My company Christmas...scratch that..."Holiday" party was last night. We've attended these parties every year since my first and I think this one will be the last. The parties used to be held at the Italian Community Center where the food is great, we got to go on carriage rides through the third ward, and did department group photos as well as couples photos. They were warm an friendly gatherings with dancing and drinks and lots of comraderie.
The last few years the parties are at the Marcus Center, a beautiful building, but one that feels a little colder, more formal that the ICC. The food is not that great, and activities include 'casino night'. Last year there was a fortune teller that was pretty popular and at the end of the night, you turned your 'gambling winnings' into prize tickets. If your ticket number was called, you won a gift card. This year there was no fortune teller and no prize tickets with 'casino night'.
The music was better than usual, but hardly anybody stayed. Only a few of us spent were left on the dance floor and the drinks were pretty expensive. We left earlier than ever before and on the way out Jeff commented that it seemed pretty lame this year. The food was so bad that I didn't eat so I was still hungry when we left. The camraderie was non-existent. I was kind of sad.
I'm sure the state of the economy was the reason for the cut back in the prizes so maybe next year the company will just cancel the party and I won't have to worry about deciding whether to go or not. I truly am grateful for these types of perks from the company but maybe I've just grown out of them.
The last few years the parties are at the Marcus Center, a beautiful building, but one that feels a little colder, more formal that the ICC. The food is not that great, and activities include 'casino night'. Last year there was a fortune teller that was pretty popular and at the end of the night, you turned your 'gambling winnings' into prize tickets. If your ticket number was called, you won a gift card. This year there was no fortune teller and no prize tickets with 'casino night'.
The music was better than usual, but hardly anybody stayed. Only a few of us spent were left on the dance floor and the drinks were pretty expensive. We left earlier than ever before and on the way out Jeff commented that it seemed pretty lame this year. The food was so bad that I didn't eat so I was still hungry when we left. The camraderie was non-existent. I was kind of sad.
I'm sure the state of the economy was the reason for the cut back in the prizes so maybe next year the company will just cancel the party and I won't have to worry about deciding whether to go or not. I truly am grateful for these types of perks from the company but maybe I've just grown out of them.
I'm 51 years old, married for over 30 years and I have three great kids. Our oldest daughter works in clothing design as a technical designer, the middle daughter works for a graphics-printing shop, and the baby boy graduated from college with a degree in civil engineering. He is now working at his first full-time job in Winter Haven, California which makes us empty nesters. My middle daughter had a beautiful baby boy last November so yes, I am a grandma. His sweet little life ended when he died from SIDS which changed our lives forever. Our daughter is having another baby which is terrifying but we are glad she is living her life. Nothing will ever be the same.
We live in Oak Creek, in a great house where the back yard is adjacent to a park as well as the creek. The wildlife that comes by makes for great viewing pleasure. We are committed to feeding the birds and ducks - something that once you start, you have to keep doing through the winter since they become dependent on it. My housecat is continuously teased by the creatures that run through the yard. He's commonly found bouncing off the patio door. We had a swimming pool, which was removed and left a large hole in the yard. We will now build a pond and memorial garden to fill it in. We have a hot tub and a fire pit in the back yard so we could easily vacation at home. We also have a very large organic vegetable garden that I love to work. Cooking and canning my harvest is extremely rewarding.
My husband is currently taking classes to earn his bachelor's degree. He is a cardiac patient, a label that will stick for his lifetime since his heart attack and bypass surgery. He spends his time woodworking and bicycling. He is also a WIAA official, he refs basketball and umps softball and baseball. We spend summers on his Harley traveling the country as much as we can. I have my motorcycle license but I'm most comfortable enjoying the scenery on the back of Jeff's so I don't have my own bike.
I have my bachelor of science degree in Business Information Systems and Business Administration. I work for an IT company doing quality assurance work. I also have my Webmaster certification from UW-M. Occasionally I write for Fox's Community Pages, I manage my church's website, and love spending my spare time making web pages and blog writing.
I like to sew and dabble in woodworking, and I am currently taking quilting classes. I will be selling crafts and quilted items on my new site, http://www.sunshinesews.etsy.com/ and I do a few craft fairs throughout the year. I also love to run and go to the gym daily. Staying healthy is extremely important to me, especially since my husband's heart attack.
We are trying to find 0ur way since our world was turned upside down by the death of our grandson,Stephen. We've had so many changes in our lives in recent years it is hard to stay focused on what comes next so we take things one day at a time.
We live in Oak Creek, in a great house where the back yard is adjacent to a park as well as the creek. The wildlife that comes by makes for great viewing pleasure. We are committed to feeding the birds and ducks - something that once you start, you have to keep doing through the winter since they become dependent on it. My housecat is continuously teased by the creatures that run through the yard. He's commonly found bouncing off the patio door. We had a swimming pool, which was removed and left a large hole in the yard. We will now build a pond and memorial garden to fill it in. We have a hot tub and a fire pit in the back yard so we could easily vacation at home. We also have a very large organic vegetable garden that I love to work. Cooking and canning my harvest is extremely rewarding.
My husband is currently taking classes to earn his bachelor's degree. He is a cardiac patient, a label that will stick for his lifetime since his heart attack and bypass surgery. He spends his time woodworking and bicycling. He is also a WIAA official, he refs basketball and umps softball and baseball. We spend summers on his Harley traveling the country as much as we can. I have my motorcycle license but I'm most comfortable enjoying the scenery on the back of Jeff's so I don't have my own bike.
I have my bachelor of science degree in Business Information Systems and Business Administration. I work for an IT company doing quality assurance work. I also have my Webmaster certification from UW-M. Occasionally I write for Fox's Community Pages, I manage my church's website, and love spending my spare time making web pages and blog writing.
I like to sew and dabble in woodworking, and I am currently taking quilting classes. I will be selling crafts and quilted items on my new site, http://www.sunshinesews.etsy.com/ and I do a few craft fairs throughout the year. I also love to run and go to the gym daily. Staying healthy is extremely important to me, especially since my husband's heart attack.
We are trying to find 0ur way since our world was turned upside down by the death of our grandson,Stephen. We've had so many changes in our lives in recent years it is hard to stay focused on what comes next so we take things one day at a time.
I watched the national news tonight to see a story about the ugly doll. The story was about how one of the Obama girls went to school with an ugly doll attached to her backpack. The story went on to talk about how things become all the rage because of photos taken like these. I couldn't resist. I had to google the ugly doll. They are ugly alright. I started pricing them and then next thing you know I was on ebay. There they were...and in less than 60 seconds, I was paying for them through my paypal account.Here they are......
I decided to drop off the Milwaukee H.O.G. board as Webmaster. I liked the work and I have the site to a place where it's become easy to maintian but it's just not very satisfying work. I don't really care for some of the people on the new board - not that I was all that thrilled with some of the ones I worked with before either, but I will miss some of my outgoing fellow board members. I need a fresh start with some new plans and new creative outlets so it's time to let this one go. The funny thing is since I made the decision to terminate my services, I still have trouble letting go. Now that it's January, the site is still not updated - even though there is a new Webmaster. I sent a very detailed instruction document and it's not being followed. I have to tell myself to just let go and move on.
So in moving on, I started looking at other H.O.G. chapters just to see if involvement with a different group might be a better fit. After reviewing a few sites, it became very clear that I am not interested in another motorcycle group at all! This was a revelation that felt so right I stopped looking, won't start looking again, and I've even began planning for my own summer motorcycle adventures, no motorcycle group involvement whatsoever. What a relief.
Stay tuned....new adventures are just around the corner!
So in moving on, I started looking at other H.O.G. chapters just to see if involvement with a different group might be a better fit. After reviewing a few sites, it became very clear that I am not interested in another motorcycle group at all! This was a revelation that felt so right I stopped looking, won't start looking again, and I've even began planning for my own summer motorcycle adventures, no motorcycle group involvement whatsoever. What a relief
Stay tuned....new adventures are just around the corner!
For Jeff, the year was pretty tough. His heart disease has caused him much distress. He currently suffers from atrial fibrillation and irregular heart beats. The irregular heart beats have been going on since he was in his 30's and has been controlled with beta blockers. On an angioplasty follow-up, his cardiologist found the atrial fibrillation. It was suggested that Jeff have a cardioversion which is a procedure where the heart is stopped and shocked so that when it starts back up, the rhythm is corrected. It takes 15 minutes under general anesthetic. So he had the cardioversion and it didn't work. The arrhythmia specialist basically said he would have to stick with medication to manage the problem. And the problem is that if the arrhythmia is not corrected, blood can pool up in the heart, clot, and go to the brain. The medication to help is a blood thinner to make sure clots can't form.
The medication has terrible side effects. Unfortunately, we found out firsthand. On a Saturday afternoon in March, Jeff was in such terrible pain that we went to the ER. He was bleeding internally. After a two day hospital stay, he was released on the same medication. We followed up with his cardiologist who suggested a different arrhythmia specialist. This one was much better than the last. He said he could help and explained that the cardioversion should be done with a combination of medication to keep him out of atrial fibrillation. So Jeff had another cardioversion in April which didn't work.
It is always best to start with the least invasive procedures before moving to the tougher stuff. So the cardioversion was the first step of the journey. Now the doctor was suggesting more invasive measures. Jeff would undergo a cath ablation. Through catheterization, the doctors will map out the electrical system in his heart, then ablate the areas that are causing the irregular beats. This is a 5 - 6 hour procedure and he had it done in May. The a-fib was gone, but the blood thinners had to continue for a few months after the procedure.
In late summer, Jeff had a spill on his bike. Instantly, he was bleeding internally from the knees all the way down his legs. While recovering, his legs were stiff and because of it, he bumped into a rail causing more internal bleeding. During this time, he had his follow-up with the cardiologist where he discovered that the atrial fibrillation was back. The atrial fibrillation specialist called and told him to get into the office as soon as possible.
Another cath ablation was scheduled for December. The procedure was different this time. The first time, he went into a-fib while in the hospital. This time he never went into a-fib. Now just to make things clear, we knew it was not uncommon to go through these procedures more than once so it was really wishful thinking that it would be cleared up earlier but all these internal bleeding episodes were a major cause of distress. So now he waits to have a follow-up visit and prays for nothing more than no more a-fib so he can get off the blood thinners. The first follow-up is scheduled in January and the time frame to stop the blood thinners is March. So he need to be careful not to slip, fall, or bump into things for now.
So we hold our breath and hope...
The medication has terrible side effects. Unfortunately, we found out firsthand. On a Saturday afternoon in March, Jeff was in such terrible pain that we went to the ER. He was bleeding internally. After a two day hospital stay, he was released on the same medication. We followed up with his cardiologist who suggested a different arrhythmia specialist. This one was much better than the last. He said he could help and explained that the cardioversion should be done with a combination of medication to keep him out of atrial fibrillation. So Jeff had another cardioversion in April which didn't work.
It is always best to start with the least invasive procedures before moving to the tougher stuff. So the cardioversion was the first step of the journey. Now the doctor was suggesting more invasive measures. Jeff would undergo a cath ablation. Through catheterization, the doctors will map out the electrical system in his heart, then ablate the areas that are causing the irregular beats. This is a 5 - 6 hour procedure and he had it done in May. The a-fib was gone, but the blood thinners had to continue for a few months after the procedure.
In late summer, Jeff had a spill on his bike. Instantly, he was bleeding internally from the knees all the way down his legs. While recovering, his legs were stiff and because of it, he bumped into a rail causing more internal bleeding. During this time, he had his follow-up with the cardiologist where he discovered that the atrial fibrillation was back. The atrial fibrillation specialist called and told him to get into the office as soon as possible.
Another cath ablation was scheduled for December. The procedure was different this time. The first time, he went into a-fib while in the hospital. This time he never went into a-fib. Now just to make things clear, we knew it was not uncommon to go through these procedures more than once so it was really wishful thinking that it would be cleared up earlier but all these internal bleeding episodes were a major cause of distress. So now he waits to have a follow-up visit and prays for nothing more than no more a-fib so he can get off the blood thinners. The first follow-up is scheduled in January and the time frame to stop the blood thinners is March. So he need to be careful not to slip, fall, or bump into things for now.
So we hold our breath and hope...
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