Our Life & Times

Updates:

The pastor nominating committee at our church interviewed a pastor "hopeful" that came all the way from Kentucky last week just for the interview. He is an Army chaplain right now at Fort Campbell, KY and is getting out of the Army and is looking for a permanent ministry. He and his wife are a younger couple with 2 small children and one on the way. His wife is also a nurse. It would be nice to have a younger man leading our church, but as to whether or not he is the right fit for us, only God knows.

My immediate supervisor at the doctor's office announced yesterday that he has accepted an office manager position at the Urgent Care clinic and will be leaving the middle of next week. That means I will have a new immediate supervisor (don't know who yet), but I hope it will be Cathy. The funny thing is I used to be Cathy's supervisor when we worked together in Longmont and now she could be mine. How the tables have turned!

Brian's company passed out bonuses yesterday. He was pleased with the outcome. We also are pleased with the outcome of our tax returns this year. Many Happy Returns to You, as well!!!

Last, but not least, Konnor had a pretty good week at school. I received a phone call from him (I think it was Monday or Tuesday) that he had gotten soaked during recess from head to toe and needed some dry clothes. Of course, he left this call on our answering machine at home. It was 3 hours later when I finally heard the message. I called the school and they said one of the volunteers had gone home and gotten Konnor some of her son's clothes to wear. Boys! No matter what you do, you can't keep them clean!

I am starting to get used to working again. I have learned alot over the last couple of weeks, but there is still alot to learn. We bought me a new car on Saturday. It is a 2007 Nissan Altima. The color is called "Pebble Beach" and I have charcoal gray leather interior with heated seats. It is lots of fun to drive, too! Anyway, American Idol season is upon us and I have been watching it every night that it is on, and it is about ready for it to start, so I am going to go watch it. Nothing much else happening here...

First, I want to say WELCOME to my good friend Vicki, who has recently joined the wide world of blogging. Stop by and say hello!

Today is a bittersweet day for Brian. A couple of years ago for his birthday I bought him a remote control airplane and he has been hooked ever since, but the sod field where he would usually fly is being sold now and there is nowhere for Brian to fly his planes unless he joins a club, which he does not want to do. So, today Brian is taking his beloved airplanes to the hobby shop to put on consignment. I feel sorry for him. He has always wanted to become a pilot. He even went to ground school to get his private pilot's license, but he would have had to have so many flying hours and at the time it was like $60 an hour to fly, but I am sure it costs more than that now. So, he was content with his remote control planes, but now he can't even do that. He was even teaching Konnor how to fly the planes. It was something the two of them could do together. So, anyway, the new job at the doctor's office is going well. We stay busy all day. The week just flys right by. Konnor was out of school Friday and is also out on Monday. He is becoming a Playstation 2 junkie. I don't want him to spend so much time playing video games, but when he his home alone and he isn't allowed to go anywhere, what is he supposed to do? I guess it is better than the alternative, if you know what I mean...

Brian and I are heading out to have breakfast together and do some grocery shopping, and then we are going to all go to the Boat and RV show. Have a great weekend!

This is a special tribute to my big sister, Sharon. She lives in PA. Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures of her to post. I have several memories of our childhood, mostly when I was little and my dad would take us roller skating every Saturday. Sharon was always the "pretty one" that made good grades and did everything she was ever told without question. I was not.

During my summer vacations to PA, after I moved to SC with our mom, I would spend most of my time with Sharon. We would go swimming in Black Bear pond, and we would go to church at her grandpa's church where he was the minister. (If you haven't picked up on it yet, we are actually half sisters, but that never mattered to me.)

Sharon has two sons, Justin and Gunner, who I would do anything for. Justin is a Marine Reservist getting ready to serve a second tour in Iraq, and Gunner is in the 10th grade and he is involved in the FFA.

I miss my sister very much. We don't see each other very often (I think it is going on 2 years now), and it hurts me that our relationship has suffered because of the miles between us. My friend, Jenny, does almost everything with her sister Amy, and they talk on the phone almost everyday. I envy their relationship. I read Lori's blog about hanging out with her sisters, and it makes me wish my sister and I were closer.

If I could sum up Sharon in one word I would say she is a "survivor." I won't say why, except that she has gone through so much in her life and has always come out from it all ok. Thank God!

I love you, Sharon! I hope that we will get to see each other soon and spend some quality "sister" time together!

I hate to see my son disappointed. I know it is a fact of life, but it breaks my heart when his heart is broken. Today Konnor and his friend Weston were going to go play paintball with Brian and some other guys from our church. They had been planning it for 2 weeks. An hour before they were supposed to go, Weston called and told Konnor his dad wouldn't let him go now because he didn't want us to pay for it. Well, I believe if we let Konnor invite a friend of course we plan to pay.

Anyway, I got on the phone and asked Weston if I could talk to his dad and he said his dad would be mad, so I didn't talk to him. I then asked Brian if he would call back and talk to Weston's dad man-to-man to explain that everything is taken care of and not to worry, but when Weston answered the phone and told his dad that Konnor's dad wanted to talk to him he wouldn't answer the phone, instead he just told Weston to tell him he couldn't go. Konnor was so sad, and I am sure Weston was too.

Weston is such a good kid too, and one of the only boys I really like Konnor to play with. It is Konnor's best friend. I don't understand why some parents have to be so bull-headed to do these things to their kids. And it really made Brian and I mad when he wouldn't atleast talk to one of us. What kind of parent wouldn't atleast answer the phone when another parent calls? Anyway, Brian and Konnor still went to play paintball with our friend Terin and his oldest son Tyler and the other guys from church. I am sure they are having a great time, but I do feel sorry for Weston, and I hope his dad didn't take it out on him because we called.

Brian, Konnor, Mom, Dad, Grandma, Sharon, Howard, Justin, Gunner, Betsy, Jack, Linda, Pat, Randy, Teri, Rick, Rheannon, Joshua, Shelley, Scott, Tyler, Dustin, Kashley, Jenny, Terin, Tyler, Dillon, Victoria, JD, McKenzie, Preston, Vicki, Tom, Kjersten, Lorien, Grandma and Grandpa Snider, Grandma and Grandpa Adler, Michelle, Shane, Wyatt, Whitley, Lori, Angie, and Sandy.

Hugs to You All (Happy Birthday, Uncle Jack!) Have a Blessed Day with your loved ones and friends.

Just a quick update. I was able to go back to work on Wednesday so I have been busy with getting used to working full time again all week. Konnor has been good getting himself to school and back and Brian has been wonderful with getting Konnor to his Orthodontist appts, starting dinner and even doing the dishes and putting away the laundry! My mom said I must have trained them right! Ha Ha! There is not much else to report except that Brian, Konnor and one of Konnor's friends is going with a group of guys from our church on Sunday to play paintball. I am a little worried that they will get hurt, but I guess I have to face reality that they are men (boys) and boys will be boys!

Yesterday was my first day working for the doctors' office. It had its good and bad moments. First of all, I will start by saying that everyone was very nice and helpful. I was assigned to train for my first day in the medical records department. There was a lot to learn, but by the end of the day I was feeling pretty confident, and the ladies that work down there told me several times that they thought I did a great job and really caught on quick. That made me feel good. It also so happens that Konnor plays sports with one of the ladies grandsons, and so we had that in common. I brought my lunch, but didn't need to eat it since our lunch was catered in yesterday from Boston Market. We had roasted chicken, corn, mashed potatoes and gravy, salad, cornbread, and monster chocoloate chip cookies. Mmmm! I guess that is one of the perks of working in a doctors' office, because the drug reps cater lunch for us at least once a week.

And then the bad moments...

As I was walking out to my car during lunch I had to walk down a little hill covered in snow and ice (in dress shoes) to get to my car parked across the street. I tried to walk carefully, but the ice got the best of me and I landed right on my butt!!! I thought no one was there until I see my boss running from his car to see if I was ok. Then I think I was more embarrassed than anything else. (Although I will tell you that I am feeling the effects of the fall today.) Also, I was called in to the office right before I left during lunch so that they could tell me that my background check hasn't come back yet so they didn't think they would be allowed to keep me working until my background check came back all clear. BUT, they told me that they thought it would be ok to keep me there the rest of the day and then they would hope to find something out before I went home.

Well, as I was leaving to go home one of my bosses told me to go ahead and come back today, unless they called me at home. Well, don't you know as soon as I got home and changed my clothes the phone rang and they told me that I would have to wait to come back until the background check was approved. So, here I am at home again. I know they feel bad that I have gone through so much trouble for this job, first being turned down for the job, then I got the job, and then I had to have lots of shots and blood tests, and now I worked an entire day and then they told me I couldn't come back until my background check is approved. It has been quite an adventure! I wish they would feel bad enough to decide to pay more a little more than we originally agreed upon. That would make me happy! At least now they can see that I am a good worker and learn quickly. BUT that is probably not going to happen. Oh well.

Things I am thankful for today....

The Sun is Shining. (Maybe it will warm things up and melt some snow and ice around here.)

Konnor and I are feeling a little better today. (Not 100%, but it is a start.)

Brian is at a CPR class. (You never know when you might need to know CPR.)

Paul McCartney is not the Super Bowl Half-Time Show Again (no offense, but I would rather watch Prince than Paul!)

Have a wonderful and safe weekend! Happy Super Bowl Sunday! I am not a Colts or Bears fan, so may the BEST team win!!

Poor Konnor was up all night with fever and I took him into the Dr. this morning (of course, he stayed home from school) and he has strep throat. So now everyone in our house is on some type of antibiotics. I feel worse today then I did yesterday and I had to go have some shots on top of it so I could start working on Monday. Konnor was feeling miserable this morning, but it is funny how fast kids recover. He had one dose of his antibiotics and some Tylenol with his lunch and he already feels 100% better than he did this morning. We were supposed to go to Jenny and Terin's house Sunday for the Super Bowl, but I talked to her this morning and her son stayed hom from school sick today too, so we decided it would be best if we called the party off on Sunday. That's ok with me, I will be happy just watching it from my bedroom TV while I am in my pajamas all warm underneath the blankets! I heard that the groundhog didn't see his shadow today and so spring should come earlier. That would be WONDERFUL!

I feel yucky! I mentioned yesterday that Konnor and I have been feeling cruddy this week, and today it got me good! I called the doctor and they put me on antibiotics (ALOT OF THEM) for a sinus infection. Konnor came home from school today with a really sore throat and his nose is plugged. I gave him some Ibuprofen and slathered on the Vicks Vapor rub. I called the doctor and got him an appointment for tomorrow morning. It will be my last chance to take him to the doctor since I start working full time Monday, then it will be up to Brian for awhile to get Konnor to all his appointments. Konnor has to go to the orthodontist once or sometimes twice a month and they alternate morning and afternoon appointments to make it fair. I am just having a hard time letting go of the control. You know moms always want to be the parent in control of everything. Anyway, I am sure everything will work out. I have to have faith, right?