Well, I finally did it. After much hemming, hawing, mind changing, talking with my family and friends, and a few tears...I QUIT MY JOB!!!! Yep, it's true. After 10 years and 10 months of working at the only job I've ever had, I up and quit.
And it's a huge relief. As much as I loved that job and the people there and the clients (some of them, anyway) and of course the pets, the stress level there was through the roof. I know that veterinary medicine statistically has the highest rate of suicides and stress-related meltdowns (I don't know if there's any other kind), but it wasn't that. I finally had it. I worked my butt off for those said 10 years and 10 months of my life and it was never good enough. If I did one thing, it was wrong. If I did it the opposite way, it was still wrong. If I did what I was told, it was wrong. If I did my own thing, it was wrong. And there was so much more that contributed to the issue. It wasn't entirely what I did (or didn't do, as the case seemed to be at times). I was informed at a few points in not so many words that being there was more important than my safety or even my family.
I had high blood pressure when I was pregnant that could have been partially caused by this (as a result I had to be induced early). There were times I would get so frustrated it nearly brought me to tears, and sometimes it did. I finally had enough.
I had hoped to have another job before it came to this, but we'll figure it out somehow.
Thursday, January 26, 2012
Thursday, January 12, 2012
This Ain't a Fairy Tale
I heard some sad, sad news the other day. A coworker and I were talking and she told me that she heard they were banning any sort of fairy tales in schools. FAIRY TALES! Now, I knew about the banning of certain books; in fact, Barnes & Noble stores were having a sale on these books. But now the banning of talk of fairy tales, all because they depict worlds with no God and show witchcraft. And people wonder what's wrong with the world today!
I'm serious about that last comment. I believe that's part of what is wrong with the world today. Without "fairy tales" (and this is of any kind, from Cinderella to Tom Sawyer to Harry Potter), we are taking away imaginations and the ability for people to think for themselves. We're taking away an alternate world for people to get away to if the day isn't going as planned. I know that certain fictions aren't being banned from the public, but by not allowing children to read them is teaching them at a young age that what you see is what you get. It doesn't allow them to think outside the box. This is a problem, even moreso than allowing the younger generations to watch too much TV or play video games. Fairy tales and fictions (if they are written well) teach right and wrong, cause and effect, just about any lesson you wish to teach.
People are "going crazy" these days because they have this reality and none other. They can't take their aggressions out in a sword fight or a duel of magic. They can't fall in love with a prince or a damsel in distress, or even have hope. That's what a lot of fictions have...hope. Goals in life. Even if it's to find the treasure or get the ring into the mountain. They keep going because they don't give up hope. If there's a challenge or an obstacle, they find an alternate route (going back to the thinking-outside-of-the-box thing).
As I said before, it's a sad, sad world out there. And it only seems to be getting more depressing.
I'm serious about that last comment. I believe that's part of what is wrong with the world today. Without "fairy tales" (and this is of any kind, from Cinderella to Tom Sawyer to Harry Potter), we are taking away imaginations and the ability for people to think for themselves. We're taking away an alternate world for people to get away to if the day isn't going as planned. I know that certain fictions aren't being banned from the public, but by not allowing children to read them is teaching them at a young age that what you see is what you get. It doesn't allow them to think outside the box. This is a problem, even moreso than allowing the younger generations to watch too much TV or play video games. Fairy tales and fictions (if they are written well) teach right and wrong, cause and effect, just about any lesson you wish to teach.
People are "going crazy" these days because they have this reality and none other. They can't take their aggressions out in a sword fight or a duel of magic. They can't fall in love with a prince or a damsel in distress, or even have hope. That's what a lot of fictions have...hope. Goals in life. Even if it's to find the treasure or get the ring into the mountain. They keep going because they don't give up hope. If there's a challenge or an obstacle, they find an alternate route (going back to the thinking-outside-of-the-box thing).
As I said before, it's a sad, sad world out there. And it only seems to be getting more depressing.
Sunday, January 1, 2012
Out With the Old
Well, here we are again. The beginning of a new year. What awaits us around each corner? Who knows. Here's a recap of my last year:
-My dogs contracted sarcoptic mange, resulting in Sprite losing a lot of her hair and losing a lot of weight, making us uncertain if we could do anything to fully help her...In the end, she has her hair all back and she has finally gained weight back and she's back to her adorable self!
-I gave birth to a 6 pound, 4.3 ounce little boy, Jacob Thomas Kestner, who has been the light of our lives!
-Also in the baby boom...my best friend had her baby girl Isla, another friend had her girl Paetyn, and three other friends found they were pregnant! Congrats to all the new mamas!
-The family cat, Birthday (aka Kitty), of about 19 years passed away (we assume).
-My cat, Jasper, that I've had since college, had to go live with my parents as an outside cat. I wanted to keep him, but first he scared us two nights after we brought the baby home by jumping in the playpen with him in the middle of the night. He was over twice the baby's size, so we were worried he'd lay on Jake and smother him. Even though we then kept the door closed, he kept testing his limits with the baby in my presence. So, mom and dad were great enough to allow him to stay at their place and we set him free.
-Because of the first thing listed here, Jake and I contracted scabies, which is not fun. A good slathering of permethrin cream and we're all cleared up!
-My niece, Britt, took her first steps and won't be taking her last for a very long time!
-Sadly, two amazing people in my life passed away...Grandma and Grandpa Moore.
-My oldest brother, his wife, and their daughter welcomed another addition to their family...Kaila Reese Miller (Kai for short).
-Mike and I hosted Thanksgiving at our house...and did AMAZING, if I say so myself.
Looking toward the future, here are some plans and hopefuls:
-We'll have the burial of my grandfather at Arlington National Cemetary.
-I will hopefully find a new part-time job, or better yet, we'll find some way by some miracle for me to be a stay-at-home mom (*fingers crossed*)
-Jake will turn a year old (don't know how I feel about that...)
-THE END OF THE WORLD!!!!!!! (no, not really)
Here's hopin'!
-My dogs contracted sarcoptic mange, resulting in Sprite losing a lot of her hair and losing a lot of weight, making us uncertain if we could do anything to fully help her...In the end, she has her hair all back and she has finally gained weight back and she's back to her adorable self!
-I gave birth to a 6 pound, 4.3 ounce little boy, Jacob Thomas Kestner, who has been the light of our lives!
-Also in the baby boom...my best friend had her baby girl Isla, another friend had her girl Paetyn, and three other friends found they were pregnant! Congrats to all the new mamas!
-The family cat, Birthday (aka Kitty), of about 19 years passed away (we assume).
-My cat, Jasper, that I've had since college, had to go live with my parents as an outside cat. I wanted to keep him, but first he scared us two nights after we brought the baby home by jumping in the playpen with him in the middle of the night. He was over twice the baby's size, so we were worried he'd lay on Jake and smother him. Even though we then kept the door closed, he kept testing his limits with the baby in my presence. So, mom and dad were great enough to allow him to stay at their place and we set him free.
-Because of the first thing listed here, Jake and I contracted scabies, which is not fun. A good slathering of permethrin cream and we're all cleared up!
-My niece, Britt, took her first steps and won't be taking her last for a very long time!
-Sadly, two amazing people in my life passed away...Grandma and Grandpa Moore.
-My oldest brother, his wife, and their daughter welcomed another addition to their family...Kaila Reese Miller (Kai for short).
-Mike and I hosted Thanksgiving at our house...and did AMAZING, if I say so myself.
Looking toward the future, here are some plans and hopefuls:
-We'll have the burial of my grandfather at Arlington National Cemetary.
-I will hopefully find a new part-time job, or better yet, we'll find some way by some miracle for me to be a stay-at-home mom (*fingers crossed*)
-Jake will turn a year old (don't know how I feel about that...)
-THE END OF THE WORLD!!!!!!! (no, not really)
Here's hopin'!
Thursday, December 15, 2011
I Sure Do Like Those Christmas Cookies, Suga'
Today was a great day. Why so great, you ask? (Well, maybe you didn't, but I'm going to tell you anyway!)
Mom and I went Christmas shopping down in Charlottesville together...with the baby in tow, of course. Not that he was really in tow. He did really well. He was laughing and flirting with the ladies the whole time! When mom and I got home, she helped me make cookies. Here's where it really made it great.
See, growing up mom always made a whole bunch of cookies and candies for the holidays. I mean, she could have had an entire bakery with the amount and variety she made. My brothers, dad, and I would sneak them here and there from the decorative cookie tins she had when she wasn't looking. When I was really little, she'd let me (and occassionally my brother) help her make them (my favorite part was cracking the eggs). The cookie she helped me make today was a jam-filled spritz cookie. Mom always had an aluminum cookie press that she'd use to make them look decorative and pretty. When my grandmother passed, we found one that she had, so it was passed on to me. I'd never used mom's before, so tonight she showed me how to use it.
I can only hope that Jake and any future kids of mine will have as much fun in the kitchen helping me as I did, and still do, with my mom.
Mom and I went Christmas shopping down in Charlottesville together...with the baby in tow, of course. Not that he was really in tow. He did really well. He was laughing and flirting with the ladies the whole time! When mom and I got home, she helped me make cookies. Here's where it really made it great.
See, growing up mom always made a whole bunch of cookies and candies for the holidays. I mean, she could have had an entire bakery with the amount and variety she made. My brothers, dad, and I would sneak them here and there from the decorative cookie tins she had when she wasn't looking. When I was really little, she'd let me (and occassionally my brother) help her make them (my favorite part was cracking the eggs). The cookie she helped me make today was a jam-filled spritz cookie. Mom always had an aluminum cookie press that she'd use to make them look decorative and pretty. When my grandmother passed, we found one that she had, so it was passed on to me. I'd never used mom's before, so tonight she showed me how to use it.
I can only hope that Jake and any future kids of mine will have as much fun in the kitchen helping me as I did, and still do, with my mom.
Sunday, December 11, 2011
We Found a Love in a Hopeless Place
I am completely and utterly a hopeless romantic. I loved the fairytales growing up...Cinderella, Beauty and the Beast, The Little Mermaid (obviously the Disney versions, not the Grimm's Tales). The damsel in distress, the dashing Prince Charming coming to the rescue, true love's kiss...yep, I've fallen for it all. So is it any surprise that I hoped for this to happen in my life? Doesn't every woman to some degree want her white knight to come charging in on his noble steed? But we don't live in that world. We live in a world of hurt and lies and corruption at every turn. One has to wonder how we can even make it through.
Well, I stuck to my guns. Sure, I had a lot of letdowns and subsequent heartache. I mean, look at me...I don't have the petite figure and perfect features that were drawn by artists. I may have put on a happy face, but at the back of my mind I had my doubts my prince would ever come. I was going to have my fairytale, daggone it!
And I got it. I believed that there was someone out there for me. It took us a little while to find each other. Heck, my husband wasn't even really looking (not like I was, anyway). He had no intentions of ever marrying. But there's someone for everyone. I truly believe that. Soulmate is a mythical "being" that I believe is not quite so mythical. In a world where I think statistics show one out of every three or five marriages don't last, you have to believe that someone will take care of you when you're old and gray, even when they can barely take care of themselves.
I'm going to get religious on you (so atheists, don't read on!)...Noah took pairs of all the animals. They were the soulmates of the animal kingdom. Noah had his own soulmate as well on that ark. God made it that way.
Mike got me a new smartphone as an early Christmas present. As I was flipping through the apps I could download, I came across one that is a daily Bible verse (there's also devotions and more to the application, but for now I just use it for the verse to kind of give me something to think about each day). Today's verse? "1 Corinthians 13:7-8 Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends."
Certain recent events have hit me (and others) hard. And then this shows up on my phone. Some have given up on the situation, but I refuse to surrender. There is method to His "madness." We may not know what exactly, yet, but I can't give up on love. The Beatles had it right...all you need is love.
(Yes, I did end an entry referring to both God and the Beatles in one paragraph...)
Well, I stuck to my guns. Sure, I had a lot of letdowns and subsequent heartache. I mean, look at me...I don't have the petite figure and perfect features that were drawn by artists. I may have put on a happy face, but at the back of my mind I had my doubts my prince would ever come. I was going to have my fairytale, daggone it!
And I got it. I believed that there was someone out there for me. It took us a little while to find each other. Heck, my husband wasn't even really looking (not like I was, anyway). He had no intentions of ever marrying. But there's someone for everyone. I truly believe that. Soulmate is a mythical "being" that I believe is not quite so mythical. In a world where I think statistics show one out of every three or five marriages don't last, you have to believe that someone will take care of you when you're old and gray, even when they can barely take care of themselves.
I'm going to get religious on you (so atheists, don't read on!)...Noah took pairs of all the animals. They were the soulmates of the animal kingdom. Noah had his own soulmate as well on that ark. God made it that way.
Mike got me a new smartphone as an early Christmas present. As I was flipping through the apps I could download, I came across one that is a daily Bible verse (there's also devotions and more to the application, but for now I just use it for the verse to kind of give me something to think about each day). Today's verse? "1 Corinthians 13:7-8 Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends."
Certain recent events have hit me (and others) hard. And then this shows up on my phone. Some have given up on the situation, but I refuse to surrender. There is method to His "madness." We may not know what exactly, yet, but I can't give up on love. The Beatles had it right...all you need is love.
(Yes, I did end an entry referring to both God and the Beatles in one paragraph...)
Sunday, November 27, 2011
How Can I Be a Friend?
What do you do when you can't do anything? What do you say when there's nothing you can say? When a lifelong best friend's life is turned upside down, you want to turn it back right for them, but you can't. You can say all the cliches, like "hang in there" or "everything happens for a reason." And, yes, maybe everything does happen for a reason, but it's not something they want to hear in a time like this. In fact, what does anyone want to hear during a time like this? Maybe they don't want to hear anything...they want to feel it.
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
There's Always Someone Else For You to Blame
Okay, recent events in the media are really starting to tick me off!
Number one: Penn State scandal
Instead of looking at the man who was actually committing the crime, they turn it around on the good Samaritan. Joe Paterno turned in the man who was molesting the boys, did what he was supposed to do, and yet the country is blaming him, saying he should have gone even higher. He did what was expected. He did what was asked. If he had done any more, he would have been chewed up one side and down the other. It's like the little story my father tells me: A man gets stabbed and the knife is left in him. When the police come, he is arrested for having a concealed weapon. Seriously, people?
Number two: Violence in the media/violence being committed
Okay, I wasn't sure how to word that, so let me explain: I watch the news every morning while I pump (I know, you really didn't want to know that!), and then again at mom's while I'm feeding the baby. I kid you not, every single morning there is a new story about a shooting/stabbing/hit-and-run that happened overnight (five on Halloween night!). The other day there was a story about a student that was stabbed while trying to break up a fight at the college my mom (and my dad?) went to. Fox 5 News got a professional on there for an interview, who proceeded to "explain" that all of this violence with people today is due to mainstream media showing it all the time...news, movies, video games, prime time networks. I absolutely ABHOR the idea that this has such an effect on our minds! I watch shows like NCIS, CSI, Law & Order, etc., but you don't see me going out and trying to murder someone!!! I remember one episode of The Simpsons (I'm not a big fan of the show, but I've caught a few episodes over the years) when Marge (the mom, for those that don't know) and Maggie (the baby) are watching the cartoon Itchy & Scratchy, which is always violent, normally ending in one of the characters being brutally killed or at least maimed. Maggie then proceeded to try to kill/injure Homer (the dad...but I think just about everyone knows that!). Marge blamed it on the cartoon. I forget exactly how the episode resolved...I remember the makers of the cartoon then made Marge a character to make fun of her. Anyway...the point is Bart and Lisa always watch the cartoon and they were fine. The majority of the country watch shows/play games like that and they aren't going out and killing/maiming people. There are people that may not see any of it, and yet they will go out for blood. The media has nothing to do with a person's willingness to cause harm.
Okay, I think I'm done with my little rant. I'm going to stop now. Good-bye.
Number one: Penn State scandal
Instead of looking at the man who was actually committing the crime, they turn it around on the good Samaritan. Joe Paterno turned in the man who was molesting the boys, did what he was supposed to do, and yet the country is blaming him, saying he should have gone even higher. He did what was expected. He did what was asked. If he had done any more, he would have been chewed up one side and down the other. It's like the little story my father tells me: A man gets stabbed and the knife is left in him. When the police come, he is arrested for having a concealed weapon. Seriously, people?
Number two: Violence in the media/violence being committed
Okay, I wasn't sure how to word that, so let me explain: I watch the news every morning while I pump (I know, you really didn't want to know that!), and then again at mom's while I'm feeding the baby. I kid you not, every single morning there is a new story about a shooting/stabbing/hit-and-run that happened overnight (five on Halloween night!). The other day there was a story about a student that was stabbed while trying to break up a fight at the college my mom (and my dad?) went to. Fox 5 News got a professional on there for an interview, who proceeded to "explain" that all of this violence with people today is due to mainstream media showing it all the time...news, movies, video games, prime time networks. I absolutely ABHOR the idea that this has such an effect on our minds! I watch shows like NCIS, CSI, Law & Order, etc., but you don't see me going out and trying to murder someone!!! I remember one episode of The Simpsons (I'm not a big fan of the show, but I've caught a few episodes over the years) when Marge (the mom, for those that don't know) and Maggie (the baby) are watching the cartoon Itchy & Scratchy, which is always violent, normally ending in one of the characters being brutally killed or at least maimed. Maggie then proceeded to try to kill/injure Homer (the dad...but I think just about everyone knows that!). Marge blamed it on the cartoon. I forget exactly how the episode resolved...I remember the makers of the cartoon then made Marge a character to make fun of her. Anyway...the point is Bart and Lisa always watch the cartoon and they were fine. The majority of the country watch shows/play games like that and they aren't going out and killing/maiming people. There are people that may not see any of it, and yet they will go out for blood. The media has nothing to do with a person's willingness to cause harm.
Okay, I think I'm done with my little rant. I'm going to stop now. Good-bye.
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