Sunday, April 20, 2014

Golden Age of Music: Blogophilia 9.7

Marvin Martian's blog - to get the poop scoop on the rules and how to score points - https://www.facebook.com/notes/marvin-martian/blogophilia-week-97-golden-age-of-music/722358117785408?comment_id=7216063&offset=0&total_comments=24&notif_t=note_reply

Bonus Points:
(Hard, 2 points) Incorporate a quote from Charles Babbage
(Easy, 1 point) Include a lyric from a Bruno Mars song  

I have always loved music.  I remember, even as a small child, that I would pretend that I was a star, using jump ropes, winter scarves, etc as props and any room in the house, including the bathroom, was my stage.  Of course, in public, I've always been a lot shyer, but, regardless, music was so integrated and ingrained into my life, I really don't think it can be separated from me.  As a product of being a teen in the 80's, in many ways, that's MY version of the golden age of music.  The group called Dead or Alive is my favorite, and who can't love this song?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HkLZAdXiBgI

But, of course, C.C. would argue with Wiki when they say that the 40's-60's is the golden age of music, because of course classical music is the foundation of all music, as we know it in the Western hemisphere.  Of them, I say it's Mozart is a genius, musically.  Here is a sample.  Mozart's Clarinet Concerto -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2oNnugi3yLU

But then, for our country, I'd say that Jazz/Big Band was a form of a musical golden age, and who doesn't like Benny Goodman?  This Sing, Sing, Sing With A Swing, with the Christopher Columbus drum intro is my ultimate favorite.  I just love that introduction.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ft9_8PX-6ps

Anyway, just to bounce off of my rant blog from yesterday, I had decided to get into the Health Unit Coordinator program, because it seemed as if they are on the rise in the health field, and with some of my bad luck as a patient, I wanted to be able to help others not have to go through the rigor.  Now, I'm not so sure how much is out there, but, I am holding out for hope, I did not bust butt this far just to let it go.  No way.  In the words of Charles Babbage, "Errors using inadequate data are much less than using no data at all".  I got that advice from Trevor, and I like to finish what I started.

But, of course, Nina always likes to sing Bruno Mars with the line of "I'll be the light to guide you", and she sure knows how to show her friends support!




Breakfast At Tiffany's
Breakfast At Tiffany's




In this artsy place, Bettie likes this picture of romance, as if she were in an Italian Restaurant.  Or maybe she just likes the view having breakfast at Tiffany's.

Saturday, April 19, 2014

Season changes, moving on to other pastures, a random rant

I remember growing up as a child, and some days would drag on, making a season feel like it's 3 years, rather than about 3 months.  Of course, as teens, we're always in a hurry to grow up.  We want to be 16 going on 25 or something.  We eventually grow up, and we savor our 20-something years.  Then we have children, and I swear time flies like we're in warp speed.  Not just warp 1, either.  More like warp 3.

Anyway, this last year and a half seems to have flew by especially fast.  We moved to this house in September of 2012.  I applied to get into the health care field, through the Racine County Workforce Development Center, to get grants to become a Health Unit Coordinator.  I really should be working on my resume and last minute homework, but, I just wanted to get this in... 

So, before I could start taking the coordinator courses, I had to get the prerequisite, which was either Human Body and Disease, or the CNA...  I figured okay, I'm already doing aide work, and I did my homework to see what types of position this coordinator thing, and seeing that many times, coordinators also have to serenade as CNA's, I just figured that it makes the most sense to do the CNA thing.  I finally got into the March 2013 session, and got organized to take up all of the coordinator courses...  The teacher in this class was super cool, and pretty funny.

Fall semester, I had 3 classes, all on Wednesdays, and the first 2 were out in Elkhorn, and the 3rd here in Racine.  My teachers were pretty nice.  Even though there wasn't anything aside from wanting success for students, they were good enough.  But not as cool as the Nurse teacher for the CNA class.

Then came spring semester, of course, I also had to take a technical writing class, which is helping me to polish up my professional writing techniques, as well as the fact that I took the Health Unit Coordinator Procedures 1, in 3rd quarter, with the Procedures 2 and clinical that is getting ready to end soon...  I just figured that my teachers were going to be the usual, kind of the same as fall semester.  My writing teacher has a big personality, and that makes the class more interesting.  My coordinator teacher is super cool, and, well, he's the one that I wrote about in a previous blog (the sexy instructor).  I have a small class, and the whole class is full of characters.  Seriously.  I think this was probably the only class that I've taken that not only was the teacher super cool, but the whole class was interesting, because of individual personalities. 

With my clinical, the lady that has been my mentor for the past few weeks, she's such a sweetheart.  I'm really going to miss her and the floor that I'm at, just because this part of my course work integrated with me fairly quickly.  I'm actually getting kind of a contradicting feeling here...  On one hand, I've always been one to be happy when I get to close another chapter in my life, and to move on and start new again.  Like when I finished elementary school, I was ready for Jr. High.  When I was transitioning to high school, I welcomed that change.  Then I moved on and went to Parkside, changed job positions, various extra curricular activities, etc...  At each spot to move on, I was ready.  I embraced the change.  And in many ways, I'm feeling this same excitement of moving on, opening a new chapter...  But, I'm also feeling that sometimes life is too temporary.  It's not just that I've lost my grandparents, who lived full lives and I will probably miss them for the rest of my life.  It's also that I've also lost other relatives as well as home care clients and classmates.  Then the fact is, my son is going to be done with middle school, and will be a high schooler this fall, and, the home care position that I've had for 11 years will be replaced by a more stable and better paying position. 

While graduating from this coordinator program is a good thing, and I'm looking forward to finding a better paying position with a regular schedule, since right now, I feel like a yo-yo.  I go out to take care of someone for a couple hours, and I may or may not have someone else right after that, so I come back home, go out for another couple hours, go to another client, come home, go back out....  So, a normal schedule will be very welcome, to provide more stability.  My blood sugars have dropped, and I've lost a little weight with my current schedule with school and work.  I'm on a roll.  It's fun and exciting...  But, at the same time, I am feeling like I'm just getting to know some of these people really well this semester, and just when we're getting to know each other and such, it's time to move on...  I've never had these ambivalent feeling before.  Maybe it's menopause approaching, I don't know.  I've never been overly sentimental, but, I'm finding myself in this very predicament.  I already know that I'm going to miss my coordinator instructor, my clinic mentor, and some others.

Anyway, it just feels like the seasons are changing too fast.  I probably won't attend graduation, but, I DO want to have some sort of cookout party.  It will be good to celebrate with friends, old and new.  And I'm asking for everyone to pray, send good karma, positive thoughts, etc...  I really do need to be able to find a regular work position with a regular schedule, with at least a little bit better pay, because what I'm hauling right now, isn't cutting it very well.  Not that I'm complaining, the home care agency I work for has been, at least somewhat good to me.  But, it's at this point in my life that I need to strive for something bigger, better, and higher.

Thanks to you all.

Sunday, April 13, 2014

Hooked on a Feeling: Blogophilia 8.7

Marvin Martian's blog with the infohttps://www.facebook.com/notes/marvin-martian/blogophilia-week-87-hooked-on-a-feeling/717841651570388

Bonus Points:
(Hard, 2 points) Incorporate echolalia (echo-like repetition of another's words)
(Easy, 1 point) Include a conflagration






Sometimes I am a ham.  I don't mind getting my picture taken.  I'm not shy.  Barbara K loves to take photos, and maybe she'll get one of her photo-shoots published in a professional magazine.  That would be cool, if it were Lights! Camera! Action!

But, I don't want any of that, when I'm having one of those things, you know, you're in a happy relationship, but, someone catches your eye...  It's kind of like a crush, but it's more like a lust...  (One of my instructors is extremely sexy).  And it's one of those things that you're hooked on a feeling, and the David knows what I'm talking about...  It has it's benefits, when you're in a healthy relationship.  My husband, Mike, actually gets to reap the benefits, and he does not mind.  He actually is appreciating the certain extra attention. 

Yet occasionally, I get the weird looks and rude comments if I mention something about other people being attractive...  Listen to this song -http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nvlTJrNJ5lA

I won't back down.  No, I won't.  You can stand me up at the gates of hell, and I won't back down...  Trevor understands my echolalia here.  And we also know that only smart people can be sexy, because it comes from within.  Good looks are optional.  Hey, our writing group is full of smart people!

Hey, our smart & sexy people are all over, like a global wild fire that won't back down either!  But only the fire is destroying everything, we're actually beautifying everything.  Gerard may have to help put these fires out...  I don't know.  I know my instructor could, in more ways than one... 

p.s. My instructor (nor any of my classmates, in this class) is not on my friend list, but I do have a public profile.  I really hope he doesn't read this, considering there's still about 3 weeks of school left, and it would be embarrassing if he knows I think he's very sexy.  But, well, no harm, right?  I'm only window shopping, not planning on buying from the store.