted is a great feeling. One that I'm not used to. But as soon as my classes are over I find myself back out in the store trying to avoid most, if not all, of the people I work with. I tried to come into this job with a positive attitude and a smile on my face but deep down I have an aggressive desire to succeed and make this more than just a job. It would be easier if I didn't have to fight at every turn to actually DO my job. I came in, like I said, with a smile on my face - eager to get to know (on a professional level) the people I work with. I was eager to be a part of the 'family' I saw that they all had there - I honestly thought that this job was God's way of giving me a foothold into the career I'm pursuing.
Instead of becoming 'family', I quickly became the most talked about and least liked. Part of me thinks that some people are intimidated by ME and part of me thinks that some are intimidated by that aggressive desire for success that I was talking about earlier. To some it's 'just a job' and the fact that I take it so seriously gets me laughed at. No, really.
After 21 years of being talked on you KNOW when people are talking about you. One of the things I'm great at is picking up on body language. I'm tired of being whispered at, stared at, laughed at, talked about. The people I work with call me names, roll their eyes as soon as I turn my back...it's NOT paranoia and response from the management has been every thing from: 'just give it time', to 'I don't hear about it so I can't do anything about it', to 'why are you so damn sensitive'. Is it REALLY too much to ask to not be made FUN OF at my place of employment? Why does that seem like a very basic concept to me?
Maybe it IS me.
The bottom line is that I'm a good person. I have the best of intentions at all times. But for some reason there's something about me that just makes people HATE me.
Take Emily, for example. Emily was like a second spouse to me. I can't put into words the bond I had with her. After we 'broke up' (haha) I grieved. Part of me grieves every time I think about her. She would get angry any time somebody would talk, stare, or laugh....and now that we're not friends...she refers to me as 'the giant'.
So back to my original question...how far do you have to fall down the mountain before you finally dig your heels in and start working your way back up again?
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
