Day 297 (January 31st)--New IN Town

Today my Mom and I went and saw "New In Town" with Renee Zellweger. It is supposed to be set in Minnesota (where I live) and besides the fact New Ulm is in Southwestern MN and not Southeast and the fact that land in MN is more hilly than the area they filmed in, it was a great movie.

-Jackie

January 30th--Feeling like the UPS Man

Today I got to use my Handy Dandy work laptop to have clients sign their consents electroncially. It's already easier than having to fill out a bunch of forms beforehand by hand.

-Jackie

Day 295---(January 29th)--In sync

We just got new tablet computers for work so our clients can sign forms electronically and we can also do our case notes while out in the field. When we got them one of my co-workers complained through the whole session, because of this we did not get told (because he kept interrupting) that we had to sync our computers at the office before we could get into the case notes. So I got up at 4:30AM, got to the office at 5 with my PJ's on and hair uncombed and synced my computer before anyone else got there. Gotta love it!

-Jackie

Day 294--(January 28th)_-Waltzing to the IRS

I did our taxes online. We are getting a very nice refund. =) However I had to call the IRS and get out Adjusted Gross income from 07 in order to efile. While I was on hold for 20 minutes I waltzed along with the waltz music provided to me as I sat on hold.

-Jackie

Day 293 (January 27th)--I've got to put on my my my my my wedgie shoes....

I bought two pairs of shoes this wknd. One was a pair of wedge shoes. It's been about 10 years since I walked in a pair of wedge shoes. Today I re-learned how to walk in these shoes.

EXTRA CREDIT: My husband and i also saw the movie "Fireproof" with Kirk Cameron. It was wonderful!

Day 292 (January 26th)--A social experiment

I have been struggling with finding new friends. I had responded to some ads looking for new friends in the past and one flopped because she did not like the fact I was a Christian, another got to the point of meeting...then nothing. I decided to post an ad on the same place of my own. I said I do not like the clubs or the bar scene, I attend Church on the wknds and am looking for new friends. So far I received 4 responces and 2 seem genuine. I am going to e-mail back and forth and see where things go....

-Jackie

Day 291 (January 25th)---Hallmark Hall of Fme

Tonight I watched a Hallmark Hall of Fame Movie. "Loving Leia"--I have never watched on of those before. I do not know what made me cry more--the movie or the Commercials---um...actually...the commercials.

-Jackie

Day 290--January 24th--Trash

Today I went shopping with a friend of mine. I was in real need of new shoes. My old tennies had seen their better days and the heel was coming loose off of my boots. I bought 2 new pairs of shoes at Payless then threw my old tennies in the food court trash. I love my new tennies. Arch support. Ahhh...nice.

-Jackie

Day 289 (January 23rd)--Here's your wake up call

As a Social Worker, a lot of times I will get call from Hospitals, providers, etc concerning clients I no longer work with/haven't for a very long time. I came into work today and had a message from a Hospital Social worker demanding "a call back as soon as I got into the office blah blah blah..." so I did call her back when I got in....at 5:45 am....she also gave me her pager number so I am sure she got a nice wake up call. LOL!

-Jackie

Day 288 (Jan 22nd)--Reporting the Harasser

My husband was hospitalized in April of 2008. We were told his insurance covered all of the hospitalization costs. A couple of weeks ago my husband started getting harassing calls from a collections agency over a $500 ambulance bill--calling him a liar about the insurance covering his bill, calling him a bum :O, etc. Since I am really good at filing complaints and reports (comes with being a Social worker) I helped my husband out by filing a complaint against this collections agency with the Better Business Bureau. It worked too--they stated the will not be calling us anymore and would be correcting this for their records, however they refused to apologize saying "We didn't say it was an ambulance bill. (LIARS!) But they refused to accept responsibility for the phone calls." Whatever.

-Jackie

Day 287 (January 21st) Pound for Pound

Today I took part in Yoplaits Pound for Pound challenge. Yoplait will donate 10 cents per lid up to 275,000 to Feeding America to help fight hunger in America. As a Social Worker, the fight to end hunger is one I am very passionate about. (Oh and Boston Cream Pie is my favorite flavor).

-Jackie

Day 286 (January 20th)--Inauguration

Today was a very exciting and history making day. For the first time not only did I watch a inauguration but I also got to watch it at work. (For those who are wondering--we all wanted to see it, no one was forced to watch it.) It was very exciting to see Obama sworn in as our new President! I also watched the Presidential Parade after i got home.

(PLEASE NOTE: I moderate the comments on this site and will not tolerate any racist or Anti-Obama remarks. Thank you)

-Jackie

Day 285 (January 19th)--Run off the Road

Today I was on my way to small group and I forgot my sheet with the address on it. I ended up getting ahold of my small group leader's husband and found out I was 10 blocks away. I took the countryish road over and came way too close to getting run off the road by an impatient driver who did not like the fact that I was trying to find my turn. He also shined his brights at me. Nice. I cannot wait until I move to a less contruction ridden area.....now they all congregate on the back roads...

-Jackie

Day 284- January 18th--I have a Dream

In Honor of the Martin Luther King, Junior holiday I listened to a CD of Martin Luther King Jr's Speeches. The one thing a lot of people do not know about him is that towards the end of his life he was working more for Social Justice issues including the wages of sanitation workers who were working 60 hours a week and were still at the poverty line.

-Jackie

Day 283 (January 17th)--Ask and you shall receive

Our Church is doing a series of sermons based on the questions we as a congregation asked. Today my question was one of the ones chosen. Even though they pick the questions by the highest number of people who ask them the Pastor read my question word for word as he was going the way the questions were asked. Pretty cool.

-Jackie

Day 282 (January 16th)--Brooklyn Strike

Today my husband and I went out for Breakfast (in-17 weather) and bowling since I have a 4 day wknd! We played three games and I almost bowled a turkey (I bowled 2 strikes in a row in 2 different games but not 3 in a row). Instead I had Brooklyn hit which is a BROOKLYN HIT
A hit on the wrong side of the headpin; i.e, the left side for a right-handed bowler, the right side for a lefty. My husband and I are hoping to go bowling more often. We used to but then hadn't for a good year-year and half or so.

-Jackie

Day 282 (January 15th)--George Foremans Anitvirus workout

We just had our hard drive replaced only to have it hit by another Anti-Virus Virus. Luckily my husband did not open the file that killed our hard drive the last time and left the computer for me to take a look at. I took the steps to get rid of the stupid fake virus while working out to my George Foreman's walking and boxing workout. I ended up getting the Avast Anti-virus package and it works pretty well. I still get these fake warnings once in awhile on the bottom of the screen but I will see if our friend JP can take care of that when he gets back from the East Coast. I am just so glad we have the pop up blocker and regular anti-virus program now!

-Jackie

Day 281 (January 14th)--Slip Slidin' Away

Today I had a client meeting out in the country. It was a -30 windchill and I had to go through the 3 lane country roads for much of the way. I do have to say though that they drive a lot better in the country---when I got back tot he Minneapolis area I ran into many a maniac driver. Can we say black ice geniuses?

-Jackie

Day 280 (January 13th)--Special Delivery!

There was a book that has been recommended to us based on a set of trainings we had at work. At the library if they do not have a specific book you can put in a purchase request. I did and went to pick up the book yesterday. They borrowed the book from another Counties library so I cannot have it for more than three weeks and it has to be returned to the exact library I got it from.

-Jackie

Day 279 (January 12th)--Dog barking, new sweaters and called due to (snow) rain

Today I wore my new sweater to work. I don't know if I can find a picture to upload for this sorry.

My feet were burning up this morning and I told my husband "My dogs were barking" he did not know what i meant so I thought I was using it out of context. I did my research about it on yahoo answers and found out I WAS using the term correctly.

I have never had my small group called off due to the weather. Tonight I got a call saying it was cancelled due to the snow and cold mix we are getting here. Bummer, oh well maybe I'll just soak my "barking dogs" so I do not wake up to them barking tomorrow.

-Jackie

Day 278 (January 11th)--Online baby pool

I have a friend on Xanga who recently became pregnant as the result of fertility drugs and is expecting twins. I placed a bet on this site (not using money or anything) about the sex, weight, inches and time of birth for these new arrivals. This is something that is huge for me as I normally avoid things like this with my infertility struggles I have been facing.

-Jackie

Day 277 (January 10th)--Monty Python and Tim Tebow Sermon

Our church has been doing a series of sermons based on questions submitted by the congregation. This week's message was on the question "Can you ever lose your salvation?" It was a very interesting and thought provoking sermon. The Pastor even managed to tie a Scene from Monty Python and the Holy Grail where they had to answer 3 questions to cross the bridge and seek the holy grail. He also tied in Tim Tebow to his sermon which was awesome; I loved seeing the Gators win the Championship this week and have become a huge Tim Tebow fan! In a nutshell, I went to my first sermon based on the above question and my first one that incorporated Monty Python and Tim Tebow!

-Jackie

Day 276--(January 9th)--Filing party!

At work today we had a day where we all sat around the table and got our files ready for the audit coming up. We ordered in pizza and had the radio on. I didn't like it. People were way too loud and one of them had to sing to every single song that came on the radio (the pizza was good though). I tend to start work early in the morning so I have the peace and quiet that comes with being the first on in the office. I was also dealing with a pinched nerve in my shoulder that made me very crabby. At the end of the day I just worked on my files in the break room so I could get some peace and quiet!

-Jackie

Day 275 (January 8th)--Mental Illness is NOT a result of aging

Today I had an opportunity to attend a training sponsored by the Department of Human Services on the above topic. I have been to some trainings before which were snoozers but this one was a great training. I learned so much from this training there is no way I could put it all on here but here are some of the main things.

-(This is something I knew already but...)Mental Illness and Dementia are not the same thing. Dementia is a physical diagnonis and Mental Illness is a disorder that is diagnosed under the DSM IV.

-Seniors deal with Mental Illness differently so you cannot treat them the same way as you would a 20 year old with the same disorder. A lot of Seniors came from the age where "you help your family before you help yourself" (eg World War 2 survivors and survivors of the great depression).

-Younger patients have the highest diagnosis of Depression. Elderly patients have make up the largest percentage of those diagnosed with Anxiety and Post Traumatic Stress disorder.

-Seniors tend not to go in for treatment as medicare has a HUGE deductible for mental health services.

-If you give a Senior a number for a crisis number, they probably will not call it. They do not like to ask for help. The want someone to come alongside them and help them.

This was a great training for me to attend. I hope my co-workers get the opportunity to attend a session like this. =)

-Jackie

Day 274 (January 7th)---Are online friends real friends

I have been wondering what the answer to this question is for quite some time now. Last year I developed what I thought were some "strong" online friendships on the social network of Xanga but quickly had those backfire on me. I have also had friendships online that I thought were developing and then suddenly "poof" these people vanish into thin air. (Though I will say I have some strong online acquaintances I have never met also that I met through Xanga and Facebook). Today I decided to find out what other people's thoughts were on whether or not online friendship was real. I consulted a lot of blogs that were listed on Xanga as well as an article based on a study done with people who have "online friends". The study revealed that "According to a study at Sheffield Hallam University, having lots of online friends doesn't mean you have tons of real-world friends. On average, the study says, people who do online social networking have exactly the same number of real-world close friends -- five, to be exact." The blogs shared a consensus that yes, online friendships could be as strong as "real" ones but like anything, one must take caution.

This was a great new thing for me to study up on. As one gets older it seems to be a lot harder to find friends. I think that is why people flock to these social sites (and even post ads for friends on Craigslist these days!) For me personally as I get involved in a Community Volunteer group as well as continue to get involved in our new Church, I am hoping I can continue to make new friends and develop current friendships.

-Jackie

Day 273--January 6th--Look what they've done to my oatmeal...

Today I was looking online for at home beauty concoctions. I wanted to try the Mayonaise in the hair thing as I hear it is supposed to make your hair shiny. I quickly found out, thanks to google that many people had problems with this. So I tried and oatmeal and egg facial mask. You mix the egg along with cooked oatmeal and leave it on your face for 15 minutes. It is supposed to help reduce Acne over time. I tried it and it left my face with a nice rosy glow. Though it was messy, I would do this one again.

-Jackie

Day 272 (January 5th)--Spiritual Gifts

Through my Church I am taking a Spiritual Gifts (aka GPS) class at the end of January. Before we take the class we are supposed to fill out an inventory and e-mail our top 5 spiritual gifts to the leader. I have filled out some really short versions of this online but never like this (over 125 questions). So I filled out a 125 question Spiritual gift inventory and got some interesting answers. Being a Social Worker and all I always thought my top gift would be serving. That actually ranked as my #4 greatest spiritual gift. My top ones were Faith at #1, Teaching at #2 (a huge shocker for me) and Encouragment at #3 (this one really did not surprise me). Hospitality also made the top 5. I am looking forward to the class mid Month to see which areas would be a good fit for me to help out in our church!

-Jackie

Day 271 (January 4th)--2 by 2

I do not like to go to the grocery store on an empty stomach. We were down to our bare minimum of Groceries so after a relaxing morning of sleeping in I decided to McDonalds for a bite to eat (while I let the car get nice and warm because it is below zero here). I ordered a cheeseburger Happy Meal with an extra Cheeseburger (I like that the portions are smaller in a Happy Meal). I ended up getting 2 straws and 2 toys with my happy meal then I glanced at the odometer and it the last 3 numbers were 222! Lots of 2's today....very interesting. This was so Random I just had to make it my new thing of the day!

EDIT: EXTRA CREDIT---I found this video on Yahoo and was watching it on our computer (that if I haven't mentioned had to have the whole hardrive replaced. Luckily our friend JP did it for free.) when my dog started flipping out and barking at the TV. So I had to calm down my "fur child" who was jealous of the dogs on the computer video. I recommend clicking the link and watching the video. It's funny! For your viewing pleasure, I have enclosed a picture of me and my fur child to the left!
-Jackie

Day 270 (January 3rd)--All nighter with no place to go

I won't get into details but my sleep schedule was severely disrupted by a friend of our tonight. I ended up waking up around midnight and not being able to get back to sleep until 6Am. I wanted to go to Perkin's at 4Am because my stomach was rumbling but my husband was not a willing participant in that endeavor. I ended up getting about 4 hours of sleep between my first and second round of sleep. I ended up waking up at 9AM and just going to JcPenneys and getting a set of Bath Towels for $10 and then getting a $5 foot long at Subway. I do not want to pull and unnecessary all nighter again soon though!

-Jackie

Day 269--January 2nd--Physical in a dead construction area.

I do have a much more interesting new thing than this but I would prefer not to get into it....

Today I had my yearly physical. When I got there half of the staff were off for the Holiday and most of the clinic was under construction so I was waiting for my appointment in an area under construction. I also for the first time had to mark on my health history that my father is deceased and died last Feb of Pancreatic Cancer. It's still a hard thing for me to write or say...

-Jackie

Day 268 (January 1st, 2009--Happy New Year)--RIP!

I rang in 2009 by taking a bouquet of dried flowers and throwing them off our balcony and onto the lawn. 2008 was a very rough year for my family so I decided to give it a "proper burial" I am much more looking forward to 2009!

-Jackie

Day 267 (December 31st)--Friendship Bread

Today I made Amish Friendship bread. It actually takes about 10 days to prepare before you can actually add the rest of the ingredients and cook it. You get a starter you mash and add sugar and flour to for 7 days. I actually did not like it once I made it. I do not think I will be doing this one again. I was a bit dissapointed.

-Jackie

Day 266 (December 30th) Earning Badges part 1

Today I heard on the news about a Teenager in New York who has obtained EVERY SINGLE Merit badge the Boy Scouts have to offer. So today I looked online and explored the Merit Badges available for the Scouts to earn. There are some really interesting ones like Cinematography and Dog Care. I will be doing more with this one before my 365 days is up.

-Jackie

Day 265 (December 29th)--Opera

Tonight my husband and I were flipping channels when we came upon some strange Opera about Lenin on Public television so my new thing was watching part of a strange Opera. I do not like Opera and doubt I will be doing this again.

-Jackie