Thinking I need glasses??

My eyes are just so tired. Also, every day I'm getting this headache. Yesterday was the worst. I don't know if it's because I'm at the computer screen all day, or the fact that I'm trying to read more books instead of watch TV, but I want these headaches gone.

Last night I had a big headache and so I took 2 Advil PMs. About an hour later they kicked in and I was so out of it, it was funny. I picked up the phone to call a friend, dialed her number and immediately laid the phone down on the counter. Good thing I didn't leave it sitting there too long, and she wasn't home anyways. I just think that was funny.

Anyways, I think I'll give my poor eyeballs a rest from the screen and go.....read a book? Yeah?

Jen

Pictures? Hopefully...

Me from a little while ago. I don't have many pictures of myself...I also wear my hair curly or straight. This one is straight, but with the summer heat and humidity, I've been going curly. I'll post a picture of that (maybe)...


This one is of Jada the night she graduated from Kindergarten..the other person was her teacher!

Here is a VERY messy Jodie after she had just made a mess in the kitchen. Yes, she got a bath later...


Here is Jake and Jada on Easter (yes, it's late I know). Please pardon the mess, it was Sunday morning and we were running late..

This is Jaylin and Jodie on Easter. I have better pictures, but they are on my phone and I can't get them right now.. again, this is the play room/living room/office in the background. We are working on a much nicer (no paneling) adult livingroom downstairs.


I took this at the zoo a couple months ago. It still scares me to look at it. I really think he wanted to get to me...

I din't know what to write about..

I'm trying to get ahead on my bills by working some overtime these next couple weeks. I have suspended going to the gym until I know for sure that I can afford the gas. I wish they had a Gold's Gym here in Columbiana but instead I have to drive about 40 minutes each way to get there. I guess I could go to a different gym, but it's so convenient because my gym has child care. I can't wait to get started in the classes again though. I think my favorite is the Body Flow class. Second is the Body Pump (although that really kicks my butt!). Least favorite is the RPM (bicycle) class because it seriously takes so much out of me. I have tried the Body Step class twice now and I have come to the conclusion that those ladies are CRAZY! Maybe I'll try it again, but I don't have that much rhythm and I end up laughing at myself as the steps get more complex. Then I'm laughing and they are getting more and more crazy and I just can't do it!

So, Jason was thinking about joining the Marine Reserves. I'm not sure if he's actually going to try but he was seriously talking about it last week. I have mixed emotions about it. One thing- it would be really good for him I think. Really, the only negative thing is the possibility that he would have to go to Iraq. I can't imagine my life for 1 year on my own with the kids. Crazy!! Anyways, there are so many benefits other than that so I guess we'll see if he's serious.

So in the background I hear Diego singing "masa bajo, to the bottom of the sea." It's sad, I don't know many of the newest songs out there but I can quote any song word for word if it's from Nick or Disney....oh the life of the mother :)

Jen

A case of mistaken identity

Ever think you know someone and then take a closer look and realize that person is NOT who you thought they were? Like in the store- There have been many times I see a friend and my face will brighten up and I'll wave like a mad woman and be like "Hey! Hi! How are you?," and then realize that it wasn't them. Then I have to pretend that, no, I wasn't waving at you, I was waving at the person who was behind you. The person that isn't there anymore. I never get too embarassed at stuff like that. Except one time....

My family used to own a convienent store in Arkansas, this was when I was 10 or 11. We actually lived on top of the store, it had been turned into an apartment. Well, we had made friends with this one family that we went to church with. The man was this guy with a really big gut. I mean, he looked almost 9 months pregnant. What I would do when I saw him was bounce off his stomach. (It really was bouncy and wouldn't hurt him at all) I would throw my body into his stomach and promptly bounce back in the opposite direction. Fun :) (I know, I was/still am a dork).

One day I was walking out of the store and there he was at the gas pumps getting some gas. I waved and went over to say hi. When I got to him I did my usual greeting of "bouncing" off of his big belly. I looked up at him to talk and then realized that this guy was NOT the family friend of ours. Instead, he was just some random stranger. So, I continued walking and crossed the street (it was out in the country) and stayed until the man had left.

I wonder what he thought of me. I bet he was really scratching his head over the strange girl who came over and plunged her body onto his stomach, bounced back, and then walked across the street....

Yeah- sounds like something I would do..

Anyone else do this?

I'm not ashamed to admit it. When I'm sitting around and working or watching TV or whatever, and I have a runny nose, I will get a tissue and stick it up my nose in such a way that it stays there. That way I don't have to continuously wipe my nose all the time when it's running. It seems logical to me. Jason gives me many strange looks to the point where I eventually take it out of my nose...... Some people just don't understand. :)

Jen

Medical Transcription- My Job

I work from home and that always gets people asking me various questions about what I do. I am a medical transcriptionist. Here's the deal.....if you get sick and go to the doctor, hospital, have a procedure done, get an operation, anything having to deal with seeing a medical professional, there has to be a specific record kept of each encounter. A doctor might do this himself, but not usually. What usually happens, is a doctor will make a dictation- or a voice file- that goes into detail about the patient encounter. This is where I come in. I have access to these dictations through the wonderful Internet, and of course, my employer. I put on my super-cool head set, log onto the internet and my special work program, and begin to transcribe- or type- what the doctor says.

Sounds easy? Think again. It takes skill to be a medical transcriptionist (MT). We have to be able to spell and recognize medical terminology, laboratory values, and medications. Sometimes a doctor will misspeak and dictate a wrong word, or lab value or medication and we have to be able to catch that and flag it. It's hard! We have to keep a 99% accuracy, and if we don't, then it's trouble. If we want to make any money doing it, we also have to be not slow at it too. Honestly, it's not what I want to do for the rest of my life. There are many pros and cons to my job, and I would like to list those.

Pros:
- I get to work from home! I don't have to use expensive gas to get to work, I just walk down the hall.
- I don't have to pay childcare. That gets expensive, especially when you have 4 kids like I do.
- The pay isn't bad, as long as you know what you are doing and are "not slow" at it.
- I have control over what my schedule is.
- It's easy to take off when I need to.
- I don't have to deal with office politics.
- If I want to go out of town, all I have to do is bring my laptop and I can take my work with me.

Cons:
- Sometimes being at home with 4 kids day in and day out starts to get to me. I need some ADULT time!
- It can get boring.
- I always have my work (computer) staring me in the face. It's always there, I can't leave it behind at the office.
- I get paid on production, so if I have an off week then that means my paycheck will be lower.
- More and more MT jobs are being ousurced to India.
- People who say "Hey, I can be an MT because I know how to type." That isn't true at all. Just because I know how to give my child Tylenol doesn't mean I can go to the hospital and be a nurse. It's a professional job just like any other.

So there it is. My list of pros and cons. I'm slowly going back to school though. :) Until then though, MT is what I'm doing. Some days are better than others!

Jen

The GHOST of our livingroom.

This happened a couple months ago but I just remembered it now.

My sister-in-law and I were in the kitchen talking and all of a sudden Jodie comes in scared to DEATH. I mean, she is crying and wants out of the livingroom. She is screaming "No! No! Go away!" At this point we look into the living room and no one is there. What in the world? We ask her what she is scared of and she points to near the couch, but again, there is nothing/no one there. So we look at each other and both of us are getting a little spooked. We go in there and she starts crying again and we are trying to figure out what she's afraid of.

Of course we are like "Is it here now?" By now we are both getting a little scared of what in the world was scaring Jodie. On the floor is her magna-doodle. It's a fancy one my mom got her, it has a button that you push and Dora talks to you while you draw. Soooo, it turns out that the batteries were almost out and made Dora's voice drag and just make crazy freaky noises. So, the "ghost" was Dora. I can really see how it scared her though, if I were little it would have really freaked me out too!

What makes me laugh is how my sister-in-law and I were almost ghost hunting that night trying to find it!!!

I miss her, she's living in CA again...:)

Jen

Bad blogger!

I know I'm a bad blogger. It's so hard especially in the summer time. So, I was reading back through my prior postings and noticed some spelling mistakes. I hate it when I catch them a couple months too late! Even more, is HOW I am misspelling them. I will write patients instead of patience. Which, is understandable for me because I do medical transcription so everything gets turned medical whenever possible :)

So what's going on in my life?
- I quit that second job. It really became too much for me to take and some things happened that just put a bad taste in my mouth.
- I got a raise with my other job! Always a good thing. I will never turn down a raise.
- School starts in less than 4 weeks. I guess I should fill out the forms that I should have had filled out already. I am quite the procrastinator.
- At any given moment I have about 15 loads of laundry waiting for me and I can never seem to catch up. I'm always secretly jealous of someone who braggs of just finishing their laundry. No need to rub it in my face! ;) Speaking of which, I think I need to go switch a load.

Okay, I guess I need to get off this site and start to work. I'm trying to go FT and need to get my 40 hours in for the week (which really shouldn't be that hard this week, I'm actually AHEAD- go me!).

I'll try to post sooner next time....