No, these four items have no correlation to each other but
wanted to touch on all…
Since the Christmas Holiday, Texas has experienced bi-polar
weather along with the rest of the world.
We had 2 days where we were supposed to experience very cold temperatures
(20's which IS cold for TX) with freezing rain and/or snow. The school districts decided on both occasions
that school should be closed. My office
even closed which was great. The funny
part is that on both occasions although it was cold, we barely got any freezing
rain/snow – depending on the side of town you live in or the neighborhood, you
may not have had any at all. The kids
enjoyed their snow days drinking hot cocoa and watching movies but now they are
suffering because they have to make up their days on holidays (Presidents Day
and Memorial Day).
Concussions
During our last volleyball game in College Station last
weekend, Kiarra dove for a ball and somehow hit her head on the gym floor
(again). She immediately had a horrible
headache and was a little distraught. We saw the trainers at the school and her
blood pressure was high but her pupils were dilating properly, no blood in the
ears, and she was aware of her surroundings so they let us leave with her. Pretty sure the bp was elevated due to
playing all day, then crying from pain she was feeling in her head. She slept the entire way home. When she got up Monday morning her headache
was worse than Sunday evening so I decided to call the doctor who made room in
their schedule to see her. Again, her
pupils were fine and there was no evidence of blood in the ears but the doctor
thought something wasn’t right. She said
“I’ve known this child for 12 years and something just doesn’t seem right”. She
ordered a STAT CT Scan so we went straight to imaging for that. The radiologist read the scan and said it
looked fine and we were free to leave. I
took her home to rest and went to work because I thought we were in the clear…
WRONG! Within an hour, the doctor called
and said we needed to go see a Neurologist… WHAT… a Neurologist? They couldn’t get her in until Wednesday so we
wait… She went to school on Tuesday but she said it was brutal. Her headache had not gone down at all, if
anything it was getting worse by the day.
She could barely speak more than a whisper because it was hurting so bad. I took her to the Neurologist who spent over
an hour with us going through different things and come to find out, because
she wasn’t treated properly for the first concussion she had last fall, she is
now suffering twice the amount because some things were not dealt with at the
time. Actually, she didn’t even see a
doctor last fall because we were advised not to take her to one… I’m not going
to get into those details because I’ll never finish this post but let me just say
how upset I am for not following my motherly instinct and taking her to the ER
but listening to those damn trainers instead.
She should of sat out for a minimum of 2 weeks yet they had her back on
the court in 3 days… NOT COOL! Anyway,
the neurologist said she definitely has another concussion and should not doing
anything strenuous for a few weeks. Her
balance is way off (more than normal because if you know my child you know she’s
a little clumsy) and speech (at the time of the appt last week) was slow and
she still has this horrible headache. We
have a follow-up tomorrow for testing.
New Jobs…
After much thought, prayers and consideration, Jeff finally
took another role within AT&T. He’d
been looking into other roles for a while now but after a few let-downs, he
re-evaluated what it is he really wanted to do and this one came along. He’s worked very hard these past few years and
has grown his team into a performing group.
It wasn’t an easy decision to leave them, he hated it – hated saying
good-bye to them but this opportunity was something he’d really been looking
forward to. He worked out of town a lot
last year, mostly in Austin and we even considered an opportunity there. I was
looking at Condo’s and was ready to pick up and go. Thankfully this role came
along and he gratefully accepted. He’s
now an Equipment Design Engineer and his first day was today! I’m sure he’ll be excited to tell me all
about it. This new job means - no
working nights or weekends, no direct reports, no company cell phone (ringing
at all hours of the day/night 7 days a week), no company vehicle, etc. So, he will get to enjoy his evenings with us
- uninterrupted and won’t have to deal with managing people anymore. He really did love managing the guys, but it
NEVER stopped.
I’m still in the same role however our group has been
re-organized into a centralized type function, part of HR. The transition has not been good. They
informed us of the transition in October and I was very positive about it at
first, I could see the possibilities and was actually excited… Then, they put the hammer down and started
telling all the rules and craziness. We are majorly micro-managed.. it’s
insane! We are losing our Fridays off,
our flexible schedules, and are being turned into robots who can’t leave our
desks… it’s horrible. I am grateful to have a job and probably shouldn’t
complain but we had a great boss with flexible schedules and portfolios and it’s
all being pulled out from under us. It’s
not a good feeling. I genuinely asked a colleague
who was already part of this team “what is one positive thing about being in
this team?”… he couldn’t answer the question!!
He just said “that’s a really good question” while trying to think up an
answer!! (INSERT BUG EYES FROM TRINA)…
What WHAT? You can’t think of ONE
positive thing? My oh my it’s going to
be a journey. Each morning I put my
happy face on and think positive thoughts but it has not been easy… We’ve only been part of this team for 2 weeks
but it seems like an eternity. We are
treated like toddlers that are robots…. I’m not joking. I just keep thinking “this too shall pass…” We’ll see…
Birthdays
Over the weekend, Kiarra turned 15. FIFTEEN!!!!
How is it possible that I have a 15 year old? It’s just crazy that they
are growing up so fast. She is such a
blessing to our family. I love her sweet
smile (dimples included), her giving heart (in all she does) and her love for
the Lord. Everyone keeps saying “ you just
wait, teenagers are horrible” or “one of
these days you are going to hate each other”… Seriously people, what is going
on with society? I couldn’t even ask for
a better relationship with her or any of my kids. Of course we have days that are not perfect
and of course there are times I screw up and have to ask for forgiveness for
using harsh words but I wouldn’t trade this for anything. She is an amazing
child, a gift from God and although I’d love to slow time down a bit, I’m so
grateful that I get to be her Mom!
My Mom also had a birthday this weekend. I would throw
myself in front of a bus for this woman. I am so grateful that I get to be her
daughter and that she lives so close to me. I love the time we get to spend
together, playing card games, watching movies, painting or doing absolutely
nothing at all… just her presence warms my heart.
