Be Careful What You Wish For

It has been a hectic past few weeks but has been filled with many fun, and not so fun, events. The weekend before Valentine's Day, the Alliance Against Domestic Abuse organization held a chocolate lovers and speaking event in the community. I happened to score a free ticket and ate a nice filling dinner before I went so I wouldn't gorge on sweets. I would not have done that had I known the overflowing amounts of food they had there, as seen by all of the trays when I walked in. I went with some friends and did see some people from work there as well. The weird things I tried included chocolate covered bacon and saffron and orange white chocolate fondue. Next year if I am able to go, I will not eat before hand so I can try all of the delicious appetizers as well. Afterwards, I hung out with a friend at her house and we watched a movie and talked for some much needed girl time. Her little kitten is very lovey and perched up on my shoulder half the night nuzzling in my fake fur collar like I was his nursing mother.

The person I am replacing also likes to take me, and sometimes other coworkers, out for lunch randomly, so I am trying different places around town. Valentine's Day itself we went and got burgers, and I swear that was the best one I've had in a long time. I have also gone to a Mexican restaurant where to the shock of others I poured Habanero hot sauce on my food. I like it spicy! I have been learning more about my position and am mostly going to a lot of meetings and trying to sign up for training. I have been working through a sexual assault course, which will probably take 3-4 weeks to finish, and next week I will be traveling to Ft. Collins for a workshop on domestic violence. The county pays for the gas, hotel and food so of course I'm picking out nice places to go HA HA. It will be good to get out of the mountains for awhile and see some civilization.

It has been a rough past week though, as I have had to deal with four deaths. A loss of a family friend, my step dad's father, and two I got called for work. It has been a trying week for my sleep and sanity, but it makes me grateful for everyday. This is the part of my job that is hard, being with families who have just lost a loved one, but it is actually very gratifying to help them through the process. My first call was of a man who committed suicide by shooting himself, and the second one was a possible heart attack of a man in which his wife was trying to give him CPR. These were both very sudden deaths and traumatizing for the now widows. It was also very interesting to listen to what they had to talk about and who their support systems were. My role in helping them is to notify them of the death (if they haven't been already), explain the procedures for things like investigation and autopsy, make phone calls for them or help them with any needs, and to provide emotional support until they are stable enough to continue on their own or for others get there to take my place (relatives, pastor, friends). I have been through this process so much personally that I can truly empathize with them yet not get wrapped up in their grief.

On the positive side, I have been enjoying other things in life. It was my dads birthday yesterday so I was able to talk to him and catch up. Yesterday, I was able to help a friend and her family address wedding invitations and talk about the upcoming extravaganza. Unfortunately, I will not be able to attend as her wedding is the same day I graduate (for which I will be back in Ohio), but I was able to see some stuff in advance like the cake topper and her dress. Awana has been fun as we had a boot camp night a couple weeks ago, where I got to yell at all the kids as they ran through the obstacle course. This weekend is Grand Prix where they make their own cars out of wooden blocks and race them down a track. I have the hard job a keeping all the cars in order to race, but I think I will be able to handle it. On Wednesday, our church also hosted the community event of a children's church from Watoto in Uganda, Africa to perform and share their stories. I bought some CD's and am now a sponsor for 4 different people at their Watoto camp in Africa. I had such a fun time and would love to go there for a missions trip in the future.

Last of all, this next week is my last week of class and then one more 8 week course until graduation. I am so ready to be done and am having a bad case of senioritis. I am hoping this master's degree will be worth it in the end. When I come home in April, I will be able to go to my mom's last chemo treatment, then the next day is a dinner for graduates, then the next day (Saturday) is commencement. I will be able to stay for the whole week after also! Mom is already feeling pretty bad, so I will probably just do dinner at a restaurant for whoever wants to come and not have a big party. Any one will be welcome and gifts are not necessary, but welcome. As always, any prayers for my family to get through the new few days of funerals, and my mom to feel well from her treatments are appreciated. I'm sure I left out many important things, but my mind is still scrambled from being out late last night on a call. At any rate, I hope that you also find peace and happiness in your day to day life, as you never know when you have to say goodbye. Until next time!

Waiting for the Call

So my first day of my new position (I feel like I am saying that way too much!) was January 30th, and it was definitely a move for the better. It is the slow season right now, so I have only dealt with a few incidents lately. I have yet to be called when I have not been in the office, something I am anxious about yet excited also. Getting called out to something means there has been a serious incident that must be dealt with and a family/victim needs assistance now. In the mean time, the current victim's advocate has been training as much as she can, but it's hard unless you are in the crisis. I do get to hear a lot of interesting calls she has had to go on...one being of a guy who got run over by his own steam roller. I mean, WHO DOES THAT?!?! And I am getting signed up for conferences around the state and courses I can take. The best part, being in the meetings with the big wigs of  law enforcement, such as the sheriff and police chiefs, and listening to what they consider a "crisis". One crisis we are dealing with is the women's bathroom in our building, which has been emitting a rather foul smell. I will certainly be happy when that is fixed.

I am now halfway through my second to last class before graduation! Hallelujah...I am so ready to be done with school and officially have a master's degree. Though I am grateful as it is what got me this job. Commencement is the last weekend in April, so I will be coming home for probably a week or two. My mom's last chemo treatment will be that Thursday before, which I will get to accompany her to and celebrate the completion of both of our rounds of stuff we had to do, but didn't really want to. It seems like I was just home, but time is flying by so quickly that it is hard to keep up what day of the week it is.

My lease for my apartment is up the first of June and I am seriously contemplating moving to the town I work, which is 30 minutes away. Though rent tends to be a bit more expensive there, I am more likely to get something better quality and that is a house. I don't want to be attached to people anymore! So that means I will soon be house hunting for a place that is more to my liking. The drive will not be as bad as well, and there is more stuff available, which will be nice in the summer and for when people visit.

Otherwise, I have been keeping busy helping with the kiddos at AWANA (now that I have better hours I can help), doing homework (reading a book every week), trying to stay active in the cold weather, and doing small group stuff. This Wednesday I am hosting bible study at my apartment, though people have to bring some stuff. I don't drink coffee or tea so someone is bringing the pots/mugs, I need a bit more seating for 10 people so camping chairs it is, and someone is bringing a screen to hook to my computer for the video we watch since I don't have a TV. I know your thinking...SHE DOESN'T HAVE A TV!?! WHAT!!!!! I have already been talked to today by our local Internet/phone/cable provider to be pushed into getting something, but I don't want it. At least not yet. I hope to get Internet next month, but it is nice not having the distractions. I feel like my life is finally starting to fall in place of where I am supposed to be and I am truly loving it. I hope that everyone is enjoying this winter and has a great Valentine's Day! I love and appreciate every one of you XOXO

I GOT IT!

Today I met with the current victim's advocate to find out more about the position and decided for sure that I want it. It is still up in the air of when I will start, but hopefully within the next few weeks. I will be doing death notifications, river incidents, assaults, court hearings, protection orders, search and rescue, and lots of free trainings. Also included: county car, cell phone, pay raise, additional week vacation and I am my own boss. This is a job I can run with as far as starting/training for things that interest me. God is so good!

On the other fronts, I'm in my second week of 16 weeks of school left before graduating with my master's degree in April! I am hoping to come out to Ohio the last week of April through first week of May to visit and walk the stage to happily complete my education. It will be a long while before I think about a doctorates degree. I think I need more experiences to know what I would like to specialize in before I tackle that.

My mom is doing much better health wise, despite a set back earlier this week. During a checkup, the doctors finally took my mom seriously and found blood clots because of her port. She stayed at the hospital overnight and now has to take a daily shot of blood thinners in her stomach for awhile to help. Anyone who knows her knows she can't stay away from work, and is already back at it helping those who need it. Only a few more treatments to go and she will be back to full health in no time and hopefully able to come visit me in the summer.

I have off work until Sunday afternoon (unless I start the new position Monday) and will be doing homework and babysitting. Right now I am flying high though and may just treat myself to dinner and enjoy my night. I hope you all reading this have a great weekend and find a blessing in life. I know I am truly blessed today :)

Job #2

I got back from my Christmas vacation Saturday evening, and my first day of work as a dispatcher was that Monday. The drive hasn't been too bad (25-30 min), but it is very pretty in the mornings driving through the mountains as the sun comes up. As I walked in to the building where all of the fun happens, I was trying to mentally prepare what would happen in the chaotic communications center they call dispatch. Instead of chaos, I was greeting with a cake and the sheriff to get sworn in for service (and I got a certificate too). My first two days were to observe everything that went on with some explanations. It is hard to explain everything, but a dispatcher has a radio headset to page all of the different agencies, four computer screens, a non emergency/administrative phone, a 911 phone, and a crimestoppers line. We can also be called to do pat-downs of inmates, prepare warrants and send out BOLO's. It all feels overwhelming at first, but thankfully is starting to all come together now in my third week.

I was able to do ride alongs with the EMS and a fire department. Unfortunately, no calls came in for me to watch so we all just hung out for the day and told fun stories of stuff they have done. Last night I took a CPR class for adults, children and infants so I am certified to do that as well. Always a good thing to know anyway. This week I have begun answering 911 phone calls in addition the the non emergency/administrative lines I began to answer last week. It has not been very busy the past few nights, of which I am happy, but sometimes it is so slow I wonder if everyone is finally getting along.

Perhaps the biggest change to come out of this is that another position with the sheriff's office is opening up: Victim's Advocate. There is only one for the county and they are called to a scene for things like assaults, death and any situation where a victim and/or their family needs assistance. My first day on the job, I learned that this position may be opening up and I thought how interesting it was that I had talked with my mom about how I eventually wanted to work more with families on scene than in dispatch. It eventually got out that I might be interested in it, probably from my trainer. Two days ago, my supervisor called me while at work and told me that I should apply for it if I want it and to call the under sheriff the next day. I did and he told me to call the current victim's advocate, but that they could probably make it happen. I left the VA a message of my interest, and she called me later to set up a meeting for Thursday to learn more. What was more interesting though, is that she said if I want it the position is mine. They won't even post it for other interviews.

I don't know how the transition will work from one position to the other, as I am only in week 3 of 20 for training as a dispatcher. They may want me to start training as a VA now, or wait until a closer date to when the current VA moves. If so, what are my choices for income? I doubt that they will want to keep training me as a dispatcher if they know I am leaving and can start training the next person who was in line behind me for the job. It is just amazing though how it is all working out for something that I want. And the main reason I can get the VA job so easily is because I am already employed for the county and have experience/skills for the job. It will be nice to work days as a VA (except for when I get called out), as I have been working 5p-3a shifts this month. I have also been babysitting some days as well, causing for no sleep until 8am. Just pray that this new possible job is one that I want and the transition is smooth!

Ups and Downs

During all of this job hiring, I did receive sobering news from my mother one night while I was house-sitting. It took a couple of tries to get it out of her, but she has stage one breast cancer. I didn't really know what to think, except that whatever happened, it was going to all be okay. I found out Dec 9th and the plan of attack moved quickly. The day I left for vacation was the day she had her lumpectomy and biopsy of her lymph nodes. Despite the doctors believing they got it all and the biopsies coming back normal, chemotherapy and radiation were going to happen (as I found out midway through my vacation). The day before I left to come back to Colorado, mom had a port put in that threaded from her arm to her heart. She said it was one of the most painful things she has ever had done. Her first treatment was now over a week ago, and while the chemo cocktail takes at least 6 hrs to put in, it is the time after that is the hardest. For 5-6 days, she was in a lot of pain but eventually she did start to feel better and slowly start work. At first, we thought that she would have 11 chemo treatments through September, which makes it feel like this is going to last forever. The docs told her though that she only has five more to do, which at one every 3 weeks means she will be done with chemo around May. Then she will be doing a month of daily radiation at this point. The hair has been cut super short and hats, scarves and wigs have been received.

I am most thankful that my mom does go to get her yearly mammogram, or else this could have ended up much worse. I am also thankful that I was able to spend the holidays with her as she began the whole process of fighting and winning this battle. A mom is someone that most girl's can't live without, and that is true in my case. I would be in an absolute tizzy of the prognosis was bad and I couldn't be there with her (no I would probably move). God has been really helping my family through this as we know He is the one bringing healing and comfort the most. I am so proud of all of the family and friends that have stepped up to help out with transportation, spending time with mom, and buying things she may need. Starting my new job here has not been easy, but it is easier knowing good things are happening at home in Ohio. I have learned to take one day at a time and cherish the time with my mom more than usual, as each day with her is a blessing to me and others. Now all I can say is BEAT THIS THING!

Vacation All I Ever Wanted

I decided that I wanted an easy-going traveling experience, so I thought that a long train ride would do just the trick. I didn’t want to leave my car in Denver for a month, so I got a bus ticket to take me up there. Once I woke up on Tuesday the 19^th, I realized my trip would be anything but easygoing. I looked out the window at 6:45 in the morning and it was white out…snowing like crazy with a couple inches already on the ground. I had a woman from my bible study give me a ride to the local airport where the bus picked me up, and waited, waited, waited and waited. It was an hour late, but I was finally on my way at 9. It was about a 3 hour trip to Denver with the stops along the way, but when I got off the bus, I realized that I needed to get to a different station. The Central Station was closed for repairs and the temporary one was in a different location. The bus driver only pointing in the general direction, which meant I had to walk with all of my luggage to the next place. What should have taken me 15-20 minutes of a walk ended up taking me an hour. I should have taken a different route, but had no idea the right way and ended up getting fenced out by the stadium across the street from the building I needed. I could see it but couldn’t get to it. Not only that, but from going up and down the stairs on both sides of the stadium, I had lost a wheel to my luggage so I was half rolling half dragging the thing around downtown Denver. I was so tired and sore I wanted to sit down and cry, but I pushed forward. I was so happy to finally get to the Amtrak station I was laughing at my whole ordeal.

The rest of my trip went better, as I had a good seat partner for the long ride to Chicago. She was a teacher and Christian a few years older than me and we got along well. Once we got to Chicago, we both had a long enough lay-over to grab dinner and watch each other’s luggage. That trip was about 18hrs, so we had a long time to sit and chat. My layover was about 6hrs, so I just hung out by the terminal and read. Finally at 9:30pm, the last train to leave, I boarded for Cleveland. I arrived the same time my dad did, a little after 5am. And it was good to be home. Since he was picking me up after working and I had barely gotten any sleep that night, we both crashed when we got to his house. I was sure glad to be done traveling though.

After my nap, since my dad had to work that afternoon (Thursday), I decided to pay my mom a trip and go to my old church, which was luckily having a Christmas worship service that night. It was good to get in a couple hours with mom and seeing old friends, many of whom didn’t know I would be there that night. The rest of the week and the next I spent at my dad’s and New Year’s week I spent at my mom’s (with some visits a few days Christmas week also). Christmas was thankfully not as chaotic as last year (when I was at 5 different houses that day), and I got to visit with family. Christmas eve I had dinner at my stepsister Jeniffer’s house, where a huge dog slobbered all over me…Beethoven anyone? I had my first try of pizza chicken and realized that I was definitely going to gain weight eating during the holidays. Christmas morning I opened presents at my dad’s, the stocking always being my favorite. Then I headed to my Aunt Christie’s to see my mom’s side and celebrate my sister and cousin’s birthdays which were both on the 21^st. My sister is now officially no longer a teenager! Then I went to my mom’s for a few hours to hang before heading back to my dad’s. That next Wednesday I also went to Mt. Gilead to see and meet extended family on my mom’s side. Again, it was great to see everyone and eat all of the awesome home cooking and desserts. New Year’s Eve was my mom and stepdad’s anniversary so I stayed at my dad’s to watch the ball drop and eat the traditional potato/pork/sauerkraut meal at midnight.

I did shopping at my dad’s and mom’s for new clothes for work, made monster cookies with my grandpa, ate way too many milkshakes from steak and shake with my step mom Kim, started painting my mom’s kitchen, sold back school books for extra shopping money, built a snowman and hiked with my friend Cortney, visited my old work/got prescription filled, went to lunch with family friends Teri and Dorian (which our wiper blade flew off while it was snowing and I laughed hysterically. Luckily, a man saw my mom and I reading the instructions on how to replace it and changed it for us), had a lunch date with my old roomie Nina and a lunch date with even longer time friend Jamie, watched lots of movies, went to the dentist and back again the next day to get a cavity filled and never did get to start my book. I guess I was too ambitious to think I could do that, as I barely had enough time to get done what I wanted to get done. But overall, it was a wonderful vacation that could have lasted another 2 weeks. Alas, Friday morning at 1am I was on my way back to Cleveland for the train to Colorado. Both trains back were quiet and uneventful, and this time I took a taxi to the station (which had changed from Union to the Greyhound). I had a couple hours in Denver until the bus came, so I walked around the 16^th St. mall (similar to an outlet) and had breakfast at Starbucks. I bought t-shirt that says “Got Oxygen?” for Denver’s high altitude, though where I live is a couple thousand feet higher. It was 5pm when I got back in town, and the same woman, Sue, picked me up and graciously brought my some groceries as well, knowing I probably had to go to the store. I love small town friendliness! I am more than likely coming back in April when I graduate for at least a week, but this time I will flying instead. Thank you to everyone who made my vacation awesome and thanks to all 4 of my parents that fed and housed me during my stay. I love you all!

Job #1

So my customer service job was only for about 3 ½ weeks, but everyone there was really friendly and helped me out. There was a lot of computer and phone work, but I tried to learn everything and help as best as I could. By the second week, they were wishing they could hire me on permanently, but since the sales go down after Christmas and I had another job offer, it was only until mid to late December. I tried not to get too attached to anyone knowing I would have to leave, but each day I had a good laugh. The company sold outdoor gear and clothing apparel, so once I was about to leave, I looked through the warehouse at the winter boots and got a nice, thick pair for when I came to Ohio snow. With the awesome employee discount, I got the boots for $75 when they originally cost about $150. I normally don’t spend that kind of money on stuff, but these are very high quality and will last me a couple years for sure. All in all, I had the normal customer service experience with people who were very nice, those who I couldn’t understand their English accent, and those who blamed me for ruining their vacation/holiday. I shrugged most of it off, because I really didn’t have the kind of power they thought I did. By my last though, I was ready to leave for home despite all of the money I had made.