Oh Ya....I have a blog.

How could I forget about something that was a daily experience once upon a time. Things do have a way of changing and rearranging what we do on a daily basis don't they.

Never have I been more aware of how quickly things can change than I have been lately. I find myself thinking about this alot actually. Like, how can I commit to doing something or being somewhere 6 months or 3 months or even 3 weeks from now because really, I have no way of knowing what change could be just around the corner.

I keep meaning to update all the little and not so little changes that have happened but who am I kidding - I'll never get around to telling the whole story. I barely remember it.

I think last August was the last BIG change-maker or at least what happened in August started the ball rolling. It could stop rolling anytime. I'm tired of chasing it.

About mid august I got sick. I'd had a cold/fever/flu and a few days later I noticed my face was swelling. There was an infection inside my right cheek and it just wouldn't go away. After a few days of trips to the ER for IV antibiotics it was actually getting worse and I ended up with the most disgusting and painful abcess on my face and after a CT scan I ended up in surgery to have it removed (and after years of recurring sinus infections, I have not had one since....even though the docs swear it was not from my sinuses) Anyway, after surgery, I was off work for about a month while the hole in my face healed and boy did I enjoy that time off. It really made me wish I didn't have to go back to work and I started thinking about what I wanted to 'do'.....you know, like what do I want to be when I grow up kind of stuff.

I'd had an idea in my mind about just this sort of question for about a year but it meant going back to school and at the time, with taking care of mom and with just trying to get my world put all back together after loosing the business it was something that I didn't think was possible.

BUT....with that time off post-surgery, I started again to explore this idea and then I was reading the newspaper one afternoon and came across an ad for a community college program offering training in exactly what I wanted to be when I grew up.

I said to myself "self. you need to go there" and even though there were roadblocks along the way, I didn't get scared and bail. I jumped in with both feet and in mid October I started school.

Now THAT was a huge change and did it ever add to the chaos and confusion of our lives but it has been worth it, at least for the most part - there are some issues with school itself that make me question my decision of taking the course where I did but if I'd waited for an opportunity at another location I don't know that I would have actually done it.

So I am in the final stages of becoming a Medical Laboratory Assistant and I'm hoping in the very near future to be working in a lab as a phlebotomist.

And back in January, I jumped in with both feet again and said 'why not' when the opportunity to go north to Thompson for 4 weeks of clinical practicum was offered to me. There is also a good chance that once I am done school in the next 6 weeks that I will be heading back to Thompson for a 6 month term position - I would only commit to 6 months because if I've learned anything the last couple years it's that you never know what's around the corner.

In the mean time, I'm still working part time (very part time) and preparing to write the certification exam in mid June and after a month away from home I've adjusted to living with all these people again....boy was it nice living alone for 4 weeks.

There have also been a few very recent changes to our world but that's another chapter in the ever changing life of chaos and confusion and it's best covered in it's own post, for now I think I'll end this post and go finish up my homework.

Hugs to you all!

~K

Happy New-ish Year

Here we are, 10 days into the New Year and I'm just getting around to stopping by to ramble.

But hey. Nobody's really been stopping by to listen to me talk to myself lately anyway. Can't say that I blame ya. Words were few and far between in 2010.

How about a resolution that I ramble a little more often and you grab a coffee (Timmies xl triple/triple for me and whatever your pleasure is for you) and stop by once in a while. Sounds good huh. Thought you might agree.

I was just relaxing here at home tonight, making supper which - shocking as it might sound - is ready as soon as the rest of the family gets home from the arena and does not involve cereal or tv dinners. I actually cooked. And while waiting for my damn rice to barely cook in my not-awesome microwave that I can't figure out how to use properly I've been checking out the list of blogs I follow. The last couple months I've been going through one at a time and reading their archives to see what I missed last year. I missed alot from my own life nevermind what other people were doing.

We survived the holidays and the return to reality when school started back up last week. Everyone else adjusted better than I did. I was exhausted. I'd become quite happy with sleeping in and chillin at home thank you very much. Getting up early for the commute to school kicked my butt and I spent most of the weekend trying to catch up on some sleep. Still feel like I could use another 12hour nap to fully function but that won't happen anytime soon so I take what I can get.

I guess a smart(er) person would have taken advantage of a rare bit of quiet in the house and had a nap but I never said I was smart. The house is even more noisy lately with the addition of a puppy who's made it his personal mission to bark till my eardrums burst. What's he barking at? Who knows. Mostly our old dog who just won't play no matter how in-his-face Pup gets and usually at me when I've repeatedly confiscated whatever interesting treasure he's scrounged from around the house to chew on. It's awesome having a "toddler" in the house having temper tantrums again - not. Right now he's having a nap which I will probably regret later because a napping puppy only means one thing.....he's recharging his batteries so he can go all crazy and tear around the house like he's possessed, nipping and terrorizing everything in his path. Of course I'll probably also regret letting Owen fall asleep on the couch too but his rollercoaster fever is back for another loop through the amuseement park. Every 36 hours he seems to spike back up and not feel good. Wonder if him and I can both call in sick to school tomorrow? That would be cool. A chillin on the couch day.

So that's mostly what I'm up to at this moment in time. Think I'll read a few more blog pages and then go read a text book or work on some math questions or something. Reading blogs sounds like way more fun though.

I'll pop back in soon.

K

Might Just Be on a Roll Here

with a second blog post in one month.

I know it's not some great big accomplishment to most but for me.....it's huge.

This blog post is even being brought to life on my ever-so-slow desktop while I sit in my very own kitchen. It's been a long wait but finally we are back online at home. I'd forgotten how annoying it is to hear kids bicker over who's turn it is on the computer - but it's worth it (most of the time) and I'm giving them a bit of leeway with 'free' time online but they'd better appreciate it now because they are going to have to start earning time soon enough. My plan is to feed their addiction into a frenzie and then, when I have them where I want them, I'll make 'em work for their fix. It may be the only way to get my house to not be the perfect candidate for one of those hoarding shows.

My plan does have a flaw or two though. The girls should be easy targets - they are both facebook junkies, so trading net time with them will be a piece of cake. The boys might take a little more work and I think I'll need to set up the 'new' computer and get it going so I can get the much coveted itunes up and running (our old computer just can't handle that kind of abuse). I'm avoiding this though. While I pride myself in being technically capable on most fronts, itunes and the kids ipods have proven to be my nemisis.

Getting the new computer going might be a good idea for more than just the itunes factor. I'm hoping that since it's faster and less overloaded (for lack of a better description) than our old one, it might just provide a less frusterating dial-up experience for everyone. Of course, I'm one of those hoping for improved internet use and if not, my laptop and I might just have to do a little more traveling into town for stuff like this because this dial-up stuff is brutal.

I really am out of practice with this and these first few posts will probably be quite dull. (are you bored yet?) I used to actually make little notes during the day when I thought of interesting things to write about or the kids did something totally bizzare that were worth sharing (or venting about). I'll have to start doing that again. Acutally, now that I think about it, for a short time after we lost our phone line I still wrote stuff and just filed in a folder on my computer because it helped me to just write about things but that didn't last long.

Have I mentioned how much I've missed this? How much I've miss you. You - ya, the 2 or 3 of you that actually used to stop by and read my rambling posts about the chaos and confusion that is my world. I just had a good idea for my next post - How my life wasn't full of enough chaos and confusion that I thought it would be a dandy idea to add to it and do something totally crazy like, oh i don't know, Go Back To School! Speaking of school. I have to get up early tomorrow for school so I think I should get to bed. I've missed the last 2 days because I wasn't feeling well - snort - well? that doesn't even begin to describe what I was and wasn't feeling - but that's another post all on it's own. The ongoing medical mischief I've been upto has it's own plot and characters. A story for yet another day.

G'night!
Hugs to you all

~K

I quit - NOT

There are a bunch of us who planned to quit smoking on the 1st of April.

I wonder how everyone else is doing because I totally quit quitting before I even started.

What was I thinking? Quitting smoking the week the kids are on spring break. That's got to be the stupid idea ever thought of.

Seriously didn't think that one through AT ALL.

For everyone's safety I decided I wasn't even going to make the attempt until they went back to school next week. I'm fairly certain at least 1 if not more of them wouldn't make it out of here alive.

I'd love to pay $200 and go through a laser treatment / detox program. A friend of mine did it 8 weeks ago and said it was a great way to do it and worth every penny. Unfortunately I will be once again trying the patch. I've had a box for a couple weeks already and I was planning on April 1st as my quit day but they will sit in the cupboard for a few more days and on Monday morning I will slap on a patch and I will quit! I will do it!

The last time I tried this, I went about 6 days before I lost my mind couldn't take it anymore. My hubby did way better than I did and he hasn't smoked since the 3rd of October '07. I'm so jealous. I want to quit so bad and yet part of me is hanging onto this one thing in my life that keeps me sane in all this insanity.

But it's time.

And I WILL DO IT THIS TIME!

I will.

I have to.

I can.

But I'm scared!



~K

Why you should google things before you commit

Some thought and planning while trying to come up with a name for my 'other blog', my scrapbooking one devoted to the occasional bursts of creativity and my scrapbooking/stamping biz, would have gone a long way.

Seems I overlooked the function of google (or other platforms) searches and didn't really test out different versions of the blog's name prior to it's creation.

I have a stat tracker on the blog so I can see who's stalking me reading my blog (hi sis...and you there sitting at your desk at work) and I can see what searches lead people to my blog.

Well it seems my scrap blog's name has a slight similarity to another site and half the people who end up there are looking for P*rn. Bet they are disapointed when they don't get what they are looking for huh. It will take a bit of work but I'm thinking I may relaunch the blog under another name and transfer the archives over. Really, I'd much rather not be attracting that kind of attention to myself .......plus it's a little disapointing to log into my stats and see I have 16 new visitors and then realize that only 3 of them were actually there to see me.


I'm thinking I could rename this one to Chaos & Confusion and I'll make the other one An Occasional Burst of Creativity.......and I have NO IDEA why I didn't think of THAT little bit of brilliance to begin with. Probably because my bursts of creativity are only occasional in nature.


Well, I'm off to enjoy the entire day of having the house to myself. Kids at school. The Mr. working dayshift. I'm on my own till 4pm and LOVE IT!!!! Mucho neglected house lately so I'm actually looking forward to cleaning it.



I'd say I'm in a Spring Cleaning mood but take a look out my front door this morning........does THIS look like spring to you?





The rain has turned to snow and we are supposed to get lots of it.


Do you think I should bundle up and go get that shovel? We might need it.