Thursday, April 15, 2010

Pros and Cons of an Online Portfolio - The Career Doctor Blog

Sharing....for your benefit, as well as my own...


Pros and Cons of an Online Portfolio - The Career Doctor Blog

Monday, April 12, 2010

...And We Thought 2009 Was Bad.

Well, what can I say. I started this blog, hoping to remind myself of all the things I have to be thankful for in 2010 - so that when I forget, all I'd have to do is log in to remember. And, let's face it: 2009 sucked big time for a lot of people, no matter if you're Joe Schmoe or someone famous.

Naturally, I rang in 2010 with my hubby, family and long-lost friends in grand fashion. For the first time in a LONG time, it felt like turning over a new leaf and not just watching a mundane ball drop. I figured, hey, it's' a new year, I still don't have a singular full-time job but the search is a movin', my hubby and I have been together for nearly 10 years and we still like each other (haha), my family is closer than ever...so things were starting off on a good note.

This new-found optimism took t-minus 60-ish days to vanish. Ugggh.

Since my last post, lots happened. My grandfather passed away. It wasn't all that sudden (his health had been deteriorating over the last two years with congestive heart failure), but when he knew it was the end he didn't waste time heading home... The trip he made to the ER from the nursing home during the first week of March was about the fourth time being hospitalized for the same problems, and he decided he did not want invasive procedures. In all, he spent nearly 48 hours before passing on March 5 (obituary from SEMissourian).

I learned more about my grandfather after he passed away, I think, than I did in the nearly 27 years we had together on the Earth. Those of you that have known me the longest know our relationship with Grandpa was not always the best, for various, completely screwed-the-hell-up reasons. However, the last five years or so have been wonderful - Grandpa as I remembered him from when I was a kiddo, but with health problems as a derivative of situations related to the aforementioned family issues, and more (that's a long story, possibly another post another day). One thing I learned at his funeral that I did not know? Grandpa had received a Bronze Star for service in the Korean War. He tried to rescue a young boy orphaned by the fighting, when a mortar hit the location where Grandpa had just been standing, killing the boy. Grandpa wanted to get the boy to the States, so that maybe he could be adopted or at the least have a better chance of survival. Needless to say, as a Sergeant serving on the front lines for several years, Grandpa never talked much about his time overseas. And frankly, we didn't really ask. If my uncle had not been in the service and kept stories, pictures, records and medals from my Grandpa, we grandkids may not have known much about what made Grandpa such a great man. I think part of it had to do with having five sisters, being the only surviving brother, but I'm female and therefore biased.

Grandpa's passing marks the third grandparent of four in my life to head into the great unknown. My mom's mom and my dad's dad passed away from leukemia back when I was 10 and 11, respectively. Mom's dad just died, so that leaves my learning-how-to-text-unsuccessfully-super-cute-remarried-to-the-former-WW2 pilot and chiropractor dad's mom. She figures to be around for a while - her mom, my great grandmother, is still alive well into her 90s. Great grandma, Ma, still smokes over a pack a day and has decided she is finally old enough to use four letter words, liberally, and as needed. One minute with Ma and you'll know where you stand not only with herself, but with your maker, too.

Anyhoo...apparently I blog like I talk. Onward and upward...

The day of Grandpa's funeral, I received a call for an interview with a local nonprofit. Long story short, after a month of being a top contender for the position I did not get the job due to lack of experience in fundraising. I can't yet compete with someone who has years and years of area experience, including single-handedly raising oaver $120,000 for a select charity. I am SOO HAPPY to say I have been asked to do committee work for this organization, and I hope to soak up some of their wonderfulness.

The day following Grandpa's funeral, I had a prior-scheduled doctor's appointment. Since last November, my health has not been so hot and I have not been able to get over feeling exhausted. Considering I'm not currently enrolled in school or have many other commitments other than housework and crafts, and I'm only working about four days per week, I thought there was no reason I should be feeling so run down and crappy. So the doc ran a full on battery of tests that will cost me in the neck of $300 after insurance, just to tell me that I've gained nearly 50 pounds in just over a year and there is something wrong that possibly should have been caught a long time ago. Not to mention my body is rejecting insulin being made and one of my liver enzymes is jacked. Result? DIABETES MEDS...and PCOS. Pre-diabetes, full on diabetes...still don't know yet. Long story short: no more beer or Captain Morgan on an occasional weekend for this chick, and  possibly no lil Chucksters or Jessicas. We'll see. In the meantime, I have to lose a ton of weight and see what happens with my body.

So, along with what's left of my brain you'll now get to chronicle my weight loss journey. I was hoping I'd stumble on a direction to take this blog, but I'm sure you'll agree my 'stumbling' was done in less than stellar circumstances. Luckily, my sister is now an insured student dietician who needed a guinea pig for one of her senior level classes at Southeast. Either way, this is going to prove a hell of an interesting ride considering my mother is also a dietician and I've grown up knowing how to eat correctly. I'm hoping I can do this weight loss thingy without prescription aids, but we'll see. After journaling food intake for a week and discussing changes I should make, I've only lost four pounds in three weeks. I'm open to suggestions on CHEAP gyms in the area, and workout tips. In fact, give me everything ya got!

New goal:

Lose 30 pounds by beginning of June. (*YIKES*)

Let the games begin....................................