all alone

so this week has been interesting. dan is working 12s from midnight to noon. it wears him out, but i think it is worse for me!! LOL. by time i get off work and get back from my workout, he has been asleep for 4 or 5 hours. he sleeps until about 9 or 10 at night. then gets up, eats breakfast (HAHAH), and then goes to work.

i had to rely on myself to cook and keep the house neat and tidy. HA. like that was going to happen. first of all, for those of you who don't know, i DON'T cook. well i try, but i'm simply not good at it. for example, the other day i made BBQ chicken. i had to use the grill and i think that is where it went all down hill. i did everything dan told me to light it and get it ready. but for some reason it would not get hot. all i could get it to was about 250 degrees. well i had planned on my chicken taking 20 mins and instead it took something like 35 or 40. so my potatoes were cold and i had already eaten my okra because it would have been inedible by time i got to it. i also had to watch chloe. which is a job in itself. she proceeded to steal my umbrella from my bag, chew dan's boots ( i caught her before any damage) and actually did damage his boot straps. she is so annoying some time. dan was mad but i explained to him that it was hard doing all the cooking and babysitting and he understood.

i can't wait until this week is over. i'll get my husband back! :) i guess i sometimes take him for granted because he is really helpful,i just don't realize it. but now that he is gone, i miss his help and him. so friday is his last day of these 12 hours shifts!

i still haven't heard back from Bibb county schools. i guess i'll wait until the end of the school year to find out. i feel as though they are waiting for all other suitable applicants to decline and then they will offer it to me. ha. oh well. i still am not sure what i am going to do. unsure of what my current job holds in the future being that they are closing one of my buildings.

in other, way more exciting news, i am actively looking at cars. i am trying to see if i can turn mine in early becuase i WILL be over my miles. i had a nice stockpile, like 5000 miles, but with driving to and from macon every day plus travel between buildings and to the gym, i am currently 1 mile over where i should be. and i'm averaging 100 miles per day recently. so it's scary.

well that is all in my boring, uneventful life. hope to be more exciting next time. Missy is coming on friday! :)

Job Decisions!

Many of you may not know that I am trying to get another job. A few people know, but I was trying to keep it on the DL for as long as I could. Well I finally had to tell my supervisor because she kept asking me daily if I was going to stay with Integra or if I was leaving after my CFY.

There was a point in my CF that I hated my job and hated the one facility where I worked. It was very hard to go to work everyday because the people there (mainly dietary and a few nurses, the administrator and DON) made me want to pull my hair out. They were constantly criticizing the decisions I made and trying to make it seem like I was a bad SLP. And I know that is not true. Being that all of this happened right after my first CFY review in which Amber, my supervisor, had said that I was a great CF and that she was very impressed with my knowledge and the way I do my therapy and evals. I got all good feedback from her and from my boss. Then I come to this building in question and I feel like I'm doing something wrong because they are always mad about my decisions and always asking me why.

To make a long story short, we eventually worked out our issues and for the most part, I am getting along with everyone and they are happy with the work I am doing there. I can't say I get along with Dietary. For some reason they all just hate me and it's like a chore for them to get me something I need out of the kitchen. I would rather go out and buy all of my own snacks and sippy cups then have to go back there and ask. And that is just sad. Other then that department, I am happy to work there.

But when I was not happy, I went out and looked for another job and had every intention of leaving from there and completing my CF elsewhere. But by time I got interviews and such, I was getting along with everyone. It's complicated. Anyway I had 3 interviews: one for Bibb county Schools, one for Houston County Schools, and one for The Speech Path. I was very excited about the Speech Path. It's a private practice and they were SOOO awesome when I went there. I could see myself working there. But they offered me a position and it was not in the pay range I had wanted. I thought it was going to be right around what I'm making now, but it was a lot less. Dan and I had been talking about doing things (travel, vacations, yard work) and if I took the pay cut, those things would not be possible. So I turned down the job. Which was a good decision because they lady was very rude when I told her and that made it a little easier.

Now for the  schools.. Ugh. Not sure if I want to work in that mess. I would need a lot of help because I know nothing about IEPs. But they said they were more than willing to help me learn. Bibb county (in Macon) has not offered me a position yet, but we are actively speaking about it. I wish it was Houston county. That is my dream school that I want to be in. But they never called me back. Assholes.

Anyway. I am weighing the Pros and Cons. Oh and I forgot to mention that the other building where I currently work is shutting down. Therefore, I would have to work full time in the building that is less than desirable (the aforementioned facility with the horrible kitchen staff). So that is a big CON on my list.

So for now, I will be thinking about the pros and cons if I leave Integra and go to work in the schools. Please provide input if you have any! Until next time!!!     :/

update!

Well hello there. It's been some time since I updated....such a busy life we lead! Not too much has been happening since our last update.

The weather here is BEAUTIFUL!!!! In one day we went from spring straight to summer! It was 90 degrees the other day, which I was NOT ready for. It was so bloody hot and my body just wasn't ready for that. The pollen down here is CRAZY! It blows around and seriously looks like a sand storm. We were doing yard work last weekend and Dan was stirring it up with the lawn mower and it was blowing ALLL over me and our garage. I think it was like 1/2 inch thick on my car. I've never seen it this bad. The locals (haha) said once we get a good rain, it will take care of it. So we did get one day of rain. Then the next day the pollen was back. Oh well! I guess I am getting used to it now.

Speaking of yard work... we are completely re-doing our yard and flower beds. We are ripping out most of the plants that the old man left for us and putting in some brightly colored flowers. Our house needs some color! We are putting in a fence soon and as we speak, Dan is at Lowe's buying gutters!
FYI: No one is Georgia has gutters for some reason. There are about a handful of people in our neighborhood that have gutters and those people happened to live up North before moving here. Imagine that.

We are hoping to get the surveyor here in the next week or so to mark our land. Then we can put in our fence! We are doing it all on our own, so this should be interesting! I will keep you updated with pictures of the yard as it progresses and of the fence project!

Easter was last weekend. It was a nice little Sunday. We went to Rachel's house and had a pot-luck Easter. It was so nice outside and nice to be with friends. I wish I was at home to see my Nephews, but soon enough we will be back there!

We will keep you updated!

Pictures from the half

Well here are the pictures from the website that took our pictures (obviously). I want to order some but they are ridiculously priced. But we will most likely order the one of us together because that is just priceless! We can hang it next to our medals that we won! Enjoy!

Clock time is a little off on these pics since it took me about 5 mins to get to the start line! Perks of running with 16,000 people!

I was WAYYY to excited to see the finish line too! LOL

               

I wanted to die in the picture on the far right! The race was TOUGH!

So glad to be finished!!! Another half marathon down for me and another marathon for Dan!

Goal Accomplished!

The Half Marathon is finally over!!!! Although I have been looking forward to this day for a while, I will miss training. I liked those runs now that I look back at it. But it won't be long before I am on the schedule again for yet another half in September!!

The course was HARD. At times I really thought I was not going to make it. I was struggling, but I just looked inside myself and made it. I did walk a few times, but those hills were KILLER!  I was told it was a rough course, but I just had to see for myself. Most of the course was rolling hills that actually weren't that bad in retrospect. Then we had giant hills that seemed to last forever. I made it to about 10.5 miles and then I started to walk, for small amounts of time only.

The gatorade and water stands were the only thing that made me get through. I really looked forward to giving myself more energy by drinking the gatorade. It was nice.

Now for my time: It was 2:03! YAY for me! On my first half my time was 2:18 with an average pace of 10:34/mile. This time, my pace was 9:24 per mile. That is over a minute improvement since my last race. I am SOOOOO proud of myself. I cried when I finished because I could not believe I actually did it. I look forward to my ultimate goal of getting under 2 hours for my next race!

Dan did okay. He is upset with himself, but I still think he did a good job. The hills were apparently worse on the marathon course. He struggled in the last 5 miles. He didn't get the time he wanted, but it was still a really good time. He finished in 3:38 for the full. I could never run a full in that speed/time so I think he did great. But we look forward to our next race and hope to improve our times!

I'm not sure what I will do with myself now that I am not training. I know that I am going to go to the gym and do more weight strengthening to try and lose a few more pounds (like 10-15) and then we will start running again. I can't wait!

MADNESS!

It's that time of year again! YEP! March Madness. My favorite time of the year (kinda). I love to fill out the brackets. I pick the most random teams for no apparent reason. Sometimes I have good luck, others I make a fool of myself. But it's all in good fun.

Here's how my bracket looks:
Elite 8: Kansas, San Diego State, Syracuse, Kansas St, UK, WVU, Texas A&M, ad Villanova
Final 4: Kansas, Syracuse, UK, and Villanova
Finals: Kansas and Villanova
WINNER: Kansas!!! :)

We'll see what actually happens... considering none of the above will happen.

Since my last post, not much has been going on. Still training for the half marathon, which BTW, is in 3 days. I am FREAKING out. I'm so nervous that I won't make my goal time. I am trying to run below 2 hrs... but it's a very ambitious goal. Throughout my training, I have been able to keep a consistent 9:30 pace for all of my mileage. So, if I do that for the 13.1, then I will come in at 2:03. Which is still REALLY SUPER good compared to my last half. I ran it in 2:18 with an average pace of 10:34. So I am cutting my time down my 1 min per mile. Good stuff.

We signed Chloe up for beginner's training at Pets Mart. I hope this works to at least calm her down and make her easier to live with. She stresses WAAAAY tooo much. Even more than me, which I didn't think was possible. But we'll see. I hope there is more than 2 dogs in her class. That way if she is the worst dog, she won't be the worst out of 2! But wish us luck with this!

I will write again after the marathon. I've got to focus and find my inner Chi. (Ha). Until then!

Two Miracles

Well... if you live under a rock or in a cave, you may not know this. However, most of you do.... my nephews were born!!! They arrived on February 21st. Grant Edward was born at 9:02am and James Thomas (JT) was born at 9:03. Grant weighed 6 lbs 8 oz and JT weighed 6 lbs 1 oz. We are the proudest aunt, uncle and god parents ever!!

It was quite the wake up call that Sunday morning. My mom called at 7:15am to tell me my sister's water broke and was surprised that I was not more talkative. Let's review... 7:15 am, Sunday.... hmmm... then she understood why!!

Dan and I went to visit the little guys on Thursday February 25th - Tuesday March 2nd. It was the best time. I loved holding those boys more than anything. It made me have baby fever... for a couple minutes anyway. I soon realized that I was just not quite there yet.... maybe a few more years and we'll think about it.

Since then, our lives have been uneventful. Just trying to clean the house up after we neglected it for a while. We need to start preparing for Spring Cleaning!

Since when do kids think they can just trample through your yard when they please?! Yeah that is what our neighborhood kids think they can do. Sometimes I just like to look out the window at our view of the street behind us (really not that interesting) and instead of seeing nice houses, i see hoodlums running and riding their bikes through our yard. ANNOYING! So I am hoping we get enough money back on our tax returns to purchase a fence. And we need one for Chloe's sake. Poor thing is sick of being tied up in the yard. But who knows.

The weather has been decent down here. It was low 60's for a few days and then got to 78 one day! I sat outside and read my people magazine. Until the hoodlums decided to hang out in my back yard and climb 10 feet into my tree. again, ANNOYING.

I'll stop writing about annoying things now!! We have some very exciting things coming up that I can wait to write about!!!!!!!!

12 days until the half marathon! wish me luck. Until next time, my friends!