I decided it's time to write a little bit about life, even though I really don't have a theme for this posting So it will just be chit-chat, this-n-that.
First news is my job at H&R Block. When I was hired, I was supposed to work full-time from Jan. 20 something to Feb. 20. Since then I have worked part-time, 2 or 3 days a week. Today I was scheduled to work, and when I got there, the boss figured they needed me at the front desk tomorrow and part of Wednesday, which is the famous April 15th around the tax office! I am happy that they have kept me on the payroll for a few days a week because I enjoy the job. Full-time was a bit much, but I am proud of myself for having done it for a few weeks. Son Ross is still working there as a tax preparer, too.
I have been looking for another job, but nothing has shown up for me yet. With spring coming on I am less eager to be working because there will be interesting things to do around here.
We had a nice weekend over Easter. Delmar S. came on Friday in time for supper. Roy and DeAnn came that evening. Saturday for noon we had eight workers with us for lunch and we had a very nice time around the table with them. Then we went to Franklin Sunday for the special meetings there. Here is the picture I took of the workers:
Well, I thought I was putting the picture in, but I seem to be having a hard time getting it to upload.
Ken has plowed my garden for me, and I am getting anxious for nicer weather! I have some seeds started in my kitchen, although I will be buying some plants, too. I used to raise lots of plants, but now I try not to get that involved!
A few weeks ago I finally sold the two looms that I wanted rid of, so officially now I am no longer in the weaving business. I enjoyed weaving and selling the rugs, but in the last several years, my sales had dropped a lot in this rural community. No doubt I could have sold if I had gone to the cities, but I wasn't too much interested in higher priced shows and motel rooms. It took me a few years to be willing to part with the looms. I am keeping two, my Gilmore rug loom and my Harrisville placemat loom. The couple who bought my looms even took a truckload of fabric from our barn loft! Yay! I was afraid we would have to dumpster it!
Now that the looms are sold we are moving ahead with our plans to put our bedroom in the studio. We have picked out the furniture from Lindberg Furniture and hope to order it in the next few days. Then we are also going to change around the furniture in three of our upstairs rooms. Our largest bedroom will become a combination sewing/loom room, and the other two will be bedrooms. Ross will be going to State College in August, and will leave most of his furniture behind in the bedroom he occupies, so it will stay the same. The other two rooms will have furniture switched around. Ken and I drew the rooms and furniture on graph paper, and moved it around there till we got what we wanted!
Another change in our life was that in February we were combined with the little meeting in Luthersburg at Dorothy Jane Thomas' house. It was so nice to meet with a few more people, even though it was a lonely feeling not to have the Sunday morning meeting here. It had been here for 27 1/2 years, nearly half my life! However, the change was short-lived because Dorothy Jane was hospitalized almost two weeks ago with strokes, and she has been nearly unresponsive since. Now she is in a nursing home. She is able to breathe on her own, and doesn't even need oxygen, but her condition otherwise is unchanged. We had Union meeting one Sunday, and Franklin special meetings the next, and now this Sunday coming up the meeting will be coming back here, and we will welcome it! It was a grand privilege to be with Dorothy Jane for those few weeks.
Ken has started to sing with a barbershop chorus, and practices on Monday nights. That is where he is tonight, so I decided to give an update on our lives. I really would like to have put pictures on, but it was taken too long to upload them. I will need to get some suggestions from somebody....
Monday, April 13, 2009
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Our first-born son
Roy, our first born, turns 36 tomorrow, March 30. It hardly seems possible that so many years have passed! I took this picture yesterday at the auction that he helped with for his in-laws, Terry and Nancy Boop.
Ken and I had figured we wanted our first child around the time of our second wedding anniversary. By early August, 1972, we had hopes. That was before the days of home pregnancy tests. People used to talk about the rabbit tests, but I think that was even old-fashioned in 1972! We went to see good ole Dr. Devlin on Ken's birthday, September 18, and he confirmed it for us and gave us a due date of April 18. We were very excited, and kept the secret for a little while, probably til I was about 3 months.
I quit my job at the bank in January, and spent the time at home in great expectation! I remember thinking early on that I should pray for my baby, and it came to me that I wanted to pray that our baby would bring joy to our hearts. But, somehow, that seemed to have a bit of selfishness in it, and I finally decided to pray that our baby would bring joy to God's heart, and then I knew that he/she would bring joy to our hearts, too!
We didn't have a lot of money, and didn't have a lot of things for our new baby, but we had some essentials. Ken made a wooden cradle for downstairs use, and we had a bassinet that my mom had bought for Randy, my nephew, 6 months prior, and a crib for upstairs. My coworkers bought me a nice baby gift. In the middle of March, Ken started at new factory job at Rockwell in DuBois. Our life was changing!
If there were sonograms in those days, we did not know about them. We did not find out what any of our babies were ahead of time. My pregnancy was pretty typical. I did not have morning sickness at all (and didn't with any of the next three, either!) I did have some heartburn with Roy that I didn't seem to have with the next three. I gained about 15 to 20 pounds and was generally healthy and felt pretty good.
Right about 10 days before Roy was born, I had a drs. appointment and he told me that my baby had dropped, which meant that its head was engaged. When I told Martha that, she said, "Oh, that means you will go in 10 days!" It turns out that she was pretty close!
Ken's brother Don and his wife Jane, had had their 5th child on Mar. 6, and on March 29, I went over to her house so she could show me how to bathe a baby. It was fun. I had read books about pregnancy and babies, but we didn't have things like childbirth classes or Lamaze classes. I needed some hand-on instruction and Jane was quite willing to teach me! It was also Jane's birthday, and a whole bunch of her sisters came and brought food for lunch for everybody. My due date was still about three weeks away.
The next day was Friday. Ken went to work real early in the morning. I can't remember exactly what my plans for the day were, but around 9 AM, I began to notice that I was having strange contractions. I didn't think they were labor contractions, because they didn't hurt, they just felt like a tightening. In novels, when the woman goes into labor, she usually yells with the first "pain" and eveyone comes running. Not so in real life! I was perplexed at what it was all about and decided to begin timing them. I found out they were very regular. Interestingly enough, I was playing the piano, and I remember playing The Burning of Rome, a long complicated song with lots of sections, and seeing if I could get through this section without a contraction coming again! Do you think this helped Roy to be the musical person that he turned out to be??!!??
Around 11 o'clock of so, I called the dr. and talked to his nurse. Their procedure was that we would go into the drs. office to get examined, and the nurse would determine if I was in labor or not. That sounded like good news to me because I sure wasn't sure if this was the real thing or not. She said, "I think you had better call your husband home from work, and have him bring you in." By the time I got Ken home from work, and we went to Brockway, these strange contractions were beginning to hurt! Nurse Josephine confirmed that I was indeed in labor, and she told me I would probably have my baby about suppertime. Off to DuBois the two of us went. Ken called Jane from the hospital to say that we were there, but nobody else in the family knew.
It seemed like a long afternoon, but finally I went to the delivery room. I was happy for the general anesthesia! At 5 p.m., with the help of forceps, Roy Joseph Grady was born into the world (remember Josephine's suppertime prediction?) weighing 6 pounds, 3 ounces. By the time I came our of anesthetic, I was back in my room with Ken there beside me, waiting for me to wake up. He told me we had a boy! I said, "We had a boy, kiss me!" And then, "We had a boy, kiss me again!" I remember him telling me that he would get some of that anesthetic in him and maybe get sleepy!
So, we had our first baby. He was born on what would have been my dad'd 66th birhtday. (Daddy had died in 1970, three years prior) And isn't it a little bit crazy that it was an 8 hour, 9-to-5 labor?
One regret that I have is that we have no pictures of us being proud new parents taken at the hospital bed with our new little one. Roy was a tiny little guy, especially compared to his big cousin, Teresa, who was 3 weeks older, but he soon grew and we learned how to be parents. When he was 6 months old, Leona Shadle began sending us her son Charles' outgrown clothes, which she did for years and years! We really appreciated getting them, and Charles and Roy have been good friends.
Motherhood was a very special experience for me, a young 20-year old. I always thought you had children because it was a thing you were supposed to do, and I never had a lot of interest in other people's babies. I was so totally thrilled with how wrapped up I was in this little bundle. Every little thing that he learned was so special to me! When he discovered his hands, when he rolled over, when he got his first two teeth, when he did push-ups when he was learning to crawl, when he took his first few steps--all these things were a tremendous source of pride to me! Even though there were a few tough times, they did not seem very significant compared with my pride in him.
Now, almost 36 years later, I am still enormously proud of him and our other children. Seeing him yesterday selling on the auction block I wanted to yell, "That's my son!", but of course, I didn't! I just smiled and smiled...
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Victor or Victim?
Time for a little philosophy on life and I warned you that I can get very opinionated!
We are the sum total of our live's experiences, right? Or are we the sum total of our attitude towards those experiences?
I had an interesting phone conversation with niece Jean the other night and some of the things we talked about got me to thinking. We were talking about blaming present situations on something that happened in our past--like saying I am the way I am because my mother did not love me, or my father was never home, or the kids at school made fun of me, yadayadayada. You know the scenario. (BTW, these things did not happen to me) So many people play the blame game, blaming everybody from parents to teachers to friends, etc.
Granted, some people are victims. If you are paralyzed because of an accident in which you were hit by a drunk driver, you are a victim. There are lots of other legitimate reasons for being the way you are.
But, as Jean pointed out to me, I have had some trauma in my life's experiences that I could use to blame things on. To my surprise, I began to think about those things and realize that my attitude toward them is not a victim attitude.
I have written that I found my father dead when I was 17 years old. Very, very traumatic. But somewhere along the line I got to the point that I realize that that experience is part of what makes me who I am, and I don't mean in a negative sense. Having had that experience makes me have a greater compassion for someone else who goes through the experience of losing a loved one from their daily life.
I also was the one who went into the nursing home and found my mother in a coma from which she never awoke. She died 3 1/2 days later. I spent time with my brother Ben in his last week of life and was there when he breathed his last. When our beloved Aunt Bertha died so tragically in Mississippi, it was Glenn and me who arranged for her second funeral here in Pennsylvania. In the few days between her death and funeral, Ken lost his job of 25 years.
Trauma? Yes. I know others have faced much worse in their lives. But we all have had experiences that have been rough and we got through them with God's help and other's help. We learned a lot, and carry that knowledge with us wherever we go. We are victors because we have been able to move forward. Victims just stay in a rut and commiserate.
I have a favorite poem about weaving. Roger Smith quoted this at Quakertown convention a long time ago, and ended up posting a copy of it on a tree there! I have also seen the poem on a brochure for a weaving place that I used to go to for some supplies in Smicksburg, PA. I am typing it from memory, and hopefully have it close.
My life is but a weaving
Between my Lord and me.
I cannot tell the colors
That He worketh steadily.
Sometimes He worketh sorrow
And I in foolish pride
Forget He sees the upper,
And I, the under side.
Not til the loom is silent
And the shuttles cease to fly
Will the Lord unroll the pattern
And explain the reason why.
The dark threads were as needful
In the weaver's skillful hand
As the threads of gold and silver
In the pattern He has planned.
This poem helps me to understand that all these things are just part of our life's experineces, and work beautiful things into the pattern of our lives.
So, what is your philosophy on your life's experiences?
We are the sum total of our live's experiences, right? Or are we the sum total of our attitude towards those experiences?
I had an interesting phone conversation with niece Jean the other night and some of the things we talked about got me to thinking. We were talking about blaming present situations on something that happened in our past--like saying I am the way I am because my mother did not love me, or my father was never home, or the kids at school made fun of me, yadayadayada. You know the scenario. (BTW, these things did not happen to me) So many people play the blame game, blaming everybody from parents to teachers to friends, etc.
Granted, some people are victims. If you are paralyzed because of an accident in which you were hit by a drunk driver, you are a victim. There are lots of other legitimate reasons for being the way you are.
But, as Jean pointed out to me, I have had some trauma in my life's experiences that I could use to blame things on. To my surprise, I began to think about those things and realize that my attitude toward them is not a victim attitude.
I have written that I found my father dead when I was 17 years old. Very, very traumatic. But somewhere along the line I got to the point that I realize that that experience is part of what makes me who I am, and I don't mean in a negative sense. Having had that experience makes me have a greater compassion for someone else who goes through the experience of losing a loved one from their daily life.
I also was the one who went into the nursing home and found my mother in a coma from which she never awoke. She died 3 1/2 days later. I spent time with my brother Ben in his last week of life and was there when he breathed his last. When our beloved Aunt Bertha died so tragically in Mississippi, it was Glenn and me who arranged for her second funeral here in Pennsylvania. In the few days between her death and funeral, Ken lost his job of 25 years.
Trauma? Yes. I know others have faced much worse in their lives. But we all have had experiences that have been rough and we got through them with God's help and other's help. We learned a lot, and carry that knowledge with us wherever we go. We are victors because we have been able to move forward. Victims just stay in a rut and commiserate.
I have a favorite poem about weaving. Roger Smith quoted this at Quakertown convention a long time ago, and ended up posting a copy of it on a tree there! I have also seen the poem on a brochure for a weaving place that I used to go to for some supplies in Smicksburg, PA. I am typing it from memory, and hopefully have it close.
My life is but a weaving
Between my Lord and me.
I cannot tell the colors
That He worketh steadily.
Sometimes He worketh sorrow
And I in foolish pride
Forget He sees the upper,
And I, the under side.
Not til the loom is silent
And the shuttles cease to fly
Will the Lord unroll the pattern
And explain the reason why.
The dark threads were as needful
In the weaver's skillful hand
As the threads of gold and silver
In the pattern He has planned.
This poem helps me to understand that all these things are just part of our life's experineces, and work beautiful things into the pattern of our lives.
So, what is your philosophy on your life's experiences?
Friday, February 27, 2009
Julia Brown
I just read on facebook that Julia Brown has died in Florida. I had been thinking about her lately, because I had heard that she went into a nursing home. I thought I would share a few memories of her. She spent quite a few years preaching in PA. I don't know the years, but it was when my kids were little.
The first thing that came to my mind was what she spoke once at convention. She always had a very emphatic way about expressing herself (as did her brother Arnold). She started out by saying that we are not responsible for where the Gospel finds us, but we ARE responsible for how the Gospel leaves us. I remember being in the dining tent when she spoke that, so it probably was about 30 years ago!
For a good number of years, she seemed to be often with us for a visit at special meeting time. She really seemed to enjoy food, and particularly enjoyed eating my homemade rye bread. "Oh, that bread" she would say in her expressive way! It made quite an impression on my young kiddoes, because for years they called that rye bread, "Julia Brown Bread"! I think I will have to make some tomorrow to honor her and we can have it for our potluck Sunday after meeting...
Yes, she was quite a lady. She always looked neat as a pin. Her face always showed lots of expression, and I am quite sure she, like Arnold, would close her eyes when she was speaking in a meeting when she was making a point.
We hate to part with these old dear workers who have meant so much to us in the past, but their memory lives on with us and we are definitely richer for having them in our lives!
The first thing that came to my mind was what she spoke once at convention. She always had a very emphatic way about expressing herself (as did her brother Arnold). She started out by saying that we are not responsible for where the Gospel finds us, but we ARE responsible for how the Gospel leaves us. I remember being in the dining tent when she spoke that, so it probably was about 30 years ago!
For a good number of years, she seemed to be often with us for a visit at special meeting time. She really seemed to enjoy food, and particularly enjoyed eating my homemade rye bread. "Oh, that bread" she would say in her expressive way! It made quite an impression on my young kiddoes, because for years they called that rye bread, "Julia Brown Bread"! I think I will have to make some tomorrow to honor her and we can have it for our potluck Sunday after meeting...
Yes, she was quite a lady. She always looked neat as a pin. Her face always showed lots of expression, and I am quite sure she, like Arnold, would close her eyes when she was speaking in a meeting when she was making a point.
We hate to part with these old dear workers who have meant so much to us in the past, but their memory lives on with us and we are definitely richer for having them in our lives!
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Feeling almost normal again!
At yesterday's dr. visit I told him the only problem I seemed to be having was drowsiness and a foggy head, and he said I should gradually reduce the amount of antivert in my system, as long as I was not experiencing the dizziness and nausea. I took a 1/2 pill at suppertime last night, and this morning my head feels pretty clear and I feel energy, which is great! I don't feel like I am fighting drowsiness, anyways!
Tomorrow I am scheduled to work, and again on Monday. Monday will no doubt be my last day. I am certainly glad my vertigo happened when the tax office was slowing down! Ross also works there and he said the others who work there have been asking about me! I certainly worked with lots of nice people and I have enjoyed that experience very much. One tax preparer is a distant relative of Ken's and she and I have set up at craft sales side-by-side lots of times. She only works at H&R Block part-time, so I don't see her as much as I would have liked. Last April she had the horrendous experience of her 19-year-old son dying in a house fire along with about 8or 9 other people. (He was living there). I have felt buckets of sympathy for her and her husband and am glad to see her in the work place.
What are my plans for today? After working at such a fast pace at H&R Block, these days at home seem rather strange, even though I have not felt very peppy. But today is laundry day, which includes clean sheets, and I intend to give my neglected bathroom a good cleaning. I also have plans to mix up a batch of the famous Grady buns, which will likely include cinnamon rolls, too! Who wants to come to my house to visit the sparkling bathrooms and smell the wonderful aroma of bread baking, and sample a bun?
Yep, I know I am just rambling on. I may even ramble a little later on, too. There are a couple of subjects I want to write about.
Tomorrow I am scheduled to work, and again on Monday. Monday will no doubt be my last day. I am certainly glad my vertigo happened when the tax office was slowing down! Ross also works there and he said the others who work there have been asking about me! I certainly worked with lots of nice people and I have enjoyed that experience very much. One tax preparer is a distant relative of Ken's and she and I have set up at craft sales side-by-side lots of times. She only works at H&R Block part-time, so I don't see her as much as I would have liked. Last April she had the horrendous experience of her 19-year-old son dying in a house fire along with about 8or 9 other people. (He was living there). I have felt buckets of sympathy for her and her husband and am glad to see her in the work place.
What are my plans for today? After working at such a fast pace at H&R Block, these days at home seem rather strange, even though I have not felt very peppy. But today is laundry day, which includes clean sheets, and I intend to give my neglected bathroom a good cleaning. I also have plans to mix up a batch of the famous Grady buns, which will likely include cinnamon rolls, too! Who wants to come to my house to visit the sparkling bathrooms and smell the wonderful aroma of bread baking, and sample a bun?
Yep, I know I am just rambling on. I may even ramble a little later on, too. There are a couple of subjects I want to write about.
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
A Bump in the Road
Saturday was Valentine's Day. After a busy work week, I was enjoying getting a few things done at home. It snowed most of the day, and accumulated about 4 inches or so by evening. We had had our Valentine's Day supper the evening before at Perkin's restaurant.
I spent the morning on two applications and went to Brockway to fax one, and drop the other off at the S&T Bank, where I actually had a "mini-interview" with the bank manager. In the afternoon I decided my dear valentine deserved a pie. Since Peggy and Marie called to say they would be there for meeting and dinner the next day, I decided to make two. One was graham cracker cream and the other was coconut cream.
We had some leftovers for supper, and then had a relaxing evening while we waited for the pies to be cool enough to sample. After pie, I sat at the computer playing spider solitaire for a while. Around nine I decided I'd better get a few things done before bath and bed and got up and started picking up and putting away. I told Ken I felt a little dizzy, and walked carefully around the house, but the slight dizzines did not go away so I decided to sit down for a while, hoping it would pass. Ken suggested that I lay down and put my feet up, so I decided to just lay on the floor here in the dining room and put my feet up on the toy box. When I went to lie down, my head was all of a sudden filled with the most horrible sensations and I started to yell. I remember having the thought, "This must be what dying feels like." But I kept talking because I realized I wasn't dying and then I thought I must surely be having a stroke.
Ross was in the living room playing the piano and I remember yelling for him to come help us. Ken brought me a cool cloth for my forehead, and Ross gave me a rolled up blanket for a pillow. By that time I was shaking and shivering. I felt pressured in my upper chest area. Ken got the blood pressure kit, and they discovered it needed fresh batteries, which they replaced. My blood pressure was 180something over 90 something. They decided to call 911.
I stayed there on the floor till help came. I did not want to move my head even an inch to the left or right because I would feel really woozy.
The ambulance crew came, checked me out, and found that my bp was still high. When they sat me up to get me onto the low stretcher, the room began to really tilt sideways for me and I got violently nauseated and vomited. I have to be about half-dead to vomit. Yuck! I told them I was not drunk! Through it all I wanted to keep talking, knowing that they could better evaluate me for stroke or whatever.
So, this was the first time anyone had ever called 911 on my behalf. And this was my first time to ride in the back of an ambulance. They did not hurry or use the siren. Believe you me, it was a bumpy ride, too. I did not have pain, but I sure did not feel good, and sure enough, before we got to the hospital I spewed out more of what was in my stomach.
At the hospital I had EKG, blood work, and a CT scan to rule out things. The ER dr. suggested vertigo. They gave me some medicine for the dizziness and nausea which I continued to have whenever they moved my head. Yuck! By about 2:30 AM I was admitted to a room on the second floor. I managed to corrupt those sheets, too, before settling into an uncomfortable sleep on my back with heart monitors on me.
Sunday morning I woke up feeling groggy, but with the nurse's help I made it to the bathroom and back with no dizziness or nausea. Dr. Devlin came in about 9:30 and said it was vertigo and wanted to know what I was doing when it came on me. He says it is viral in nature and asked me if I had had any respiratory symptoms, which I had not. I have a follow-up appointment with him tomorrow, so perhaps he can better answer my questions then as to what caused it and whether I have to worry about recurrence.
I was discharged Sunday afternoon and got my prescription for antivert, which is a motion sickness medicine that I am to take as needed. I have decided to take it until I see the dr. tomorrow. I sure don't want to relapse! I think it has made me drowsy, and Monday I just laid around and didn't do much. I felt like I was in slow motion. Today, I decided to push myself to do some things besides just vegging, and this afternoon I could feel my energy coming back to me. Welcome back!
I missed two days of my work, Sunday afternoon and Monday, and I wasn't scheduled to work again until Friday. I am glad to have these days at home to recover. And, I am glad to be feeling more like my old self again! I have enjoyed working at the pace and momentum that we have had at H&R Block and enjoy scurrying around again!! We can never appreciate our good health enough, right?
I spent the morning on two applications and went to Brockway to fax one, and drop the other off at the S&T Bank, where I actually had a "mini-interview" with the bank manager. In the afternoon I decided my dear valentine deserved a pie. Since Peggy and Marie called to say they would be there for meeting and dinner the next day, I decided to make two. One was graham cracker cream and the other was coconut cream.
We had some leftovers for supper, and then had a relaxing evening while we waited for the pies to be cool enough to sample. After pie, I sat at the computer playing spider solitaire for a while. Around nine I decided I'd better get a few things done before bath and bed and got up and started picking up and putting away. I told Ken I felt a little dizzy, and walked carefully around the house, but the slight dizzines did not go away so I decided to sit down for a while, hoping it would pass. Ken suggested that I lay down and put my feet up, so I decided to just lay on the floor here in the dining room and put my feet up on the toy box. When I went to lie down, my head was all of a sudden filled with the most horrible sensations and I started to yell. I remember having the thought, "This must be what dying feels like." But I kept talking because I realized I wasn't dying and then I thought I must surely be having a stroke.
Ross was in the living room playing the piano and I remember yelling for him to come help us. Ken brought me a cool cloth for my forehead, and Ross gave me a rolled up blanket for a pillow. By that time I was shaking and shivering. I felt pressured in my upper chest area. Ken got the blood pressure kit, and they discovered it needed fresh batteries, which they replaced. My blood pressure was 180something over 90 something. They decided to call 911.
I stayed there on the floor till help came. I did not want to move my head even an inch to the left or right because I would feel really woozy.
The ambulance crew came, checked me out, and found that my bp was still high. When they sat me up to get me onto the low stretcher, the room began to really tilt sideways for me and I got violently nauseated and vomited. I have to be about half-dead to vomit. Yuck! I told them I was not drunk! Through it all I wanted to keep talking, knowing that they could better evaluate me for stroke or whatever.
So, this was the first time anyone had ever called 911 on my behalf. And this was my first time to ride in the back of an ambulance. They did not hurry or use the siren. Believe you me, it was a bumpy ride, too. I did not have pain, but I sure did not feel good, and sure enough, before we got to the hospital I spewed out more of what was in my stomach.
At the hospital I had EKG, blood work, and a CT scan to rule out things. The ER dr. suggested vertigo. They gave me some medicine for the dizziness and nausea which I continued to have whenever they moved my head. Yuck! By about 2:30 AM I was admitted to a room on the second floor. I managed to corrupt those sheets, too, before settling into an uncomfortable sleep on my back with heart monitors on me.
Sunday morning I woke up feeling groggy, but with the nurse's help I made it to the bathroom and back with no dizziness or nausea. Dr. Devlin came in about 9:30 and said it was vertigo and wanted to know what I was doing when it came on me. He says it is viral in nature and asked me if I had had any respiratory symptoms, which I had not. I have a follow-up appointment with him tomorrow, so perhaps he can better answer my questions then as to what caused it and whether I have to worry about recurrence.
I was discharged Sunday afternoon and got my prescription for antivert, which is a motion sickness medicine that I am to take as needed. I have decided to take it until I see the dr. tomorrow. I sure don't want to relapse! I think it has made me drowsy, and Monday I just laid around and didn't do much. I felt like I was in slow motion. Today, I decided to push myself to do some things besides just vegging, and this afternoon I could feel my energy coming back to me. Welcome back!
I missed two days of my work, Sunday afternoon and Monday, and I wasn't scheduled to work again until Friday. I am glad to have these days at home to recover. And, I am glad to be feeling more like my old self again! I have enjoyed working at the pace and momentum that we have had at H&R Block and enjoy scurrying around again!! We can never appreciate our good health enough, right?
My job at H&R Block
When I started my job at H&R Block on Jan. 21, I was full of questions about myself:
Could I really learn something new at my age? Yeah, I know I am "only" 56, but this was a big step for me, to get out in the working world.
Would my clothes be all right for office work?
How would my feet hold up from being on them all day?
Would I manage at home OK, even though Ken promised to help me?
What if I get exhausted and lose my cool?
Lots and lots of questions, and self-doubt. It comforted me a lot a week or so ago to hear the pilot who so heroically landed his plane in the Hudson had a time of second-guessing himself for several nights. It must be a trait of conscientious people, and I wanted to be a conscientious worker, so I guess I had that trait, anyways!
Now my "career" at H&R Block is coming to a close, and I have found my answers.
Yes, I can learn something new, even at my age. In fact I enjoy the challenge of it, and want to go on learning. I made hundreds of appointments over the telephone, and face to face, on Appointment Manager, a computer program, and it got to be VERY routine. Anything you do over and over again gets to be easy, even if you are almost a senior citizen!
Shortly after I was hired, they hired two young people to work part-time to help us out. They seemed to pick up the computer and phone stuff way faster than I did and I felt at a disadvantage--more second-guessing myself. After a few days I found out that my experience with people was an advantage I had, and I was more patient with the clients on the phone, etc. One day one of them said they were having a bad day because seven people had yelled at them over the phone so far. I thought about that and said, "I don't know if anyone has yelled at me or not!" So, what does that mean? Did they not yell at me, or did I not perceive it as such? People get very irate when they think they may not be getting their check TODAY simply because it is not in the drawer at 9:30 yet.
So, perhaps we older folks do not take things so personally...I don't know.
Yep, my clothes were ok, sort of anyways. Mainly they were too warm, because I was moving constantly and never, ever got cold.
My feet held up fine, even though I did not wear my favorite Easy Spirits except on casual Friday.
Yes, we managed fine at home. Since Ken got home first, he usually had supper about cooked by the time I got there. Nice! I would plan it and give him the instructions and how-to's. Laundry I did, here and there, with a catch-up on Saturday. It sure is a different life-style, though, being a working wife!
No, I did not get exhausted and lose my cool. I found I could maintain my enthusiasm for the job and the people without losing my cool. Some of the crazy things people do just made me laugh and laugh. Like the day a lady called wanting a phone number for the IRS. It was the first and only time anyone asked me for that number, so I ran around to find a tax preparer who was not busy, and could help me. He found the number for me. Back to the phone, and here the lady did not have a pencil, then she could not find a pencil, then she decided to write the number on a chalk board! I just laughed and laughed over that one! We have all kinds......
So, it has been a great experience for me and I have learned lots about myself, too. Now I am pursuing other opportunities for future employment. I am looking for receptionist work, and have also applied for a part-time bank teller job. We shall see what opens up. This Friday, Feb. 20th may be my last day at H&R Block.
What an experience!
Could I really learn something new at my age? Yeah, I know I am "only" 56, but this was a big step for me, to get out in the working world.
Would my clothes be all right for office work?
How would my feet hold up from being on them all day?
Would I manage at home OK, even though Ken promised to help me?
What if I get exhausted and lose my cool?
Lots and lots of questions, and self-doubt. It comforted me a lot a week or so ago to hear the pilot who so heroically landed his plane in the Hudson had a time of second-guessing himself for several nights. It must be a trait of conscientious people, and I wanted to be a conscientious worker, so I guess I had that trait, anyways!
Now my "career" at H&R Block is coming to a close, and I have found my answers.
Yes, I can learn something new, even at my age. In fact I enjoy the challenge of it, and want to go on learning. I made hundreds of appointments over the telephone, and face to face, on Appointment Manager, a computer program, and it got to be VERY routine. Anything you do over and over again gets to be easy, even if you are almost a senior citizen!
Shortly after I was hired, they hired two young people to work part-time to help us out. They seemed to pick up the computer and phone stuff way faster than I did and I felt at a disadvantage--more second-guessing myself. After a few days I found out that my experience with people was an advantage I had, and I was more patient with the clients on the phone, etc. One day one of them said they were having a bad day because seven people had yelled at them over the phone so far. I thought about that and said, "I don't know if anyone has yelled at me or not!" So, what does that mean? Did they not yell at me, or did I not perceive it as such? People get very irate when they think they may not be getting their check TODAY simply because it is not in the drawer at 9:30 yet.
So, perhaps we older folks do not take things so personally...I don't know.
Yep, my clothes were ok, sort of anyways. Mainly they were too warm, because I was moving constantly and never, ever got cold.
My feet held up fine, even though I did not wear my favorite Easy Spirits except on casual Friday.
Yes, we managed fine at home. Since Ken got home first, he usually had supper about cooked by the time I got there. Nice! I would plan it and give him the instructions and how-to's. Laundry I did, here and there, with a catch-up on Saturday. It sure is a different life-style, though, being a working wife!
No, I did not get exhausted and lose my cool. I found I could maintain my enthusiasm for the job and the people without losing my cool. Some of the crazy things people do just made me laugh and laugh. Like the day a lady called wanting a phone number for the IRS. It was the first and only time anyone asked me for that number, so I ran around to find a tax preparer who was not busy, and could help me. He found the number for me. Back to the phone, and here the lady did not have a pencil, then she could not find a pencil, then she decided to write the number on a chalk board! I just laughed and laughed over that one! We have all kinds......
So, it has been a great experience for me and I have learned lots about myself, too. Now I am pursuing other opportunities for future employment. I am looking for receptionist work, and have also applied for a part-time bank teller job. We shall see what opens up. This Friday, Feb. 20th may be my last day at H&R Block.
What an experience!
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